The D-backs are adding a dog park to Chase Field
By now, most teams in Major League Baseball have dog-friendly games. In many cases, they’re called “Bark at the Park” and allow fans to bring their furry best friends to stadium too. Well, the Arizona Diamondbacks have partnered with PetSmart to step up the bring-your-dog-to-the-game experience — in a big way.
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The D-backs are making Chase Field the most dog-friendly park in baseball this season by adding a dog park and a pet patio where fans can hang out with their dogs and watch the game. These will be open for every Sunday home game the D-backs play this season.
Here are some of the finer points:
• The PetSmart Park is baseball-themed (like it would be anything else) and it’s both outdoor and indoor, with air conditioning. Because, you know, it’s hot in Arizona. Dogs can chase balls, patrol the outfield grass, do their business and even run the bases, if they’re trained for such a thing.
• The PetSmart Patio is a section of seats on the main concourse behind the left-centerfield wall, where fans and their pets can sit together. The D-backs will even be selling dog-friendly ice cream. We don’t know the exact distance from home plate to the patio, but we’re hoping it’s at least possible for Paul Goldschmidt to homer into the pet patio, so a dog can fetch it and we can all say “awww.”
• In addition to all this, PetSmart will having a pet-adoption station at all 13 of the Sunday home games, so anybody feeling left out from all the dog-friendly baseball can change that.
[Elsewhere: Padres pose with adorable puppies at team photo day]
“Bark at the Park has always been a popular event at Chase Field,” Derrick Hall, the D-backs president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “And now we are thrilled to offer fans the opportunity to bring their dogs to our games every Sunday to a new destination designed specifically for them. For many households a pet is an extension of their families and the D-backs are excited to partner with PetSmart to provide a family-friendly atmosphere for all family members, including our canine friends.”
PetSmart, by the way, is based in Phoenix, so the tie-in here is seamless. Next, we just need adorable photos like these of Zack Greinke holding puppies.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz