ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Diamondbacks: Chase Field roof will be ready by Opening Day

Jan 30, 2025, 3:00 PM | Updated: 5:43 pm

The roof of Chase Field is opened prior to the game between the Washington Nationals and the Arizon...

The roof of Chase Field is opened prior to the game between the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 8, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Nationals defeated the Diamondbacks 5-4. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The Arizona Diamondbacks will have their Chase Field roof fully functional for Opening Day for the first time in two seasons.

For the past two seasons the D-backs had to decide whether to keep the roof open or closed before the ballpark gates opened. Arizona did not want to expose its fans to a potential risk due to the cable issue presented by the pulley system.

With the limitations of a closed roof, fans missed on the traditional Friday night fireworks during the summer, as well as the traditional pregame opening of the roof which was accompanied by music being blasted throughout the stadium.

“Obviously the opening of the roof has always been a ceremonial part of our pregame,” D-backs team president and CEO Derrick Hall said in an article by MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. “It’s important to be able to open it up in the summertime on a Friday night for fireworks, which we have not been able to do. We haven’t been able to make last-minute decisions about opening or closing the roof based on weather conditions, either. For so many reasons, we need it to be operational, and we just haven’t been able to utilize it like we have as part of the game experience. This year, we’ll be able to.”

On March 25, 2024, the Diamondbacks had their first-ever rain out in Chase Field’s history during an exhibition game against the Cleveland Guardians. The game was called after six innings as a rainstorm hit the Phoenix area.

“I know we’re gonna be the idiots on just about every show and every podcast or whatever that we got rained out or not rained out but we didn’t complete the game and we’re in a dome,” Manager Torey Lovullo said at the time. “Stuff happens.”

The D-backs began construction of adding a catchment system on Dec. 26, after the conclusion of college football’s Rate Bowl at Chase Field.

Hall does not expect any issues with the cables, but the added installation makes it a precautionary add-on in the event something were to go wrong again this season.

“It’s like huge, heavy metal plates that would catch anything,” Hall said. “Now, we still don’t think that we were at risk of anything falling, but we wanted to add it as a precautionary measure to make sure we’re being as safe as possible.”

Arizona’s home opener is against the Chicago Cubs on March 27.

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