The Three-Year Wait

The building of the Arizona Diamondbacks and the building the Bank One Ballpark paralleled each other over the course of the next three years. As ground was cleared for the stadium and foundations were set, the team built its own foundation by naming Buck Showalter as it manager. This was followed by the placement of the cornerstones to the ballpark's foundation. With the team, this was signaled by the signing of Travis Lee. I eagerly watched all that happened around the Arizona Diamondbacks. When their first minor league affiliate, the Lethbridge Black Diamonds, took the field, they played their first game on my daughter Tiffany's sixth birthday - June 24, 1996. At every turn, my life became more intertwined with the Diamondbacks. Each month brought more news of the building of the franchise and each month my excitement and anticipation grew.

Ticket Selection

The response for purchasing Arizona Diamondbacks season tickets was overwhelming. The number of requests quickly outnumbered the amount of available seats. It was determined that a lottery system would be established so that everyone had an equal chance to purchase seats. I eagerly awaited the arrival of my lottery numbers. When the letter finally came, I tore it open to see my numbers - 36,733 and 36,734. Although these numbers seemed high, I was confident that I would be able to get the seats I wanted. Once numbers were established, the Diamondbacks began calling a block of people per week. By late July, I had chosen my seats for Bank One Ballpark. For the inaugural season, I would be sitting in Section 107, Row 29, Seats 15 and 16. This was over the visitor's bullpen. I thought this would give the children the opportunity to see a different team each time they went to the game. Perhaps they would even be able to catch a foul ball hit into our section. With my tickets secured and the ballpark on schedule for completion in March of 1998, all that was lacking were players.