HoHoKam Park

Home-plate entrance to HoHoKam Park, Apr-2004.

The field as seen from beyond the right-field fence, Jul-2014.

• Location: Center Avenue between Brown Avenue and McKellips Road, Mesa, Ariz. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1976 as HoHoKam Park (current stadium built 1997)
• Additional names: Hohokam Stadium (2014)
• Home team: Mesa Miners, Golden League (2005); spring training, Chicago Cubs (1979-2013), Oakland Athletics (2015-present); Mesa Saguaros (1990s), Solar Sox (through 2013), Arizona Fall League
• Capacity: 8,963

In the mid-20th century, a service organization began in the Mesa area and adopted the HoHoKam name. One of its members was a gentleman farmer and landholder named Dwight W. Patterson. In 1952, he lured the Chicago Cubs to Mesa for spring training, solidifying the Cactus League. In his honor, the field at HoHoKam Park bears his name.

I was not able to get inside Hohokam Stadium to take photos on my 2004 or 2014 visits. The park was undergoing significant renovations in 2014 so the Oakland Athletics could take over as its spring training tenant; the Cubs moved across town to Sloan Park.