Dickey-Stephens Park Recon

[Cobra22nd]

An Overview of Autographing at Dickey-Stephens Park
By: cobra22nd (Chadwick Griffith)

[/b]



Past experience tells me that this stadium is very unique. As with any other stadium, an overzealous usher can make graphing challenging, but that is about the only thing that will stop you. Unlike most other parks, it is not necessary to decide which team you will chase before and which you will chase after.

Graphing at the clubhouse door inside the park

Pregame:

Once you locate the above pictured door, you need to be on the ball. The distance from the door to the stairs is ~10 feet. We used a team effort to graph here. Lookout guy, roster guy, and the stopper. Lookout goes closest to the door and discretely calls out the players number. Roster guy passes on the name. The stopper asks the player by name for his autograph, which then enables the other two to get in on the action. The closer it is to game time, the more fast and furious it will get. We only stayed over here a short time before journeying to the dugouts to get the guys we missed.

Postgame:

After the game, if you go to the same location, you can get both teams coming off the field. You don't have to use the 3 man set per se here, because you have more time to ID players, and generally, they are moving slower.

This is a view of the tunnel the players use from across the field:

Home team layout (pregame)

The Trav's side is on the first base side at DSP. Access appears to be top notch, and the only thing that could possibly hinder you is an overzealous usher. You have access to the players from the time they leave the tunnel until they go into the dugout. Well, except for relievers. However, if they come out early, you can go right down to the bullpens, and both are together.

Home Dugout:


Bullpens:


The view down the baseline from just above the tunnel (standing on top of it, almost):

Visiting team layout (pregame)

Over on the 3rd base side, access is a little more limited, but only a little. Some players will go to the dugout before stretching, others won't but graphing is never hard here.

Visiting team dugout:

Postgame layout

Locate the players parking lot next to Broadway.....



And these are your clubhouse exits (Travs on the left, visitors on the right in the photo):




By the end of the game you should have figured out what the couple of guys who evaded you look like. If it wasn't for those pesky relievers you missed, you could be on the way home like the "normal" fans. ;D

This abbreviated article is sponsored by Dickey-Stephens Park, where autographing is a cake walk. Cheers!