Grizzlies Stadium

Front gate of Grizzlies Stadium (now Chukchansi Park), Aug-2004.

A view in from the top of the right-field bleachers.

The park overlooks Fresno’s downtown, which city officials are attempting to rehabilitate.

Chronological Tour: Stop 286

• Location: Tulare and H Streets, Fresno, Calif. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 2002 as Grizzlies Stadium
• Additional names: Chukchansi Park (2007)
• Home team: Fresno Grizzlies, Pacific Coast League (2002-19), California League (2021-present)
• Capacity: 12,500

Rating: 5 baseballs

Yes, “Hit Sign, Win Fruit&#-0148;.

While there are stairs up to the upper deck, they’re not nearly as intrusive as they are in many parks. The concourse is sufficiently wide that the stairs don’t get in the way, as I’ve seen in a few places. And with a California-style tip of the hat to Ebbets Field, the manually operated scoreboard in right-center field has a sign that reads “Hit Sign, Win Fruit.” Or, at least, it did early on. That sign was gone by my 2018 visit. Also in the works is a new social area a la the new park in Nashville; a seating section down the third-base line has been removed to make room for it.

Prior to the 2007 season, Grizzlies Stadium got a naming sponsor. The Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino in Coarsegold, 40 miles north on state highway 41, now has its name on the park.

The Major League Baseball restructuring of the minors for 2021 left no room for Fresno to remain in Triple-A. A reassignment to the California League, which itself was being reclassified from High-A to Low-A, almost did not happen because the club essentially had a Triple-A lease with the city for use of the facility. Once those issues were ironed out, the Grizzlies accepted their new home in the Cal, with the possibility to be restored to the PCL in case of future expansion.