After a successful first circuit in 2016 which included stops at five cities with deep baseball roots, MLB's Hall of Fame Tour experience -- a cutting-edge collaboration of baseball and technology -- is scheduled to make its first stop of the year at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the Spring Training home of the D-backs and Rockies in Scottsdale, Ariz.
It's a fitting primary destination to kick off the 2017 circuit for the We Are Baseball experience. Salt River Fields at Talking Stick is the first baseball stadium built on Indian land in the nation. The complex, which opened in 2011, includes an 11,000-seat capacity ballpark as well as a total of 12 practice fields. Not only has it been home to plenty of Rockies and D-backs baseball games during the spring over the last five years, but it has also housed numerous notable events and tournaments, including the Arizona Fall League, 2011 MLB All-Star Game Jr. RBI Classic, 2013 World Baseball Classic, and 2014 AIA Baseball State Championship among others.
With a beautiful mountainous backdrop, take in some of the unique treasures that MLB has to offer. The Tour -- a one-of-a-kind traveling collection of Hall of Fame artifacts, interactive games and displays, unique virtual reality experiences, and the first and only mobile IMAX movie -- proved to be a draw last year for both casual fans and baseball diehards, not to mention some notable guests. 2011 Cooperstown inductee Bert Blyleven checked out the tour twice in 2016, as well as fellow Hall of Famers George Brett, Ozzie Smith and Andre Dawson among others. You never know who will stop by this year.
New to the Hall of Fame Tour in 2017 is MLBAM's state-of-the-art virtual reality video game, "Home Run Derby." Released in December 2016, the VR game is the first of its kind developed by any professional sports league, and allows fans to compete in a Major League Home Run Derby within the unparalleled 3D environment of one of eight iconic ballparks. In addition, those attending the Hall of Fame Tour will have access to up-close and personal VR experiences from the 2016 postseason. Fans will be able to relive the dramatic highlights from the Wild Card Games all the way through the final out of the Cubs' historic World Series win -- and even the championship parade through Chicago.
Unique to Scottsdale, fans will have the chance to check out a very special baseball card collection on loan from lifelong collector and Arizona Diamondbacks managing partner Ken Kendrick. His assembly includes more than a dozen cards spanning five decades and features legendary figures in the game's history, including Cy Young, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax among others.
"[Assembling this collection] is a labor of love," Kendrick said during the 2011 All-Star Game was in Arizona. "Getting the most elite of those was not easy, is not easy. What I've tried to do is get a set together that is unique to me, unique in the world. I did it because I love the game."
Take in a Rockies or a D-backs Spring Training game and stop by the traveling exhibition for a full day of baseball fun. The Hall of Fame Tour will be open daily in Scottsdale from March 11-26. Visit HallofFameTour.com for additional information.
Joe Sparacio