When getting ready to attend a baseball game, most women do not reach for extra mascara.
The men do not check themselves in the mirror for errant eyebrow hairs.
But the crowd at the Diamond Club in Chase Field in downtown Phoenix does.
And that's the point.
The Diamond Club, a nightclub-style seating area behind center field, offers baseball fans a chance to feel as though they're in an incredibly well-lit Scottsdale club, albeit one where it's OK to spill your beer and drop peanut shells on the floor.
And though other Major League Baseball parks have designated bar areas, this venture, which opened in April 2007, is the first clublike setting at a major-league park.
It has low, cushy seating in Sedona red and sand shades, Top 40 and hip-hop background music and upscale touches such as steak tacos, a gourmet salsa bar and little bowls of Asian cracker snack mix. Like a bar, there are no beer guys, cotton-candy girls or hot-dog vendors. Unlike a bar, you don't have to be 21 to get in.
It's populated by the buxom and beautiful, the hard-bodied and handsome. The people who pay $30 for a seat on one of the Diamond Club's two levels are the same people who are on the VIP and preferred-customer lists at a variety of Scottsdale nightclubs and magazines.
On a recent Friday night, Vince Sanchez, 26, of Surprise, was in the crowd with his brother and a group of male friends. He said it's a pickup scene.
"Do you see all those girls over there?" he asks with a smile, gesturing to the posse of sorority sisters nearby. "Why else would we be here? We had other seats closer to the field."
The brainchild of Scottsdale nightlife promoter Steve LeVine and the Arizona Diamondbacks, the club works with hot spots such as Martini Ranch, SIX Lounge, Axis/Radius and the Hotel Valley Ho and publications such as Highline Autos Magazine, Phoenix New Times and 944.
The businesses and media e-mail their preferred customers, offering them the opportunity to buy tickets for the Diamond Club online. It's the only way to get in.
The club is designed to attract a group of people that may like baseball but wouldn't ordinarily buy tickets, according to Shaun Rachau, vice president of communications for the Diamondbacks.
"They might not be that into baseball, but they're going to have a great time and will probably want to come back," he said. "We wanted to get that single crowd, that Scottsdale crowd, into the ballpark, and give them a destination point."
A club security guard, who wanted to remain nameless, said people really come to watch each other.
"I've been here since day one, and about 20 percent of the people here watch the game," he said.
To keep the non-fanatics entertained, the Diamond Club hosts live bands after every Friday night game such as popular cover-rockers EastonAshe, hosts FSN Arizona's pre- and postgame show tapings and keeps black-clad waitresses bustling between the low, faux-wood tables.
Carla Horvatch, 19, of Tempe, was one of about 100 sorority sisters at the game, all wearing red jerseys with Kappa Delta lettered in the Diamondbacks' distinctive font.
She found that the game didn't get in the way of what she came for.
"Especially during the innings, we're able to socialize," she said.
"We can all talk to each other all at once," said Krystal Gonzales, 19, of Tempe. "Out in the seats, we'd be all separated from each other, and this is just much more fun."
The club, which has a capacity of 270, has a minimalist feel that LeVine says is in step with the decor at popular Scottsdale clubs: black curtains for a private feel, 10 plasma TVs that air the game, framed photos of players on the brick walls. The bar is set back from the seating area in its own all-white room, glassed at the front so drinkers don't have to miss a minute of the action - whether it's on or off the field.
Standing in a prime field-watching spot, Janell Stebbins, 27, of Scottsdale, said she loved the younger atmosphere and was having fun watching the game in this new setting.
"We've totally watched a good four innings tonight," she said.
