As Dbacks fans, we are all too familiar with the struggles of being a small market team. I remember when I was younger showing up to Chase Field filled with excitement to see all my heroes take the field. Especially since none of the major sports stations ever aired the games. All to be greeted by being outnumbered by the visiting team’s fanbase and the Dbacks to get killed with very few opportunities to ever cheer. I remember on multiple occasions trying to leave the stadium early to avoid congregating with all the visiting Dodger fans and all the ridicule that was going to follow. This would go on and on season after season all while we watched the bigger market teams get better and better every offseason, and it felt like I had less and less to cheer for every year hitting rock bottom in 2021. Being a dbacks fan has been hard.
This all made last season even that much more memorable for me. Bigger market fanbases will never know the joy we felt last season. For them, the talent to win comes wrapped underneath the Christmas tree every offseason. Shipped straight from other small and mid-market teams. A luxury we have never really known. For us, we had watched most of these guys from last year rise through our system or show up to the team as no name prospects. The last 2 seasons, we grew along with them. We watched their growing pains in real time. Sharing in their achievements and their slumps. All of this cumulating in a feeling of accomplishment a bigger market team could never know. Their success felt personal. Being a Dbacks fan in 2023 was finally fun again, for the first time in a very long time.
The highlight of it for me was attending the NLDS games versus the Dodgers at Chase Field last post season. Showing up to the field I didn’t really know what to expect. Every other time Id ever come to Chase Field when the Dodgers were in town it was like I described previously. However I maintained faith in my team and my fellow Dbacks fans. Not only did my team show up and my fellow fans, but that environment was like nothing I have ever experienced before or will ever forget. Everyone in that building from the fans to the hot dog vendor, who said he was going to continue to work at Chase to see this team win another one, were cheering so hard for the Dbacks to beat the Dodgers. This was personal. When they had the 4 home run inning, I remember one of the older ushers dancing in the aisles with fellow fans. This was such an emotional experience for me because I could relate with exactly how sweet that moment was for that usher who had experienced so much failure and ridicule in the past. This time, it was us making the scarce Dodger fans that actually had the false courage to show up leave early. The amount of sheer joy at Chase Field that day was palpable.
My ask to you all is simple. Let’s keep building off last season and lets bring that joy back to Chase Field. I cannot understate what Ken Kendrick has done this offseason. I know previous sentiment surrounding Kendrick hasn’t always been positive, but the investment ownership has made in this 2024 team is historic. Let’s show them how much we appreciate it and pack Chase Field like never before this season. I believe if we wish to continue to receive these resources, each of us as fans have a responsibility to show our appreciation to ownership. The way we do that is simple, through attendance. If each of us take the time to reach out to a friend who may have fallen off the Dbacks wagon seasons ago when we were struggling and invite them to a baseball game the ripple effect of that would be momentous. Maybe make the effort when you pass your elderly neighbor in the grocery store to ask them if they were planning on attending any games this summer? Share with them how awesome last season was and how much investment ownership has made this offseason. They would surely enjoy the conversation and it is entirely possible they haven’t been keeping up with everything that has occurred the past couple of seasons. Don’t take for granted that others know all of the progress this organization has made like we do.
Showing our appreciation to ownership is important, however for me the biggest reason is to support the players! Those young men played with their hearts on their sleeves last season and we owe it to them to show support. The guys who have joined this organization this season are exciting and it is important we help them feel welcomed and get off to a hot start with support.
If all of us on this site do a better job of being strong ambassadors for this team, I think the impact we could have on attendance in 2024 could be more than any of us realize. Worst case, you are still talking to your neighbors and your friends about something you already enjoy talking about. Best case we do our part to continue to build this culture to a point this franchise doesn’t look back. A culture and a fanbase of excitement every season! A culture that ownership feels confident in continuing to invest heavily in.
Thank you for taking the time to read and I look forward to another season with you all!