The announced attendance at last night’s game was 15,509. Looking around the stadium, that number appeared to be very generous. The upper deck was a veritable ghost town with minimal fans scattered around.
The lower deck was likewise sparsely filled. The first few rows of each section were occupied, as fans attempted to better their seats. Ushers did their due diligence trying to keep fans in the sections their tickets dictated, but it was a losing battle.
In the pre-game warm-ups, the players looked up into the stands and sighed. It would be another home game with no clear home field advantage. In a stadium as carnivorous as Chase Field, with a capacity of 48,500, a crowd of just over 15,000 made the place feel empty.
The public address announcer’s voice seemed to echo as the sound waves bounced off the empty seats. As a loyal Diamondbacks season ticket holder, it is almost painful to see the small crowds that attend the games.
As a realist, I completely understand. This team has not been good for nearly three years. While 2008 was not a bad season, you could argue after May of that year that the team has been on the decline.
Going into the second game of the Cincinnati Reds series, the Diamondbacks were 25.5 games out of first place. With over a month left in the season, it’s hard to get enthusiastic. Still, anything is possible on a given night—a fact I force myself to repeat to keep me coming back day after day.
I keep holding out hope that the changes being made to the Diamondbacks will make a difference. We will start to see improvement. I’m not looking for a miracle, just for a glimmer of hope that the worst is behind us.
Lately, it seemed as though the team was more focused. The beleaguered bullpen was starting to come around and the hitters seemed to be striking out less. Although these signs seemed minor, they were at least something.
Sadly, as has been the case for over two years, those rays of hope quickly disappeared, replaced by a new level of frustration. Tonight was the perfect example.
Leading by four runs with six outs remaining, the Diamondbacks turned the game over to the bullpen. The relievers gave up four runs in the eighth to tie the game and another four runs in the ninth to lose by a score of 11-7.
I sat there, stunned, as the Diamondbacks feebly went down in the bottom of the ninth in defeat. It is one thing to be blown out of a game. You can at least suggest they had a bad night. But watching night after night as a team finds new ways to lose makes you begin to question your sanity.
The Diamondbacks have gone through numerous changes, from three different managers to two different general managers to countless coach and player changes, yet the losing continues.
You would like to hope the team has a plan, but looking back at the past two-plus seasons, it’s hard to articulate what that plan is. Until someone can explain that and back it up with examples of success, the Diamondbacks will look back fondly when they could dray 15,000 fans to a game.
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