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Arizona - worst fans in sports?


Sean O

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I sat in shame in the second to last row (31) seat 25, section 313 last night. What a pitiful turnout, but what’s new?

From day one, when the home opener didn’t sell out, I knew I was going to spend many nights in my bleacher seats alone.

Phoenix is a Suns town, but after last year’s playoffs and the resulting referee scandal they are not even that. Phoenix fans have always been bandwagoners. They didn’t have professional sports until 1968 when the Suns came to town. It was 20 more years before football came to the Valley and 30 years before regular season major league baseball landed in heat.

No one feels ownership of any of the teams except the Suns. The Dbacks are only 10 years old and have had more makeovers than Michael Jackson. “Fans,†still show up to games in purple and teal and most don’t ever cheer.

In the second inning last night the fat man in front of me turned to the older gentleman to my left and asked him not to cheer because he was being loud. ASKED HIM NOT TO CHEER!

The older gentleman, in his 70s and from Denver said, “You’ll get used to it.†And was greeted with another request not to cheer before old man fan said, “Too ******* bad.†I berated the fat man and told him to go sit in the empty section where it was naturally quiet. It’s a baseball game dammit you cheer.

I have no voice today, I yelled my head off. And booed with the best of them. I have a rocket right arm, but not even Bo Jackson could have hit the field from where I sat. I threw nothing on the field.

But I am happy some “fans†did.

I won’t get into the call, but it’s about time these people show some passion. I come from Cleveland; we throw stuff when we are angry.

I don’t know why exactly, but I think the fans were right in pelting the field with bottles and little rattles that were handed out. Fans have no way of showing displeasure other than booing. It’s just not enough in some situations. So we let it out. No one threw anything at anyone; they just threw it on the field. Just like a Cubbie fan chucking a Stephen Drew homer back on the field.

I was glad to see the 12 fans that showed for the game show a little passion. But I am extremely embarrassed that in a metro area of nearly 6.5 million we can’t find 50,000 that want tickets.

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In the second inning last night the fat man in front of me turned to the older gentleman to my left and asked him not to cheer because he was being loud. ASKED HIM NOT TO CHEER!

The older gentleman, in his 70s and from Denver said, “You’ll get used to it.†And was greeted with another request not to cheer before old man fan said, “Too **** bad.†I berated the fat man and told him to go sit in the empty section where it was naturally quiet. It’s a baseball game dammit you cheer.

I went to a Twins/Royals game at Kauffman, back in late August of '03 when the two were in a playoff push. The hilarious Twins fan beside me cheered his heart out the whole game and this middle-aged lady and her husband had the audacity to turn around several times in the early innings and ask him to stop cheering. The guy apologized, but kept on cheeering and I was glad. Eventually, the the lady and her little husband were booed out of the section by everyone around them, including the Royals fans sitting in the area.

I mean what the heck? You go to a baseball game for quiet? It was obvious it had been too long since KC baseball fans had anything to cheer about and apparently they forgot how to do so.

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Here's my question - what motivates fans to be loyal to a team? It sure as hell can't be just winning baseball games as evident from last night's game. Are fans attracted to a team because of its rich history, because of big name players, or is it because of controversy?

I remember when Boston was getting beat 19-8 and the stadium was jam-packed until the very last out was made. How is it that teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, Indians, Angels, etc... end up with such a loyal fan base whereas playoff teams can't seem to have a sell-out ballpark in the middle of a NLCS?

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This is pretty amazing to hear, that people will actually yell at people cheering for their team. When it's someone being really obnoxious (we had 2 people last year around us who came to Fenway just to boo the Sox after their collapse), or someone rooting for the wrong team in an obnoxious manner (Yanks fans that stand up and cheer every strike thrown by one of their pitchers), it's wrong.

I can't imagine ever being yelled at for cheering in my own park. So unforgivably stupid.

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well i'm not a big fan of oakland fans either, but that's another story.

i really can't stand fans like this who go to games and expect you to act like it's the opera. i'm not condoning someone going there and acting like a belligerent drunk, but booing and cheering should be the standard. i think the rule of thumb is to act like everyone else. if the home team fans are cheering, cheer like hell. if they're booing, boo like hell. cuz i hate those guys who stand up, especially holding banners, so no one directly behind them can see. if you're the only one standing, either sit down or make it quick! not to mention that one weird guy who decides to scream weird things every once in awhile. that's entertaining, but at times just down right creepy. now all these rules don't apply if you're cheering for the opposing team. at which point you should be as belligerent as possible, but expect heckling in return. just no fights. i hate it when fights break out at a baseball game too. that's just as about as simple minded as it gets.

but for the most part, you're gonna get people like these at games since there's a huge population of fans any city you go to that are just fair weather fans. i once watched a game with a buddy of mine in 2001 when ichiro and sasaki hit the scenes and suddenly all these asian people are baseball fans. they tried to explained to me the intricates of why he's such a good player. awesome stuff. keep in mind that they hadn't watched a single minute of baseball before then, and i've been watching and playing since i could breath. it sat really well with me when they followed those statements with "what's a strike?"

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This is pretty amazing to hear, that people will actually yell at people cheering for their team. When it's someone being really obnoxious (we had 2 people last year around us who came to Fenway just to boo the Sox after their collapse), or someone rooting for the wrong team in an obnoxious manner (Yanks fans that stand up and cheer every strike thrown by one of their pitchers), it's wrong.

I can't imagine ever being yelled at for cheering in my own park. So unforgivably stupid.

i don't know if it's unforgivable than a nusance. i mean come on, we can't keep fans of opposite teams out of the parks. if they pay for their tickets, they should be able to cheer their teams on too. but it should be in all good fun and games, and the home crowd should heckle the hell out of them. the key is it should be fun and games. it's a baseball game after all. i really can't stand those die hard fans either honestly, they just take the fun out of it. i don't go to games to watch some drunk idiots get in a fight. some people just take this sport a little too serious.

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Fans don't show up to DBacks games because most of the people in the area are transplants that have allegiances to a different team.
very good point... a lot of them are actually cubbie fans. not only because that is near the cubs spring training, but they are all transplants from the chicago area
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Phoenix as a whole is still relatively young and it has A HUGE number of transplants. People from California, the midwest and some from the East Coast already have their own teams and aren't gonna shell out the money to go to a game featuring a team they don't follow. I Think it's going to take time for a solid fan base to develop, especially as kids grow older and have been exposed to the D-Backs their whole life.

I'm originally from Phoenix and had lived there all 23 years of my life up until about 2 months ago. I was in the 8th grade when the D-Backs had their first home game (which I attended). By that time in my life I already had a favorite team so I never really got behind the D-Backs. I went to games and wanted to see them do well but I was never really loyal to them.

My parents on the other hand were never big baseball fans, so the D-Backs gave them a reason to cheer. They've been at all the playoff games and love it. Phoenix is a whole different dynamic than other big cities.

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I went to a Twins/Royals game at Kauffman, back in late August of '03 when the two were in a playoff push. The hilarious Twins fan beside me cheered his heart out the whole game and this middle-aged lady and her husband had the audacity to turn around several times in the early innings and ask him to stop cheering. The guy apologized, but kept on cheeering and I was glad. Eventually, the the lady and her little husband were booed out of the section by everyone around them, including the Royals fans sitting in the area.

I mean what the heck? You go to a baseball game for quiet? It was obvious it had been too long since KC baseball fans had anything to cheer about and apparently they forgot how to do so.

I just want to put it out there that the couple you saw at Kauffman is not even close to the caliber of baseball fan you get at a Royals game. I usually go to 20-30 Royals games a season, and during the games the team shows up to play, it can get real loud, real quick.

I'll give props to Royals fans - if the team returns to their early-80s form, this town will go absolutely nuts. The whole town, fountains and all, will turn blue overnight.

Now, as for the worthless D-Backs fans last night, they're pitiful excuses for a sports fan. Yeah, you cheer...you boo...that's all fine and good. But throwing **** on the field is ridiculous. There's no reason for it other than to show how damn unclassy you are. What's it prove? The only thing it does is cause people making minimum wage, that have nothing to do with what's going on in the game, pick up your **** because you think you're making a "statement."

Move the team to Portland and keep Arizona a spring training destination. They don't deserve a competitive team.

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Why is it so wrong to throw things. There was nothing malicious in its context, as far as I am concerned it was a peaceful demonstration. Hell the 44,000 should have walked out at that point since the umps were certainly willing to give the game to the Rockies (Again) so why stick around to see the umps perform.

Again I come from Cleveland, so throwing dangerous objects was born into me.

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I may be way out of line here but why are people acting like it is the first time things have been thrown on a field? Is it because nobody expected it from Arizona / Colorado series? If it involved the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Mets, Dodgers or any other "major" team, would everyone be acting the same way?

And we should take their team away because of this? Come on. If we did that, we'd have to move half the teams in the MLB. It's a big overreaction about something that happens more often than we all think.

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Well you can't condone throwing things on the field no matter how bad the call by the ump.

As far as the fans team like Florida, Arizona they don't have strong fan bases because they have not been in their towns for a long time.

Other fans like in Atlanta just don't seem to show up unless they are in the world series. I lived in Atlanta from 2000- 2003 and in those years they had great teams but people just did not seem to care, i remember going to games and there would be 18-19,000. I can remember saying to myself that if the Cubs ever had a run like the Braves Chicago would go nuts.

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This seems like the best response I've seen to all the Arizona fans crying "controversey" --

"Whatever you think of the Diamondbacks' fan display last night -- an embarrassment, an isolated incident, a roundabout way to recycle -- we don't understand why anyone is considering it a response to a "controversial" play. It was not a controversial call; Justin Upton clearly brought up his arm to knock down Kaz Matsui, and that's illegal. Arizona manager Bob Melvin is obliged to come out and argue the call -- it ended his team's last gasp rally -- but no reasonable person can argue it was the wrong call. Not that it isn't still a good reason to throw stuff!"

I don't mind the throwing stuff; it was harmless, didn't hurt anyone, and showed frustration which booing just couldn't. It's just a shame that all didn't come after an actual controversial call...

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Why is it so wrong to throw things. There was nothing malicious in its context, as far as I am concerned it was a peaceful demonstration. Hell the 44,000 should have walked out at that point since the umps were certainly willing to give the game to the Rockies (Again) so why stick around to see the umps perform.

Again I come from Cleveland, so throwing dangerous objects was born into me.

I may be way out of line here but why are people acting like it is the first time things have been thrown on a field? Is it because nobody expected it from Arizona / Colorado series? If it involved the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Mets, Dodgers or any other "major" team, would everyone be acting the same way?

And we should take their team away because of this? Come on. If we did that, we'd have to move half the teams in the MLB. It's a big overreaction about something that happens more often than we all think.

I think it's ridiculous for any fans, any place to throw **** on the field. It doesn't emphasize your point anymore than the booing does - it just makes you look like trash...pun intended.

Not to mention it made them look like idiots since the call was 100% right. Instead of soaking in a pool all game, try to get a grasp on the rules of the sport.

My comment about "taking the team away" wasn't directed at the throwing of **** - it was the fact that most DBacks fans I've met don't seem to care unless the team's having success. The slightest hint of even a losing streak, and they jump off the wagon. There are other cities without teams that would love the chance to dive into fandom head first.

Phoenix has a lot going for it - regular-season professional baseball isn't one of them.

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I may be way out of line here but why are people acting like it is the first time things have been thrown on a field?Is it because nobody expected it from Arizona / Colorado series? If it involved the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Mets, Dodgers or any other "major" team, would everyone be acting the same way?

And we should take their team away because of this? Come on. If we did that, we'd have to move half the teams in the MLB. It's a big overreaction about something that happens more often than we all think.

Mets Fans Threw batteries at John Rocker (I did too)

Padre Fans threw a Sryinge at Barry Bonds

Yankee Fans threw Reggie Bars at Reggie Jackson

Now D-Backs fans throw water bottles on field

Whats Next?

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Dbacks "fans" threw beer bottles and rattles on the field, not water bottles. Nontheless getting their point across loud and clear. People are talking about the Dbacks.

Hell the Dbacks president is proud of it.

Everyone is flocking to condem the fans, but why is wrong? Why shouldn't fans throw things they know the rules. They chose to break them. I love it.

I talked to the Sheriff's office today and they all thought it was funny.

The play was very much legal and a **** call. He popped up on his slide like anyone would.

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Yankee Fans threw Reggie Bars at Reggie Jackson

That's not exactly true. But in a way it is. On opening day of the '78 season, the Reggie Bars were given out to the fans. After Jackson homered, the fans celebrated by throwing the Reggie Bars out in the field as Jackson came out to play right field. So they were celebrating, and not throwing anything at Jackson. But the result was the same.

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When did baseball become some yuppie socialite gathering. For years attendees at the Arizona ballparks sat on their hands never cheering. Now some of them actually get into the game and the whole city is strung up in it.

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