The Diamondbacks reenergized their fan base. But will they give them another October run?
PHOENIX — Three hours from first pitch No. 162, Arizona Diamondbacks fans sat strewn across the concrete canvas outside of the gated entrances at Chase Field. Most wore tired expressions, hugged by 100-plus-degree heat at 9 a.m. on a Sunday. But they were there, nonetheless ready to see through the finale of a season that began with renewed expectations for their reigning National League champions.
The Diamondbacks took the field without knowing what would happen next. In a tight NL wild-card race, they could clinch one of the two remaining bids, get eliminated altogether, or careen deeper into the unknown, which is ultimately what happened. An 11-2 win over the Padres simultaneously saved their season and handed over its fate to the Mets and Braves .
"I might be a little pissed right now, but you reap what you sow," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "We put ourselves in this position, we won 89 games, we've had a really, really good year. I don't want it to end. I'm not ready to say goodbye."
A week removed from being well-positioned to punch back-to-back postseason tickets for the first time since 2001-02, the Diamondbacks must now watch a Mets-Braves doubleheader that determines how much farther they'll be allowed to take a reengaged fan base. The conclusion of Sunday's contest made official the franchise's highest average home attendance since 2008. It's a statistic as meaningful as it is fragile in the state of Arizona, a known hotbed for fair-weather fandom.
Those who jumped on the Diamondbacks bandwagon during their World Series run a season ago will be eager for a return on investment.
"We want to continue to win them back, piece by piece and year by year, because we want to be consistently in this situation," said Lovullo, who has presided over the team for eight seasons.
The Diamondbacks took a while to warm up, having spent much of the first two months of the regular season under .500 before their bats roared to life. Then, in the midst of a late-season stretch that saw the team regress to early-season form, Arizona went from firmly holding an NL wild card to watching its playoff chances turn precarious. Leading up to Sunday, the team's bats had cooled significantly en route to five losses in six games during a span that saw baseball's best run-scoring offense suffer two shutouts, both at home. But the Diamondbacks found their form just in time.
A six-run fourth inning Sunday is the main reason they may yet play into October.
Because the runs were scored off five consecutive at-bats, the library-like atmosphere at Chase Field was suddenly overtaken by the crackling of the 38,892 in attendance. Fittingly, star second baseman Ketel Marte was responsible for the frame's final crescendo. When his bat made contact, the stadium went quiet. For a moment, everyone, including Marte, stood at attention as the ball traveled 443 feet under the lights. Then, as Marte chewed into his wad of gum and started into his home-run trot, the noise barrier broke. Lovullo said it was the half-inning that got his team back to "D-backs baseball."
"Phoenix isn't always necessarily viewed as a big baseball town or a big-market team," star outfielder Corbin Carroll said, "but I think that when we're playing good baseball, there's so many fans and so much support that has driven us all year."
In 2021, Arizona averaged a home crowd of 12,877. COVID-19 was certainly a factor. But 110 losses, the second most in Diamondbacks history, did not help, especially since their attendance still fell short of 20,000 the next season in 2022. The Diamondbacks have since recovered, and more, from the league-wide pandemic lows. In 2024, their average regular-season attendance was 28,912.
"Just from finishing last year, after the season was over, I live here so I was seeing a lot more D-backs hats and jerseys," reliever Kevin Ginkel , who has been a Diamondback since his rookie year in 2019, said of the team's increased fan support. "... If we do a run like we did last year and hopefully win it, this city will be buzzing for D-backs baseball."
An Arizona native, Luke Babinsky, 21, said his support of the team goes back to the "Stephen Drew days." He has seen crowds of fair-weather fans come and go. And for the most part, he doesn't mind. But when the Diamondbacks are good, as they have been in the last couple of years, it's more of an inconvenience than anything. "I love the different fan bases and people coming over and supporting our team," Babinsky said. "But also it does make it quite crowded for the autographing."
If things break their way in Atlanta, and the Diamondbacks turn a trip to the wild card round into home games in the NLDS, those crowds will swell even further. Fresh off of a World Series appearance, the Diamondbacks have momentum on their side. Whether they keep it, and perhaps some of their fans, is no longer up to them.
Like everyone else, they'll be watching from home, which for them is Chase Field. The team has been provided with two schedules depending on the outcome. There is a clinch and non-clinch schedule. Atop the clinch schedule is a bullet that reads, "Team Celebration." A Mets or Braves sweep unlocks that option. All Diamondbacks — players, coaches and fans — will send fair-weather cheers to whoever wins Game 1.
"It's hard but it's not, right?" Carroll said. "The work's over. The work's done. ... At this point, it is what it is. We can sit back and see what happens tomorrow and be ready to go if we get in."
(Top photo of a Diamondbacks fan on Sunday: Chris Coduto / )
