D'BACKS LACK TRADITION & IT'S ANNOYING

I didn't like losing on Monday night.  I don't like losing on any night, but Monday's 12-2 loss hurt my confidence.  As reported by AzCentral in USA Today, "Every player in the Diamondbacks lineup recorded a hit on Monday night during their 12-2 romp over the New York Yankees, the sort of performance desperately needed after their seven-runs-in-four-games series sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants over the weekend."  This is a performance we didn't need at the expense of The New York Yankees.

As you can probably tell by the title of this post, I am not an Arizona Diamondbacks fan and the reason is not because they beat us last night or in the World Series the year my daughter was born.  It's because they lack tradition and that's because they are still searching for the right brand, the right hook in the competitive MLB marketplace.

"The Arizona Diamondbacks were named via a name-the-team contest held in late 1995. Asking fans to submit names which would draw attention to the Arizona desert and it's famous lore, the finalists were narrowed down to the Arizona Coyotes, Diamondbacks, Phoenix, Rattlers, Saguaros, and Scorpions. Ownership chose "Diamondbacks" from this list of finalists due to it's diamond pattern, evoking thoughts of a baseball diamond," according to SportsLogo.Net.  They went from the Diamondbacks to the D'Backs and from purple and teal to a deep red and black in just a few years. They had a different uniform pattern on last night, which my son acknowledged as "sweet" but I just grunted in their desire to find an identity.

"After nine seasons, and one World Championship, in purple and teal, the D-Backs switched to a red, black, and beige colour scheme for 2007 carrying over the same "A" and "D" logos. Acknowledging the popular fan nickname "D-Backs", the team put it on the front of their home uniforms."  I think they are grasping at straws.  They consistently rank around 21st out of 30 in ballpark attendance averaging about 25,000 a game over the last two years.  Not sure Arizona is a baseball hub but I suppose since the Cactus League set its tent in Arizona in the late 1940s, it has progressively become more popular but cannot compete with the tradition and fan communities in Florida.  Or can it?  

According to a 2015 Cactus League press release, "As the popularity and presence of the Cactus League grows year after year, so does the economic impact it has on Arizona. Even after spring training ends, the industry brings in visitors and money year-round,” said Gov. Ducey. “The Cactus League celebrates 70 years (2016) season, but our state economy celebrates every day of every year thanks to the presence of one of Arizona’s longest and most lucrative traditions.” 

I wouldn't agree with it being a tradition yet maybe the Cactus League is popular because of the 14 other teams that plant their base camp in the desert for the month of March and most likely not because the D'Backs are there.  According to Cactus League statistics, most of the spring training spectators are from out of state.  

So, what's the point? The point is that tradition eats trendy for dinner.  They may be rattlesnakes but we are the Yankees and our venom is richer in longevity and fan base than the D'Backs will ever be. You may have beaten us a time or two, but you can't compete with us over a life time.  So BLAH!

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Senior Staff Writer
BYB Hot Stove Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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