One of the biggest barometers of "success" for a sports franchise is the amount of people sifting through the turnstiles. After a few years of ineptitude, the Arizona Diamondbacks were failing to draw good crowds on a consistent basis.
↵Now that the D-backs (30-24) are in first place in the NL West, fans are starting to take notice. It doesn't hurt that they've won 15 of their last 17 games, or that they are hitting the ball very well. In fact, this team is, dare I say it, fun to watch.
↵Here's a breakdown of how the team has done in terms of attendance on Monday evenings during the 2011 season:
↵Memorial Day, May 30 vs. Marlins: 23,465
Monday, May 16 vs. Padres: 17,958
Monday, April 25 vs. Phillies: 19,586
Monday, April 11 vs. Cardinals: 15,746
As you can see, the team has slowly gained momentum from April through Memorial Day. Sure, today was a holiday, but you can't deny that 23,000 fans went home happy with tall tales of 15 run scoring explosions (in this story, 465 people were cheering for the Marlins).
↵The real test? Tomorrow night's pitcher's duel between Ian Kennedy and Anibal Sanchez. No promotions, no holiday crowd, nothing but Diamondbacks baseball. Can we break 25,000 this time around? First pitch is at 6:40 P.M.