Opening Weekend for major league baseball fans is quite a treat. When your team has the chance to be good, it is even batter. And when your team wins its first series, especially at home, the energy in the stadium is something else. For the Arizona Diamondbacks, the attendance was very good for the first homestand of the season.
The attendance for the first weekend was greater than it has been since 2003. The 49,130 that attended Opening Day was the fourth largest crowd ever at Chase Field. Saturday's and Sunday's games followed that up with 34,789 and 24,193 in attendance. The total was 108,112 for the weekend. In 2003, the attendance was 113,709.
On Opening Day, there were a couple of notable things with the attendance. First, the crowd was very red. The Giants draw a decent crowd here typically, but red was the color of choice on Friday.
Next, the excitement all weekend was palpable. A lot of that is because the games were great, and Phoenix crowds respond to that.
Perhaps the greatest step forward was something you would understand if you have been to games before. Often what causes the most crowd noise is nothing on the field, but rather the free T-shirts that get thrown around. On Friday, the game noise was far better than the T-shirt cheering.
There is still a ways to go for Chase Field to become one of the hardest places to play for opposing teams, but there was at least a start, a step in the right direction with Opening Weekend.