The Arizona Diamondbacks are finally back at Salt River Fields for spring training after the MLB lockout came to an end on March 10.
Now that spring training is back on the table, Diamondbacks fans are feeling a grab bag of emotions after a pandemic and a lockout affected perhaps their favorite time of the year.
Will Novak was a Diamondbacks fan before the team even competed in its first season in 1998.
“I remember wearing Diamondbacks gear on spring break to California in like 1996 or ‘97 and people saying, ‘What team is that? There’s no such team as the Arizona Diamondbacks!’” Novak said. “‘Oh there will be, you’ll see!’”
Novak spoke on his experience as a fan when the Diamondbacks won the World Series in 2001.
“Easily the greatest moment in my life of sports fandom was the 2001 World Series,” Novak said. “I was a senior in high school, I remember exactly where I was sitting in my parents house when the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in the bottom of the ninth.”
Novak attended a Diamondbacks spring training game on March 20. He said that it’s great to have the Diamondbacks back, and he had a perfect day with his kids.
“It was my son’s first sporting event,” Novak said. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a bit misty-eyed a few times.”
The last time that Jesus Garcia went to a spring training game was March 2021, and he said that this year’s spring training feels different.
“Last year was very confined because of the mask mandate and what not,” Garcia said.
Fans were allowed in attendance during spring training in 2021. However, several health and safety guidelines were enforced to limit the spread of COVID-19. These guidelines included limited capacity – most ballparks were under 30% capacity, some even 10% capacity according to azcentral – social distancing and face coverings.
“It’s nice to have crowds back,” Garcia said.
Diamondbacks fan Kelley Martin said that she was “crushed,” when spring training 2020 was abruptly canceled due to the pandemic. Martin has been a fan of the Diamondbacks since their establishment in 1998.
“Growing up in Arizona, we didn’t have a hometown team,” Martin said. “It was so exciting to have a team to root for.”
Like most baseball fans, Martin wasn’t sure if spring training would be in the cards this year due to the lockout.
“When the lockout started, I was very nervous there would be no baseball,” Martin said. “I was excited when it ended!”
Martin said that she will be at Chase Field during the regular season to support Arizona once again.
“Through the highs and lows, I have always been a D-backs fan,” Martin said.
The Diamondbacks play from now until their last spring training game on April 4, and fans are more excited now than ever to watch their favorite team play.
“It’s hard not to be romantic about baseball as they say,” Novak said.
Contact the reporter @mrcole6@asu.edu
