D-backs president Hall: I fear our guys don’t have enough fun
Jul 7, 2016, 9:41 AM | Updated: 8:39 pm
Photo by @Dbacks
Derrick Hall understands some people think the Arizona Diamondbacks care too much about entertainment and not enough about winning games.
Last month, there was an “uproar” over the team’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” video, which showed members of the organization dancing to the catchy Justin Timberlake hit.
Back then Hall defended the video, noting how the people who were in the video were not necessarily those who impact the on-field results.
“It was important to me to make sure that (chief baseball officer) Tony (La Russa) wasn’t in that, players weren’t in that, coaches weren’t in that, so that was by design,” the team president said.
Makes sense.
The D-backs have certainly struggled this season, falling well short of preseason expectations in a rather disappointing way. On July 7, they boast a 38-49 record, which places them fourth in the NL West and 16 games back of the division-leading San Francisco Giants. Arizona is also 9.5 games out of one of the Wild Card spots, and as the trade deadline approaches, there is a growing belief that the team may soon turn its attention to the future, thereby in a way giving up on 2016.
But one thing the D-backs do not want to get away from is trying to have fun, and that is once again apparent in the team’s push to get third baseman Jake Lamb in the All-Star Game via the final fan vote. Players have been producing videos stumping for their teammate, and Wednesday the team brought an actual lamb to the ballpark to help promote their aptly-named player.
The idea that Lamb deserves to head to San Diego as an All-Star is not unfounded, as he has a .293 average with 20 home runs and 61 RBI. However, that all tends to get lost when the team loses games, and Wednesday they fell by a score of 13-6 to the lowly San Diego Padres.
The Diamondbacks have now lost nine of their last 11 games, and with a road series against the Giants up next, it does not seem likely they will turn things around before the All-Star break.
Struggles on the field certainly sour a fan base, and a soured fan base tends to not appreciate things like lip-dub videos and live animals at Chase Field. However, just as he did last month, Hall has no problem defending his organization’s mindset.
“I fear that our guys don’t have enough fun, I think they put so much pressure on themselves,” he told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Thursday morning.
Hall pointed out how promotions and videos featuring players during the game are all filmed in spring training, as the team lets everyone focus on baseball once the season begins.
“And I often worry that if they’re not having enough fun and not enjoying being together, the results won’t be there on the field,” he added. “So I would argue that they should have even more fun — it should be a little lighter, and I worry that they do put too much pressure on themselves.”
Hall referenced the team’s struggles at home compared to the road. The D-backs are a woeful 15-32 at Chase Field but a very respectable 23-17 outside of Arizona.
Improving there is up to the players and coaches, though. While Hall has a role in baseball decisions, a big portion of his job is fan engagement and entertainment, which is a tougher thing to balance when the team is struggling so mightily.
In terms of getting players involved in that aspect of the organization, though, Hall said it really depends on the makeup of the team. Compared to other seasons, this year’s roster is not as into goofing around and having fun. Because of that, he said there is no sense in trying to push people to do things they do not want to do just for the sake of entertainment.
“But there’s definitely a balance, and I think once the season starts you hope to back off a little bit,” he said. “You pour it on in spring training — that’s when most teams do all their production, that’s when they ask them to make most of their visits. And then when you see guys going to hospitals, that’s a lot of what we do, and we’ll ask them if it’s a starting pitcher who’s not pitching for the next couple of days, or a reliever who has pitched a couple of times and you know he’s going to be sitting down.
“So you really have to be careful who you pick and choose, and use them wisely. And you have to have a group that’s willing to do it, too, and we do have a great group of guys that will do anything we ask, but you don’t want to put them in a position where they’re uncomfortable or it’s not an area of expertise for them.”
