Last night, October 1, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies played at Chase Field. It was not a game where a lot was on the line in terms of the playoffs. The game went 13 innings with the Rockies winning 7-5.
But the game did feature some of the best and most loyal fans in all of baseball.
First of all, attending a Diamondbacks and Rockies game at this point in the year shows a level of devotion from these Arizona fans. The Diamondbacks are trying to get a winning record but they have been eliminated for a long time.
And unless there is bad blood in Arizona over the 2007 NLCS, it is a stretch to call this a rivalry game.
Diamondbacks fans were treated to a solid start by Wade Miley and a ninth inning game-tying home run by Paul Goldschmidt.
Then the game kept going. It was a Monday night, the proverbial school night. Two teams going nowhere and playing out the string faced off.
According to Baseball Reference, 24,123 were in attendance. Probably only one-tenth of that number remained to the end of the game.
Those are the most loyal fans in baseball. To stay all 13 innings with nothing on the line except the chance to see a walk-off win and be denied is almost cruel.
The Diamondbacks should have rewarded the fans who were there until the very end. Free tickets for a 2013 game or a chance to have Juston Upton show up at a birthday party.
The Diamondbacks are a franchise that have had trouble finding a fanbase.
In 15 seasons, the Diamondbacks have had eight winning seasons, won five division titles, played in two NLCS and won the 2001 World Series.
And yet they have not cracked the top 10 in attendance for the National League since 2004. When you consider they play indoors and it is air conditioned during the summer in Phoenix, that is a staggering statistic.
They need to reward the fans they have and build up some good will. If a fan stayed 13 innings to see their team lose a meaningless game on a Monday, that fan earned a free ticket.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com