No Wiggle Room

For the better part of this season the Arizona Diamondbacks have been advertising the July 25 game as one you should not miss. Not only was it the final game of a series with the San Francisco Giants but it was also the beginning of the “back to school” games that would go through the better part of August.

Sundays have traditionally been designated as kids’ day at the ballpark by the Diamondbacks. All of the game day giveaways are oriented to children ages 12 and under. This has been somewhat of a sore spot for me in the past.

Now that my kids are over the prescribed age, I am shut out of the giveaways. Some like the kids jerseys I am OK with missing but who doesn’t want a Diamondbacks binder, pencils, or notebooks? And don’t get me started on the lunchboxes, backpacks, and the Baxter bobble head toothbrush holder.

It wasn’t just the free swag, there are also all the kids activities that I am not allowed to participate in. Whether it be running the bases after the game or showing off my coloring skills at the Sandlot I am missing out on a lot of baseball experiences.

Today was yet another kid’s activity. The Diamondbacks held a post-game concert. This is not a new occurrence; they have had concerts after the games before. In fact Hall and Oates were to be one such concert before they bailed as a result of the impending Arizona immigration law.

Today’s concert was specifically oriented to children. I can say that with a high level of confidence since until the Diamondbacks announced the concert I had never heard of the group.

Following the game there would be a concert featuring none other than The Wiggles. Mere mentions of the name will illicit screams of joy from children under the age of 5. I have to admit until the Diamondbacks began advertising this concert I had no idea who the Wiggles even were.

And after watching a couple of commercials featuring the Wiggles I will admit I still don’t get it. I seemed to be alone in my ignorance considering the increase in attendance to the game.

Where the Diamondbacks had been averaging 18,000 fans earlier in the week the attendance shot up to 32,000 for the Wiggles game.

The Diamondbacks dropped their fourth straight game and as the Giants celebrated on the field the Diamondbacks rolled out a portable stage to set up for the concert. The energy level immediately increased as fans attempted to get better seats to watch the concert.

The Wiggles came out and the crowd erupted with child-like enthusiasm. I swear there were more people at the concert than there was for the game itself. And there were definitely more signs as kids had messages to relay to the Wiggles on stage.

For nearly 90 minutes the crowd was entertained by four guys in primary colored shirts, some dude with a feather pirate sword and a green spotted dinosaur who sounded like she was on helium.

I attended a Diamondbacks game on Wednesday that went 14 innings and lasted 4 hours 45 minutes and I could have sworn that the Wiggles concert lasted longer than that.

After the Wiggles finished the fans literally skipped up the stairs to the main concourse singing the songs they had just finished hearing on the field. If only we could get people this excited for the actual game.