I believe he was referring, not so much, to the numbers in attendance, moreso the lack of passion and activity by the crowd.
I do not, for one, find it unusual. it is merely typical of Phoenix sports crowds, in general.
Listen to the games on TV, I mean LISTEN, not watch...and listen closely to the level of crowd noise, the tone of that noise, tec...then switch channels, LISTEN to the noise level and the tone of the noise at games being played in other venues. it is very, very different.
And, this applies, not only to the D-Backs, but the Suns and Coyotes too.
Crowd noise at local sporting events is, for the most part, very subdued, and very high pitched (almost soprano) compared to crowd noise at other locations.
It must be rubbing off from Mercury games.
And, I have noticed, also, that the majority of the people sitting in the lower sections at BOB appear to be bored, looking at most other locations except the field, itself.
Maybe they are looking for their stock broker.
Most of the above, of course, does not apply to Rattler games.
There you have, in large numbers, average people, average fans, hard working blue collar people, not the corporate crowd, not the elite types who go to games to be seen....
Rattler fans are hard core, they care, they yell, cheer, make a lot of noise, bounce balls around the stands, jump up and down, and even fall onto the field and, no one cares if someone stands up in front of you.
And, when they make noise, the sound like sports fans, not the high pitched , soprano sound eminating from D-Back and Suns games..... And, they know the rules of the game.