AJ Pollock spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks before signing a four-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to the 2019 season.
While Pollock has stated how much he enjoyed his time with the Diamondbacks and still lives in Arizona in the offseason, he made some headlines at Dodgers FanFest this past January when he took a subtle shot at their fans.
During an interview with Alanna Rizzo and Jerry Hairston Jr. on the main stage, Pollock and Joc Pederson were asked how big of a home-field advantage playing at Dodger Stadium is due to the fan base that leads the league in attendance year in and year out.
Pederson also credited Dodgers fans for traveling well and consistently filling up opposing stadiums when the team is on the road. Pederson stated that he wasn’t sure how many fans attend Diamondbacks games when they’re not playing the Dodgers, to which Pollock responded, “Not many.”
Here’s video of that exchange
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— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) January 25, 2020
The topic was again brought up during the latest Dodgers Zoom Party as a fan submitted a question asking Pollock if he is going to teach the rest of his teammates how to play without fans in attendance in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Pollock took the high road this time, mentioning that his last comment has led to some angry Diamondbacks fans still stopping in Arizona.
“I’m going to plead the fifth on this one, because I still live here in Arizona in the offseason,” Pollock said.
“And I said three words during the FanFest about there not being that many fans and I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve been stopped by angry Diamondback fans. If I didn’t live here, I might’ve answered that question.”
Playing in the same division as the Diamondbacks, Pollock will have to face them many times in the coming years, so it was not surprising to see him not want to take another shot at his former team.
There likely won’t be any fans in attendance for the entire 2020 season though, meaning Pollock and his teammates will have to find other forms of motivation if they want to win an eighth straight division championship and return to the World Series for the third time in four years.
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