The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs meeting at Dodger Stadium this weekend represents a homecoming for Pete Crow-Armstrong, who grew up in Sherman Oaks, Calif., and frequently visited the ballpark as a child.
Despite his local ties, Crow-Armstrong has received loud boos throughout the three-game series for comments he made about Dodgers fans. The 24-year-old implied Dodgers fans only care about the team when they are winning and later doubled down on those remarks.
Crow-Armstrong continued to push that narrative and said Dodger fans are more concerned with how they look at the stadium rather than the game itself and that the city is more consumed with the Los Angeles Lakers, per Maddie Lee of the L.A. Times.
“What I wish people could see through is, I’m not getting at die-hard Dodger fans,” he said. “They obviously exist, they’re out there. I grew up seeing those people, too, but it’s a see-me city, man. It’s a Lakers city where people show up to sit courtside and look good. And I view it the same way here.
“Thank you, Shohei [Ohtani] and Freddie and Mookie because it wasn’t always like this.”
While it’s true that Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts have brought more attention to the Dodgers in recent years, fan support was high long before their respective arrivals.
The franchise has led the Majors in attendance each season since 2013, which represents the first full year under Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Dodger Stadium attendance exceeded the 4 million mark last season for the first time in franchise history, and the team is well on pace to do so again this year.
Through 14 home games this season, the Dodgers lead all of baseball with an average of 51,769 fans. The next closest team is the San Diego Padres, who have averaged 42,394 fans per home game thus far.
Pete Crow-Armstrong stats against Dodgers
Crow-Armstrong hasn’t been able to back up his talk so far as he’s just 1-for-7 with a walk and two runs scored in two games against the Dodgers. He’s having a down year in general as he has posted a .605 on-base plus slugging in 27 games.
With the teams splitting the first two contests, they will play a rubber match at Dodger Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
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