Jason Arriola stands at the plate, bat ready to swing, and the crowd’s humming dims briefly as everyone watches. The Novato Knicks player facing him throws the ball and Arriola’s arms move like rubber as he swings, sending the ball into the far corner of the field. The crowd grows louder the farther he runs, and Arriola smoothly lands at second base with time to spare. He turns to the audience with a smile, raises his hands, bends his knees in a wide stance and starts pinching his fingers together in a crab-like motion. A swell of cheering erupts, and clusters of fans stand to return the gesture.
The opening night of this year’s Humboldt Crabs baseball season welcomed 1,342 attendees, a number that seems to increase every year, according to longtime fans. At the game’s peak, the stands were completely packed with a sea of blue and red baseball caps adorned with embroidered Cs, and more fans clustered around the bases of the bleachers and spilled out into the lawn section and beer garden. Across the street on the balcony of the Arcata Fire Department, a boy peeks over the edge, holding out a large fishing net in hopes of catching a foul ball.
Several dedicated team supporters agree that the fans are what make the Crabs an iconic part of Humboldt summers, including Bill Torres. It’s hard not to spot Torres in his front row seat with his custom oversized red Crabs hat and plastic red chain. Despite moving with his wife to Scotia, he still makes the commute to Arcata for every Crabs game. Decorated head to toe in his Crabs accessories and stickers, Torres carries a bag of team-inspired souvenirs he’s created to hand out to children to make their experience special.
“You see a five-year-old with a glove for a foul ball. So, I started bringing in hardballs with crabs on it to give to the little 5 year olds with a glove, because the 12 year olds are all wanting to get a foul ball. There’s no way a little 5 year old [can catch one]. And for the kids, the babies that are a year or something, I give them the little foam balls. And then the girls, I give them keychains to go on their backpack.”
Matt “Boom” Frawley and his father Bob Frawley have been coming to every Crabs game possible since they first heard of the team. Matt has a long-standing interest in sports, particularly the exciting atmosphere. With his custom cowbell from Torres, he shakes it to the sound of the Crab Grass Band playing behind him and during any exciting play by the players on the field. They have only missed two games in the last three years. Bob Frawley says the staff and players are very accommodating and compassionate toward Matt’s disability, with everyone shaking his hand after the game so he feels more comfortable leaving.
“Last year. Wyatt was one of the security guys. Somebody thought it’d be funny to lock the handicap bathroom and then leave. Wyatt got down on the floor, slipped underneath on a dirty floor and unlocked it for him. They treat him so good here.”
Torres also customized a plastic gold crown with ornate Crabs stickers for the team’s official queen and ambassador (she has the business card to prove it), Tamara Clohessy. She lives up to that title with her designated throne, a folding bleacher chair with a blanket set in the same spot at every game. However, she spends more time on her feet than in her seat, greeting fans, leading chants and assisting behind the scenes.
She says she has attended the games for decades, starting when she attended Cal Poly Humboldt, formerly Humboldt State University. Her lanyard is adorned with a dozen different Crabs buttons, and she is never seen without her team jersey. As part of her royal duties, her closet has a dedicated section for Crabs gear and outfits for the team’s themed games to encourage others to dress up.
“You always will see somebody here you know and kids literally grow up here, like my sons, and I see all strata of everybody here,” Clohessy says. “You can be rich, poor, educated, not educated, just like baseball, or don’t know anything about baseball, you come to hear the band. So, it’s got something for everybody, and people come every year.”
She pauses to encourage the audience to clap along to the Crab Grass Band booming over the exuberant crowd. A few people who hear her over the noise join her.
Tristan Caughie is a second-generation Crab Grass Band player, playing the piccolo for them since he was 15. He says he enjoys the atmosphere of the games, describing the crowd as “rowdy in a fun way,” but playing a wind instrument for every inning spanning around four and a half hours is no easy task.
“There was one time we went into 14 innings of overtime, [and play] in between every inning,” Caughie says. “At some point, I just kind of stopped clocking it. We got back home at like midnight. It can go late. Usually it happens once or twice a season.”
Fellow band member Charles Johnson says he’s been playing the tuba at games for around three years, and while he doesn’t have much exposure to baseball outside of the Crabs, he appreciates the charismatic, caring people he has met there.
“I think there’s a special community of people that are already so invested that it draws other people to figuring out what they’re so invested in. It’s a really cool cycle,” Johnson says. “And then you get involved and you’re like, ‘Oh, this is sick. I see why people are so excited about this.’”
This opening night was Elin Antaya’s first Crabs game. She recently graduated with a fisheries major from Cal Poly Humboldt and was excited to finally be in town for a Crabs game. She felt like she was starting to make the transition from a college student to a community member. Having a lot of softball experience under her belt, she’s been impressed with the technical skill of the Crabs team. Toward the end of the game, the Crabs were winning 9-0.
“There’s been some really good hits. There’s been some really smart base running,” Antaya says. “They’ve been hitting it pretty far to the fence and stuff, and choosing to stay at second for the safe choice instead of trying to push it to third has been a really good choice.”
Antaya says that she never feels like she’s very interested in sports, but when she starts following a team, she can’t help but come back for the next game.
“You see the little kids that are pitching and practicing and all that, and it’s super cool to inspire the next generation,” Antaya says. “You see the Humboldt softball team and the baseball team and all of that. It’s just nice to be able to see higher division sports in what you do, so I’m sure they appreciate it too.”
At the end of the evening, the loyal Crabs fanbase was rewarded with a finger-pinching, cowbell ringing 13-0 win.
Griffin Mancuso is a freelance journalist based in Eureka. More of his work can be found at griffinmancuso.wordpress.com.
This article appears in Cowbells and Crab Hands.