<\/p>\n
Members of the San Antonio Spurs\u2019 Baseline Bums lead the crowd in a group clap to kick off the Spurs\u2019 final regular season game against the Denver Nuggets on April 12 at Frost Bank Center.<\/p>\n
Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
The Baseline Bums are shown at a 1983 Spurs game at Hemisfair Arena.<\/p>\n
CHARLES BARKSDALE\/EXPRESS-NEWS FILE PHOTO<\/p>\n
Baseline Bums members cheer as they make their way through the corridors of the\u00a0SBC Center before a first-round playoff game in 2003.<\/p>\n
JERRY LARA\/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS<\/p>\n
Members of the Baseline Bums dance with the Silver Dancers at the final regular season Spurs game in 2007.\u00a0<\/p>\n
ALICIA WAGNER CALZADA\/SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS<\/p>\n
The Baseline Bums cheer\u00a0during a 2016 game as the Spurs take on the Oklahoma City Thunder at the AT&T Center.<\/p>\n
Kin Man Hui\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
A group of avid San Antonio Spurs fans have been cheering for the Silver and Black since the team\u2019s early Hemisfair Arena days.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Baseline Bums<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 or as their promotions often tout, \u201cThe World Famous Baseline Bums<\/a>\u201d\u00a0\u2014 have been whooping it up at Spurs games for over five decades. The group supported the team before its move to the\u00a0NBA, at three different home courts and through five championship seasons, as well as a few disappointing ones.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n As the Bums continue their support of the Spurs, San Antonio Explained looks at the history and happenings of the long-running fan group.\u00a0<\/p>\n How did they start<\/p>\n Investors who worked to bring the ABA\u2019s Dallas Chaparrals to San Antonio wanted to build excitement for the team and boost ticket sales in their new home city.<\/p>\n They went to two college students known for leading a rowdy group of fans at home games of the San Antonio Brewers (now known as the San Antonio Missions). David Boyle and Larry Braun formed the Baseline Bums<\/a> in 1973, when the Chaparrals rebranded as the San Antonio Spurs and launched their first season here.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n ALSO READ: These Spurs legends reveal what keeps them in San Antonio after all these years<\/a><\/p>\n The Baseline Bums moniker came partly from the name of the Chicago Cubs fan group Bleacher Bums, archives show. It also referenced the group\u2019s designated section, which was \u201cliterally on the baseline,\u201d said\u00a0Pepe Esquivel, a 20-year Baseline Bums member who has served as the group\u2019s president for the past three years.<\/p>\n The group originally sat in section 20 in the northwest corner of\u00a0Hemisfair Arena, an area right above the opposing team\u2019s tunnel and locker room. The seating fueled some rowdy behavior in the group\u2019s early years. There are countless tales of taunting opponents, including a few that involved tossing beer and food.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Bums famously chucked avocados<\/a> at Denver Nuggets coach Larry Brown in the 1970s after he said guacamole was the only thing he liked in San Antonio. Other accounts say guacamole was thrown at Brown.<\/p>\n To help encourage Baseline Bums membership, the Spurs organization initially offered the fan group discounted home game tickets of $1 a seat<\/a>.<\/p>\n What do they do<\/p>\n Besides cheering for the Spurs during games, the Baseline Bums participate in community events.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n They are required to pay a $35 annual membership fee and purchase tickets for a full season, committing to attendance at 75% of all home games. They also must fulfill community service hours, namely by participating in fundraising projects, such as selling the group\u2019s official Fiesta medals to benefit the non-profit Spurs Give, and by helping the charitable organization in other ways.<\/p>\n Perks include discounted season tickets, a Baseline Bums jersey and the \u201ccamaraderie of fellow Spurs fans,\u201d\u00a0Esquivel said. Group members also get the usual benefits allotted Spurs season ticket holders.<\/p>\n What are their customs<\/p>\n One of the group\u2019s earliest traditions involved longtime Bums ringleader \u201cBig George\u201d Valle waving a giant Texas flag as \u201cThe Sound of the Spurs\u201d band played \u201cThe Yellow Rose of Texas\u201d to get fans out of their seats.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Another early tradition included bandleader and trumpet player Al\u00a0Sturchio playing \u201cThree Blind Mice\u201d<\/a> as the Bums taunted referees. A longtime Bums\u2019 custom has been to remain standing until the Spurs\u2019 first score of a game.<\/p>\n ALSO READ: San Antonio Explained: How the iconic ‘Go Spurs Go’ chant came to life<\/a><\/p>\n The Bums\u2019 early raucous exuberance garnered the group national media attention. The Bums\u2019 rowdy reputation helped make it a part of the Spurs\u2019 early marketing campaigns that touted having \u201cThe Noisiest Arena in the NBA<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n In a 2015 interview with an\u00a0NBA reporter, Spurs legend George Gervin recalled<\/a> how the Bums were the team\u2019s \u201csixth man on the court\u201d that \u201cbrought so much havoc at Hemisfair.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n What\u2019s their role today<\/p>\n Though the Bums have tamed the rowdy ways that made them an infamous fan section in the 1970s and \u201880s, the group\u2019s enthusiasm for the Spurs remains.<\/p>\n \u201cOur main requirement is that you must be a big Spurs fan,\u201d\u00a0Esquivel said.<\/p>\n Outside the Frost Bank Center, the group aims to represent the Spurs through community service. At home games, the Bums focus on supporting their favorite team by cheering loudly from their section 101 seats behind the basket.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The introduction of the Spurs Jackals<\/a>, a fan section created last September with the backing of Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, hasn\u2019t caused any lingering animosity among members of either group, Esquivel said.<\/p>\n Any initial friction, he said, has faded, especially after members of both groups realized \u201cwe all want the same thing\u201d in supporting the Spurs and motivating fans at games.<\/p>\n Esquivel\u2019s 24-year-old son Jacob Esquivel, a former Bums member, has served as one of the Jackals<\/a>\u2019 captains. The two have worked to help \u201cbuild bridges\u201d between the groups, the elder Esquivel said.<\/p>\n One of those bridges was joining in the Jackals\u2019 traditional drum-led chants before tip-off. Bums also participated in the Jackals\u2019 tradition of making and distributing friendship bracelets among Spurs fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n