A's notes: Empty seats beat fans by quite a bit

By Kevin Yamamura --
Sacramento Bee

OAKLAND -- It must be close to a record-low crowd for a team picked to win the World Series.
The A's drew 6,295 people at the Coliseum on Thursday for a make-up game against the Seattle Mariners that was supposed to be played in Japan until the league canceled the trip because of travel concerns related to the war in Iraq.

It was the franchise's smallest crowd since April 13, 1999, when 5,377 saw the A's beat Anaheim 3-2.

Because of the late notice, Thursday's game wasn't part of season-ticket packages, team officials said. That meant walk-ups and individual-game buyers constituted most of the crowd.

That also meant the A's drew fewer fans than the River Cats, who opened the season Thursday night at Raley Field with 12,056 in attendance.

"It was a little tough to swallow," said third baseman Eric Chavez, referring to the crowd size. "But this team is all about winning right now. That outside stuff, we're not too concerned about.

"We can't expect too much more because it's been like that for four years," he added. "But we're just going to keep playing."

Power crisis? -- The Bay Area's top two sluggers -- the A's Miguel Tejada and the Giants' Barry Bonds -- have both had a surprisingly sluggish start to the 2003 season. Tejada was 1 for 6 Thursday and is hitting .143. Bonds is off to a 1-for-10 start.

Smart move -- Mariners manager Bob Melvin looked brilliant in the bottom of the seventh when he inserted first baseman John Olerud for Greg Colbrunn.

Tejada lined a shot along the right-field line, but Olerud dove to his left, stabbed the ball and tagged first for the out.

"That was a tremendous play," A's manager Ken Macha said. "He's a great first baseman. When you get runs off Seattle, you earn most of them."

Acrobatics -- Mariners starter Joel Piniero made an awkward play on a high-bouncer hit by A's first baseman Scott Hatteberg in the third. Hatteberg jammed his ankle on first base after hurdling Piniero, Macha said. Hatteberg remained in the game, and the manager didn't seem too worried.

"We're going to have to see how he is (Friday)," Macha said. "He was limping around there a little bit on the bases."

"PLAY BALL!"

Yikes! 6,295? That is pretty ridiculous. Who knows what kind of financial stuff they must be facing. Does anyone remember who the few profitable teams were according to Selig, and then according to the business magazine that disagreed with Selig?

I read that the Yankees also drew only 8000 fans last year for a rescheduled game.

The Yankees game #71 in 2002 was because of a reschedule:

http://slam.canoe.ca/StatsBBA/BC-BBA-LGNS-NYYANKEESATTCOMP-R.html

The 2001 game # 76, etc were because of the 9/11 attack.

http://archive.sportserver.com/newsroom/sports/bbo/1995/mlb/nyy/stat/99attend.html

[This message was edited by dcandrsn on April 06, 2003 at 12:38 PM.]

Oh ****, the low attendance was because it came right after the 9/11 attack. Sorry.

Paper reported the A's game the other day against the Mariners drew a sad 6,295 the Sacramento AAA team drew almost twice that at 12.056 for the Portland Beavers! I dont care how many excuses Oakland has they dont support that team and after we get the Expos for 2004 they need to move the A's somewhere maybe Sacramento.

I think much of the Central Valley of CA would support the A's, but it just seems like a step down for that franchise, even if it clearly isn't. Baseball in sac, especially in the early evening, would be great!

_____________________________
Telling it like it is!

The Central Valley has the fans, and the weather, as twosomeca mentioned, is perfect for baseball. The problem for Sac is a lack of support for baseball from the Sac City Council, and the lack of major corporate presence. Sac is a government-driven town, and without major corporations to buy up suites and club seats, sponsorships, etc., the A's would be missing a major part of their potential revenue stream.

The City Council is heck-bent on getting the Kings a new arena downtown, yet have steadfastly refused to have anything to do with baseball. They even refused to allow the building of a privately financed ballpark next to Arco Arena! I feel badly for the baseball fans of Sac (and I was one, once), they deserve to have MLB.

San Francisco Giants - 2002 National League Champions!

quote:

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Originally posted by daddabom:
The Central Valley has the fans, and the weather, as twosomeca mentioned, is perfect for baseball. The problem for Sac is a lack of support for baseball from the Sac City Council, and the lack of major corporate presence. Sac is a government-driven town, and without major corporations to buy up suites and club seats, sponsorships, etc., the A's would be missing a major part of their potential revenue stream.

The City Council is heck-bent on getting the Kings a new arena downtown, yet have steadfastly refused to have anything to do with baseball. They even refused to allow the building of a _privately financed_ ballpark next to Arco Arena! I feel badly for the baseball fans of Sac (and I was one, once), they deserve to have MLB.

_San Francisco Giants - 2002 National League Champions!_

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That's a very good point that I failed to mention. You hit the nail right on the head. Not only is Sac a government town, it is also an ag town and a commuter town (Bay Area bedroom community only 100 miles!!!). You are absolutely right, corporate presence is minimal. I am trying to think of which companies could come forth? My wife's family has their own business, but it is no where near the size required for baseball. They just do stuff in the Valley mostly from Bakersfield to Redding. Hmmmm....I can't come up with anything right now. Good points, D.

_____________________________
Telling it like it is!