The Yankees past three games -- one against the Tigers and two against the Twins -- were the first three contests at the new Yankee Stadium "with less than 41,000 in paid attendance," according to Neil Best of NEWSDAY. Four hours before last night's game, "tickets could be had for as little as 98 cents on StubHub." The Yankees are "averaging 42,168 through five games, down from 44,699 last year," though the "actual number of people in the seats at any given time is lower than that." Still, the Yankees "already have sold more than 3.2 million tickets, on par with where they were this time last season." Also, their early figures are "skewed by the unusually early start to the season." Early April "traditionally is the most difficult time to sell tickets, and this season began on March 31." Last year, the Yankees "opened at home on April 13, and their second and third games were played on unseasonably warm days." Yankees President Randy Levine: "We fully expect the people showing up to go back to normal levels as soon as the weather gets a little better" (NEWSDAY, 4/6).
UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY: In Chicago, Rick Morrissey notes the announced attendance for Monday's D'Backs-Cubs game at Wrigley Field was 26,292, the "lowest at the ballpark since 2002," and there was a "similar scattering of people in the seats Tuesday." That despite the fact it was "Starlin Castro Bobblehead Day and even though the sun was shining for what would turn out to be a 6-5 Cubs victory." The announced attendance yesterday was 27,039, a "stunning back-to-back development for a franchise used to sellouts." On both days, there were "fewer people in the stands than the stated numbers" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/6). Also in Chicago, Richard Roeper notes "hundreds of tickets" for today's D'Backs-Cubs game "were available for less than 10 bucks apiece" yesterday on StubHub (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/6).
