The Braves, Indians, Mariners, Cardinals and Yankees this month "set records for lowest attendance since their ballparks opened, and another half-dozen [teams] nearly joined them," according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY. Across MLB, attendance is "down 2% through a similar number of dates last year," and there are "trouble spots." The Mariners "set attendance lows twice this week, with 12,407 at Safeco Field" for Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays. The Mariners are "projected to draw fewer than 2 million for the first time since 1995." The Indians have "drawn fewer than 10,000" for four of six home games at Progressive Field, with a "record-low 8,726" for their game against the White Sox on April 3. Even the Cubs are "down 18%, with 7,094 fewer fans a game" at Wrigley Field (USA TODAY, 4/15). In St. Petersburg, Marc Topkin reported the Rays drew 10,042 fans for Thursday's game against the Twins at Tropicana Field, the "smallest crowd at the Trop for a Rays game since Sept. 5, 2007, when they drew 9,856 against the Orioles" (TAMPABAY.com, 4/14).
ASTROS: In Houston, Richard Justice notes the Astros' attendance "has declined four straight years and promises to go down again this year." The announced crowd of 20,045 for Thursday night's game against the Padres was the "second-smallest in the history of Minute Maid Park," and it was "only slightly below the 20,175 announced for Monday's game against the Cubs." Justice: "So in the first homestand of a new season, the Astros have drawn two of their three smallest crowds in the ballpark's 11-plus seasons. ... Yes, other major league teams are drawing small crowds in this opening month. But none of those other teams has lost as many fans as quickly as the Astros. It was only four years ago the Astros drew 3.02 million" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4/15).
DODGERS: ESPN L.A.'s Tony Jackson noted announced attendance numbers are "often inflated," but the 34,288 figure for Thursday's Cardinals-Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium "seemed especially laughable." The Dodgers have increased security after the Opening Day beating of a Giants fan, but Thursday there "weren't many fans there to protect." Jackson: "The Dodgers got their sea of blue, all right. Yes, it came in the form of a lot of cops. But it also came in the form of thousands upon thousands of empty, cornflower-colored seats on the reserved level, five full sections of them down in each corner." One club official "attributed all the empty seats to it being a night game in April," but Jackson wondered, "Could it be that the fans already have turned apathetic just 13 games into the season?" (ESPNLA.com, 4/14).
RED SOX: Red Sox officials Thursday said that tickets "must be kept affordable, especially with the sharp increase in sales by secondary market sellers like StubHub." Red Sox Exec VP & COO Sam Kennedy: "What we're concerned about is selling out 81 baseball games in the year. ... We have to keep our tickets affordable." But in Boston, Jenn Abelson noted Kennedy "did not mention the fact that the Red Sox have an official partnership with local ticket reseller Ace Tickets -- or that StubHub has a relationship with Major League Baseball to handle all of the league's online ticket resales" (BOSTON.com, 4/14).
