Minor League Baseball said it has drawn 13.94 million in attendance through the end of May, up 6.3% over the same period last year. The attendance spike is nearly identical to the increase seen thus far in MLB, as the entire sport continues to see improved ticket sales and favorable weather in many regions of the country. "The signs have been very encouraging so far, and with the last of the schools now about to let out for the summer, we have more big opportunity in front of us this summer," said MiLB President & CEO Pat O'Conner. The Triple-A Int'l League Lehigh Valley (Pa.) IronPigs have retaken the top overall spot as highest drawing club in the affiliated minors with an average of 8,573 per game, followed by the Single-A Dayton Midwest League (Ohio) Dragons at 8,472 per game. The overall MiLB average through May is 3,897 per game (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).
SPLASH LANDING: BASEBALL AMERICA’s Josh Leventhal reports the Single-A Charleston RiverDogs will host the June 18 South Atlantic League All-Star Game Home Run Derby “on the flight deck of the USS Yorktown, a World War II aircraft carrier that was retired in the 1870s and is now part of the Patriots Point & Maritime Museum in the Charleston Harbor.” RiverDogs VP & GM Dave Echols said that the U.S. Coast Guard will “likely be responsible for measuring the longest hit balls in the harbor" (BASEBALL AMERICA, 6/12 issue).
