After drawing a crowd of 13,797 for Tuesday's Indians-White Sox game at U.S. Cellular Field the White Sox are "on pace for a season-total home attendance of 1,970,082, falling short of their 2011 total of 2,001,117," according to the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. The White Sox begin today one game out of first place in the AL Central. Team historian Mark Liptak said that such a drop "would mark the sixth consecutive season in which Sox home attendance has dipped from the previous season." Liptak said that such a streak "has happened just two other times in team history -- from 1926 to 1932 and from 1965 to 1970." The reasons behind the current drop are "harder to figure out for a team that has spent most of the season in first place" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 9/26). Indians CF Brent Lillibridge, formerly of the White Sox, on Tuesday wrote on his Twitter feed, "A first-place team with only 6 home games left and the lower bowl isn’t even full. You’re better than that Chicago.” Lillibridge yesterday said, “I thought there would be a lot more excitement and more people here at the ballpark. I got here and didn’t really feel it. It was kind of weird. ... It’s playoff time right now. I just want to see Chicago really embrace it" (Illinois DAILY HERALD, 9/27).
IN THE BLACK: In Chicago, Paul Sullivan writes, "Despite one of the worst seasons in club history, the Cubs attendance was strong enough to make the team profitable." Cubs GM Jed Hoyer said, "All the money will go back to the team in one form or another." The team's "budget flexibility was something the Ricketts family has waited for since buying the club" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/27).
