In K.C., Blair Kerkhoff reports the Royals "brought their attendance at Kauffman Stadium to almost a dead heat with last year" following the final homestand of the season. The announced crowd of 27,899 for yesterday's game against the Rangers "pushed the season total to 1,750,754," an 81-game average of 21,614. The average was 21,748 in '12, when the Royals hosted the All-Star Game. An "encouraging sign" for the team is that the "no-show rate" this year was 6%. It has been 15-21% "in recent years with the team floundering late." Also, ratings on FS K.C. were up 69% from last year as the Royals are having their "best season in a decade" (K.C. STAR, 9/23).
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER? In Akron, Sheldon Ocker reports the Indians drew 26,168 fans for their game yesterday against the Astros, the "largest Sunday attendance of the season at Progressive Field." Indians manager Terry Francona said, "The atmosphere in the park the last couple days has been good. It should be. This is a fun team to watch." However, unless the Indians sell out their last two home games, last year's "meager crowd total of 1,603,596 is beyond reach" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 9/23).
COMING TO COMERICA: The Tigers passed 3 million fans during Saturday's game against the White Sox, marking the second straight year the Tigers have reached that figure and the fourth time in seven years (Tigers). The team ended up with 3,083,397 fans after its 34th sellout yesterday. This year trails only '08 (3,202,645) as the highest-attended season in Tigers history (DETROIT NEWS, 9/23).
