In Baltimore, Dan Connolly noted the Orioles "sold out their final game" of the '13 season yesterday with an announced crowd of 44,230 at Camden Yards. It was their "seventh sellout of the season." That pushed the 81-game season total to 2,357,101, which is the "highest for a year" since '05, when the Orioles drew 2.62 million (BALTIMORESUN.com, 9/29). Also in Baltimore, Peter Schmuck wrote the '13 Orioles season "will certainly be remembered by the accounting department as a successful season." The Orioles "enjoyed another significant rise in attendance as well as improvements in television ratings, advertising volume and ballpark revenues" (Baltimore SUN, 9/29).
WASTED OPPORTUNITY? In Toronto, Tom Maloney notes by "attracting more than 44,000 for the season finale," the Blue Jays broke through the 2.5-million attendance mark. Walk-up crowds in July and August "exceeded club expectations," but the challenge for GM Alex Anthopoulos this offseason is to "restoke the enthusiasm in order to generate preseason sales" (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/30). In Toronto, Steve Simmons writes Anthopoulos has gone from the "golden boy of winter to the second-guessed last-place general manager of summer." What Anthopoulos "needs to establish, and hasn’t to date, is a culture of winning in his organization" (TORONTO SUN, 9/30).
STEP RIGHT UP: On Long Island, Jim Baumbach writes it is time for the Mets "to start acting like a big-market team during the offseason." Mets fans in just a few years "have seen their team's payroll plummet" from the $140M range to about $90M this season. As former Mets C Mike Piazza was inducted into the team's HOF yesterday, the Citi Field crowd "booed" when he referenced Mets co-Owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz. That kind of fan "distrust could start to thaw in the offseason with the right moves" (NEWSDAY, 9/30).
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM: In Houston, Randy Harvey wrote under the header, "Financial Stress Adds To Astros' Problems." Harvey: "Happy first anniversary, CSN Houston, which began broadcasting Oct. 1." The net filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection "doesn't mean there won't be a second anniversary," as there are "no plans for the network to cease operations." But as for "what it does mean, it's too early to tell." This "legal maneuver is not good for the Astros." When Owner Jim Crane "inherited the network upon buying the team, he believed it would provide a certain amount of revenue he built into his financial model." But that "has not materialized." Team sources weeks ago said that the Astros "would not start next season without a television deal providing them access to more homes." The sources "didn't say that deal had to involve CSN Houston" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 9/29).
