Attendance at Giants games this season could become an issue if the team gets off to a poor startGetty Images
Announced attendance for the Giants' home opener against the Mariners yesterday was 40,901, which the team defined as a "sellout," but the crowd was "more than 1,000 fans under" AT&T Park's listed capacity and was the smallest crowd in 19 home openers at the ballpark, according to Andrew Baggarly of THE ATHLETIC. If a team has "trouble selling out Opening Day, something isn’t right." The Giants are "running out of time" and "need to be a compelling team this season." They need 3B Evan Longoria and CF Andrew McCutchen, added in the offseason, to be "compelling players." A poor start "would be so damaging beyond the playoff picture." Fans "have to believe." After watching the Giants "lose 98 games last season, and nearly slide out of the playoffs with an awful final two months" in '16, there is "evidence to the contrary." Baggarly: "The reason the Giants didn’t rebuild is because they did not believe their fans would tolerate it. But what if they didn’t rebuild, and they lose, and their fans refuse to tolerate that, too?" (THEATHLETIC.com, 4/3). In S.F., Bruce Jenkins writes Giants' crowd numbers "will not resemble" that of the A's, as attendance is "already a huge issue" at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, with just 7,416 fans attending Monday's game and 9,157 yesterday. Giants President & CEO Larry Baer was "quick to remind his employees that the Giants have sold more than 27,000 season tickets this year." But on the field, there is "no clear-cut proof the Giants will be superior." The Giants are "all about right now, knowing that if their over-30 players don’t produce a contending season, the future will be about an aging roster, troublesome contracts, a suspect farm system and perhaps a long road back to respectability" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/4).
HARSH REALITY: In Pittsburgh, Sean Gentille writes the Pirates' current roster makeup is "not a franchise" that will "fill its stadium with any regularity." To expect "anything approaching that level of support would be an act of insanity." When fans "come back, or if, or whether they sit in their seats with bags on their heads, are all fair questions" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 4/4). Also in Pittsburgh, Paul Zeise notes the Pirates have started the season 4-0, but the team will "need to continue to win and continue to play exciting baseball, and if they do, fans will fill up PNC Park again, at least for the weekend games." But until then, there will be "more poorly attended games -- and that’s not necessarily a bad thing if it gets the front office’s attention" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 4/4).
