In N.Y., Ken Davidoff notes the Mets last night announced tickets sold as 21,189 for their game against the Marlins, but the actual crowd at Citi Field appeared to be closer to 15,000 -- "not much of a showing for a team still mathematically alive in the season's final week." The "quietude stood out all the more because of the fun atmosphere that had returned" to Citi Field thanks to the Mets' post-All-Star-Break "surge back into contention." This season, the Mets' per-game average of 30,501 "marks an increase of 3,027 per game from last year, the third best rise" in the league (N.Y. POST, 9/24).
SILENT TREATMENT: In Boston, Dan Shaughnessy writes since the Red Sox fired President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski two weeks ago, fans have "yet to hear a single word from team ownership." One of Dombrowski's jobs was to "keep the media and the fans informed on the direction of the team," but with him fired, there is "no one in command" to tell fans what is going on. Putting Red Sox President & CEO Sam Kennedy on the club's flagship radio station "doesn't answer anything," as Dombrowski was "on the record saying that Kennedy has nothing to do with baseball operations" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/24).
PACKAGE DEALS: In Phoenix, Nick Piecoro notes the D-backs gave Exec VP & GM Mike Hazen a contract extension earlier this month and restructured the contracts of Senior VPs & Assistant GMs Jared Porter and Amiel Sawdaye last offseason, moves that President & CEO Derrick Hall "hopes will help keep the trio of executives together in Arizona for as long as possible." The contracts are "believed to have been done with the understanding" that neither Porter nor Sawdaye will leave the D-backs unless for the "top job in another organization." The lengths of the deals are not known (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 9/24).
