Red Sox Sellout Streak Ends As Attendance Dips Below 31,000

The Red Sox' 794-game regular-season sellout streak ended last night, as expected, when a crowd of 30,862 attended the rain-delayed game against the Orioles, the "smallest crowd at Fenway" since a game in April '03 against the Royals. Including the postseason, the streak spanned 820 games. Red Sox GM Ben Cherington said, "We know part of the reason it's over was that we failed last year. ... Hopefully the focus of this is that it was a remarkable run for the team and for our fans" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/11).

The BOSTON HERALD's John Tomase writes, "For a long time, the sellout streak captured what it meant to be a Red Sox fan, with interest in one of baseball's signature franchises reaching unprecedented levels. ... Its time had also come. Ownership knows how much healing remains, but last night represented another step in the right direction" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/11).