Image Credit: Jared - Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Fewer than 7,000 fans attended the Miami Marlins’ Tuesday night home game vs. the New York Mets. The attendance marked the smallest crowd to see a baseball game at Marlins Park since the stadium opened in 2012. Monday’s attendance was almost as bad with just over 7,000 fans in attendance. And vs. the New York Mets of all teams? How does that happen with so many New Yorkers living in South Florida?
As it turns out, former Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria was inflating the attendance numbers at Marlins Park all along. The Miami Marlins organization would count tickets sold and given away as the official attendance rather than how many fans actually showed up to games. If Major League Baseball were to count tickets sold in 2017, the Miami Marlins would have finished fourth from the bottom in MLB attendance (which they did). If Major League Baseball were to count only the number of fans that showed up to games, the Miami Marlins would have finished dead last in MLB attendance. Last May, fewer than 1,600 fans showed up for a Marlins home game vs. the Philadelphia Phillies. The Miami Marlins claimed that the paid attendance exceeded 15,000 for that game.
In similar news, the Chicago White Sox drew fewer than 1,000 fans for Tuesday’s home game vs. the Tampa Bay Rays. However, that game was originally scheduled to be a night game and snow had to be removed from the field before the game. These tiny attendances across Major League Baseball are often due to weather. Rob Manfred and Major League Baseball better hope that’s a correct assessment. Unfortunately, the Miami Marlins can no longer use the weather as an excuse after moving into Marlins Park from Sun Life Stadium.
The new Miami Marlins ownership group has been under a lot of negative criticism lately and rightly so. They increased ticket prices and sold off what little talent they did have to other teams. Namely, Giancarlo Stanton, the team's franchise player. Owner Derek Jeter also wants to remove the home run sculpture in center field. They've even pissed off their number one fan, Laurence "Marlins Man" Leavy. Stay tuned for more laughable Marlins attendance stories...
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