Winning Matters

The Oakland Athletics set a home attendance record and the drew the biggest crowd in MLB this season on Saturday:

The Giants are in town from across the Bay, and in any year the local rivalry between the two teams is enough to bring out the fans. The stakes are raised this summer, though, as both teams have winning records and are within reach of making drives toward the postseason. On top of that the A’s are the hottest team in the sport right now, having won 21-of-27 heading into last week’s All-Star break. That success has helped reengage the green and gold faithful after three tough, last-place seasons.

On Tuesday, with demand for this weekend already high, the A’s announced they would open Mount Davis for Saturday’s game. It’s the first time in 13 years they’d utilized those seats high above center field, so named for the late Raiders owner who slapped them up there. With the extra space, the stadium’s total capacity rose to 56,782, giving them a chance to break the record of 55,989 set back in 2004 (also against the Giants). After over a decade of staring at a tarp up there, it was great to see an ocean of people instead.

There were a lot of teams that were talked down at the start of the season. They’re not going to win, so why should the fans come out? It turns out there were only three really bad teams, all in the American League. The NL is extremely competitive, with even the Marlins and Reds showing improvement after poor starts. The Athletics and Rays are better than anyone expected. The MLB wide tanking just didn’t happen.

from baseballmusings.com https://ift.tt/2mFBWo5