ARLINGTON - Why is anyone at the Rangers worrying about fans doing the wave when often there aren't enough people at the games to actually do a full lap?
In the first three innings of the final game of a long Rangers' home stand that ended on Aug. 10 I took these two pictures of Rangers Ballpark.
As you can see, plenty of good seats still available for a home game for your FIRST-PLACE Texas Rangers. OK, so it was against the Mariners, which is not that much different than a game against Navarro Junior College. But the Rangers are in first place.
"It's brutal," one high-ranking Rangers exec told me. "I'll be really interested to see how we do when we come back."
The early indications? Brutal.
Even after a highly-successful road trip where the Rangers took 3 of 4 from the second-place Angels in SoCal, the team returned home to face one of the best, and most popular, teams in baseball in the Red Sox last night.
The announced attendance was 33,920, which is just a hair under 70 percent capacity. I'm not buying that figure either. No sports team ever accurately announces attendance.
The Rangers right now rank 11th in MLB in home attendance with an announced figure of 36,293. That's not that horrid. The D-Backs, which are in first place in the AL West, rank 23rd in attendance. Given this painful heat we're all suffering through this summer in the FW/d, Rangers' home figure may even be commendable.
Preferably, I just want to see more people there for a team that's in first place. If this is the Mariners, this is a non-issue. But the Rangers are in first place, and a genuine MLB threat. This does not happen every day.
This exec and I made a bet that between the Red Sox series and the series against the Angels the home attendance would be around 40,000. I took the over. He took the under.
Please prove me right.
@MacEngelProf
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Mac,
School started.
Posted by: Lee | 08/23/2011 at 11:07 AM
Mac,
It's record hot.
Posted by: Ryan | 08/23/2011 at 11:36 AM
The Rangers are up over 6,600 in attendance per game this year. No other team in baseball can say that.
Posted by: Shtexas1 | 08/23/2011 at 02:12 PM
Two words: THE HEAT. > Put a dome on that thing and I'm in for at least 5 more dates per year, seriously.
Posted by: John | 08/23/2011 at 02:36 PM
Mac,
Get a grip.
Run air conditioning in Arlington stadium and I'll be there.
I know it sounds wasteful to have ac in an open-air stadium, but I would attend if they did that.
You have a blog. Fix it. AC in Arlington Stadium. It would revolutionize the game.
Get on it.
Posted by: Pete | 08/23/2011 at 03:15 PM
Mac,
It's baseball.
Posted by: Jon | 08/24/2011 at 08:54 AM