Where are all the fans?

by asfansince1989 on Jul 10, 2008 9:50 PM PDT Comment 25 comments

ESPN Baseball tonight just showed the A's game hightlight, Brown's walk off. The main comment here is how sparse the crowd is for Oaklan day game, they joked something like "only 19 people were there". That just makes me sad. It's probably one of the ESPN bias again, probably because of a Thur day game against Seattle, but it seems to me like a vicious cycle, if the media thinks that there are no baseball fans in Oakland, why would they ever want to spend any time covering the A's? No wonder we have to play second fiddle to the Gnat in terms of TV coverage. I know I'll probably tick some people off here, but as a long time A's fan who has to move to the south bay, I can't wait for the A's to come down to Fremont.

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Announced attendance was 15,187

which is not horrible for a weekday afternoon game. Of course, who knows what the actual attendance was.

A little plumbing! Got to plumb! Plumb the depths! The depths of hell! - Larry David, CYE

by Swooney's Left Foot on Jul 10, 2008 9:57 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

announced attendance on Wednesday was 21,128

Which was utter and total b.s.

... arousing men to burst the chains under which monkeyish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves ... @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jul 11, 2008 12:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was at the game on Wed.

It seemed pretty crowded to me.

by IM4Oakgal on Jul 11, 2008 1:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I’m a pretty good judge of crowd size, and my pals and I offered guesses between 19,500 and 22,000 before the attendance was announced. I found it believable…much more so than the 11,500 they claimed were there Monday.

How do the angels get to sleep when the devil leaves the porchlight on?

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jul 11, 2008 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

it that shitty

stadium
thanks Al Davis

Brandon Marshall is a BEAST!!!!

by TommyTSlice on Jul 10, 2008 9:59 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I was there..

Stadium certainly didn’t seem like there were 15k+ there.. But a lot of people left after Embree gave up that run in the ninth..

by CoryC123 on Jul 10, 2008 10:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

They've been calling out Tampa Bay's attendance too

Last of the Ninth - Photography Site
jamesvenes.com - Blog

by Flashfire on Jul 10, 2008 10:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

http://newballpark.blogspot.com/

ESPN visited the Oakland Coliseum and talked to a lot of people, about the A’s and the move. They had a very hard time finding anyone who was actually from Oakland. Maybe thats one of the problems?

facepalm.jpg

by Zonis on Jul 10, 2008 10:07 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

They're all sitting at there computers

thats what happens when you let computers build your team you just get computer nerd fans instead of real people. Your Moneyball team may look better on paper but baseball is about PEOPLE!!!

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jul 10, 2008 10:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

110 01 101000 10 00010, iglew

01001 101 0011011.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Jul 10, 2008 10:49 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Baseball is Soylent Green!

There's no textbook for how to treat a geriatric tapir.

by Poppy on Jul 11, 2008 10:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

and Soylent Gold!

... arousing men to burst the chains under which monkeyish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves ... @('.')@

by monkeyball on Jul 11, 2008 12:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cuz...

Back when the tickets were reasonably priced, there was third deck, more freedom once in the stadium, promotions like the AAA discount, and one of the greatest arms in baseball wasn’t traded the day before, we used to get a decent amount of fans, even for a Thursday day game the night before a fireworks game. Then again, wasn’t this the point? Close off the third deck = higher ticket prices/fewer fans.

by demarius12 on Jul 10, 2008 11:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

+1

by Brian in 317 on Jul 11, 2008 6:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The crowd was very depressing

I live out-of-state so I can’t be the best judge in this problem.

I think the issue is that the Bay Area ’s population is high but the smallest 2 market metro area. (Unless you count Balt-Wash D.C- whom are also having attendance issues).

The Raiders have hurt as well.

First, they are also competitors for ticket sales (Its no coincidence that the best attendance years were also during the days of their absence – late 1980s). Sure the late 80s A’s were winners and had great stars, but so were the A’s of the early 70s. The attendance in the early 70s was not great at all.

Second, the stadium always looks empty due to the massive renovations. I used to go to the Coliseum in 1995 (only summer living in Alameda Co.) the Raiders came back but the stadium was much quainter and better for watching a game.

The points about players constantly leaving might be one issue (however, college basketball and college football teams have many loyal fans despite the constant turnover in players).

That being said trading the best pitcher in the middle of a pennant race can send the wrong message to some fans. I suppose some might think “If the A’s are building a good team for the future then I will buy tickets in the future.”

The next 9 games are huge!!! We should start getting guys back during the next stetch. Seriously, I would take 5-4 over the next 9. That will keep us alive and hopefully the next home-stand will have greater crowds.

by Yellowhorse on Jul 10, 2008 11:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

In late 80s A's had a huge stadium advantage over the Giants

Jeremy was safe. He jumped over the tag.

by mrrickyg on Jul 11, 2008 8:47 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bay Area Fans

It is not so much the quantity, as it is the out to lunch attitude of bay area baseball fans that drives me crazy. Today, I witnessed half the crowd leave after the top of the ninth inning. Cisco Field, with its high tech glamor, might draw more fans, but it will be the corporate fan that I have grown accustomed to seeing with the Giants, who comes in the top of the third inning and leaves in the bottom of the eighth inning.

by natethesnyde on Jul 11, 2008 12:41 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I think half is a pretty big exaggeration. There were a number that left but...

...there were definitely a lot more who stuck around.

Last of the Ninth - Photography Site
jamesvenes.com - Blog

by Flashfire on Jul 11, 2008 1:14 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was there

It was an outstanding game. Good pitching for the first 7. Frustration that they could not hit off Dickey. Depression when Casilla gave it up. Custation as he went deep in the 9th. Elation when Suzuki tied it up. And then the crowd went nuts when Emil won it, just barely over. 100% Baseball indeed. Fucking Awesome.

Enjoy the game

by DCinWC on Jul 11, 2008 8:00 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Alot of the people on here

are die hard fans. We enjoy good pitching and defense no matter what the name on the back of the jersey says. The casual fan is not going to pay a couple of hundred dollars for his family of four after the tickets, parking, munchies and a few beers to see Wes Bankston, Emil Brown and Jack Hannahan. Zero star players on the field right now, rebuilding and a average stadium at best is not going to get the casual baseball fan through the gate. Not because of any one thing the A’s are a AAA team at MLB prices right now.

by asfaninpismobeach on Jul 11, 2008 10:25 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

“Not because of any one thing the A’s are a AAA team at MLB prices right now.”

That quote says a lot right about now, and over the last few years even. Giambi, Tejada, et al, ad nauseum, all leave. No stars for fans to care about, and when they do, they’re heartbroken when they leave. That’s all I hear about when I invite people out to a game.

"No matter what I talk about, I always get back to baseball." -- Connie Mack

by GreenSocks on Jul 11, 2008 12:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think your statement is true for many stadiums,

but not the Coliseum. And furthermore, I think that’s a very good thing.

It’s true that for many markets, well-known veteran players bring in the fans and young unknown players don’t. I happen to live in a city like that, and that fact is an important part of why that city’s team is utter crap right now. Richie Sexson sells more tickets than Wladimir Balentien. Kenji Johjima sells more tickets than Jeff Clement. Raul Ibanez sells more tickets than Adam Jones.

And the Mariners had to hit rock bottom before they changed their pattern of clinging to familiar names. (And even now, it’s probably only a temporary change.)

For whatever reason, the Oakland market is one where star players has less effect on attendance than elsewhere (ie, our attendance still sucks even when we do have familiar names), and therefore the company can get more attendance leverage by posting a decent W-L loss record with unfamiliar young players.

That’s lucky for us, because it means our team is marginally more interested in winning, and marginally less interested in retaining players past their prime.

The interesting question is whether this will still be true in Fremont. I suspect that it will not, which is why I think we can look forward to having a worse team with a larger payroll and a nicer stadium.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jul 11, 2008 12:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You are making me ill...

We don’t want the team to be a Giant’s clone.

by IM4Oakgal on Jul 11, 2008 1:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Being encouraged not to show up

in as many ways as the A’s can (not to say the fans don’t bear responsibility for not showing up, either).

"PECOTA can pretty much kiss my ass."-Nico

by jeepers on Jul 11, 2008 12:38 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'd really like to see a study

that compares win/payroll ratio with stadium quality. Not sure exactly how you’d define the latter, but my intuition is that there’s a significant negative correlation. Seems like for the most part, the organizations that put out good teams year after year have crappy stadiums, and the teams that have great stadiums usually have crappy teams.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Jul 11, 2008 5:43 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs