So what's it gonna take to get folks back to the Yard?

[flashjordnk]

Look @ the stadium last night in Chicago... empty.

Baseball is just too constant/accessible to fill that place regularly. By & large, society has changed. Except in places like Boston & Chicago.

Last night it was probably in the 50's with 10+ MPH winds in Chicago. And they were playing the Orioles...The Yard didn't even sell out this early when the Yankees were in town because it's so darn cold.

Not saying Chicago sells out every game, but I haven't been to Balt or Wash for a game, simply because the weather hasn't been great. Monday night the one really good night to go, I was busy...

[Coker]

The major league debuts of Machado and Bundy.

[EddieEddie]

I'll throw this in there because I dont feel like starting a new thread and no one every checks the MLB forum:

Trade for Mark Trumbo.

He can't even get in the line-up in LA because they signed Pujols and have Morales back and a crowded outfield. He can't play 3B, had 3 errors in the first 2 games. Get him, and he can be our 1B for the next decade or so. We'd have to give up a lot, but there is an opporunity there.

Just throwing that out there.

[SilentJames]

If the Orioles are above .500 at the end of June, people will start coming back.

If the Orioles are above .500 when they return from this roadtrip I think you will see some highly attended games.

[NewMarketSean]

If the Orioles are above .500 at the end of June, people will start coming back.

If the Orioles are above .500 when they return from this roadtrip I think you will see some highly attended games.

It'll be June.

Fans wont be suckered by a good roadtrip in April.

The O's do have some good promos coming up....T-shirt Thursday, the Frobby statue on April 28th...they'll be well attended for those games and others like it.

As long as the team is decent throughout the summer, you'll see a spike, but nothing consistent until at least June.

[DrungoHazewood]

But it really hasn't. Certain stadiums go through peaks and valleys, but as a whole more people go to games than ever. Baseball, more than any other sport, has its attendance and tv ratings rooted to their home teams. They play 162 games a year; certain relationships and bonds are built between the hometown players and their fans. That's why World Series ratings are indicative of nothing.

1979 was the first year the O's averaged 20k fans a game. Through the 1969-1979 run they averaged between 11k and 13k a game. The '75 O's (just picking a year) had several games with announced attendances under 5000.

[PaulFolk]

I'll throw this in there because I dont feel like starting a new thread and no one every checks the MLB forum:

Trade for Mark Trumbo.

He can't even get in the line-up in LA because they signed Pujols and have Morales back and a crowded outfield. He can't play 3B, had 3 errors in the first 2 games. Get him, and he can be our 1B for the next decade or so. We'd have to give up a lot, but there is an opporunity there.

Just throwing that out there.

No single player acquisition is going to raise attendance consistently (though maybe an absolutely huge name like Pujols would bring some more fans).

But...Mark Trumbo? A guy who casual fans have never heard of, and who isn't particularly good? (.291 OBP last year) That wouldn't register even a blip on the radar screen in terms of bringing more fans.

[DuffMan]

No single player acquisition is going to raise attendance consistently (though maybe an absolutely huge name like Pujols would bring some more fans).

But...Mark Trumbo? A guy who casual fans have never heard of, and who isn't particularly good? (.291 OBP last year) That wouldn't register even a blip on the radar screen in terms of bringing more fans.

If we traded for Mark Trumbo I would go to less games!

[DuffMan]

Look @ the stadium last night in Chicago... empty.

Baseball is just too constant/accessible to fill that place regularly. By & large, society has changed. Except in places like Boston & Chicago.

I saw all those green seats and my first thought was I thought they were playing at Chicago not in Baltimore.

[DuffMan]

Hate to say it but I think just a winning season wouldn't be enough. It'd have to be a legitimate playoff push.

Agreed. I don't think the big bump in attendance would occur until the next year. Fans are going to be skeptical until it really matters.

Agreed. I guess if we were within 2-3 games of 1st place when school got out you'd see attendance begin to pick up. But the fans have been burned before so nothing in April or May is likely to have an effect.

I agree with this as well. It's going to take more than a few good weeks/months of winning baseball to get fans to forget about 14 years of losing.

[Todd-O]

I agree Paul... the only kind of player that could get some attention would be a super-sized superstar.

I still think that the arrival of a wildly hyped (and hopefully, wildly successful in the MiLs) Bundy could get folks fired up. Of course his arrival will need to intersect with more Ws than Ls in the standings and stable of very good players in the clubhouse.

Things can change fast on the personnel front in sports. Luckily, for the O's, enough of our guys are young and haven't hit their ceilings.

[Todd-O]

I agree with this as well. It's going to take more than a few good weeks/months of winning baseball to get fans to forget about 14 years of losing.

The beauty is: Winning can erase that 14 years. And oh wouldn't it be sweet!!!!! I would give a lot just to have a hard time getting tix to a game.

[JimDH]

There are a number of fans that are gone forever. Moved away, died, changed interests etc. With the team being so bad for so long these have not been replaced by the younger generations. Those who would grow into paying customers/season ticket customers. Many of those may never be captured.

Attendance should increase immediately if the team starts winning regularly, but I think it will take a long, long time to get back to where they were. Or a WS run, maybe.

This is what I still think.

[Hank Scorpio]

This is what I still think.

I wholeheartedly agree.

For some, the bridge has long been torched.

[Todd-O]

Well... it's been a long time since I started this thread. Tomorrow is the regular season home finale. I know folks are looking ahead to - hopefully - the playoffs... but I was just checking the Orioles.com website and anyone can go on there and fetch tickets for Sunday's game.

Phew.

I just don't get it. This is the MOST exciting team we've had in 15 years. They are going right down to the wire in a division crown race with the Yankees and the Red Sox are in town. And there are still a lot of empty seats sitting there for the last game.

Perhaps I under-estimated the damage the Orioles have done to the fan base during this losing streak... perhaps the damage the arrival and the 2012 success of the Nationals... or maybe it's the hard hitting effects of the economy...

But I am totally disappointed that all 3 games against the Sox this weekend aren't blocked-out, sold-out, black and orange clad.

Maybe if the O's can make some noise in a post-season run... maybe that will rejuvenate the fan base for next year.

Kind of a downer, if you ask me...

(not that I'm not totally fired-up for this team... they have MADE MY YEAR! Go Birds!)