One of the best things about going to see your home team play baseball is the big crowd. I was lucky enough to see the Jays play the Phillies earlier this summer when Roy Halladay was back in town for the first time. I’m from the Toronto area. 46,000 people came to this game and were very excited and lively. I have to say that even though I got to see Doc pitch again at the Rogers Center, it wouldn’t have been the same without the people.
That’s pretty much what this is all about. If the people don’t care about the team enough, the team shouldn’t be there, whether they win or lose. Of course, this isn’t always the city’s fault; sometimes the people there are busy with much more appropriate games. The number of fans was the starting point for this list. I then looked at the city and other sports teams that play in it, which makes it an unfriendly place for baseball.
Oakland is the Worst Baseball City
Something is wrong when MC Hammer signs bobbleheads at your stadium. It’s the worst place in the US to watch baseball. The Oakland A’s are still the laughingstock of baseball, having finished 30th, 29th, and 30th in 2009, 2010, and 2011. There must be a lot of things that go into looking at the impossible to change and embarrassing attendance numbers, but the first thing that comes to mind is Moneyball.
Unfortunately, Billy Beane, if you decide to fill your team with a mismatched bunch of people to take advantage of one of baseball’s many flaws, the fans will forget why they bought tickets to see you in the first place.
I know that Oakland can’t sign big-name free agents to silly contracts every year because of their large payroll, but maybe Beane should use the money he saves on his famous “Moneyball” plan to build a stronger fan base.
Oakland has been home to some of the best batters and pitchers in baseball history. Fans might start to want to come see baseball if the team could just keep one or two of them.
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