Indianapolis and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre avoided elimination in the International League playoffs and the Montgomery Biscuits evened things up with the Mobile BayBears. Attendance numbers give a glimpse into a reality of minor league baseball — only a few fans really follow the teams closely enough to care about postseason.
International League
Indianapolis 8, Charlotte 0
Box, Wrap
Charlotte leads the best-of-five series 2-1. But if they had won, would anyone other than the team have known? Attendance: 1,703. Pitiful, even for Fort Mill. (Although, to be honest, the Bulls rarely draw more than 2,000 or so for playoff games)
Pawtucket Red Sox at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Playing in Rochester)
SWB 4, Pawtucket 3
Box, Wrap
Pawtucket leads series 2-1. Attendance: 2,028. Not bad considering Rochester is hardly “home” for the Yankees.
Update: See Jenks' (Pawsox Heavy) take on the game here.
Southern League
Montgomery Biscuits at Mobile BayBears
Montgomery 2, Mobile 1, 11 innings
Box, Montgomery Advertiser
The Biscuits evened series to 1-1 with a walk-off hit by newcomer Robby Price. Infielder Price passed through the Bulls locker room on his way from the Charlotte Stone Crabs to the Montgomery Biscuits. Kevin Kiermaier, who had followed the same path, scored the winning run. Folks down in Mobile turned out in much better numbers (2,563) than elsewhere.
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No one goes to Pawtucket playoff games, either, but the trade-off is that the fans in attendance are super into the game. Ordinarily it's a laid-back crowd with a lot of kids running around.
ReplyDeleteVery good point. And it will give me something to write about as my baseball withdrawal symptoms start to kick in.
ReplyDeleteIf it gets too bad I might have to watch the Rays ( telling myself that I'm just seeking out Bulls sitting on the bench) ...
The members of the small crowd at a playoff game are almost all recognizable regulars and really fun to talk to as the game goes on.
You won't have to seek the bench tonight. Chris Archer is starting for the Rays vs. Rangers & Darvish, giving David Price a night off. 7 PM MLB Network telecast, though not sure if we'll get Yankees/O's instead. It's Archer's first start in the Trop, the other two this season were @DC and @KC.
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