Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Nobody's Home

It's been a while since I picked on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, so with the AAA All Star Game tonight, it seems like a perfect opportunity.

Saturday night's attendance was 5,700.  Take a thousand off that, and you have the Sunday figure.  Remember, that counts tickets sold, not people in the seats.  SWB is next to last in attendance in the International League, and that's just sad.  Also note that Lehigh Valley was in town for the weekend, the former Red Barons, a Phillies affiliate, a natural rivalry.  It makes bad numbers even worse.

You can't blame it all on an old stadium.

Some of the promotions are nice-- cheap beer and hot dogs, fireworks, entertainment, etc.  But, what ever became of the old staples, bat day, ball day, cap day, tee shirt day, etc?  The team gives away something once in a while.  It's not nearly enough.  Giveaways can be expensive, but you make it back in food, drink, and souvenir sales.  You also make your fans happy and make them feel like you value their support.  Remember that concept?

It now seems like they're doing you a favor by allowing you to come through the gates.

Let's look at who's at the top, Allentown and Louisville.  Allentown still has the novelty of a new team and a new stadium.  I've seen the park.  It's very nice.  Louisville has a rich baseball tradition.  Columbus is in third place.  There's a fairly new stadium there.


If memory serves, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is the smallest metropolitan area in the International League.  I don't expect the massive numbers of the early days, but we should be doing a lot better.  Hey, the Yankees are in first place!  We all love a winner.

A new stadium would help.  It's not the entire answer.  The team has to show the fans some love.

This is the icing on the cake, and it perfectly illustrates the issues in Moosic.  I called the team president yesterday morning to try to get an interview on the passing of N.Y. Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner.  My call was was promptly returned, which was a bit of a surprise.  I was told the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees would have no comment.  Everything would have to come out of New York.

Really?

All someone had to do was say something like "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Steinbrenner family.  He always wanted what was best for Yankees' fans and the game of baseball."

Is it that hard to show you care?