Opening day at Tropicana, all the locals were tailgating, boozing, talking trash about the Rays. Yep new faces but we all gonna support our team. Opening game they drew 91per cent of capacity. Game two had diminished to 40 per cent, lets see what its like by May 1. The owner Sternberg was interviewed talking about all the great things done but was hesitant about attendance. The stadium issues here I believe will remain up in the air. A new park is useless if no one shows up. Sternberg also mentioned that he would not move the team but if he sold the team the new owners may choose to do so. It was also brought up that Montreal drew huge crowds for a couple exhibition games. Possible thought maybe, I'd think there or Charlotte.
I don't pay that much attention to the Marlins but checking the boxes for game 1 & 2 looks like they did a similar nose dive. As a kid I used to follow the old international league and Montreal and Miami both drew well. The Marlins upgraded, Atlanta down then bopped the Marlins in both games weird shit. I catch shit all the time for not being a Rays Fans because I live here. I spent my first forty plus years on the move and there were a lot of places where I lived but did not support the "local" team Pennsylvania, California, New Jersey, Maryland, and Ohio. Sixty years a Yankee Fan and will remain so till the grim reaper shows up.
I had a buddy in Montreal, haven't even heard from him since the Expos left to D.C. He told me, during about any game, one could get a seat behind the backstop or dugouts, at the ticket window, as empty seats abounded. Keep in mind, the Stadium in Montreal was built for the 76 Olympics, then converted to a MLB field, and the Expos began play there in 77..... But..........he also said, the Dome, was not baseball friendly, and was in dire need of repair. His stance and that of others he claimed, was the Fans didn't quit attending because they didn't want to see live baseball played in person. They quit attending due to one run down rat infested beat up old park, that had not been maintained over time. A piece of Trivia, who was the Expos 1st Manager? for 10 points, and a vendor sized small bag of Cheetos, name that Mgr.
You got it Rick, Gene Mauch........ Ya' know I've never forgiven Mauch for taking Bobby Witt out of the 86 ALCS, when he was but one Strike away from going to the Series, 2 outs, 2 strikes, and WTF, Gene made a move to the mound, and the rest is fkd up History....! It was the craziest move IMO, one of the dumbest moves ever made by a Mgr..... I'm sure you recall, the PD was on Horse Back surrounding the field, (off in the foul territory, less the OF).......the Champagne & Plastic from the Club House, Trophy Too.....!
Gene Mauch - mgr '64 Phillies. They blew a 6 or 7 game lead with 12 left losing 10 straight along the way. oof!
Mauch came tantalizingly close to the World Series, on three occasions. In late September 1964, his Phillies had a record of 90–60, a 61⁄2 game lead in the with 12 games left to play, and were starting a 7-game home stand. Mauch decided to start his two pitching aces, Jim Bunnning and Chris Short; in 7 of the last 10 games, 4 of those starts on 2 days rest (all of which they lost). The Phillies faded, losing 10 games in a row before winning their last 2 games to finish tied for second place with the Reds one game behind St. Louis, in a collapse infamously known as the "Phold." The other 2 near-World-Series cases came with the Angels.
Being the Stats King as you are Rick, this one you might find interesting: From 1883 through 2014, the Philadelphia Phillies have a combined all-time win-loss record of 9,464-10,551. The team is 1,087 games below .500 all time. It would thus take the franchise approximately 60 consecutive 90-win seasons to get back to that all-time break even mark. Those 10,551 losses are more than any club in MLB history. Only the Braves franchise with 10,303 are even remotely close. The Phils .473 All time Winning Pctg, is not the lowest mark: The Padres (.464), Mariners (.468), Rockies (.469), and Marlins (.470) are all lower. But each of those was a relatively recent expansion team, with San Diego’s 1969 start the earliest of the bunch. Ah shit hold my tongue, I'm talking of a Team that IS NOT The Yanx, sacrilege.....
Good stuff Rob. And although they're also a new team I think the Rays have the lowest winning pct all time. As far as highest, wouldn't you know it would be my two favorite teams, The Yankees at 569 & 2,400 games over 500 & the Giants at 538 & over 1,500 games over 500.
even better stuff, the Bums are approximately only 1,000 games above .500...... One has to respect the Yanx all time record, the best record in MLB, hail to de Bronx...!
The Yankees have also made twice as many world series appearances than the 2nd closest team, you guessed it....the Giants. 40 to 20. And only 5 teams have won as many as 8 world series............. Yankees 27 (40) Cardinals 11 (19) Athletics 9 (14) Red Sox 8 (12) Giants 8 (20)
those mighty Cards, from the Dean Bros., Stan The Man, Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Lou Brock, up thru the Ozzie and White Rat Show, I thought I'd never see those Cards usurped by the Giants.....in my Life time.....! History has taken its turn.......
