It’s not easy following up one of the biggest stars to ever don the pinstripes, just ask Didi Gregorius and the turnstiles in the Bronx. Now while the former did seem to get past the loss of Derek Jeter, the latter did not according to Baseball Reference. The attendance at the stadium for 2015 was 3.19 million, 3,193,795 to be exact. That is not only down from 2014 (3,401,624) but is the lowest total since the 3,055,435 fans that came to the old stadium in 2000.
Yankee Stadium brought in the fourth most fans, behind the Dodgers, Cardinals and Giants. They averaged 39,922 fans a game, this is down from 42,520 in 2014 when they drew the third most fans. Now the clear and obvious answer as to why we saw 207,829 less Bronx Faithful make the trek to the stadium is the absence of the Captain. With no Jeter, no Core Four and no major star, attendance was bound to take a hit. Another factor could be ticket and other various prices associated with seeing a baseball game these days. The average ticket to see a game in the Bronx in 2015 cost a fan $51.55, the second highest in the league behind the Red Sox and $22.61 higher than the league average. The average cost for a “premium ticket” (not the nosebleeds or the bleachers) was $305.39, the highest in the league by far and $208.45 above the league average. Add to that the average cost of a beer ($6.00) and parking ($35), you’re lucky to come away spending anything less than $150.
The fans don’t want to spend their hard earned money to watch a shoddy product. Now while the 2015 club did surprise us all by making the playoffs, nobody wants to watch a year older already old ball club. Number retirement ceremonies can only get you so far, and we’re running out of those too. The team needs to do something to draw the fans in and the answer is right under their nose, the kids. Luis Severino and Greg Bird gave us all a taste of what a shot of young blood can do, not only to the team but to the excitement of attending a game. Rob Refsnyder’s brief appearance was enough to excite us all. I still vividly remember his first Major League homer, that long shot over the Green Monster. That was probably the loudest I cheered all season.
Alex Rodriguez’s 3,000th hit has come and gone, there isn’t a whole lot to bring in fans for 2016 outside of the Baby Bombers. Gary Sanchez tore through the Arizona Fall League, mashing a league best seven homers and 21 RBIs in 22 games. That kind of power would be a blast to watch at Yankee Stadium, I’d pay to see that. Aaron Judge is still a ways away from the Majors, but when he gets here we are in for a show. We’ve been screaming for years for a younger team and we are right on the cusp of getting what we want. Attendance is down. Cash and company need a way to bring us in. Now is the perfect time to experiment with the youngins. Just take a chance. Imagine if the team never took a chance on a scrawny kid from Kalamazoo who made 22 errors his rookie year.
