I'm at the game right now. Awful amosphere. Guess the move next year will bring the fans back in (I hope)
there's no chance that will happen. they will get good crowds for the yankees and sox, but i wouldn't even bet a whole lot on all of those games being sell-outs.
Yep. Playing in the AL East has been a great boon for the Rays. The Yankees and Red Sox have made them regular sellouts. Its gonna suck. Fans aren't happy about it, so I don't see any way it helps the team.
i still want somebody to put crane in a corner and read his quotes on tradition and how we are an NL team and that there's no way he'd let them move us to the AL, and ask him what he has to say about that now (6 or 7 months later).
The impact of the AL move on attendance is overstated both ways. It's definitely a myth that the Yankees and Sox will play here enough to significantly boost attendance. On the other hand, it's also a myth that fans being "mad" will hurt attendance, imo. It comes down to winning. This town loves MMP and the Astros... once the team is competitive, people will show. Doesn't matter who we play. But it's going to take a lot more than one good series to bring interest back. Really, attendance was WAY higher in 2009 and 2010 than it should have been, given the product and direction of the franchise... but it took a couple of seasons of consistently terrible play to drop interest to where it is now. Likewise, it's going to take a year or two of competent play to bring casual fans back in big numbers. (Unless we have a legit playoff run in the next two years, that is, but let's be realistic.) Big picture, I don't see the AL helping or hurting that much. But if the Astros could surprise this year, win 75 games or so and have a couple young prospects break out... that would go a long way to bringing the atmosphere back. I will say that this is the most fun I've had watching the Astros since late 2008. There's not much dead weight. Not saying all these guys will pan out, but there's at least someone of some intrigue at every position. That's enough to get me back to the park more often.
