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| (FenwayNation Photo) |
They may be in first place and they may be endearing themselves to The Nation as
Idiots II, but they sure aren't sticking as many posteriors into the 1912-era seats at Fenway as they used to. Up to the All-Star Break, the Red Sox have filled Fenway Park to 91.6% capacity through 47 home dates. Sounds good, right? In fact, it's the third best percentage in all of baseball. However, by the end of last year, seats at Fenway were filled to
over capacity (101.4%)—the
best mark in MLB. And don't forget, we had
'Captain Queeg' Valentine running aground the good ship Yawkey to its worst season in a generation (69 total wins). Why are fewer people flocking to
America's Most Cramped Ballpark this year than last? Lots of probable reasons: the cumulative effect of
Black September 2011 and
all of 2012; the ridiculously high ticket prices (remember how the NOG self-righteously touted the fact that they weren't
raising prices?); and the fact that Boston hasn't seen any playoff action since
Jonathan Papelbon blew Game Three of the
2009 LDS. Think ownership is worried? Maybe. Their good friend Bud is about to consummate a new national TV deal that will net each team another $25 million next year—and the Sox have managed to sneak under the salary tax threshold. And, best of all,
John Henry's investment of $750 million has virtually doubled in value to $1.312
billion. So, do you think they
really care? As a Liverpool fan might say, "Not bloody likely".
