The Cleveland Indians are struggling to bring fans to their baseball games. They're struggling so much that they're lagging well behind the rest of Major League Baseball, even so far as to be trailing the Oakland Athletics by a considerable margin. Chris Perez of the Indians isn't healthy about this development.
"I know that. It's just a slap in the face when you're last in attendance," Perez said Sunday morning. "Last. It's not like we're 25th or 26th. We're last. Oakland is out-drawing us. That's embarrassing."
The Athletics have never been known for their great attendance figures, particularly when their team is non-competitive. Indeed this year the Athletics stand at 19,077, 29th overall. However, they're well ahead of the Cleveland Indians, who have managed only 16,084, 30th overall. It's a stark contrast to last season, when the Indians had an average attendance of 22,726 fans, placing them at 24th overall. That's a drop-off of almost 6000 fans! Not a good sign. The A's have actually improved slightly from their last place finish in 2011, where they had about 18,232 fans (so about a +800 fan increase).
Talk about the A's with Oakland fans over at Athletics Nation. See what Indians fans feel about their poor attendance numbers at Let's Go Tribe.
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