Blank Spots in the Bleachers

The most embarrassing thing about baseball's most storied strikeout was that Mudville's bnleachers were "black with people" the day that mighty Casey took the count. No such public ignominy awaits the contemporary Casey: in Mudville or Milwaukee, empty seats are the sign of baseball's times.

Mosquitoes & TV. Going into the season's second half, no fewer than twelve of the 20 big-league clubs were in the throes of attendance slumps. Ticket sales are 94,426 off last year's midseason mark in Milwaukee. 105,211 in Pittsburgh, 167,257 in Cleveland. Last year's box-office leaders, the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, both report declines: 14,270 fro the Yanks, 38,935 for the Dodgers. Total big-league attendance is down 126,158, and the figure would be far worse except for Boston--where the surprising Red Sox, with the two top American League hitters in the lineup and exciting Dick Radatz in the bullpen, have attracted 275,082 extra fans.

What's wrong? Every baseball mogul has a theory. In Houston, there are the helicopter-sized mosquitoes that infest the ballpark. Washington's Joseph Burke picks on TV: "If the team is losing, people naturally stay home and watch the tube." Judge Robert Cannon, counsel for the Major League Players' Association, says it's all the fault of the baseball fan's economy. "Unemployment is high and money is scarce," says Cannon. "The guy with the big family can't afford to take his kids to the ball game as often as he once did." And Milwaukee's John McHale blames it on the weather. "It was 44DEG here this morning," he said recently, "I was in Chicago yesterday, and it was the coldest day since eighteen-something-or-other."

In the Groove. Other reasons make better sense. Baseball attendance has been slipping for yers as people discover how exciting other sports can be. Many a man who thrills to pro football now twiddles his thumbs through a nine-inning pitching duel: there are other things to do on a weekend--play golf or watch the pros, go to the auto races, chip in to buy a boat and take the kids sailing or fishing. The expansion to ten-team leagues gave attendance a hypo. But the boosters can hardly be expected to stay all steamed up when their heroes are glued in the cellar and the pennant races settle into that familiar groove. Last week the Yankees led the American League by 5 1/2games, and the Dodgers were on top of the National League by 7 1/2.

At the other end of the standings, in ineffable New York Mets, with "Perfessor" Casey Stengel presiding, drew 922,530 shrieking, cheering, banner-waving partisans to the Polo Grounds last year. The Mets finished last by 60 1/2 games. This year the bloom is off the sage. Big crowds still turn out when the Dodgers come to town, or the San Francisco Giants. But only 6,505 paying customers were on hand last week to see the Mets lose to the Houston Colts, 8-0--their 16th loss in 17 games. From somewhere amid the blank spots in the bleachers came a plaintive cry of disgust: "Casey Stengel is a fink."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.