The Tampa Bay Rays were playing with their back against the wall on Wednesday.
They had to win to keep their postseason hopes alive, but ended up losing, 7-1, to the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers are moving on to the next round, the Division Series, while the Rays are out of the race in the Wild Card round for the second consecutive year.
Losing is a part of sports, and life: that isn’t the most disappointing part of the Rays’ season, per se.
The problem is that when they needed to feel the warmth and support from their fans, it didn’t happen.
On Tuesday, the Rays set the lowest postseason attendance since 1919 with 19,704 fans showing up at Tropicana Field.
The situation didn’t improve much for Wednesday’s elimination game.
“Lowest single game attendance, last 100 years of MLB postseason games (not including 2020): 10/3/23 TEX @ TB – 19,704; 10/4/23 TEX @ TB – 20,198; 10/10/31 PHA @ STL – 20,805; 10/11/73 BAL @ OAK – 24,265; 10/5/33 NYG @ WSH – 25,727; 10/8/81 NYY @ MIL – 26,395,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
Lowest single game attendance,
last 100 years of MLB postseason games
(not including 2020):10/3/23 TEX @ TB – 19,704
10/4/23 TEX @ TB – 20,198
10/10/31 PHA @ STL – 20,805
10/11/73 BAL @ OAK – 24,265
10/5/33 NYG @ WSH – 25,727
10/8/81 NYY @ MIL – 26,395— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) October 5, 2023
A little over 20,000 fans showed up to support the Rays, which is highly disappointing considering it was a playoff game.
It was the second lowest attendance for a playoff game in the last 100 years, only surpassing the Rays’ Tuesday output.
With the organization announcing the construction of a new stadium, one has to think it will be more modern, with more amenities and things to offer and attract fans.
Still, like Tropicana Field, it will be in St. Petersburg, not that close to the city of Tampa, so one has to think if it’s going to work long-term.
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