Phillies Fans Shockingly Don’t Want To Watch Bad Phillies Team

Hey there IS something to watch at Citizens Bank Park! Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Remember that fun, artificially-inflated, 257-game Citizens Bank Park sell-out streak from July of 2009 to August of 2012?

Yeah, those were good times. Kinda.

Those days of crowded concourses, two-hour waits in line at Planet Hoagie, five-hour waits to get out of the Citizens Bank parking lot, and Phillies fans who think the team’s history dates back to 2009, are sadly behind us.

Last night’s paid attendance at Citizens Bank Park for the Phils’ 9-6 loss to the Nationals was a meager 28,626. That’s 15,025 tickets not sold, with certainly many more empty seats shining in the bright late-summer moonlight.

I guess those standing-room only tickets are a quaint notion now.

By the way, tickets for Wednesday night’s Nationals game in Philly can be had for $6 on StubHub. LOTS OF GOOD SEATS STILL AVAILABLE!

Look, the Phillies are a bad team right now, especially in light of all the injuries they’ve suffered and all the kids who are getting playing time in September. The team’s main goal is not necessarily to win as many games as possible right now, so it’s understandable that fans will stay away.

Still, even in this lost season, the Phillies have averaged 37,882 this year, good for 6th in all of MLB. You can make a living with attendance figures like that.

Certainly lower attendance numbers could have some impact on the roster budget for next year. But with a new cable TV deal looming, maybe not. The fact is that people don’t like to trek all the way down to South Philly, watch their baseball team filled with players they’ve never heard of lose for three hours, then trek all the way back home.

It’s just as easy, and cheaper, to get drunk at home.

Of course, there are people like me who just love baseball and love going to baseball games and are actually looking forward to going to a stadium that isn’t filled with half and fully-drunk morons who are there simply because it’s “the place to be,” all while spending $40 for a ticket that actually allows me to see the game.

It’s unlikely the franchise will ever get to the point where they’re giving tickets away inside of hot dog packages again. Those were good days but, when the Vet had 65,386 seats and those teams routinely won about 70 games a year, so yeah, the team could afford to give a few thousand tickets away every now and then.

Fans will come back once the team becomes competitive again. We are not Atlanta or DC. Fans actually care about baseball in Philadelphia and will come out when there is something decent to watch.

They aren’t going to come to watch Michael Martinez play center field or Kevin Frandsen hit third.

Come on. You can’t blame them.

So, enjoy the extra leg room while it’s there, kids. The bandwagon may get full yet again someday soon.