Page 18 - ARUBA TODAY

A18 SPORTS
Monday 28 May 2018

Attendance

drop, strikeout WILL TO WIN

rise has MLB

concerned

By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Major
League Baseball atten-
dance is headed to its low-
est average in 15 years.
And it’s not only because
of the historically bad
weather that’s plagued
the first third of the season.
Strikeouts exceeded hits in
a full calendar month for
the first time in April and
are on track to do so again
in May. Five teams are on
pace to lose 100 or more
games in the same season
for the first time.
Yet, there are trends Major Power wins
League Baseball views as
positive: New pace rules 102nd running
have cut the average time
of a nine-inning game by of the Indy 500
five minutes, mound trips
have dropped dramati-
cally and home runs have
receded from last year’s
record level.
“We’ve got a long way
to go,” baseball Commis-
sioner Rob Manfred said.
“We’re relatively early in
the season still and it has
been an aberrational part
of a season.”
Heading into the weekend,
the average attendance
of 27,207 was down 6 per-
cent from 28,931 on the Fri-
day before Memorial Day
last season. Last year’s final
average of 30,042 was the
second straight drop, and
if this season’s trendline
continues MLB would fin-
ish below 30,000 for the first
time since the 2003 figure
of 28,013. Awful weather
is part of the cause: There
have been 35 postpone-
ments this year, four shy of
last season’s total. Manfred
said 35 games that did go
on were played in temper-
atures under 40 degrees Will Power, of Australia, celebrates after winning the Indianapolis 500 auto
at first pitch. “The weather race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in Indianapolis Sunday, May 27, 2018.
has been historically diffi-
cult for us,” he said. Associated Press
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