A Thought About Attendance, Ian Kinsler And Losing Baseball
Rangers Ballpark in Arlington stands proudly underneath a cloud-filled sky on Sunday, May 17th. - sidehike/Flickr.comOne week ago today, Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler crossed the proverbial line in the sand with some of the franchise's most passioniate supporters in issuing this controversial claim on The Ticket's BaD Radio: "It's kind of a shame that people in this area don't really believe in us ... they don't want to come out and support us."
The notion that a well-populated crowd positively contributes to the home team's mentality -- providing a psychological boost of sorts -- and, by extension, the home team's chances of winning is hardly radical, but nigh-impossible to quantify. Nevertheless, let's give Kinsler -- and, to a lesser extent, David Murphy, who has also chimed in on the attendance situation -- the benefit of the doubt when he submits that "if we can get people to come out and watch, it's going to give us a lot more energy." Fine. Okay.
After completing a moderately successful six-game road trip that culminated in a three-game slaughter of the Indians at Progressive Field, perpetual showers, lackluster divisional opponents and some very uninspired baseball from the Rangers over the ensuing days further depressed home attendance totals ... and then, on Wednesday evening, with the specter of additional rain looming over the Ballpark and Texas reeling from consecutive body blows, the Rangers actually pushed 23,372 through the turnstiles -- their strongest single-game attendance mark since August 19th.
Is that a mind-blowingly large crowd? Of course not. I do, however, think it's reflective of the fact that there are a respectable number of people who still want to believe in this team (contrary to Kinsler's assertion), and are backing up their faith with their hard-earned bucks in spite of a gate receipt-decimating confluence of factors: terrible weather, a bad economy and a struggling baseball team that is quickly falling out of the post-season picture.
The Rangers' response to that apparent expression of faith -- manifesting as a fairly reasonable crowd, in light of the circumstances -- was a putrid one-hit performance by an increasingly maligned lineup, extending the ballclub's streak of offensive futility to a single run over its last 37 innings. Lots of entertainment value to be found there.
By and large, the prevailing problem at 1000 Ballpark Way right now is not the fans (or a lack thereof), who desperately want to keep believing, but are not being given much reason to do so right now, much less pour their scarce discretionary income into a currently floundering product. In fact, if you look at the day-to-day correlation between attendance and the Rangers' divisional standing, you will find that home attendance had been relatively strong -- in the realm of 20,000-plus per night -- up until the point when the Rangers found themselves entrenched in a five- to six-game hole in the division, at which point it would stand to reason that interest would begin to wane just a bit:
About 90 minutes from now, the Rangers will commence their last-chance scuffle with the first-place Angels, placing their hopes upon the broad shoulders of rookie revelation Tommy Hunter and presumably pulling that coveted 30,000-plus showing through the turnstiles. No more excuses.
Frankly, I've reached the point where I don't want to hear about a perceived deficiency in fan support from the players again this year, and Kinsler's already dubious position on the matter will go flying through the window entirely if the Rangers respond to a potential 100,000-fan weekend showing at the Ballpark by dropping two out of three games.
11 Comments | in Analysis, The Season
Reader Comments (11)
Good stuff.
How can they expect better attendance when at crunch time of a pennant race they get blown out by both cellar dwellers in our own division. Kinsler's play always seems to diminish when his mouth is open. It is always wait till next year, and here we go again.
Kinslers frustrated. Bottom line is hes just making an excuse. When i lived in Fort Worth in 07 and 08 I went to games regardless of the standings because I love the Rangers and I love to watch baseball. With the usual scarce attendence I could pay 5 bucks and sit on the third base line most games. What better way to spend two hours right? But the cause behind local fan support runs much deeper than a teams current success...it relates to the past history. Years and years of losing has diminished overall fan support. Case in Point: Tampa Bay last year. Nuff said. It takes a WINNING CULTURE to develop to establish a booming fan base. Case in Point: Boston and New York. It falls on management, who construct teams year to year and are overall responsible for success or failure. What were doing now is building that back up. If we keep building on what weve done this year the fan support will be there down the road. "If you build it, they will come." Not a park, but a winning culture.
big crowd tonight. (Friday). The Ranger bats are silent yet again. It's been a great run, but I think it's about over this year. Kinsler can't complain about the crowd. He should worry about the lack of offense over the past week.
And to take that a little further, BBB, a good portion of the effect from a bounce-back winning season is felt the following season; winning primarily boosts walk-up ticket sales in the here and now ... and season tickets the year afterwards, which intuitively makes sense.
Kinsler is now 11 for his last 52 and 1 for his last 16. I try very hard not to rail on individual players, but you sort of open yourself up to criticism when you make those sorts of remarks and then promptly slump hard.
Last night there were some 30,000+ at The Ballpark and what did these fans, who were waving white towels and screaming and yelling for the Rangers, get for their money? A 2-0 shutout of "our" team!! We the fans are behind this team even if Ian Kinsler and David Murphy don't think we are.....here are men playing a game and making more in one six-month period than most people make in years! And these guys are complaining?? Where is Kinsler and Murphy's bats?? Were is their enthusiasm? It sure doesn't show on the field. Kinsler stands at second constantly smoothing his area out....he is bored evidently! First swings and trying for a home run....aggressive hitting is one thing but not being smart is another. But, hey let's blame it on the fans..........why not!! Honestly, I love these two guys but this whinning about the fans is a bit much.........what we would like to see is both Ian and David make us proud; let us pound our chests and say these are our guys, this is our beloved Rangers and they are the best there is......but then again I guess their inability to win in the crunch is our fault......I am a season ticket holder and probably make about 70 games this year.....there are times I do have to work guys and can't be there for you.......so I apologize for my not supporting you as you seem to think.
Need to add another comment for Ian and David...........guys not only have I, a fan, been in Chicago earlier in the year to support you, I also was in Seattle in August to support your, and on September 29th, I will be in Anaheim to root for you..........so for some of us it's not just at The Ballpark but when I am out traveling (the job guys...sales) I try to shcedule to be where you are if at all possible! I, as do many other fans, desperately want you to succeed......man you two got me ticked off!
Amen!
What a season for Kinsler huh
Guy's dealing in April...
Hits for the cycle
Then Hamilton goes out...
Tries to get all Gung-Ho Ranger: 'I'm-gonna-be-the-guy-that-carries-this-thing-while-Josh-is-out'...
Failed miserably...
Doesn't make the All-Star Game...
Pissed that Ranger fans couldn't get him in...
Jealous that Hamilton got in even though he was hurt all year...
Then HE goes on the DL...
Then when he comes back and starts hitting again, they wanna take HIM out of the leadoff spot???
For this douche who can't hit lefties?
Get the fuck outta here...
I can't believe that people in this area don't really care about us.
They come out for Boston and New York.
They should be coming out to watch us. They should be coming out to watch the Rangers.
(pop-up)
Ian, I do agree with your opinion on this. We are also proud of you and the team this year. However don't say that right after I just forked out almost $300 for me and the kids to attend the post season game/series in October ! We wish you all the best.
Want more RBIs? Watch the pop ups ..
MG
The Rangers lost 2 of 3 to the Angels with huge crowds, right? Kinsler's still trying to hit the ball out of the park every at bat. Who's the grumpus in the clubhouse?