This past Sunday, while sitting in a fairly empty T-Mobile Park watching the Mariners and Rays, I was scrolling Twitter to pass time in between innings. I ran across a tweet from the Portland Thorns that contained the number 25,218. I leaned over to my friend to show him the tweet, and we wondered how the attendance at the Mariners game compared. Our conversation shifted and I forgot to listen for the published attendance, but this morning I looked it up: 24,219.
999 more people bought a ticket to a Portland Thorns game than they did a Mariners game in which a Mariner hero, Edgar Martinez, was being honored (and a sweet street sign gift was being given to every fan).
If you have been to a Thorns game (I have been to several, and I think Ron and Melanie have season tickets) you know the product is good, the atmosphere is fun, and it is well worth the money spent to attend. But this is an incredible stat to me, mostly because of the narrative that women’s soccer (or any woman’s professional sport) is not something people will pay to watch.
Portland does a great job of supporting its sports teams. The Timbers draw sellout crowds every night, the Blazers draw attendance above the NBA average of 18,o00, and now the Thorns are setting attendance records (and drawing more fans than the Blazers per game).
When you look at the average attendance numbers of Major League teams this year, it is a bit shocking – 12 teams are averaging fewer than 24,000 fans per game, including a number of teams in the playoff hunt: Cleveland, Tampa Bay, and Oakland.
Two of those teams have been rumored to relocate to Portland once a stadium is built, and I can’t help but wonder how much of a boon it would be to those teams to come to Portland where we support our teams by showing up to cheer them on, day in and day out.
It’s time to find out, MLB! Bring a team to Portland. Let us show you how our people will show up in droves to support the local team, and if nothing else, help us save the environment by only driving 45 minutes to a game instead of over 3 hours.
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
RS |
RA |
| Portland Rosebuds |
79 |
43 |
.649 |
— |
754.7 |
554.5 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes |
75 |
47 |
.619 |
3.7 |
761.8 |
595.0 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines |
72 |
50 |
.591 |
7 |
727.0 |
592.7 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys |
66 |
54 |
.549 |
12.2 |
623.2 |
556.0 |
| Haviland Dragons |
63 |
58 |
.524 |
15.2 |
675.5 |
634.4 |
| Peshastin Pears |
64 |
58 |
.522 |
15.5 |
639.0 |
610.7 |
| Kaline Drive |
60 |
61 |
.498 |
18.3 |
576.1 |
580.3 |
| Canberra Kangaroos |
59 |
63 |
.487 |
19.8 |
664.3 |
686.3 |
| Bellingham Cascades |
55 |
65 |
.458 |
23.2 |
581.1 |
635.0 |
| Cottage Cheese |
54 |
64 |
.455 |
23.5 |
667.8 |
714.7 |
| Brookland Outs |
50 |
68 |
.423 |
27.3 |
582.1 |
680.5 |
| D.C. Balk |
47 |
75 |
.385 |
32.2 |
546.5 |
693.6 |
Portland: W, 9-5 (53 PA, .298, .377, .723; no pitching) Looking at the Rosebuds daily stats makes me mad. They had 14 hits, 9 of them for extra bases, and 8 players OPSed over 1.000, led by JT Realmuto and Kevin Newman. Do you know (or even care?) what it’s like to always feel like you can never do enough because the team above you is always doing more than they should? At this point the Tornadoes need to gain 1 game every 10 days, and while that seems like it won’t be too challenging, the more days the Buds have like this the less likely it will be able to happen. Sigh.
Flint Hill: L, 8-8 (44 PA, .294, .432, .500; 1 IP, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA) Wednesday was the day for international Tornadoes leading the way: Cuban Jose Abreu (1.600 OPS) and Aruban Xander Bogaerts (3.050 OPS). The problem for the Tornadoes is that no one is pitching, and when they do, they do poorly. Sigh.
Old Detroit: L, 2-7 (50 PA, .171, .300, .390; 2 IP, 1 ER, 4.50 ERA) After their monumental day yesterday, it is good to see this team come back down to earth! Our league can only handle so much success from the Wolverines, and as you can see, balance is being restored. There are some dangerous signs, though – his top three performers yesterday were all young guys. Devers, Jimenez and Urias combined for 13 Total Bases and 5 XBH. In an ideal world the expiring contracts on the Wolverines would be leading the way, knowing their time is short. This is something we’ll need to keep a close eye on. Sigh.
Pittsburgh: W, 7-6 (51 PA, .306, .333, .551; 13.7 IP, 8 ER, 5.27 ERA) The Alleghanys found their magic but perhaps they found it just a little too late in the season (could it be correlated to the amount of money he had left in his coffers even as we met in August?). The Alleghanys have an August winning percentage over .700, and are second in runs scored and third in runs created a game. That is a recipe for success, except for the fact that the hole they dug early this season is quite deep. Pittsburgh’s two catchers led the way yesterday – McCann (1.400 OPS) and Suzuki (1.400 OPS). In fact, a closer look shows that they both had identical lines. How amazing is that? 5 ABs, 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 HR, 4 RBI, and 1 K. Wow!
Haviland: W, 15-7 (35 PA, .480, .629, .720; .7 IP, 1 ER, 13.50 ERA) Hello, offensive outburst! This is what 12 hits (10 of them singles) and 10 BBs will get you. The two New Yorkers led the way – Gary Sanchez (3.000 OPS) and Amed Rosario (1.600 OPS) – and in a New York minute their opponent was left in the dust.
Peshastin: W, 7-5 (42 PA, .300, .333, .475; 4.3 IP, 2 ER, 4.15 ERA) The Pears are very quietly having the best month of almost any team in the league. THey are now 9-3, only needing two more wins to tie the number of wins they got the entire month of July. Last night it was his trio of Nationals OFers who led the way – Eaton, Robles, and Soto all OPSing over 1.000.
Kaline: W, 8-4 (46 PA, ..302, .348, .674; 1 IP, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA) Noticing a trend? The middle of the EFL showed up yesterday, defeating their opponents with ease. The Drive did it by hitting 5 HRs, with Yuli Gurriel hitting two of those on his way to a 3.050 OPS.
Canberra: “L,” 6-3 (38 PA, .303, .351, .485; 12.7 IP, 4 ER, 2.84) Another score in the favor of an EFL team, even if it shows up as a loss. The Roos did it through stellar pitching from Steven Matz and timely hitting from Tim Anderson and Mitch Garver.
Bellingham: W, 10-0 (21 PA, .474, .524, .1.000; 20.3 IP, 8 ER, 3.54 ERA) The Cascades are proof that a few great ABs can overcome a few too many replacement ABs. The two most expensive players on the Cascades earned their money last night; Harper with a 4.000 OPS and Turner with 1.800 OPS. And their pitching was the best in the league in terms of volume, and second best in terms of quality. Good day, Bellingham!
Cottage: W1, L -2, 1-(-9) (27 PA, .478, .556, .652; 3.3 IP, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA) I honestly have no idea what is going on with the Cheese. They had an incredible day at the plate but only scored one run, and had a small day on the mound but lost 9 runs allowed. Someone smarter than me (I know, that’s all of you!) will need to look into it for me. The Cheese were led offensively by two guys who last names end with a vowel – Ohtani and Mejia.
Brookland: W0, L -1, (-5)-(-12) (28 PA, .160, .250, .160; 15.3 IP, 5 ER, 2.93 ERA) Talk about a tale of two different outcomes! The Out hitting was full of…well….outs. But there pitching was also full of…outs. In turn, they lost an L from their loss column because they got rid of a few replacement IP and replaced those with really good innings. Shane Bieber and Dallas Kuechel led the way, and did so convincingly.
DC: “L,” 10-8 (29 PA, .357, .379, .750; 6 IP, 8 ER, 12.00 ERA) Another day has come and gone, and once again the Frat Bros led the way for the Outs. Andrew, Ryan, and Matt all had an OPS over 1.000. Chapman was the best of them with 2 HRs on the day, and one HBP. However, Archie had an infinite chulk and Bundy gave up more runs than innings pitched, which led, perhaps, to a loss even though they outscored their opponents.
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2014
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| New York Yankees |
81 |
41 |
.664 |
— |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes |
75 |
47 |
.619 |
5.5 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines |
72 |
50 |
.591 |
8.9 |
| Tampa Bay Rays |
71 |
51 |
.582 |
10 |
| Boston Red Sox |
64 |
59 |
.520 |
17.5 |
| Toronto Blue Jays |
51 |
73 |
.411 |
31 |
| Baltimore Orioles |
39 |
82 |
.322 |
41.5 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Atlanta Braves |
72 |
50 |
.590 |
— |
| Washington Nationals |
65 |
55 |
.542 |
6 |
| Philadelphia Phillies |
62 |
58 |
.517 |
9 |
| New York Mets |
61 |
59 |
.508 |
10 |
| Canberra Kangaroos |
59 |
63 |
.487 |
12.6 |
| D.C. Balk |
47 |
75 |
.385 |
25 |
| Miami Marlins |
44 |
75 |
.370 |
26.5 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Minnesota Twins |
72 |
48 |
.600 |
— |
| Cleveland Indians |
72 |
49 |
.595 |
0.5 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys |
66 |
54 |
.549 |
6.1 |
| Bellingham Cascades |
55 |
65 |
.458 |
17 |
| Chicago White Sox |
54 |
65 |
.454 |
17.5 |
| Kansas City Royals |
43 |
78 |
.355 |
29.5 |
| Detroit Tigers |
36 |
81 |
.308 |
34.5 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| St. Louis Cardinals |
63 |
55 |
.534 |
— |
| Chicago Cubs |
64 |
56 |
.533 |
— |
| Milwaukee Brewers |
63 |
58 |
.521 |
1.5 |
| Cincinnati Reds |
56 |
63 |
.471 |
7.5 |
| Cottage Cheese |
54 |
64 |
.455 |
9.3 |
| Brookland Outs |
50 |
68 |
.423 |
13.1 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates |
50 |
70 |
.417 |
14 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Houston Astros |
78 |
43 |
.645 |
— |
| Oakland A’s |
68 |
52 |
.567 |
9.5 |
| Haviland Dragons |
63 |
58 |
.524 |
14.6 |
| Texas Rangers |
60 |
60 |
.500 |
17.5 |
| Kaline Drive |
60 |
61 |
.498 |
17.7 |
| Los Angeles Angels |
59 |
63 |
.484 |
19.5 |
| Seattle Mariners |
49 |
72 |
.405 |
29 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers |
81 |
41 |
.664 |
— |
| Portland Rosebuds |
79 |
43 |
.649 |
1.9 |
| Peshastin Pears |
64 |
58 |
.522 |
17.3 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks |
61 |
60 |
.504 |
19.5 |
| San Francisco Giants |
60 |
61 |
.496 |
20.5 |
| San Diego Padres |
56 |
64 |
.467 |
24 |
| Colorado Rockies |
54 |
67 |
.446 |
26.5 |
The Thorns are, to my mind, the best value available in professional sports. Tickets are not expensive, the team is good and always competing for the championship, and the setting is pleasant. Our seats are usually in the shade, even. My only complaint: legroom is insufficient for anyone 6′ 2″ tall, especially if he is on the backside of 60.
One other note, about your assertion that our “league can only handle so much success from the Wolverines.”
There has only been one era in which all the championships had been won by one team. That team was the Wolverines, and the era was from October 2004 through September 2005. During that single year league membership grew by 50%. We have never seen such boom times since.
So yes, I agree. If the Wolverines win, people might be clamoring to get into the league, even though it’s already full. I don’t know if we are ready to handle that problem.
But you needn’t worry. Walker Buehler coughed up 5 earned runs in 4 innings today, so the W’s charge toward the top spot is on hold for now.