Iwritcode

A lot of people in Chicago want to go as the interfering foul ball fan from game 6! That is a riot! They better watch it though, if the costume looks too authentic they might get their butts beat! I was thinking about dressing up as Steve Bartman and wearing a sign around my neck that said "2003 NLCS MVP".

The two best teams that know how to spend money the best! Not that this will stop me from rooting for you guys against the Cubs and then either Boston or NY, I just thought you should know how much the odds are statcked against you: "The record is clear. From 1995 through 2001, a total of 224 MLB postseason games were played. Only five were won by clubs whose payrolls were in the lower half of the industry. None advanced past the Division Series, and no team, other than those whose payrolls are in the top fourth of payroll, has won a World Series game during this period. The seven-year postseason record is 219-5 (a .978 winning percentage) in favor of the high payroll teams." --Bud Selig, April 2002.

This same "arguement" was brought up when the Sox won the divsion in 2000. Nobody could figure out why the Sox didn't draw 2 million that year. What everyone forgets is that the Sox had the SECOND LARGEST increase in MLB for attendance compared to 1999. The only other team that had a larger increase was the Mariners. Even that was only because of their new ballpark. So, somebody that has the time and energy, check the Marlin's attendance figures for last year and compare them with this years. I'll almost guarantee that it went up. The Marlins didn't start rolling until a little later so it might not have increased a lot though. I also guarantee that it will go up even more next year. "Quality is better than quantity, it applies to everything." While true, you need the fans to show up (even the no-nothing bandwagoners) to increase revenue. Although Florida has been the exception to the rule this year, typically more money = more talent. The young stars on this team are going to want more money pretty soon. In order to keep them around and hopefully keep winning, it has to come from somewhere. So,even though they are annoying, bandwagoners do serve some useful purpose.

It's hard to argue with him. When you only start to support your team as the post season begins... Not coming out to support your team equals the worst fans. Although I'd have to argue that the Expos are worse, marlins attendance this year was pathetic for the success that they have had. The league avg for attendance was 2,273,813. The beloved marlins drew 1,275,686, thats nearly a million below the league avg. With that kind of support you will not see this team remaining together for more than this season. You have a lot of arbitration eligible players and Pudge is a Free Agent. I'm sure there are some good marlin fans. But as a whole they do not support their team. Sorry I'm late guys. Better late than never right? Anyway, like many of the other new posters here, I'm a long-time poster from WSI that has adopted the Marlins as my new favorite NL team. Don't worry about this Cub fan, let me explain it to him... Note: I don't know most of the exact numbers so I'm guessing on a lot. You'll get the point though... It's actually quite simple. Yearly attendance depends largely on season ticket sales. I don't know the exact number of the Marlins season ticket sales this year but I'm betting it was under 10K. I guessing it was somewhere around 5K. That means in order to meet your "league average" they have to average 28K per game. That means about 23K in walk-ups every game!!! There's very few teams in baseball (probably none) that can do that. Let alone one that started as bad as the Marlins did this year. Let's face it, they haven't exactly been tearing up the East the past few years. So, for all you idiot Cub fans that rip these guys for not showing up this year, remember that it's nearly impossible to increase yearly attendance by 1 million in a single year!!! Especially when nobody saw this coming. Attendance is a gradual thing. When the team wins year after year and nobody shows up, then you have to question the fans. When the team losses year after year *coughCUBScough* and the fans STILL show up, then you have to wonder about their sanity...