Rays fans react to players' criticism of attendance

Evan Longoria is miffed.

David Price wants more fans in the stands, too.

But many fans of the Tampa Bay Rays say those two players need to get a clue.

After all, the University of South Florida played a home football game Saturday night. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were also at home Sunday. And the Rays themselves are in the midst of a six-game homestand.

With jobless rates in double digits and people watching their finances more closely than ever, there is much more competition for the average sports fan's dollar.

"I feel for the fans,'' said Mark Ferguson, owner of Ferg's Sports Bar & Grill a baseball's throw from Tropicana Field. "People are out of work. They're just trying to keep food on the table.''

Ferguson said he wasn't surprised with the 12,446 attendance for Monday night's game, despite the fact that a win could have clinched a playoff berth for the team. After all, he said, Monday night games for baseball typically are the least attended of the week.

Just a little more than 10,000 fans showed up in Cleveland to watch the Indians play the Detroit Tigers on Monday night. And only 14,309 attended a game in Washington, D.C., between the Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies.

"I don't think we're that bad for a Monday night,'' Ferguson said.

Longoria, the All-Star third baseman for the team, doesn't agree. He called Monday night's attendance "embarrassing.'' Price, an All-Star pitcher, used the same word.

"It's hard for me to talk about when these guys are making millions of dollars,'' Ferguson said. "They don't know people's circumstances.''

Fan Brian Wilson of Tampa said he also disagrees with the comments of Longoria and Price.

"I understand the players are frustrated with the low attendance, but they do not need to let everyone know about it," Wilson said. "It will only drive more fans away from the team and the stadium."

Jim Casey from Parrish said he thinks the Rays' historically low attendance numbers are due to the Trop's location.

"The majority of people have to drive more than 30 minutes to get to the stadium," Casey said. "It's a turn-off for some people. The ballpark is too much of a nightmare to get to."

Ferguson did his part to boost attendance for Tuesday night's game. He bought 50 tickets and gave them away to people in a trivia contest at the bar before the game.

"It's a way to help my business and support the Rays and get people out,'' the owner said.

Still, there's only so much money people can throw in for sporting events in these tough times, Wilson said.

"People could be saving their money for playoff games knowing that the prices are going up," he said. "I guess we will find out in a week's time."

The low attendance for Monday's game prompted hundreds of TBO.com readers to comment. Here's what some of them said.

dakotaLongwood: "I can get to about 15 games a year, they are great, wish I could go to more, but no job (equals) less games."

RaysChik3: "With the games being on Sun Sports and WDAE 620 AM, who wants to drive 50 miles to St. Pete? I can sit in my living room on my comfy sofa, have a snack, drink a beer, hear the announcers and the play-by-play and see the replays of the questionable calls for free."

tampanative3: "Dropping $100 on a baseball game or $200 on a football game is a pretty tall order for a lot of our local die-hard sports fans."

7297277: "Tampa Bay is largely a transient town and unlike Boston and (New York), we don't have a lot of loyal fans. When teams come to visit, most people vote for the team that's from where they came from. This applies to the Bucs, Rays, and even (to a lesser extent) the Lightning."

hammersmith: "My take last night was we had a pretty subdued crowd, and I was surprised at how empty it was for the significance of the game being played. It was a melancholy night because the economy is in the tank, we have this jewel and only some of us can appreciate it fully."