NEW YORK, 6 October 2004 — Helped by spectacular individual performances from Barry Bonds and Ichiro Suzuki and some pulsating division battles, Major League Baseball underlined its position as the great American pastime setting a single season attendance record.
The league announced on Monday that 604,406 fans attended 16 games on Saturday setting a single day record for the final month of season, pushing the overall regular season attendance for MLB’s 30 teams to a record 73,022,969.
The mark betters the previous record of 72,748,970 set during the 2000 campaign and shatters last year’s total of 67,568,397.
Average attendance for the season was 30,401, the third highest in history. “Setting the all-time season attendance record is further evidence that this great sport has never been more popular,” said MLB commissioner Bud Selig in a statement. “We have had a great regular season and all of us in baseball are looking forward to a tense, dramatic and compelling postseason.”
A big final weekend that had the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs and Anaheim Angels all battling for playoff spots capped off one of the most thrilling final months in baseball as Bonds became just the third player to hit 700 homeruns and Suzuki set a new mark for hits.
Bonds finished the season with 45 homers bringing his lifetime total to 703, leaving the Giants slugger trailing only Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (755) on the all-time list.
Over the final week of the season, the baseball spotlight in Asia and North America was firmly focused Ichiro as the Seattle Mariners outfielder collected 262 hits breaking the old standard of 257 set by George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns in 1920.
Nine teams surpassed the three million mark in total attendance while another 11 drew more than two million fans.
In addition, seven teams set all-time franchise records, including the Boston Red Sox with 2,837,304 and American League east rivals the New York Yankees on 3,775,292.
The San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies playing in new ballparks also set new marks of 3,016,752 and 3,250,092 respectively.
Big Spenders Looking to Cash in During Playoffs
In Toronto, a season that began with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox fighting over Alex Rodriguez and his $250 million contract ended the same way with the Major League’s two richest teams leading a parade of big spenders into the playoffs.
Postseason play was to begin, the ever expanding divide between baseball’s have and have-nots will be on full display, providing a disturbing backdrop to the Fall Classic. Six of the eight teams seeing action rank in the top nine in league payrolls, including the Yankees ($184 million), Red Sox ($127 million) and Anaheim Angels ($100 million) — Major League Baseball’s top three spenders.
Only American League Central Division champions Minnesota Twins, who open up against the East Division champion Yankees in New York, can be found among the bottom half of the league’s 30 clubs when it comes to payrolls, sitting 19th with just over $53 million.
Other games was see two of baseball’s top spenders, American League wildcards Red Sox taking on the Angels in Anaheim while National League West winners the Los Angeles Dodgers will travel to St Louis to face the Central Division champion Cardinals.
The Houston Astros, who clinched the National League wildcard on the final day of the regular season, will open in Atlanta today against the East Division champion Braves.
Once again this season, Yankees bombastic owner George Steinbrenner put his money where his mouth is, outbidding the Red Sox for the services of baseball’s highest paid player, AL MVP Alex Rodriguez.
With the major’s biggest payroll, the mighty Yankees, who set a franchise record for homers in a single season with 242, stormed to their seventh consecutive AL east crown.
But Steinbrenner will not be satisfied unless his team delivers with a World Series after losing in the championship finals in 2001 to the Arizona Diamondbacks and last season to the Florida Marlins.
The Yankees will begin their drive for a 27th title the same way they did last season — opening against the Twins, who will look to the small market Marlins for inspiration.
With one of the smallest payrolls in baseball, the upstart Marlins shocked the Bronx Bombers to lift the title last year and the Yankees will not want to feel Steinbrenner’s wrath should it happen again.
After finishing runners-up to the Yankees for the seventh consecutive season, the red hot Red Sox return to the playoffs determined to finally put the Curse of the Bambino to rest.
Without a World Series since 1918, Red Sox supporters fear their team has been doomed to eternal failure since owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the hated Yankees in 1920.
But with a pitching staff that now includes 21-game winner Curt Schilling and ace Pedro Martinez, Red Sox faithful are hopeful 86 years of frustration and heartache are about to end.
The division series will pit the power of the Curse against the magic of the Angel’s Rally Monkey, as Anaheim returns to the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series two years ago.
