I suspect they went by tickets sold instead of actual attendance.

And, when I turned on the Futures Game, yesterday, and I saw all those empty blue seats, I thought “What the….?” If I had known, in advance, that no one was going, I probably would have lobbied with the Mrs. to take her and the kids up there.
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I had a line on tickets, but the cost was a bit prohibitive; $173 for a pair, Main Reserve. Since I spent the previous weekend in Niagara Falls, I had to pass.

~~~I don’t get into the HR Derby and all that but I still get goosebumps when they announce the lineups and everyone comes out onto the baselines and tips their caps to the fans. I love the All-Star Game. No other sport has a better one.~~~

Ditto.

Besides All-Star game is really for kids. I haven’t watched an All-Star game since I was 11.
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Really? I don’t get into the HR Derby and all that but I still get goosebumps when they announce the lineups and everyone comes out onto the baselines and tips their caps to the fans. I love the All-Star Game. No other sport has a better one.

The out-of-towners might not go, however the NY’ers are not really considering All-star game activity beginning until Monday because there is still meaningfull games being played in town. I was not even aware of a game being played on Sunday in the Bronx until it was over.

Besides All-Star game is really for kids. I haven’t watched an All-Star game since I was 11.

Gotta confess. I’m sorta kicking myself today. I figured, for sure, that EVERYTHING at the Stadium would be sold-out for the ASG events. Jammed. 55,000+, etc.

And, when I turned on the Futures Game, yesterday, and I saw all those empty blue seats, I thought “What the….?” If I had known, in advance, that no one was going, I probably would have lobbied with the Mrs. to take her and the kids up there.

I mean, YANKEE STADIUM, full of TOMORROW’S STARS, how many times do you get a chance to see something like that?

Yet, by many reports, the Stadium was only half-filled for the game.
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I have a buddy who bought two tickets to the Futures Game 24 hours before the event and sat two rows from the field behind the visitors dugout. He said the ballpark was empty.

Also, to Eric N, I don’t think the Mets affected yesterday’s attendance. Unlike Wrigley, Fenway or Yankee, not too many people make the “pilgrimmage” to see Shea. I don’t think the Mets are picking up new fans this week. I would put the Mets recent win streak as a cause for poor attendance at the Futures Game as pretty low low on the list of reasons.

Many fans are just casual fans who don’t care about players they’ve never heard of and may never hear from again. Those of us that read baseball blogs are the exception, not the rule, among baseball’s millions of followers.

Many Factors:

So many events in the All-Star festivites, Fan Fest, HR derby, All-Star Game, Celebrity softball. Just so much time to allocate to events. Also, All-Star is competing with itself. With fanfest going on in midtown game in Bronx, many are choosing action in mid-town.

Also, unlike almost every other city, there is a team playing at home this weekend who is in the midst of a 9 game winning streak and capturing the attention and hearts of the city at the moment playing 6 miles from the site of the futures game.