Phillies imaginary fans > Red Sox imaginary fans

Tonight the Boston Red Sox Fenway sell out streak is expected to end.  It is interesting to note that during the span of the streak that the Phillies actually outdrew the Red Sox.

The Phillies attendance figures for the streak are noted below - 2003 is a partial season only reflecting games after May 15th when the Red Sox streak commenced.

Season	Phillies Attendance
2003*	1,788,708
2004	3,250,092
2005	2,665,304
2006	2,701,815
2007	3,108,325
2008	3,422,583
2009	3,600,693
2010	3,777,322
2011	3,680,718
2012	3,565,718
2013	197,931
Total	31,759,209
Bosox	29,067,339
Phils +	2,691,870

So it turns out that the Phillies drew 31.7 MM fans during the sellout streak, while the Red Sox drew 29MM. The difference was 2.7MM fans. Which is actually more then the entire 2005 draw for the Phils.

Of course as anyone who attended a midweek "sold out" Phillies game in 2012 can attest the Phillies were likely beefing up their own numbers during this time period as well.  Thus the title of the post re: Imaginary Fans.   

As always MLB attendance figures are for tix sold (which likely includes tix given away/written off) and do not reflect turnstile attendance.

Sources CNN-SI
baseball-ref.com

Tell Your Statistics to Shut Up

1999 Sports Illustrated Greats of the Game Autograph Jim Bouton (nno)


I am not sure which character says it but "Tell Your Statistics to Shut Up" is a memorable line from "Ball Four" -  The Jim Bouton chronical of his 1969 season. 

With that explanation, I would like to add another feature to Phungo - Looking at some Stats, mostly with the help of the incredible Baseball-Reference.com.  For Practical purposes I think I will refer to this feature as SUS for Shut Up Stats.

Today I want to look at 2 of the big Off-Seasons signings and the impacts on those two Teams Attendace.  Specifically I am talking about Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols.

Rank	Team	Up/Down	Home Att Dif	Avg Dif
1	MIA	UP	387,479	11,742
2	DET	UP	271,903	9,376
3	WSN	UP	204,449	7,302
4	TEX	UP	177,351	6,821
5	TOR	UP	172,473	5,947
6	STL	UP	149,240	5,527
7	KCR	UP	134,391	4,800
8	ARI	UP	147,178	4,748
9	BAL	UP	131,788	4,393
10	ATL	UP	110,656	4,098
11	CIN	UP	122,050	4,068
12	PIT	UP	87,947	2,932
13	LAD	UP	88,460	2,854
14	CHC	UP	58,096	2,152
15	TBR	UP	46,511	1,550
16	MIL	UP	50,366	1,526
17	SEA	UP	32,764	1,311
18	OAK	UP	12,270	423
19	COL	UP	7,582	230
20	SDP	UP	4,322	127
21	BOS	UP	2,735	83
22	SFG	DOWN	-5,987	-187
23	PHI	DOWN	-17,489	-564
24	NYM	DOWN	-32,556	-1,050
25	NYY	DOWN	-45,250	-1,460
26	CLE	DOWN	-55,446	-1,733
27	CHW	DOWN	-61,361	-1,805
28	HOU	DOWN	-87,129	-2,723
29	LAA	DOWN	-101,318	-3,377
30	MIN	DOWN	-125,593	-4,331
	total	UP	1,867,882	2,064

Interesting stuff on the movement of our two sluggers.  Both Detroit and the Angels have had mediocre seasons - with the Angels surging a bit recently.  However it is Prince Fielder's team that had the Attendance jump while Pujols team has had one of the worst attendence declines in the league. 

The Angels have had 30 Home dates so far this season.  If you prorate Albert Pujols $12MM 2012 salary for those 30 games that means the Angels are paying him roughly 75K a game to draw 3377 less fans. 

Of course there are lots of other factors in attendance - Tean Play, Weather, Weekend/Weeknight games, The Dodgers Success, as well as the Stanley Cup Champs, Lakers and even Clippers.

Other Observations
- ChiTown - Cubs stink attendance up, ChiSox in First Place attendance down
- Least Coast Bias - Both Mets and Yankees down 1000+/Game - Phils also down, Boston up slightly.  ChesBay area O's and Nats both Up Though.
- The Spurned - The two teams that lost Pujols and Fielder both are Up - impressive for the Brew Crew who also went thru the Braun PR Hit.  Of course the Cardinals are coming off a World Championship.  The other World Series Participant Texas is up as well.

Source: Baseball-Reference.com - Year to Year Attendance Page
Stats Captured on 2012 06 12 for games played through 2012 06 11