Jul. 4—Attendance has been up at Progressive Field, and not by just a little. The ballpark has been buzzing most nights the Guardians have been home since mid-May.
The home game against the Braves on July 4 was the 41st at Progressive Field in 2023, making it the halfway point of the season and an appropriate time for this story.
The Guardians drew 832,070 fans through the first 40 home games of 2023 — an average of 20,802 per game. They drew 578,148 fans (14,454) through 40 games last season.
The numbers represent a 43.9% increase in attendance compared to last year. The crowd of 38,106 that witnessed the Guardians lose, 4-2, to the Braves on July 3 was the largest for a home game since July 4, 2014. They have drawn more than 30,000 fans eight times, not including the July 4 game with the Braves. That crowd was expected to exceed 25,000 once the final tally was taken. Fireworks display to follow.
“There’s a multitude of factors,” Guardians vice president of communications Curtis Danburg said. “I think it starts with coming off a great season. You win 92 games, go to Game 5 of the division series — there’s a lot of momentum. We wanted to take an aggressive approach and build off that energy. We wanted to come up with different ways to get more people here.”
The “ballpark pass,” which allows customers to spend $49 for standing room only tickets for a month of home games, has been a huge it.
“We’ve been sold out of that every month,” Danburg said.
The Guardians offered upper deck seats for $11 when the Yankees were in town. Josh Naylor homered in the eighth inning in three straight games against the Angels in late May, so the Guardians celebrated by offering an $8 discount on tickets for a game.
Some promotions have been out of the box thinking, too. Hawaiian shirts were the prize July 3. A “Larry Doby” cap will be given away July 5 to commemorate Doby breaking the color barrier in the American League on July 5, 1947. The cap is blue with a red bill. The red “C” is a replica of the one the 1947 Indians wore
Players in the recent past, most notably Josh Naylor, who was rested July to 4 because of a wrist injury, have talked about how the fans get them pumped as they walk to the plate.
If Jose Ramirez bats in a critical situation, especially in late innings, chants of “Jose, Jose, Jose Jose, Joseeee, Joseee” ring inside Progressive Field. And “Let’s go Bo! ‘ “Let’s go Bo!” became automatic when catcher Bo Naylor was promoted from Columbus last month.
“To be really honest, during a game, I don’t pay attention (to the crowd),” Manager Terry Francona said before the game July 4. “I kind of get locked in. When you’re sitting in the dugout, you’re so insulated and then you step out of the dugout and it’s like, ‘Man, it’s loud!’ but you don’t really hear that in the dugout.
“But I know if I was playing, it’s nice to have people in the stands. When our lower bowl is full — and I don’t know what that means in attendance — our stadium seems like it has energy, and that helps guys. “
Attendance throughout the major leagues is up this year. According to Frontofficespots.com, Major League Baseball is projecting an attendance increase of 6-8% from a year ago when total MLB attendance of 64.56 million was its lowest since 1997.
And although the increase in attendance in Cleveland is impressive, truth in reporting requires me to point out the Guardians are just 22nd in MLB attendance, ahead of the Orioles (surprisingly), the White Sox, Pirates, Tigers, Rays, Royals, Marlins and A’s.
The pitch clock, which has made games move at a faster clip, might have something to do with the uptick in both leagues. Same with the rule that allows a pitcher only two pickoff attempts per batter. And no one seems to be complaining about the shift being gone.
The scheduling format has been a positive. Instead of each team playing division opponents 19 times, a team plays division opponents 13 times. Teams play 46 interleague games instead of 20. The Braves, who leave Progressive Field after the game July 5, won’t be back to Cleveland until 2025.
But the Guardians have something else going on. It has to be more than fireworks and one dollar hot dogs. Those have been warm-weather standards for decades.
Maybe fans are finally catching on that this is a team of young players that are easy to get excited about. Steven Kwan, Amed Rosario, Will Brennan, the Naylor brothers, rookie pitchers Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams, closer Emmanuel Clase or longtime favorites like Ramirez or Shane Bieber. Take your pick.
Whatever the reasons, Progressive Field on warm summer nights isn’t like a ghost town anymore.