Oddball
Unobtanium Member
Seriously...Let a real baseball town have this team, if they have to give away tickets to fill up the joint, when they're about to clinch the division.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...bUJDfJDXroUy1ASouiwwD9II00P02?docId=D9II00P02ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The first-place Tampa Bay Rays gave away 20,000 tickets for Wednesday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles, packing Tropicana Field for the team's regular-season home finale.
Fans begin lining up outside the domed stadium several hours before gametime. The team said the allotment of free tickets was exhausted about 45 minutes before first pitch.
There were scattered empty seats when the game began, however attendance was announced as 36,973, which is the stadium's listed capacity. That was more than twice the turnout for the first two nights of the three-game series combined.
"Interesting concept. It's definitely fills up the place," Rays manager Joe Maddon said following a 2-0 loss in which Tampa Bay was limited to three hits.