Drop in Dodger Stadium attendance continues

Can the Angels save the Dodgers? For a weekend anyway? I mean, what with their being Los Angeles brothers and all.

Attendance at Dodger Stadium continues its downward momentum, the numbers growing more frightening by the game.

Remember, Major League Baseball uses tickets sold for its attendance figures, not actual bodies in the stadium. The number of no-shows at Dodger Stadium also continues to swell, and I’d estimate you could knock a good 25% off the figures being released.

And the numbers released are disturbing enough.

Dodgers home attendance is currently down 9,319 per game. That’s a stunning drop of 20.8% from last season.

Overall, baseball attendance is down an average of 424 per game. Eighteen of baseball’s 30 teams are suffering a drop, though it's a comparatively minor amount for most. The team with the next-worst drop per game is the other team in financial trouble, the Mets (3,809).

The Dodgers are averaging 35,594 tickets sold per game, 10th in baseball. They are down a total of 372,773 through 40 games, the bulk of baseball’s total decline of 477,379.

That’s a lot of parking and hot dogs and souvenirs unsold.

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-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: A view from the field of Dodger Stadium during a game against the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. Credit: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press