Action-packed 2007 Season Helps Boost Major League Baseball Attendance

Major League Baseball reported on September 24 that they had already surpassed last year's attendance numbers. This came with a whole additional week of games to be played. The explanation for this is simple, let's review what took place over the past season.

1) Barry Bonds' chase of Hank Aaron's Home run record. He might be using performance-enhancing drugs like many people have speculated. The fact remains though, that it created a buzz amongst sports fans across the nation. Channels such as ESPN would cut to Barry Bonds' plate appearances as he neared the record and even radio stations, such as WKRI in Cleveland, Ohio sent their morning show, Rover's Morning Glory, to San Francisco around the time of the record-breaking home run.

2) Going into September 25, with only six days of games left in the season, the competition for the playoff spots is still fierce. The American League has 2 divisions clinched, the Cleveland Indians representing the American League Central and the Los Angeles Angels representing the American League West. While the Detroit Tigers are still mathematically alive during the production of this article, it appears that the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees will both be in the playoffs. With only small lead, the Red Sox will have a lot of pressure on them to win the American League East and hold the Yankees to settling for the American League Wild Card. The National League has even more battles for their four playoff teams. Going into the September 25^th games, not one National League team has clinched a playoff spot, let alone their division.

3) Young players have brought excitement into baseball towns that have fallen short in attendance numbers in the past. Curtis Granderson improved from his 2006 season numbers this year in Detroit, showing his talents in the field, in addition to his speed on the bases, racking up 82 extra base hits through September 24^th. In Cleveland, Fausto Carmona went from being what many viewed as a failure in Cleveland last year, posting a 1-10 record and 5.42 ERA in only 74.2 innings to turning his career completely around in 2007. As of September 24, Carmona started 31 games in 2007, recording an 18-8 record, a 3.03 ERA and striking out 133 in 208.0 innings. In the National League, Prince Fielder has built upon his first two years in the Majors to put together an MVP campaign. In his attempt to help send the Milwaukee Brewers, Fielder is batting .289, with 48 home runs, and the big man even has huffed out 3 triples this season. All statistics are as reported by ESPN.com going into September 25^th games.

With excitement like this in Major League Baseball this season, is it any wonder why Major League Baseball has surpassed last year's attendance totals? This season showed that Major League Baseball is more than just New York Yankee dominance as in past years, or just about the hype that surrounds players such as Alex Rodriguez. With one of the closest finishes to a season that fans have seen in recent years, it only goes to show why Major League Baseball attendance numbers have been up and fans having been having such a great season.