A symptom or a disease? Part 2

Last month I made a post which pondered whether the economic situation was adversely affecting the Delmarva Shorebirds and their attendance, which seems to be markedly down from last year.

But in speaking with Shorebirds General Manager Chris Bitters on the subject, he protested that last season wasn’t a fair comparison because this year’s schedule is front-loaded with home games and attendance picks up once kids are out of school. I thought it was a fair critique so today I did a little research.

Looking back in time, the Shorebirds last had a comparable schedule in 2007. Like this year’s, it featured a long June break as the 2007 edition of the team was sent on the road to both complete the first half of the season and begin the second half – that season Perdue Stadium was dark for 2 1/2 straight weeks in June. (At least this year we have the SAL All-Star Game to break up the monotony.)

So I went back to the milb.com archives and looked up each home game of the first half of the 2007 season. In total, there were 31 home dates as four starts were rained out. Add it up and the 2007 first half attendance was 96,310, an average of 3,107 per game.

Fast forward to 2011. Going into last night’s scheduled contest, the Shorebirds had drawn 95,556 for 33 home games. On paper, the per-game average of 2,895 looks to be about 10 percent behind the 2007 clip and well behind last season’s full-season totals.

However, having attended the game I would venture to say that there were at least 5,000 people there last night for a game which was eventually suspended. It’s not counted in our attendance because the game wasn’t completed and will have to be finished next week in Hagerstown because the half is almost over. If you add that lost home date and the estimated 5,000 patrons in to the total of 95,556 which had previously attended so far in 2011, the average would have jumped to 3,104. It makes the comparison pretty much a wash.

In fact, given the fact there were two fewer weekend dates (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) on the schedule so far this year, it would appear the Shorebirds haven’t lost a step and could be headed for a pretty decent season as far as attendance goes. You can also add in the fact that the weather hasn’t been all that bad since the average temperature at the Shorebirds starts was 72 degrees vs. 71 degrees in 2007.

Still, my only concern is that attendance at weekday games has been fairly pathetic, as one game this season barely drew 500 fans. A good percentage of the crowds so far have been enticed by the free tickets given out for reading a certain number of books. (The tickets are paid for by the event sponsors.)

So perhaps I was a little hasty in predicting a down year for the Shorebirds, but that’s okay. I’d rather err on the side of caution.

Yet all is not sweetness and light. Today’s Daily Times featured a loving obituary for the Flavors restaurant which used to be on East Main Street downtown. Add to that the bankruptcy of Allen Family Foods last week, where its assets will likely be purchased by Mountaire Farms, and the impending closing of the local Super Fresh grocery store (with about 80 or so jobs lost) and it’s no wonder people may not be able to afford a ballgame soon. For every success story we seem to have two to three failures.

Allen Family Foods is a blow specific to the Shorebirds because they were longtime team sponsors, annually hosting an employee appreciation night. It’s one business which won’t be contributing to the community anymore. Even Flavors had a Shorebirds connection because they were the pizza vendors for one season a couple years back. (The pizza they have now is not as good.)

But there’s more to the story, and it’s about lost dreams in the last four years.

After the beginning of the rain delay that finished the game last night, Kim and I discussed where we should go to eat. I bemoaned the fact there were no close-by restaurants to the stadium and related to her that there once were grand plans to put up a business complex along Hobbs Road – a complex which would include restaurants, upscale motels, and office space. But that plan was shelved with our local economic collapse and may not be resurrected for a half-decade or more even though the signs are still there announcing the development.

Since I’m comparing our attendance this year to that of four years ago, let me close with this. Back in 2007, the dream of developing the land along Hobbs Road was on its way to becoming a reality as the plans were being drawn up and legal action taken to secure city water and sewer. We may have the same attendance at the old ball game, but we don’t have those grandiose schemes anymore.

And until we can straighten out the economic mess we are in, it may be a long while before we see attendance like we did in the early days of the Shorebirds franchise. To be quite honest, having the Shorebirds here was a key factor in my decision to relocate from Toledo because – to put it mildly – I’m a passionate fan of baseball and I wanted a team close by so I could go to games. While I’d seen “Delmarva Shorebirds” in the agate type of the transactions page on occasion, I had no idea they played in Salisbury until I came here for my job interview.

But even more than a regional drawing card like the Shorebirds, people need to have money to spend, and the lack of job creation hinders businesses of all sorts. Let’s keep capital in the private sector where it belongs so smart people can invest and create opportunities for themselves.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

2 thoughts on “A symptom or a disease? Part 2”

  1. Here’s a question for you where two of your interests (local government and baseball) intersect. At one County Council meeting I was a bit surprised to see items listed in the capital budget for upkeep at the stadium. I suppose I could just ask a county council member, but what’s kind of deal does the Shorebirds have with the county for the stadium? Do you know, Michael?

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