Scott Olsen: Crowds at Marlins games were ‘a joke’
New Nationals’ starter Scott Olsen apparently wasn’t a fan of the home crowds of his former team, the Marlins.
• MLB president Bob DuPuy, at Monday’s opener, said ”there’s no reason the Marlins can’t draw 2.5 million” (nearly 31,000 per game) annually in the new ballpark.
Others aren’t convinced.
”It’s not a baseball town. The stadium will help, but it won’t cure the attendance,” Washington/ex-Marlins pitcher Scott Olsen said, noting he liked playing here but the small crowds at times were ”a joke” and that a few times, Marlins players would actually count the number of fans.
”It made it feel almost as bad as being in the Gulf Coast League.” (Florida sold 5,000 season tickets this year.)
Olsen isn’t saying anything new – the crowds in Florida are a joke. I remember going to a Cubs-Marlins regular season game during the year Florida won the World Series in 2003 and the park was empty. It was so empty that the park was selling seats down the first base line just 15 rows back for practically nothing. And when you watch the games on TV or check out the highlights, the park is always a graveyard, which is sad because the Marlins always have some nice young talent (this year is no exception).
But hey, I think the club is on to something with their “Mermaids”:
