At the end of the long and hot Sunday afternoon, Joe Girardi was sitting in the background of his Zoom, looking completely exhausted. In four and a half hours, the Phillies vs. Nationals game was roughly similar to Major League Baseball-but it was not the kind of good ball. The salvation factor for the Phillies manager is that his team won and defeated a national team that is almost different from the 2019 World Series champion in three games.

However, when it came to the topic of 100% capacity of the Civic Bank Park on the first weekend, Girardi couldn’t help but laugh.

“After last year, it would be nice to have someone in the stands,” Girardi said.

Phillies-Nationals audiences have not challenged the standard of standing only-or even the 50% standard. The two games were in the 15,000 range, and Saturday barely exceeded 16,000. To be honest, at certain times in April and May-when the seat limit should be between 8,000 and 10,000-the stadium is more active and feels fuller.

“I love our people in this stand,” Girardi said afterwards. “Obviously, when you play better, more people will come out. But our country has experienced a lot, and people have experienced a lot. So I am grateful to everyone who came out.”

Yes, the folks in the Phillies office might give you a lot of valid reasons because the box office slipped during the first big crowd weekend of the season. The heavy rains on Friday may affect the people on the fence staying at home, skipping Zack Wheeler against Max Scherzer. Saturday and Sunday become hot and humid, although this is common in June. For families with high school students, the first weekend in June is usually the graduation weekend. The capacity limit is actually only cancelled one week in advance instead of June 11. The Nationals is not a popular draw.

There is also the fact that the basketball team is a popular ticket for the playoffs. There is also the fact that some people have either not been vaccinated or are not ready to return to the crowded world.

If you are sitting at the front desk, you must hope that this is the reason. It’s even more shocking for another reason: before Father’s Day, the fan base has closed the team.

“If you don’t like it, you have to play better,” JT Realmuto said on Sunday. “If the fans don’t show up, then you have to play better. We have a responsibility to go out, play better, and win more games. If we do, the fans will show up.”

Realmuto is someone who doesn’t have to worry about persuading fans. Now there are different opinions on him, Bryce Harper or Wheeler. All three players made a conscious decision to come here. In most cases, they have reached the level of contracts they have won.

Nevertheless, it is still an ugly product. The people in this town know when a team has an upper limit, and have a clear definition, this Philadelphians house is likely to have no legal competition. In the vast fan base, there is not much warmth and vagueness towards this team. This doesn’t mean that they are bad guys-no one can frankly say a team that owns Andrew McCutchen and Rhys Hoskins-but they are not someone you feel strongly about and will invest a lot of cash to take a look.

However, the Phillies’ problems are not unique. Major League Baseball has become a difficult watch, requiring some fundamental adjustments to its marketing plan and nature. The game itself. Not enough action and too many strikeouts. Coupled with one of its main copyright holders-I’m looking at you, ESPN-and over-analysis, it makes fans feel that he or she is overly nervous about numbers they are not familiar with.

This is far beyond the standard length of a game argument. Throughout the history of the game, four-hour and five-hour games are not uncommon. In a home stand in 1993, the Phillies played in a rain-delayed doubles game against the Padres until 4:40 in the morning, and then played a 20-round marathon against the Dodgers about a week later. If it is an eye-catching theater, people will watch it. If it feels sloppy, they will look for alternatives. And many times, the products that Major League Baseball has been selling for the past few years feel weakened.

It should be noted that taking the Yankees to town next weekend, a quick glance at the ticketing map on Phillies.com on Monday morning has tickets, but certainly not many. It was the initial reopening weekend, and it would be surprising if these games did not attract more than 30,000 people.

Realmuto is right because when the team starts to win, the fans will come back. A ten-year absence from the playoffs caused losses. When the number of resident clubs exceeds 0.500 instead of less than 3, the baseball field is always a much cooler place.

But we also want to know when the Yankees will leave town, and whether the most attractive weekend series in the rest of the schedule will be the Padres on the weekend of July 4th-a traditional family vacation plan-if Citizen Bank The park will feel very lonely for the rest of this summer.

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Kevin hosted”Work rhythm“Podcasts in collaboration with Mike Kern are available on iTunes, Google Play and wherever you can hear podcasts. As a frequent visitor to WIP, Kevin likes to interact with readers on Twitter. Follow him there @????.

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