New York and southern California were the leading major league baseball areas in attendance through games of last Thursday. The Yankees led all of baseball with a home attendance average of 51,889, while the Los Angeles Dodgers were second at 46,343. The New York Mets were third at 44,891, followed by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 41,426. The Twins ranked 18th in the major leagues, seventh in the American League, with a home average of 28,898.
The Twins former home, Washington, D.C. isn’t much of a success story, despite having a big league team again for just two-plus seasons. The Nationals are averaging 23,181 fans at home while nearby Baltimore is struggling, too, at 25,255. Common wisdom for years has been that the Washington-Baltimore market isn’t large enough to support two big league teams. Washington is actually working on its third big league try, having lost teams called the Senators twice, once to Minnesota in 1960 and to Texas in 1971.
New Twins outfielder Darnell McDonald is hitless in his last 20 at-bats in the majors. His last hit came in 2004 while playing for the Baltimore Orioles.
Anticipated September dates involving MIAC football teams in non-conference games include Concordia hosting Minnesota State University-Moorhead on September 1 in the annual Power Bow. Talk is this could be one of the last Power Bowls because of restructuring in the NSIC where Moorhead is a conference member. September 8 will be the debut of new Hamline coach Jim Good when the Pipers host Martin Luther. St. John’s hosts Concordia on September 22 in a promising conference game. The margin of victory in the last three games is 2.33 points.
The Florida Atlantic Owls play the Gophers on September 15 in Dolphins Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins. The Owls will play all of their other games at Lockhart Stadium with a capacity of about 20,000. Dolphins Stadium seats approximately 75,000. The game will be Tim Brewster’s first on the road as Gopher coach.