SF Giants in danger of historic attendance low at China Basin park
SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Giants have never played before an announced crowd smaller than 20,000 since they moved into their China Basin ballpark more than two decades ago.
They certainly came close Monday in their series-opening game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
A crowd of 20,203, the smallest attendance figure of the season at Oracle Park, watched Alex Cobb’s complete game shutout Monday night as the Giants beat the Cardinals 4-0.
The crowd was the smallest to watch a Giants game at the park, which opened in 2000, since May 9 of last season when 20,039 were in attendance for a game with the Colorado Rockies. It was one of four times in 2022 that the Giants had announced a crowd of less than 21,000.
Still, Giants CEO Larry Baer isn’t sounding the alarm, at least not yet. The Giants, through 11 home games this season, are averaging 30,616 per game, which ranks 13th in MLB and is roughly the same as last season’s average attendance of 30,650, which was 12th-best.
“We’re fine, it’s going to be up and down, it’s super strong on weekends, and it’s (11) home games so far, so we’ll see how it goes,” Baer told this news organization Tuesday. “First homestand we were up versus last year. Midweek in April are the toughest games.”
Attendance for Tuesday’s date with the Cardinals likely won’t be announced until past the midway point of a usual nine-inning game that starts at 6:45 p.m.
Of the 11 Giants home games prior to Tuesday, six were played on either a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, when crowds have historically been larger than during mid-week.
The four-game series with the New York Mets from last Thursday to Sunday drew an average of 27,409, and a three-game series with manager Buck Showalter’s team last season had an average crowd size of 26,935.
A Monday-to-Wednesday series with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, from April 10-12, drew an average of 33,634 fans per game.
The Giants wrap their four-game series with the Cardinals, and an eight-game homestand, Thursday. Their next homestand, a six-gamer, starts May 5 with three games against the Milwaukee Brewers.
“We’re projected to be very strong next weekend against Milwaukee. Let’s look at it at least four homestands in,” Baer said. “We feel like we’re OK.”
Staff writer Jason Mastrodonato contributed to this story.