Marlins fans haven't exactly flocked to the ballpark in record numbers. In fact, the Marlins are next to last in attendance in the National League. I would like to take this time to give a big shout out to Pittsburgh for keeping us out of the cellar, Thank You Pittsburgh!
The fans who do find their way to ballpark are stellar but it appears they may lose some of their elbow room.
It seems that the good people of South Florida are starting to tune in to the playoff race.
Game 1 of the Marlins-Astros series Monday drew the highest rating of the season in the Fort Lauderdale-Miami market despite Monday Night Football, a 7.5 on FSN Florida. That was the highest since September 2003, when three Phillies-Marlins telecasts tied with an 8.6.
Game 2 on Tuesday did even better -- an 8.1 on Pax.
Game 3 on Wednesday slipped to a 5.9 on Sun Sports but that's because viewers turned off the Astros' rout in the late innings. The telecast did an 8.3 in the 9:45-10 p.m. quarter-hour then tanked.
The Houston series has been must-see baseball, and Game 4 on Thursday was expected to be another ratings hit.
Now the Marlins come home tonight to play the Phillies, another rival in the white-hot, wild-card race.
Hopefully some of these new viewers will find their way out to the park to catch the playoff race because, if they haven't made plans already, playoff tickets may be hard to come by should the Marlins make the playoffs.
Should the Marlins make the playoffs this season, the team expects to fill 65,000 seats during each home game at Dolphins Stadium.
Samson says the number of prime seats left for the postseason is dwindling quickly.
The pace tickets for the playoffs are selling at now, Samson added, is much greater than in 2003 when the team won the World Series.
65,000 people, I remember that, it would be too cool.