The Fourth of July is an exhilarating time to be tracking baseball attendance, with many teams setting season or overall records. Here’s a look at some of the big numbers posted last night.
Here are the records:
- The largest crowd in BB&T Ballpark history — 10,831 fans — saw the Charlotte Knights (Class AAA; International League) defeat the Durham Bulls, 4-2.
- Yes, there’s more than one BB&T Ballpark, and yes, a record was set at the home of the Winston-Salem Dash (High A; Carolina League), where 9,011 fans saw the Dash explode for 14 runs across the final four innings to defeat Down East 14-5. This year’s Independence Day crowd eclipsed the ballpark’s previous record of 9,007 fans, which occurred last year on July 4. The downtown facility has welcomed more than 8,000 fans in each of the last five Fourth of July games.
- The Richmond Flying Squirrels (Class AA; Eastern League) tied the team’s attendance record at The Diamond — 9,810 fans.
- The Grand Junction Rockies (Rookie; Pioneer League) set a new attendance record at Suplizio Field, as 6,429 fans saw the Ogden Raptors defeat the Rockies, 22-7 Wednesday night at in front of a franchise record 6,429 fans.
Besides the attendance records, there were plenty of noteworthy crowds last night:
- The Albuquerque Isotopes (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) recorded a crowd of 15,652 at Isotopes Park, the seventh largest in franchise history and second largest of the season (16,975 were on hand for the May 5 Mariachi Night).
- The Nashville Sounds (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) welcomed 11,691 fans to First Tennessee Park last night — the third-largest crowd in ballpark history and 11th sellout of the season. (The photo above shows the team in action.)
- The Columbia Fireflies (Low A; Sally League) welcomed 9,278 fans to Spirit Communications Park — the second-largest crowd in ballpark history. The largest crowd: 9,629, set on Aug. 21, 2017.
- A season-high crowd of 11,302 at Cooley Law School Stadium saw the Lansing Lugnuts (Low A; Midwest League) lose to the West Michigan Whitecaps. It was the largest crowd to attend a game anywhere in the Midwest League this season.
- The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Class AAA; International League) entertained a sold-out Independence Day crowd of 10,000 fans at PNC Field.
- The Indianapolis Indians recorded a 4-2 win over the Louisville Bats in front of 14,387 fans at Victory Field.
- The Montgomery Biscuits (Class AA; Southern League) notched a season high for attendance at Riverwalk Stadium: 7,285 fans.
- The Altoona Curve (Class AA; Eastern League) welcomed 8,573 fans to Peoples Natural Gas Field.
- The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Class AA; Eastern League) saw the third-largest crowd in team history — 7,124 fans — at NYSEG Stadium last night.
- The Charleston RiverDogs (Low A; Sally League) recorded a sellout crowd of 6,877 at Riley Park.
- The largest crowd of the season at Parkview Field — a sellout of 8,805 — saw the Fort Wayne TinCaps (Low A; Midwest League) shut out the Great Lakes Loons.
- A sellout for the Chattanooga Lookouts (Class AA; Southern League) at AT&T Field, with 6,374 fans on hand, saw a home win over the Birmingham Barons.
- The Delmarva Shorebirds (Low A; Sally League) pleased a sellout crowd of 7,354 at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium, blanking the Hagerstown Suns.
- The Rochester Red Wings (Class AAA; International League) welcomed 11,898 fans to Frontier Field, with the Pawtucket Red Sox rallying for a 6-5 win.
- A crowd of 4,505 fans was at hand at Newman Outdoor Field, home of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (independent; American Association), including the 4-millionth fan in team history.
The big crowds began on July 3. We covered the records in Jacksonville and Schaumburg yesterday, and here are some more attendance marks to note:
- The Augusta GreenJackets (Low A; Sally League) welcomed a record crowd to SRP Park Wednesday night: 6,026.
- The Hillsboro Hops (Short Season A; Northwest League) drew a record crowd of 5,506 to Ron Tonkin Field on Tuesday night.
- The Johnson City Cardinals (Rookie; Appalachian League) broke their single-game attendance record twice in two nights, with a crowd of 3,947 welcomed on July 3.
- We saw a sellout of 9,023 fans at Werner Park for the Omaha Storm Chasers (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League).
- The Erie SeaWolves (Class AA; Eastern League) recorded a sellout crowd of 7,020 to UMPC Park.
- The West Virginia Power (Low A; Sally League) welcomed 5,252 fans to Appalachian Power Park.
Image courtesy Nashville Sounds.