Is there really anything quite like going to a game on the 4th of July?  Nope. It just seems right.  My entire household headed out to the Big Ballpark in the Bronx (otherwise known as Yankee Stadium) for a day in the sun with the Bombers.  Luckily, we were actually in the shade for the extra-inning game.  It was a good one, with the Yankees finally coming through with a Marcus Thames bloop that drove in Robinson Cano for the winning run.

It was the first time I was in the stadium for the pie in the face ritual for anyone driving in the game winner- and even in my upper deck seats it was fun to watch.  The crowd that made it through the game stood in anticipation for that moment just as they had for the moment when Mariano Rivera entered the game a few innings earlier.

And though I loved being at the stadium yesterday, I realized that perhaps its a mis-conception that fans love to go to a game on the 4th of July.  You see, the announced attendance yesterday was 48,810, but that represents tickets sold, not tickets used.  It was in the upper 90s yesterday, and most of the stadium was in the sun- so there is no telling how many fans chose to forgo their seats and stand behind their sections in the shade.  But, throughout the game yesterday, more than half of the stadium was empty.  This isn’t just the expensive seats, this was just about every section.

Its a common discussion on local sports talk radio each year when the schedule is announced about how the local New York teams often have the day off for Memorial Day and the 4th of July.  Perhaps, though that is fine with many fans. Sure, tickets were still sold for yesterday- those come in the packages that many fans buy.  But, the stadium was not packed yesterday.  Fans weren’t clamoring for tickets, and prices were not being driven higher to accommodate them.

A former President of the Texas Rangers told me that they used to beg for a game on the 4th of July- if their season wasn’t going well, that gate was the last big draw for the season.  So my theory isn’t true everywhere.  But the fans in New York often escape the city for the long-weekend, and so filling that date with a home game may not make much sense.  Hopefully, the need to play a home game on the holidays won’t be a topic for conversation anymore.  Just one more of those antiquated and obsolete ‘remember when we were young…..’