.. is the answer I received when inquiring if Opening Day at the Coke (Coca Cola Park for the newer readers) was sold out.
I also haven’t seen any mention of ticket sales in local media as I remember in the past. With just three weeks to go until the gates at The Coke open for the exhibition game with the Reading Phillies, it seems that the initial onrush of ticket seekers has not yet depleted the 10,000 ticket maximum for attendance.
The Ironpig’s have been pulling in some serious attendance figures since 2008. Last year the organization led the entire minor leagues in average per game attendance. In 2009 we came in second. What will attendance look like in 2011?
Several factors could lead to the not-yet-sellout of the first game of our beloved Ironpigs. First, the team’s newness has clearly worn off. This is season number 4 and I rarely speak to anyone in the Valley who has not been to at least one game. Next you have the pre-All Star break schedule stocked full of home games in the less than weather friendly months of April, May and early June. From someone like myself who sits in the wind facing the sun, I can say it gets cold out there. Really cold. Of course the team could have something to do with it too. Spending only 1 game with a winning percentage at .500 and never over .500 it could be the lack of competativeness by the team affecting the sales.
So we ask ourselves:
Is it worth sitting in the cold to see the team lose anyway?
Should I spend the cash to go out and freeze?
It’s the first game, there are 71 more games this season that could be warmer.. why bother?
Well, I think it’s worth it. You see football fans out there every winter freezing away in snow, rain and sleet. Why not baseball too? It’s not about the team, it’s not about the free plastic stuff handed out.. it’s about the people. The friends that you have gotten to know over the last 4 years. It’s about the atmosphere of baseball here in our back yards. It’s about that first undercooked hotdog and a flat warm beer. It’s about America’s pasttime.
Get out there and get your tickets… tomorrow I may post that Opening Day has sold out and then you will be.. well not out in the cold, but you will probably be at home wishing you had tickets.
OinK!
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
I think you may have some fans waiting to see what the weather is like first. Maybe once it gets warmer, and fans start viewing baseball…they’ll begin to truly think Spring and IronPigs baseball !
Some people aren’t even thinking about baseball yet. I know some people have no idea when Opening Day is. We’re still 3 weeks away so you may not see much advertisement in the papers about the IronPigs. You will once we’re within one week of the season opener.
“Spending only 1 game with a winning percentage at .500 and never over .500″
Let’s not slight our Pigs. It was 2, not 1. 🙂
6/28/09: Ironpigs defeat Norfolk 6-1 to move to .500 for the first time with a 38-38 record. As Jeff Schuler wrote in the Morning Call on June 29th, ” It’s the first time in the franchise’s 220-game history the IronPigs have reached the .500 mark, climbing to 38-38 after their 15th victory in 18 games. They also have the International League’s best record (22-11) since May 25.”
7/19/09: Ironpigs defeat Rochester 3-2 to improve their record to 47-47. As Jeff Schuler wrote in the July 20th Morning Call, ” The season’s 16th capacity crowd of 10,000 also saw Lehigh Valley reach the .500 level (47-47) for only the second time in franchise history and pull within seven games of North Division-leading Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.”
Some might say you on spot on with the article, with one exception.
You are absolutely correct about the camaraderie that gives the event its rich, friendly atmosphere. The sense of community pride as a result of having a high-level professional baseball team ‘in the backyard’. And, of course, there are more burdensome tasks in life than hanging out the ballpark eating and drinking.
In Europe, be it the big cities or small towns, every community has a soccer team the locals are fiercely proud of. And the community is the team and vice-versa. The results on the field matter but are, indeed, secondary to other concerns in many instances / respects.
Significantly, the ‘teams’ are more-commonly known as ‘clubs’ and perhaps this moniker helps the fans feel more part of the organization.
Year in and year out, some clubs – often those from the smaller towns – know they have no chance of winning on the field. They take great pride in doing things like consistently filling their modest and sometimes crumbling stadiums game in and game out no matter how poorly the club is doing in the standings. They want to be thought of as the club whose fans sing songs the loudest at games and do their best to earn the title, oftentimes to spite the score.
They paint monstrous and colorful murals on humongous banners to demonstrate before the start of a game. Oftentimes the message is very simple : this is our town, this is our team, we always triumph no matter what.
Dan—Joe Vendor makes a good point, it’s cold, school night, work night—why don’t April games start at 635? The big shots should make this a new time, and ticket sales will increase and crowds will stay unyil 7th inning strech
STRETCH
woo hoo! 2-0 in Spring Training ball! Still undefeated, baby.
Is it too soon to schedule the parade? 🙂
I think we may wish to be thankful for what we have, realize no baseball team ever goes undefeated…and parade NOW!
(while we still can)
🙂