Full houses now in cards for Yankees
The fans are back in The Bronx. After a slow start to the season at Yankee Stadium, when stagnant ticket sales and reduced revenue made headlines, the firstplace Yankees now lead the American League in average attendance at 38,536 through Sunday.
“I think there was a lot of ‘fake news’ about our attendance,” team president Randy Levine said Monday. “It’s very common early in April — especially this year when the weather wasn’t good—and kids are still in school for attendance to be down. It really picked up with the Red Sox and Orioles in town.”
During their recent six-game home stand against the division rivals, the Yankees drew more than 40,000 for each game and had three sellouts, though the improved attendance began the previous homestand against Oakland.
“I could see the signs with our TV ratings being very high, like where they were when the Core Four existed,” Levine said of the YES Network’s increased numbers this season. “Things are starting to level out. People want to see this team.”
Especially Aaron Judge, who leads the league with 21 homers.
“There’s several factors,” Levine said. “This team is likeable and there’s a lot of buzz and we have great players who are coming into their own and becoming stars. And we’re obviously winning. There’s a breath of fresh air with this new wave of Yankees.”
Judge is at the top of that list. The AL Player of the Week made the Stadium look like a Little League field for much of the past week, no more so than when he hit a 495-foot blast over the bleachers in left on Sunday.
“He’s performing remarkably well,” Levine said. “They’re all doing great.”
And he’s hopeful the team’s success continues.
“It’s still early, but I like where we are,” Levine said. “There’s a long way to go. But [GM Brian Cashman] and the baseball operations people did a really good job and Hal [Steinbrenner]’s vision of going young is coming to fruition.”
The only real issue has been the subpar performance of Monday night’s starter Masahiro Tanaka, who was pushed back a day by Joe Girardi and pitching coach Larry Rothschild in order to give him more time to work on his mechanics that the right-hander believes are at the root of his terrible season.
“If you look at his history, I’m sure he’ll find his stuff with the help of Joe and Larry,” Levine said.