Demand for free game far exceeds seating

The Oakland A’s have been overwhelmed by nearly 300,000 ticket requests for their 50th anniversary free admission game, a source within the organization told the Bay Area News Group on Thursday.

To put that gaudy number in perspective, consider the A’s once drew 306,000 fans for an entire season.

When announcing the promotion months ago, the A’s were confident anyone who wanted to go to the free game would be able to attend.

Even by removing the tarps on the upper deck andMt. Davis, as planned, for the free game night on April 17, the Coliseum’s capacity will be a little more than 60,000. That’s going to leave approximately 240,000 others elsewhere when the White Sox visit on the 50th anniversary of the first A’s game in Oak- land.

The A’s already distributed most of the free vouchers at the start of their giveaway in January, with fans able to request a maximum of six tickets. But given some expected no- shows they purposely handed out more than can actually be seated.

Thus, the team will be sending out RSVPs to determine how many more fans they can accommodate.

All tickets distributed that night will be gen- eral admission with seats available on a first- come basis. Although the A’s are no longer taking applications for the free game, fans who purchased season ticket packages will have earlier access to the ballpark that night.

Since Major League Baseball counts tickets sold to determine attendance, the A’s single-game record crowd of 55,989 against the Giants in June of 2004 will remain intact.