Oddly, it was a righthander, Gavvy Cravath, who most took advantage of it.
Greatest power hitter most fans have never heard of. He won six home run titles despite not playing full time in the majors until he was 31, and held the modern era record for homers in a season before Babe Ruth. He also held the modern NL RBI record before Rogers Hornsby. No one was better at exploiting the Baker Bowl. Of his 117 bombs, 93 (!!!) were at home. When he led the NL in homers with 19 in 1914, he hit every one of them at home. Given that no one else could use the stadium like he did, that’s genuine value, not just an illusion of context.
His real name was Clifford. “Gavvy” - or “Gavy,” as he spelled it and sometimes others did too - is short for “gaviota,” the Spanish word for seagull, a name he picked up - allegedly - by accidentally hitting a seagull with a ball when he played in the PCL. So I’m not sure why we didn’t have Gavvy Winfield.
Well, at a certain level, yes. But, even in 2005, when the Sox won the World Series, and the Cubs were a .500 team, the Sox still were outdrawn by the Cubs by 25% (2.3 million to 3.1 million).
From the viewpoint of team ownership, what I’m sure that they would like is, as has been noted, other team-controlled attractions in the stadium area (restaurants, bars, etc.), which would be an additional source of revenue, on game days and throughout the year. It’s what the Cubs are doing now with Gallagher Way, it’s what the Braves have done, etc.
Ehh, maybe at the game where a loss would break the record. Otherwise, I think it’s mostly, “why would I bother going to a bad game to see a team that’s likely to get spanked?”
If I was in town and the Sox were playing, I’d go. So there’s one more hypothetical attendee. Might put them over the top.
I love visiting new stadiums, and it’s fun to watch a game once in a while where I have no rooting interest. Plus, I’ve already been to Wrigley three times.
Last night Grady Sizemore got his first win as the new Sox manager. The team set season highs with 12 runs and 18 hits as the Sox pounded the Yanks 12-2.
As a lifelong hater of the Yankees, I approve of this effort.
Even though I’m a Seattle area resident, married to a lifelong fan, and am myself a casual fan, I still find it more fun and less stressful to root for the Sox to lose than to root for the Mariners to win.
