Below the Box Score – A Weekly Review of Attendance, Weather, Pace, and Ejections – Week of 4/18

April is a great time for baseball, if you like rain delays and wild temperature swings. This week’s low temperature demonstrates how volatile the springtime is.  In Minnesota, Wednesday’s game was a comfortable 68 degrees for an 8 PM start. The very next day, at 1 PM, the temperatures had dropped down to a chilly 42 degrees. That was naturally complemented by a brisk 21 MPH wind, making the Twins vs White Sox game the second windiest of the week, but likely the most miserable from a fan perspective.  And that’s before you factor in that it was the 9th loss to start the season for the Twins.

 

Elsewhere in baseball, attendance numbers came in pretty high, with one notable exception: Seattle. The Mariners drew 13,468; 13,376; and 15,075 in their three games this week. In a cross-sport comparison sure to draw the ire of Seattleites, the Oklahoma City Thunder outdrew the Mariners by an average of 4,230 fans (18,203 to 13,973). And yes Seattle fans, before you get the pitchforks out, I realize that one of the games was a playoff game.

 

 

In regards to getting you home early, every team this week played a sub 3 hour game, with the shortest being 2:12. A third played games shorter than 2:30, with over half averaging a time of game below 3 hours. The Padres has the biggest difference between shortest and longest game, with a 2:27 game and then a 14 inning epic against the Diamondbacks that ran 5:25, the longest game of the week.

 

On the ejection front, a rather slow week for those of us interested in seeing people get run.  Zero ejections all week as everyone behaved themselves, which is a disappointment.  That means that the AL still leads the NL in ejections: 3-1.

 

And of course we have your miscellany, and below that we have three tables of raw data for your reading enjoyment.  The first is for total games played,  then home, then away games.

 

Attendance:

Lowest attendance last week: Tampa (vs Cleveland), Wednesday, April 13th. 10,117. New season low!

Highest-Lowest attendance last week: Los Angeles Dodgers (vs Arizona), Thursday, April 14th. 40,879

Highest attendance last week: Los Angeles Dodgers (vs San Francisco), Friday, April 15th. 53,449. New season high!

Lowest-Highest attendance last week: Seattle (vs Texas), Wednesday, April 13th. 15,075.

Game time:

Longest game last week: San Diego vs Arizona, Saturday, April 16th. 5:25 (5-3 SD, 14 innings)New season longest!

Shortest game last week: Washington vs Atlanta, Wednesday, April 13th. 2:12 (3-0 WAS) New season shortest!

Quickest average game for the week: Tampa, 2:42 average over 6 games.

Longest average game for the week: Arizona, 3:19 average over 6 games.

Weather:

Warmest game last week: San Diego vs Arizona, 85 degrees, Sunday, April 17th.

Coldest game last week: Chicago White Sox vs Twins, 42 degrees, Monday, April 11th.

Warmest average for the week: Houston, 75.5 degrees over 7 games.

Coldest average for the week: Chicago Cubs, 50 degrees over 6 games.

Windiest game last week: Boston vs Baltimore, 22 MPH, Monday, April 11th.

Windiest week: Minnesota, 15.8 MPH over 6 games.

Ejections:

Total ejections last week: 0 (4 total this season)

Ejections by league: AL 0, NL 0.  (Season: AL 3, NL 1)

Raw data:

All games

TeamCount of GamesMinimum AttendanceMaximum AttendanceAverage AttendanceMinimum Time of GameMaximum Time of GameAverage Time of GameMinimum TempMaximum TempAverage TempMinimum WindMaximum WindAverage WindEjections
Angels61121627464189892:414:023:12587768.3111814
Astros72102743332286332:343:173:00757675.5232.5
Athletics61121629668187942:373:152:57587064.85139.8
Blue Jays62793837217329822:223:092:50495350.792013.7
Braves71807133123218592:123:292:515672630146.3
Brewers62428047608365222:293:313:01507765.74137.5
Cardinals64016847608440772:293:122:47507867.37139.8
Cubs63443741702383492:383:072:544358505128
Diamondbacks62895553279386552:365:253:19648571.23149.8
Dodgers64087953449490292:363:322:57658072.33127.5
Giants62081453449366172:423:323:02618072.26128.2
Indians61011720165140452:323:372:54515452.75129.7
Mariners61337643856266472:343:213:01556458.5183.6
Marlins61807133123252222:533:453:13525755101512.7
Mets61536528923214182:323:453:09515753.951511.2
Nationals71811937378239092:123:242:51567263.40145.5
Orioles62282039493323712:473:263:04447561.842213.2
Padres71763845229279302:275:253:13558567.331711.9
Phillies71763845229274732:273:242:52556761.33178.3
Pirates71875134957261492:523:313:16437757.81138.2
Rangers61337639493228102:353:202:52557564.21186.1
Rays61011730451166962:233:202:42
Red Sox63101137217340312:433:263:0944575192214.7
Reds63489846268413282:313:122:56437860.281310
Rockies62081441702302912:383:262:55527260.95127.5
Royals71945143332263362:373:172:596575702126.5
Tigers71875130657262072:343:203:11437656.61137.5
Twins61973640638262072:514:023:13427767.362115.8
White Sox61680140638250742:233:052:47426859.362115.3
Yankees62793843856351592:223:212:53596461285.7

Home games

TeamCount of GamesMinimum AttendanceMaximum AttendanceAverage AttendanceMinimum Time of GameMaximum Time of GameAverage Time of GameMinimum TempMaximum TempAverage TempMinimum WindMaximum WindAverage WindEjections
Astros72102743332286332:343:173:00757675.5232.5
Athletics61121629668187942:373:152:57587064.85139.8
Blue Jays32793836238309982:223:032:42
Cardinals64016847608440772:293:122:47507867.37139.8
Cubs63443741702383492:383:072:544358505128
Dodgers64087953449490292:363:322:57658072.33127.5
Indians31536520165177172:323:373:01515452.75129.7
Mariners31337615075139732:353:202:58555756121.5
Marlins31807133123253252:553:293:09
Mets32211328923251182:533:453:18525755101512.7
Nationals41811921144192602:123:052:385672630146.3
Padres32895534051311752:375:253:43648575121412.7
Phillies71763845229274732:273:242:52556761.33178.3
Pirates51875134957260572:523:313:17547766185.4
Rangers32282039493316472:472:482:47717572.341810.7
Rays61011730451166962:233:202:42
Red Sox63101137217340312:433:263:0944575192214.7
Rockies32081421891213102:443:263:056172676128.3
Tigers22627126489263803:163:173:16435649.591311
Twins61973640638262072:514:023:13427767.362115.8
Yankees33553143856393202:343:213:04596461285.7

Away games

TeamCount of GamesMinimum AttendanceMaximum AttendanceAverage AttendanceMinimum Time of GameMaximum Time of GameAverage Time of GameMinimum TempMaximum TempAverage TempMinimum WindMaximum WindAverage WindEjections
Angels61121627464189892:414:023:12587768.3111814
Blue Jays33141537217349662:433:092:58495350.792013.7
Braves71807133123218592:123:292:515672630146.3
Brewers62428047608365222:293:313:01507765.74137.5
Diamondbacks62895553279386552:365:253:19648571.23149.8
Giants62081453449366172:423:323:02618072.26128.2
Indians31011710715103722:323:202:48
Mariners33553143856393202:343:213:04596461285.7
Marlins32211328923251182:533:453:18525755101512.7
Mets31536520165177172:323:373:01515452.75129.7
Nationals32262437378301072:373:243:04616763.7454.7
Orioles62282039493323712:473:263:04447561.842213.2
Padres41763845229254972:272:582:43556659.531711
Pirates22627126489263803:163:173:16435649.591311
Rangers31337615075139732:353:202:58555756121.5
Reds63489846268413282:313:122:56437860.281310
Rockies33443741702392722:382:592:45525854.7586.7
Royals71945143332263362:373:172:596575702126.5
Tigers51875130657261382:343:203:07547663.7184
White Sox61680140638250742:233:052:47426859.362115.3
Yankees32793836238309982:223:032:42