Baseball season begins
Not all fans are singing 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game'
April 1, 1996
Web posted at: 7:05 p.m. ESTMIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Fans crowd around Cleveland Indians' star Kenny Lofton as if they were batters crowding home plate.
"Mr. Lofton! Mr. Lofton! Please," one young fan says as he begs for an autograph.
"Chill out, man. Jeez," Lofton balks. "I'm trying to satisfy as many people as I can. You guys are just selfish." (95K AIFF sound or 95K WAV sound)
"In some ways, it (baseball) might never recover,"
-- Paul Molitor of the Minnesota Twins.
Monday was opening day for most Major League Baseball teams, but how the national pastime is received by the fans this year remains to be seen.
Unlike last year's strike-marred season, the 1996 season promises to be a full one. Some fans can't wait to hear the crack of the bat, others still cry "foul," saying the strike has left a bitter aftertaste.
"In some ways, it might never recover," says Paul Molitor of the Minnesota Twins.
Don Smiley, Florida Marlin president, echoes Molitor's sentiment.
"I think given the happenings in the game in 1994 and 1995, that some fans are still put out. I don't think the hurt has dissipated completely," says Smiley.
For some baseball clubs, the prospect of fans filling the stadium is good, while the outlook for other baseball cities is pretty bleak. Regardless, most have launched campaigns to try to revive fans' interest in the game.
In Pittsburgh, the city with the worst attendance in baseball last year, the new ownership has pitched a television campaign in which players cheerfully gab about the game. And in Minnesota, Twins' management is offering season tickets beginning at $83 -- that's $1 per game.
"We've had two tough years on the field so we want to look at any way we can to bring our fans back in and enjoy the ballpark," says Bill Smith, the Twins' general manager.
Meanwhile, Florida Marlin ticket sales are sluggish. As of Sunday, Marlin tickets were still available for opening day.
Overall, Major League Baseball officials say season ticket sales are up more than 6 percent from the strike season a year ago. But sales are down from the last full season, and they say the numbers are skewed by the phenomenon in Cleveland, where the American League champs have already sold out for the season.
"I think it's a special circumstance that for 40 to 41 years, there wasn't a reason to buy a ticket in Cleveland," says Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove, "as far as baseball was concerned."
Now baseball officials are waiting to see whether other fans follow the example of those in Cleveland.
From Correspondent John Zarrella
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