Boston is Dedication Nation
On Monday the Red Sox sold out their Major League record breaking 456th game in a row at Fenway park. It’s an incredible test of fan loyalty, that few cities could even come close to matching
SCOTT JACOBS
456.
It’s not a new home run record for a catcher. It’s not a new record for batting average in a season. Nope, 456 is the new mark for fan loyalty.
In Texas A&M they trademarked the “12th Man.” In Boston they should trademark the “10th player.” What the Red Sox faithful have accomplished is nothing short of incredible. It’s no longer Red Sox Nation. Now, it’s Dedication Nation.
The Marlins can’t even sell out a game, never-mind 456. Come to think of it, I’m rather unsure if they’ve even had 228 sellouts in their franchise history. That would be half of Boston’s new MLB record.
When the streak started on May 15th, 2003, merely five years ago, it’s unlikely anyone thought it would start a record streak. But lo and behold, 456 games later, it’s still going. The energy bunny has actually fell behind.
Now, the new mark, which toppled Cleveland’s fan barrage for 455 straight games from June 12, 1995-April 2, 2001 does come with a bit of an asterisk. This one has nothing to do with steroids though. Fenway Park is a great stadium, but it is one of the smaller parks in the big leagues. With a seating capacity of 36,984 for day games, and 37,400 for night games (I never knew the capacity changed over a few hours) Boston doesn’t have to fill nearly the same number of seats as a team like the Yankees, which has over 50,000 seats.
Still, it’s beyond commendable that Red Sox fans could help achieve such a feat. It’s given the Sox (pre-jinx and now post jinx) one of the great home field advantages in baseball.
It was ironic that the new mark came against the Rays, who have had baseball’s best record for a good chunk of the season. Even with newfound success after 10 years of misery, Rays fans haven’t responded, failing to sellout even 10 games this year.
If that doesn’t put into perspective how impressive the streak is, not much will.
With the economic changes that have occurred over a five year span, 30,000 seats or 70,000 seats, it’s a remarkable feat. And Boston fans, all of Dedication Nation, should be proud of that.
With a 49-19 record at home, it’s clear they’re making a difference.
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The fan base of the Red Sox would sell out a stadium of 45,000 seats per year. Right now the Sox have the highest average ticket prices in MLB. Yet the fans continue to sell out the park– over 16 million people since 2003.
Usually all the tickets are sold BEFORE the season even starts leading to a secondary market that commands 3-5X the face value.
BTW the reason there are more seats at night is that the center field bleacher seats are not sold during day games.
As a lifelong Sox fan (since 1967) I have seen an evolution of the fans in the stands- now it seems less of the hardcore fans are in the park. The seats are now filled with pink hat wearing people who would not know the Sox from the opponent. This phenomenon seems to happen with all sports franchises that are successful over several years, the stadium becomes the place “to be seen” rather than the place to watch a game. Don’t let anyone fool you- in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s there were many empty seats - jus tcheck out the old footage. Sure, certian games would sell out but the vast majority had many empty seats.
THis recent attendance record can be attributed to the success and marketing machine that has emerged on Yawkee way. THe new regime has made major improvements to the park while selling ANYTHING that remotely resembles a Sox souvenir: everything from infield dirt to Red SOx Ice Cream is now branded under the Sox logo. Heck I was a member of RSN for my whole life until the SOx FO began to sell memberships.
While I am enjoying the current run the Sox are on it does sicken me to see the Sox fans morph into Yankee fans - they just cheer for different laundry- otherwise the Sox and Yankee fan share more in common than we think.
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Terrific points Steve. Plus, to pile on to your ’sellouts don’t necessarily mean true fans’ I think its more impressive when fans will brave terrible elements and stick around to the very end, no matter how good or bad the game is. The other day I was at a game that had 3 hours worth of delays. Yet, I, and 30,000 others stuck it out to the very end, even though we mutilated our opponent 69-0. That I think is true fandom. Still, in the times we live in, it’s mind blowing that a team could sell out so many games a row. Kind of makes me wonder what Wrigley’s number is right now. I thought they sold out every game. But I guess not like the Red Sox.
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This sounds like a J Rose post.
Haha, why because it’s about the Red Sox?
Because it was written on your knees in front of Theo Epstein and other Bostonians.
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