On paper, the series had all the makings for some sellouts at Tropicana Field. In reality, just more than 19,000 fans showed up on average.
Saturday night was a different story. Was it a more important series? No, the Tigers were in town. Were the fans inspired to cheer on their hometown team as the season neared its close? No.
In fact, it was nothing baseball related. It was a postgame Beach Boys concert.
Yes, the Beach Boys. A band that was formed in 1961 whose members have an average age of 67 years old drew a sellout crowd of 36,973, according to The Associated Press.
The sellout is a telling sign of the mentality of many Rays' fans. Earlier in the week, owner Stuart Sternberg said the team's trade of Scott Kazmir was a "reallocation of resources" rather than a salary dump.
"This is what we do," he said. "This is who we are and this is what we do. People better get used to it, because it’s going to continue.”
The result of such warm and friendly offerings from the owner is, evidently, an empty stadium. Based on the photo from Saturday night's game, it looks as though the sellout crowd was not in any rush to get to the Trop in time for the baseball game.
The crowd likely arrived in time to see the Tigers score a pair of runs in the eighth to take an 8-6 lead, one which they would keep through the end of the game. The home fans were likely happy that they didn't have to watch extra innings, opting for "Good Vibrations" over the clanging of a cowbell.
