An announced crowd of 22,526 fans ventured to Target Field for one final time this year on Sunday afternoon, watching the Twins deal a blow to the Cleveland Guardians’ playoff chances.
On a day when the Vikings kicked off at noon a mile away, and the Lynx were host to WNBA playoff game that started at 4 p.m. across the street at the Target Center, the stadium was half full — much like it has been all season.
It was a season-wide trend for the Twins, who drew the fewest fans in any season — excluding the pandemic-affected 2020 and 2021 seasons — since 2000 in the Metrodome. The announced-attendance total of 1,768,728 fans is down from 1,951,616 a season ago. The Twins averaged 21,836 fans a game, 24th out of 30 Major League Baseball teams, though two of those teams behind them are playing in smaller-capacity, minor league stadiums.
In a season in which the Twins are tracking towards finishing with the second-worst record in the American League, and fan discontent seems to have reached a peak, attendance took a hit. One fan in the stands on Sunday voiced his displeasure by sporting a Twins jersey that said “Fire Sale,” with No. 25 on the back.
While the results on the field played a result in their attendance undoubtedly, the Twins only dropped, on average, 796 fans per game after a trade deadline in which they traded away nearly 40 percent of the active major league roster.
Their lowest-attended home game came on a Monday in April when the Twins sold just 10,240 tickets to a game against the visiting New York Mets. That was the least-attended game in Target Field history aside from the COVID-affected seasons. Their highest attended game came on July 11, a game in which a pair of all-star starter Joe Ryan and Paul Skenes duked it out before a postgame Nelly concert. They drew 40,100 fans that night.
The Twins eclipsed 30,000 tickets sold in just seven of 81 home games this season.
Briefly
Manager Rocco Baldelli said he expected Ryan Jeffers, on the injured list with a concussion, to join the team on its season-ending road trip to play the Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies. Fellow catcher Christian Vázquez, out since early August, is also expected to join the team in Texas after spending the weekend rehabbing with the Triple-A Saints. Vázquez is coming back from an infection in his left shoulder. … The Twins canceled rookie dress up last season in the midst of their late-season collapse, but it was back on this season with the team’s younger players getting ready for their Sunday night flight in outfits picked out just for them.
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