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National Interest
2005-06-12 22:27
by Mike Carminati

The Washington Nationals passed a million in attendance this weekend and may surpass two and one-half million fans for the first time in franchise and Washington baseball history. They have already outdrawn their predecessors, the 2004 Expos, by over 250 thousand fans in almost 50 fewer games. They project to 2,571,601 fans for the season, almost 3.5 times as many as the Expos drew in Montreal and San Juan last year.

The 2005 Nats are also just the second Washington club to draw over one million fans. The other was the 1946 Senators with 1,027,216 in total attendance. They finished fourth that year.

Here are all the seasons in franchise history in which at least 1.5 million fans came out to see the Expos/Nats play, ranked by average per game:

YrTeamLgPos Attendance Home GAvg
2005Washington NationalsNL1 1,015,941 32 31,748.16
1983Montreal ExposNL3 2,320,651 81 28,650.01
1982Montreal ExposNL3 2,318,292 81 28,620.89
1980Montreal ExposNL2 2,208,175 80 27,602.19
1981Montreal ExposNL2 1,534,564 56 27,402.93
1979Montreal ExposNL2 2,102,173 81 25,952.75
1994Montreal ExposNL1 1,276,250 52 24,543.27
1987Montreal ExposNL3 1,850,324 81 22,843.51
1989Montreal ExposNL4 1,783,533 81 22,018.93
1992Montreal ExposNL2 1,669,127 81 20,606.51
1993Montreal ExposNL2 1,641,437 81 20,264.65
1996Montreal ExposNL2 1,616,709 81 19,959.37
1984Montreal ExposNL5 1,606,531 81 19,833.72
1985Montreal ExposNL3 1,502,494 81 18,549.31

This would be just the thirteenth year in franchise and Washington history (combined) that a club outdrew the major-league average. Here are the others:

YrTeamLgPos Attendance Home GAvg Lg Avg % Lg Avg
1981Montreal ExposNL2 1,534,564 56 27,402.93 19,041.88 143.91%
1925Washington SenatorsAL1 817,199 76 10,752.62 7,769.18 138.40%
1982Montreal ExposNL3 2,318,292 81 28,620.89 21,161.78 135.25%
1980Montreal ExposNL2 2,208,175 80 27,602.19 20,434.27 135.08%
1983Montreal ExposNL3 2,320,651 81 28,650.01 21,593.33 132.68%
1943Washington SenatorsAL2 574,694 76 7,561.76 6,030.62 125.39%
1979Montreal ExposNL2 2,102,173 81 25,952.75 20,748.16 125.08%
1970Montreal ExposNL6 1,424,683 80 17,808.54 14,787.72 120.43%
1933Washington SenatorsAL1 437,533 76 5,757.01 4,966.58 115.91%
1971Montreal ExposNL5 1,290,963 80 16,137.04 15,063.68 107.13%
1969Montreal ExposNL6 1,212,608 81 14,970.47 13,992.63 106.99%
2005Washington NationalsNL1 1,015,941 32 31,748.16 29,722.25 106.82%
1972Montreal ExposNL5 1,142,145 78 14,642.88 14,506.87 100.94%

It's particularly impressive given that 2004 Expos drew under ten thousand per game, a little over a quarter of the major-league average. The Expos over the last few years were used to playing in front of empty seats. Now, they are playing to packed houses. Here are the Washington/Expo teams that were the most below the major-league average:

YrTeamLgPos Attendance Home GAvg Lg Avg % Lg Avg
2001Montreal ExposNL5 642,745 81 7,935.12 29,881.06 26.56%
1917Washington SenatorsAL5 89,682 80 1,121.03 4,186.04 26.78%
2004Montreal ExposNL5 749,550 80 9,369.38 30,075.36 31.15%
1999Montreal ExposNL4 773,277 81 9,546.63 28,887.72 33.05%
2002Montreal ExposNL2 812,045 81 10,025.25 28,169.32 35.59%
1904Washington SenatorsAL8 131,744 78 1,689.03 4,554.28 37.09%
1906Washington SenatorsAL7 129,903 75 1,732.04 4,657.40 37.19%
1998Montreal ExposNL4 914,909 81 11,295.17 29,053.97 38.88%
2000Montreal ExposNL4 926,272 81 11,435.46 29,377.90 38.93%
1955Washington SenatorsAL8 425,238 77 5,522.57 13,466.27 41.01%

That's an increase of 22,378.78 fans per game. The previous high in one-year turnaround in attendance in major-league history was almost three thousand fans less. That was 1953 Braves, in their first year in Milwaukee. Here are the biggest one-year increases:

YrTeam Avg yr1 Avg Yr2 Increase
1953Milwaukee Braves 3,652.96 23,118.95 19,465.99
1946New York Yankees 11,603.22 29,422.23 17,819.01
1965Houston Astros 8,960.16 26,561.36 17,601.20
2000San Francisco Giants 25,659.25 40,972.84 15,313.59
2001Milwaukee Brewers 19,427.42 34,704.21 15,276.79
1993Philadelphia Phillies 23,795.65 38,736.72 14,941.06
1955Kansas City Athletics 3,956.70 18,329.66 14,372.96
1991Atlanta Braves 12,100.36 26,422.43 14,322.07
1948Cleveland Indians 19,512.54 33,172.49 13,659.96
1993San Francisco Giants 19,271.58 32,177.21 12,905.63
1981Oakland Athletics 10,398.26 23,286.64 12,888.38
1978San Francisco Giants 8,642.67 21,487.37 12,844.70
1996San Diego Padres 14,469.51 27,010.94 12,541.42
1992Baltimore Orioles 31,515.47 44,047.15 12,531.68
1994Cleveland Indians 26,887.75 39,121.06 12,233.31
2004Philadelphia Phillies 27,900.59 40,124.59 12,224.00
2004San Diego Padres 25,062.77 37,243.85 12,181.09
1994Texas Rangers 27,711.31 39,733.30 12,021.99
1990Chicago White Sox 13,070.64 25,029.46 11,958.83
1966Atlanta Braves 6,859.06 18,778.06 11,919.00

Now, what'll happen if they stay in first all year?

Comments
2005-06-13 05:50:27
1.   Murray
The Redskins will actually have to work to get headlines in Washington.

Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.