115,301 is the all-time record. It was a preseason game between the defending champions Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday March 29, 2008 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. [1] According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, this is the only baseball game where the 100,000 figure has been definitively exceeded. [2] [lower-alpha 1]
The record was set on September 28, 1882, in game between the Troy Trojans and the Worcesters in Worcester, Massachusetts, which some reports had only six spectators attend.
As both clubs had been notified that they were being dropped from the National League, fans had very little interest in watching the lame-duck teams, [3] especially on a day which the Boston Globe of September 29 (p.2) described as "bleak, cold and windy."
This record does not count games played behind closed doors by governmental authority. Games that were played as such included the April 29, 2015 game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which was closed because of safety concerns surrounding the 2015 Baltimore protests, [4] and the majority of the 2020 season (only the NLCS and World Series had spectators) which was closed to fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The highest per game attendance average is held by the Colorado Rockies in 1994 with 57,570 for 57 home games at Mile High Stadium during the strike shortened season.
The 1918 season is excluded as it was shortened due to travel restrictions caused by World War I.
The 1981 season is excluded due to the players' strike that cancelled almost two months' worth of games.
The 2020 and 2021 seasons are excluded due to the COVID-19 pandemic that caused restrictions on public gatherings.
Toronto Blue Jays became the first team in baseball history to draw 4 million mark in attendance in 1991 season. [39]
Team name | Season | Home attendance | Per game | Ballpark |
---|---|---|---|---|
Colorado Rockies [13] | 1993 | 4,483,350 | 55,350 | Mile High Stadium |
New York Yankees [23] | 2008 | 4,298,655 | 53,070 | Yankee Stadium |
New York Yankees [23] | 2007 | 4,271,867 | 52,739 | Yankee Stadium |
New York Yankees [23] | 2006 | 4,248,067 | 52,445 | Yankee Stadium |
New York Yankees [23] | 2005 | 4,090,696 | 50,502 | Yankee Stadium |
Toronto Blue Jays [37] | 1993 | 4,057,947 | 50,098 | SkyDome |
New York Mets [22] | 2008 | 4,042,045 | 49,902 | Shea Stadium |
Toronto Blue Jays [37] | 1992 | 4,028,318 | 49,732 | SkyDome |
Toronto Blue Jays [37] | 1991 | 4,001,527 | 49,402 | SkyDome |
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The 1950 Major League Baseball season began on April 18 and ended on October 7, 1950, with the New York Yankees of the American League winning the World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League in four games.
The 1951 Major League Baseball season opened on April 16 and finished on October 12, 1951. Teams from both leagues played a 154-game regular season schedule. At the end of the regular season, the National League pennant was still undecided, resulting in a three-game playoff between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers. After splitting the first two games, the stage was set for a decisive third game, won in dramatic fashion on a walk-off home run from the bat of Giant Bobby Thomson, one of the most famous moments in the history of baseball, commemorated as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" and "The Miracle at Coogan's Bluff". The Giants lost the World Series to defending champion New York Yankees, who were in the midst of a 5-year World Series winning streak.
The 1956 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 17 to October 10, 1956, featuring eight teams in the National League and eight teams in the American League. The 1956 World Series was a rematch of the previous year's series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The series is notable for Yankees pitcher Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5.
The 1954 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 13 to October 2, 1954. For the second consecutive season, an MLB franchise relocated, as the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Orioles, who played their home games at Memorial Stadium.
The 1953 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 13 to October 12, 1953. It marked the first relocation of an MLB franchise in fifty years, as the Boston Braves moved their NL franchise to Milwaukee, where they would play their home games at the new County Stadium. This was also the first regular season of the televised Major League Baseball Game of the Week, originally broadcast on ABC.
The 1973 Major League Baseball season was the first season of the designated hitter rule in the American League.
The 1918 Major League Baseball season began on April 15, 1918. The regular season ended earlier than originally scheduled, September 2, because of a reduced schedule due to American participation in World War I. The National League and American League champions were the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 15th World Series on September 5 and ended with Game 6 on September 11. The Red Sox defeated the Cubs, four games to two.
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The 1958 Major League Baseball season was played from April 14 to October 15, 1958. It was the first season of play in California for both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants ; in turn, this marked the first teams to ever play on the West Coast. Three teams had relocated earlier in the decade: the Milwaukee Braves, Baltimore Orioles, and Kansas City Athletics. New York went without a National League team for four seasons, until the expansion New York Mets began play in 1962.
The 1941 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 14 to October 6, 1941. The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees were the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Yankees then defeated the Dodgers in the World Series, four games to one.
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The ... Phillies led baseball's attendance chart for the first time ....