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Home Swimming Play ball! Plenty of fans at Osceola Stadium
Play ball! Plenty of fans at Osceola Stadium PDF Print E-mail
Sports
Friday, 26 March 2010 08:05
By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer
It takes a little luck to come through a long baseball season on top.
It doesn’t hurt to have a little of that luck if you’re running the ballpark, either.
The folks with the Houston Astros at Osceola County Stadium had dodged clouds, storms and cold fronts all spring long until Sunday’s gully washer dashed a game against the New York Mets, an anticipated cash cow for the county.
But even with Sunday’s rain, stadium manager Pete Rodriguez says he feels fortunate at how this spring training’s gone at the ol’ ball game.
“We were sold out, there were 6,000 people in the park. I tried everything I could, but Mother Nature will have her say,” he said after the game was canceled after only one inning.
The Astros had consecutive games rained out March 11-12, but this was their first rainout at home. Despite Sunday’s deluge, Monday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals went off without a hitch (“We had batting practice at 9 a.m., our grounds crew did a fabulous job,” Rodriguez said) and drew 5,009 fans, lifting the season’s average to 4,001.
That’s nearly a 10 percent increase from last year (3,661), when the stadium attracted 66,804 fans during its 25th anniversary season.
“Our walkup crowds have been outstanding, in most cases,” he said. “I really think that it’s been cabin fever, people are starting to get out now that the weather’s warmed up and been better.”
Facilities Manager Jeff Kuenzli can attest to that. He was in the ticket office for the better part of the afternoon  March 19 counting the haul from that day’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, the start of what would have been the best four-game set in stadium history, Rodriguez said.
Three days before that, the Boston Red Sox rolled into town for the first time since the early 1990s and brought what Rodriguez called, “6,200 of the nicest fans you’d ever meet.”
After getting another attendance bump last week during Spring Break in Houston, the Astros hosted 4,012 against Toronto, a stadium-record 7,020 against the New York Yankees on Saturday and Monday’s healthy Cardinals crowd.
“In this economy, if you stay the same, that’s good,” Rodriguez said. “So I’m very happy with what we’ve drawn this year.”
Three more chances remain to see the Astros before they head back to Houston. The next two (today, 1:05 p.m.) against the Tampa Bay Rays, Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies, (1:05 p.m.) feature both teams from the 2008 World Series.
The home finale at 1:05 p.m. Thursday against the Detroit Tigers features the “Two for $26” deal — that price gets you tickets, hot dogs and large sodas for two.
Tickets are $22 and $25 for box seats and $15 and $18 for reserved seats today. All seats are $3 more Tuesday against Philadelphia, a premium game, but Rodriguez reported plenty of tickets are available for both games.
The Astros, who play in the National League’s Central Division, were 11-9 through Thursday’s game against Philadelphia in Clearwater.
The Astros hitters have put their bats on display this spring. Left fielder Carlos Lee has the highest average of the starters at .406 through Wednesday. Others in seemingly midseason form have been catcher J.R. Towles at .400 with six doubles, right fielder Hunter Pence (.378, 3 HR, 14 RBI) and third baseman Pedro Feliz (.371).
Houston plays at Minute Maid Park Friday and April 3 against Toronto before the regular season opener April 5 against San Francisco.
 

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