ESPN commentator rips Tampa Bay Rays' poor postseason attendance: "I'm not sure we can call it a crowd"

On October 3, the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Texas Rangers by a score of 7-1. With the second straight loss in the AL Wild Card Series, one of the AL's most promising teams met a quiet exit to their 2023 season.

The Rays opened the year to a 13-0 record, tying an MLB record. After their first 72 games, the team was 50-22 and led the league in virtually every single vital hitting statistic. However, that was not enough to keep the Rangers at bay.

The first game of the 2023 AL Wild Card Series saw the Rangers beat the Rays 4-0. As if the loss was not humiliating enough, only about 19,000 fans attended the game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, representing the lowest turnout for an MLB playoff game in over one hundred years.

""Some boos starting to come down from the group. I'm not sure we can call it a crowd. The group here at the Trop."- Sean McDonough" - Awful Announcing

During the fifth inning of Game 2, Curtis Mead hit a single against the Texas Rangers. On the ensuing commentary, ESPN announcer Sean McDonough ripped into the team's shameful attendance, calling the fans at the Trop a "group" rather than a "crowd."

After their 7-1 win in Game 2, the Rangers will now advance to play the Baltimore Orioles in the ALDS. Despite holding the lead in their division, the AL West, for some 140 days, the Rangers were unable to close it out, resulting in their entry into the postseason as a Wild Card team.

"19,000 showed up today … the lowest attendance in a postseason game since 1919" - Frankie

Many reasons have been cited for the poor attendance that the Tampa Bay Rays register year after year. In addition to being located some 45 minutes away from downtown Tampa, Tropicana Field is often ranked among the worst MLB stadiums and is often compared to the O.Co Coliseum, home of the Oakland Athletics.

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The Tampa Bay Rays just cannot get it done

In May or June, everybody believed that the Tampa Bay Rays were virtually unstoppable. Hitters like Randy Arozarena, Yandy Diaz, and Wander Franco only served to support their rotation, one of the best in the game.

However, injuries and an apparent inability to chip away at early deficits caused the Rays to slide down the standings. While the team's core will likely look quite similar next year, the whole organization will need to do some serious soul-searching this winter so that they might put an end to their paradoxical woes in 2024.