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It ended rather poorly for the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday as they lost the home opener to the 2023 postseason, but it didn't exactly get off to a great start, either. The playoff attendance was abysmal. The team often struggles to get fans in seats during the regular season, and that disappointingly did not improve in the postseason.
The Tampa Bay Rays playoff attendance was the lowest for any team in a postseason game since 1919. It's been more than a century since a team's playoff game, not including the COVID-19 season, had so few spectators.
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To watch the Texas Rangers come to town, only 19,704 spectators filled the stands. There was just no one there to watch the Rays play in the playoffs, which is startling for a home playoff game. The Rays also won 99 games during the season, so they were one of baseball's best teams.
Tampa Bay Rays playoff attendance and form disappoints
The Tampa Bay Rays playoff attendance was not the only thing that proved to be poor yesterday. Their play in the opener was also worthy of criticism. Not only did they welcome the Rangers to town and lose, they went out with a whimper.
Boasting a pretty good pitching advantage in Tyler Glasnow vs. Jordan Montgomery, the tables turned. Montgomery shut them down over seven innings and Glasnow recorded four (three earned) runs.
The defense was very bad as well. They recorded four errors during Glasnow's start, which lasted just five innings. That was all the Rangers needed, as the bullpen of the Rangers closed it out, with Aroldis Chapman nailing down the victory.
Now, they'll have to quickly make a comeback. The next game is today, and it's win or go home for Tampa. If they win, they'll force a winner take all game on Thursday. They cannot afford for their play to be so bad once again.
Atmospheres in playoff games often help home teams, so they can't afford to have so few fans in attendance again today or tomorrow if they want to stay alive.
