Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 10, 1993 TAG: 9305100085
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DENVER LENGTH: Medium
Sunday's crowd of 70,786, their third-largest of the season, gave the Rockies a total of 1,017,678.
The Toronto Blue Jays reached the million mark in 21 dates last year, the previous fastest.
Colorado also set a record attendance figure for a four-game series. The four-game series against NL champion Atlanta, which concluded Sunday, drew 251,447, bettering the previous mark of 218,948 set in 1963 by the Los Angeles Dodgers against San Francisco.
Earlier this year, the Rockies set an opening-day attendance record with 80,227 for their home opener April 9 against Montreal. That figure also was a National League regular-season record, as well as the largest crowd ever for a single game during the regular season in either league. Cleveland drew 84,587 in 1954, but that was a doubleheader. The all-time record was 92,706 for Game 5 of the 1959 World Series at Los Angeles.
The Rockies also established a major-league standard for a three-game series by drawing 212,465 for the April 9-11 series with the Expos.
"We never expected it [one million in attendance] to come this soon," Jerry McMorris, the Rockies chairman, president and chief executive officer, said Sunday.
"We knew the response to a franchise in this region would be good, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be as strong as it's been. Obviously, the fans are having fun, and everybody is behind the Rockies."
General manager Bob Gebhard noted that, since 1980, 17 teams have failed to draw one million in entire seasons - a figure the Rockies reached in about one-fifth of their inaugural season.
At their current pace - a per-game average of 59,863 - they would easily eclipse the all-time season attendance record of 4,001,527 set by Toronto in 1991.
"To have one million people in the 17th game is just unbelievable," Gebhard said. "I think all of baseball is just amazed at how well we've drawn here."
McMorris agreed.
"The expansion committee thought our original numbers were overestimated and that we were planning on drawing people from too far away," McMorris said. "We proved them wrong on both counts.
"I think the original projections were in the 2.5 million range. It's kept ratcheting up, and now four million is very well within reach. It would be nice to set a mark this year that could never be broken.
"Obviously, baseball has made a big mistake flying over Denver for 30 years."
All of this from a team that has struggled on the field, compiling a 10-19 record coming into Sunday's game.
"This just shows we've got great fans and they're excited about baseball," Gebhard said. "They all wish we've won a few more ballgames, but so do the manager and the general manager and the owners."
by CNB