THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 30, 1995 TAG: 9507300228
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
While many professional baseball teams are struggling to put fans in the stands, the Norfolk Tides are filling Harbor Park at a record clip. They are virtually certain to break their franchise attendance record for the third year in a row and will lead the International League for the second consecutive year.
The Tides will surpass the record mark of 557,586 they hit last season, said general manager Dave Rosenfield, though team president Ken Young has a more ambitious goal.
``I'd like to break 600,000,'' he said. ``I keep running the numbers and coming up short, but I wish we could.
``If we included the (New York) Mets exhibition and the playoffs, we'd be well over 600,000, but we don't count those games.''
The actual attendance at Harbor Park isn't known. The Tides announce paid attendance only, including no-shows, and even when the team sells out, there are empty seats. But most minor league teams also announce paid attendance and the Tides are well ahead of the pack in the IL.
Through Saturday, the Tides were averaging 7,915 per game and August generally produces big crowds for Norfolk. Columbus is second at 7,333 and Richmond third at 7,209. Norfolk's total attendance is 411,591.
The Tides have the IL's best team after compiling losing records their first two seasons in Harbor Park. ``My guess is that our attendance would have been down a little'' if there team weren't winning, Rosenfield said.
DARRYL DOLLARS: Rosenfield said he estimates Darryl Strawberry packed an additional 1,000 fans per night into Harbor Park during his three-day stay with the Columbus Clippers last week.
If so, the Tides can thank Strawberry for enriching their coffers by at least $20,000. That's about how much revenue 3,000 fans fork over in ticket and concession sales.
Strawberry, meanwhile, didn't get to see much of the area where he played briefly in 1983. Because he is on house arrest following his conviction for tax evasion, he was confined to his hotel room at Military Circle.
Art Richmond, designated by Yankees to keep an eye on Strawberry (his tongue-in-cheek nickname is `Darryl's Babysitter'), said his job was easy.
``Darryl spends most of his time in his room reading the Bible,'' Richmond said.
TOBY ALL WET: The Tides provide all sorts of entertainment between innings, including something called the Spirit of Norfolk Water Balloon Toss, in which one participant tosses water-filled balloons, and another tries to hit it with a bat.
The more balloons you pop, the more prizes you earn, and generally, the participants both get sopping wet.
But Friday night, two young ladies emerged bone dry. They shocked most onlookers by picking up the box of balloons, running across the field and pelting Tides' manager Toby Harrah in the dugout.
Harrah was at first so shocked he didn't move, and several bounced off of him without breaking. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so shocked - the girls are his daughters, Haley (16) and Katie (14), who are visiting from Harrah's off-season home of Ft. Worth, Texas.
``Guess they were mad at me about something,'' he said with a smile. ``Teenage daughters are always mad at their dad about something.''
ALL-STARS: The best of area American Legion players will be on display at Harbor Park prior to today's game with Toledo. The Second District American League All-Star game will be held at 4 p.m. It matches 38 all-stars from 11 teams. Fans must purchase tickets to the Tides games to see the all-star game. Gates open at 3:30.
ASK DAVE: Rosenfield will be on WTAR-radio, AM-790, Monday from 6:30 until 7 with sportscaster Jack Ankerson answering calls from fans. by CNB