Good morning. This is LEADOFF, an early look at Atlanta sports.
The Braves might have drawn their smallest crowd Wednesday afternoon for a home game since moving to Atlanta in 1966, although we'll probably never know for sure because MLB quit announcing real attendance figures in 1993.
Our David O’Brien reported there were less than 1,000 people on hand for the first game of a day-night split doubleheader against the Rangers, the makeup game from Tuesday night’s rainout.
That would be in the range of the three lowest recorded home attendance figures in Atlanta Braves history, all posted back when the actual turnstile count was announced:
Sept. 8, 1975: 737
Sept. 6, 1977: 877
Sept. 14, 1976: 970
Until 1993, National League teams announced the turnstile count -- the number of people actually in the stadium -- as the attendance for each game. Sounds logical, right? But since then, they have joined American League teams in announcing the number of "tickets sold," including those in season-ticket packages, as the attendance, regardless of whether the tickets were used. By that measure, the Braves announced "attendance" of 19,971 for Wednesday afternoon's game.
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