My goal for attendence for 2011

Over the first couple of series, the San Fransisco Giants fans have showed up in full force. AT&T Park is one the greatest fan experiences in the baseball world. Every home game has been a sell out.

Although I enjoy seeing all the big crowds at the yard, I am still a bit skeptical. I have a feeling that most of these fans are bandwagoners from the recent success in the playoffs. They are the ones in the crisp new hats asking questions like "Why isn't Cody Ross hitting clean up? That guy should be an MVP."

We shall see how loyal these fans are when AT&T Park has a flashback to the old days out at Candlestick with freezing, gael force winds and endless hounds of seagulls or if the Giants suffer through a rough patch and are not in the hunt come September.

Anyway, my goal for attendance this season is to have more fans at the yard by the All Star Break than the A's have in the entire year. This is a bit of a lofty goal for the reason that the Giants have so many road games in the early part of the year. It should be within reach, with the A's on pace for 1.49 million fans for the season and the Giants on pace for 1.8 million before the All-Star Break.

Looking a little but more long term, I expect the team to be in the top five in average attendance for this season, competing with Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox, Rangers, Twins, and Cardinals. As of right now, the Giants sit third behind New York and Philadelphia.

Come on Giants fans. We got this.

Patrick is an occasional contributor to The Crazy Crabbers. He focuses on things from the fan perspective and leaves all the numbers/stats mumbo jumbo to the professionals.

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Real Man of Genius: Bruce Bochy’s Bright Idea

I salute you Bruce Bochy because you have made a very wise decision to start Jonathan Sanchez in game 2 at the Bandbox known as Citizen's Bank Park instead of Matt Cain.

This must not have been easy because Cain has been steady as a rock for the team this season and carried the staff on his broad shoulders during the middle of the season but you looked at the numbers and did what was right.

Matt Cain is a fly ball power pitcher who is built to pitch at AT&T Park while Sanchez's stuff plays anywhere.

For his career Matt Cain has been a better home pitcher by more then half a run (3.19 ERA vs. 3.76 ERA) he gives up less homeruns on the same number of fly balls and against a homerun lineup that is a big factor.

Matt Cain and Citizen's Bank don't mix in his 3 career starts there he is 0-2 with a 5.29 ERA and 7 homeruns given up in only 17 innings pitched. That comes out to a 3.7 HR/9 there compared to 0 homeruns in the 2 games against them at AT&T Park.

The other factors that people are pointing to are less important to me, I think giving Cain the best chance to succeed is a big factor in giving the Giants a chance to win this series and pitching at home compared to that supposed baseball park is a big factor.

Giants have the best fans on the west coast

This one is just for you guys, the fans. We here in the Bay Area always support our teams, but especially Giants fans. The Giants have the second best national league average attendance west of the Rocky mountains at just over 36,000 a night, the only national league team above the G-men? Those bums of L.A. No disrespect to the Dodgers but AT&T Park is much nicer than Dodger Stadium (Or for that matte better than just about every park in baseball). At least here in the Bay Area we do not arrive in the 3rd and leave in the 7th like some people(Bums).

Although AT&T has lacked something that it deserves, a tradition that is done during each game. For example: Roll Call in Yankee stadium, Giants fans we need to prove to the east coast that we can compete with their traditions.

A few ideas, lets create the rally Panda so if we ever meet those nowhere close to L.A. but close to Disneyland Angles in the World series again we can defeat the Rally Monkey!

We also need to get louder with the "he's a bum chants", when I go to games these are always the most fun to be a part of and they do mess with the heads of players trust me I know!

So Giants Fans keep up the good work and together we can make AT&T Park the best place to watch baseball in the MLB, like they say; there's magic inside!