Fields of Nightmares

If you build it, they will come. Or will they? These days that depends on the cost.

Several teams are learning that a Field of Dreams does not translate into dreamy attendance figures. Instead, the high prices are turning into a nightmare – for both the teams and fans.

Major League Baseball yesterday announced that attendance is down 7 percent, and that average crowds are off for 19 of the 30 major league clubs.

Among those seeing less people come through the turnstiles are both the New York clubs, which just happened to open palatial new digs this year, along with some equally high-dollar prices.

Attendance for Mets games are off 23 percent; for the Yankees it’s 12 percent fewer fans showing up.

You might recall that some seats in the new Yankee Stadium ring in at a lusty $2,62. That’s for a single seat, not an entire section. Those seats have been sitting empty for the most part.

Gone are the days when baseball was one of the few remaining bargains in major league sports.

What would Ray Kinsella think?

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