Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008

Modesto fans go Nuts and set single-season attendance record

Seven people were in the Tanner party that visited John Thurman Field for the first time Thursday night.

Led by Valley Springs firefighter Kirk Tanner, the group, which included his immediate family, his sister and her son, had no idea they were going to be part of Modesto baseball history.

They were part of the crowd that sent the Modesto Nuts over the top, setting the single-season attendance record for a California League franchise that has been around since 1946.

On this night, however, the Tanner seven weren't even rooting for the Nuts. They were there to cheer on their cousin Clayton Tanner, a San Francisco Giants prospect who was the starting pitcher that night for the San Jose Giants.

Regardless of the reason the Tanners chose Thursday to visit Thurman Field, their story about where they choose to watch live professional baseball is a common one in these difficult economic times.

"I grew up going to A's games, but things have become so expensive," Kirk Tanner said. "So we started going to Sacramento River Cats games, and we've been to a few Stockton Ports games, but this is our first trip to Modesto."

The Tanners were seated in the bleachers behind the Nuts' dugout, a $6 preferred grandstand ticket. Because of the proximity to the diamond at Thurman Field, these bleacher seats were closer to home plate than the closest $50 ticket to watch the Athletics in Oakland.

"It would cost at least a couple hundred dollars to do this at a San Francisco Giants game, and here it's $50 at the most," said Modestan Paul Afilano, who said he attends about six Nuts games a year with his wife and two children. "The major leagues are too cost-prohibitive right now, especially with the price of gas."

Thursday's crowd of 2,786 at 4,000-seat Thurman Field pushed the Nuts' 2008 season attendance to 159,744, surpassing the previous mark of 158,936 set last year. With the record in hand, Friday's crowd of 4,562 for the regular-season finale boosted the all-time Modesto record to 164,306.

"It's exciting," said Nuts' first-year general manager Alex Schwerin. "We wanted to get 160,000 in attendance last year. We fell a little bit short, but we got the attendance record, which was a great experience for the staff. Our real goal every year is to send that number as high as we can and push the limit."

The attendance number, which, like all other professional sports, reflects the number of paid tickets distributed, shows a steady, continued growth in baseball's popularity in Modesto.

"Our area is growing in many aspects, though we're still a laid-back agricultural region," said Nael Aly, dean of business administration at California State University, Stanislaus. "As an area matures, so does its hunger for culture, including sports. My daughter just went to a Nuts game. It's a fun event for younger people, and all the games are a way for people to socialize. They get excited about the event, the function, even if they don't have a great interest in the outcome."

As recently as 1996, the Modesto A's drew fewer than 100,000 for the 70-game home season, luring 98,795 through the gates to watch a team that featured seven future major league players, including Miguel Tejada.

The refurbished Thurman Field opened the following season, and 140,861 came to watch the A's play, but the most fans ever to watch an Oakland affiliate in Modesto was 155,171 in 2002.

The backlash of losing the Oakland affiliation and widespread dislike of the new name Nuts were factors in the attendance dropping to 136,612 in 2005, the year after the final Modesto A's team won the California League title.