Take a look up atop the statistical leaderboards in Major League Baseball and you’ll see the Colorado Rockies everywhere.
Whether it’s Mark Reynolds and Charlie Blackmon atop the RBI chart, Greg Holland‘s save total, or Antonio Senzatela challenging for the league lead in wins, numerous Rockies are having big years so far in 2017.
They’re doing quite well as a team, too. The Rockies rank third in runs scored, and are top-10 in team batting average and extra-base hits. They’ve also pitched four shutouts, good for eighth in baseball.
Yes, things are firing on all cylinders, and fans are taking notice. Not only is Colorado ranked in the top 10 in many key statistical categories, they’re also in the top 10 in attendance through the first two months of the season. Fans are coming through the turnstiles at Coors Field at the best clip since 2011.
With an average home attendance of 34,920, the Rockies rank ninth in baseball in attendance. They join legacy franchises like the Dodgers, Cardinals, Giants and Cubs (who rank first through fourth respectively), and are nipping at the heels of the Red Sox, Angels and Yankees to climb the list. That’s some impressive company, considering Denver is by far the smallest market among the top 10 teams.
What’s more impressive, Colorado was dealt a bad hand by Mother Nature during one of their biggest series of the year. The Rox and Cubs were rained out and had to make up the game as part of a soggy double-header that prevented many fans from coming out.
Still, they’ve recorded three sellouts on the season so far and have a good chance for more now that school is out and families have more of an opportunity to get out to the ballpark.
Colorado has long been a great baseball city in terms of attendance, holding many major league records, but their attendance ranking has seen a slight decline as the team has struggled to win games over the past few years.
Last year, as the team battled into August to be .500, they ranked 11th at the end of the season. In 2015, they ranked 14th with an average attendance of 31,334.
The Rockies are currently on pace to record their highest attendance total since 2011, when they averaged 35,923. If they keep up their winning ways, there’s a good chance they’ll put that number in the rearview mirror soon.
The Rockies play only nine home games in June, and only two in the first 15 days, so fans will have to come out in force over those games to keep the numbers strong. Colorado is on the road right now, returning to Coors Field for two games with Cleveland on June 6 and 7.
