Crowds Drop in First Week

Baseball attendance dropped during the first week of the season, with many teams opening in bad weather.

The 90 games drew an average of 28,272, the commissioner’s office said Monday. That was down 2.7% from the first 90 home games of those same teams last year, which averaged 29,063.

Because several high-drawing teams opened on the road, the drop was even steeper when comparing the attendance of the teams at home last week to the teams at home in the opening week of the 2002 season. Last week’s average was 9.8% below last year’s average of 31,339.

Several teams opened to cold and wet weather, including Baltimore, the Chicago White Sox, Detroit, Kansas City, the New York Mets, Philadelphia and St. Louis.

Home openers for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland and the New York Yankees were postponed Monday by snow. Pittsburgh’s opener was called off because of rain.

Baseball spokesman Rich Levin said it was hard to compare the opening averages because of the difference in teams opening at home. Last year, for instance, the Yankees were among those who played at home the first week.

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Pitcher Pedro Martinez’s $17.5-million option for 2004 was exercised by Boston, seven months before the Red Sox needed to make a decision. Martinez, 31, has shown no sign of past arm problems in two starts, both of which were squandered by the bullpen.

Martinez is 0-0 this season with an 0.60 earned-run average. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is second in the American League with 14 strikeouts.

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New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter’s dislocated shoulder will sideline him for at least six weeks. Surgery will not be necessary unless there is a recurrence of the injury, the Yankees said.

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Ken Griffey Jr. was put on the 15-day disabled list by the Cincinnati Reds, two days after the center fielder dislocated his right shoulder while diving for a ball. Griffey will try to recuperate without an operation and could return in six to 10 weeks.