Bud Selig: Oakland tarps come off if Athletics reach ALCS
If the Oakland Athletics reach the American League championship series, the tarps that cover the third deck of their stadium will be removed, Commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday.
“If they advance, they are going to take them off,” Selig said.
The A’s play host to the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night, in the fifth and final game of the American League division series. The winner advances to the ALCS.
The A’s won Tuesday and Wednesday, with the tarps on and sold-out crowds of 36,067 each night. The tarps should add about 11,000 seats.
The A’s sold an average of 20,728 tickets per game during the regular season, ranking 27th among the 30 major league clubs.
Selig said he was not troubled by the A’s decision to keep the tarps on for the ALDS, even as fans wondered why the team might artificially restrict ticket sales and television showed an entire deck covered up.
“I don’t think it’s embarrassing,” Selig said. “You saw it all year. They made, I think, the right decision all year.
“They had 36,000, which would be near the capacity of a lot of ballparks today.”
The Tampa Bay Rays list stadium capacity at 34,078. In addition to the A’s, five other clubs list capacity under 40,000: the Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins and Pittsburgh Pirates.
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