ShareThisYou want more proof that the economy is kicking sports like an old rugby ball? No, of course you don't. You've heard more than enough already, and you're ready to chase people who bring it up again with a pointed stick.
But this one you'll like. At least if you're a Giants fan who clings to tradition.
The Dodgers, with the front-runningest of front-running fan bases, have lost no games in Los Angeles this year. They are the first topic of conversation in a town that has the Lakers in the playoffs, and people are talking without resorting to hysteria about 100 wins with the same excited longing that 49er fans talk about eight wins.
And yet, in winning their 11th through 13th consecutive home games over Arizona, they barely half-filled Dodger Stadium: 30,530 Monday night, 33,557 Tuesday, and 31,348 Wednesday, when they broke the record with a 10-3 win over the Nationals. With Manny Ramirez and the team with the best record in baseball.
This speaks to many things at once, but the core truth here is that there isn't much walk-up traffic in L.A. yet. Overall, Dodger attendance is off nine percent through 13 dates, and, given the small sample size, that should pick up with a better economy, the end of the school year and warmer weather. But drawing 30K, 33K and then 31K with all the momentum a team could possibly want tells us that for the time being, results alone aren't enough to electrify folks to pry open their wallets.
And because we now know that "the customer is always right" is making a comeback in this difficult squeeze, the potential customers are not wrong to hesitate before alighting the bandwagon. Good for the 95,435 who were counted, and good for the 75,862 who stayed home. They're both right, no matter what the external stimulus of never seeing your team lose might be.
Wednesday night's record-breaker against Washington was another test of the economy's reach. And while you may not be disposed to care about how far ahead the Dodgers can get in the NL West, you might find some solace in knowing that the money you don't have to spend on a whim is the same money Dodger fans don't, either.
(Contact Ray Ratto at rratto(at)sfchronicle.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit the San Francisco Chronicle
