MLB expands south & west
DENVER, COLORADO & MIAMI, FLORIDA - Two new National League franchises began play on this date in 1993. The Colorado Rockies played their first game on the road at Shea Stadium in New York. They were shut out by the Mets 3- 0.
The Florida Marlins' first game was at home in Miami. They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6 to 3 at Joe Robbie Stadium. The 1993 expansion of the Rockies and Marlins was the first in the National League since 1969.
Since entering the league 19 years ago (as of this writing) the Marlins have done remarkably well on the field, but the Rockies have done considerably better at the turnstile. The Rockies set a major league record drawing 4,483,350 fans in their inaugural year, but the Marlins have already won two World Series-1997 and 2003.
The Rockies were the second team in major league history to draw more than 4 million fans (the Toronto Blue Jays were the first). The Rockies probably would have drawn 4 million more often, but the franchise moved in 1995 from 80,000 seat Mile High Stadium, where the Denver Broncos NFL team played at the time, to Coors Field, which seats 50,227.
The Rockies drew more than 3 million fans 9 of their first 13 years. The Marlins have only surpassed the 3 million mark once - their first year, only one other time did the Marlins surpass 2 million fans. But they may break that threshold again with the openning of a new ballpark in Miami this spring, 2012.
Here's a comparison of attendance for the two franchises:
............Rockies........Marlins
1993 4,483,350 3,064,847
1994 3,281,511 1,937,467
1995 3,390,037 1,700,466
1996 3,891,014 1,746,767
1997 3,888,453 2,364,387
1998 3,792,683 1,750,395
1999 3,235,833 1,369,421
2000 3,149,117 1,173,389
2001 3,168,579 1,261,226
2002 2,737,918 813,111
2003 2,334,085 1,303,215
2004 2,338,069 1,723,105
2005 1,915,586 1,823,388
2006 2,104,362 1,164,134
2007 2,376,250 1,370,511
2008 2,650,218 1,335,075
2009 2,665,080 1,464,109
2010 2,875,245 1,524,894
CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Baseball-Almanac - Expansion Era
ESPN - Attendance
Ballparksofbaseball.com
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