There are 140 games in the Minor League Baseball Double A regular season. The goal for every team is to make it past the regular season and play more games into the middle of September. Everyone wants to make it to the playoffs, with the ultimate goal to be the last team standing.

The R-Phils have made it to the postseason at least twice since I started working at the ballpark. It is always very exciting when the team is successful and the fans get very excited about playoff baseball. However, one thing confuses me about this excitement.

Very few people actually come to the playoff games.

Don’t get me wrong, you still see fans at the games, but it’s not anything like the crowds that gather during the regular season. There are always the season ticket holders who are a constant presence at all games – even road playoff games – and families and other groups who come to enjoy a nice evening. Even with these fans attending each night, I would still say that a majority of those same fans who were excited for the team to make the playoffs never actually attend a playoff game.

Even the season when Reading emerged as the Eastern League Eastern Division Champions, there were very few fans from the final sellout crowd in attendance for the playoffs.

Why?

Now I know there are different factors that can prevent people from being able to attend a game. The biggest one would be the start of school and school sports. There are at least ten school districts within the R-Phils coverage area and this can prevent many of their regular fans from attending games once school and sports have started back up again. At the same time, there is a large percentage of fans who don’t have kids in school and could still potentially attend a game on a week night. Yes it is the beginning of fall, and yes the weather may not always be ideal for sitting outside at a baseball game, but some of those same fans will go sit outside at a football game in even colder weather.

After cheering for your team through 140 games and hoping there would be at least three more games for you to watch, why would you not go out to the ballpark if you have the chance to watch extra baseball? It may not end the way you hope and there may not be a shiny World Series trophy waiting for the victors after the final out, but it is still postseason baseball and it is still exciting.

Confessional: Have you ever attended a playoff baseball game or postseason athletic event? What was it?

Even with all the outlying factors that may cause timing or availability issues, I am still surprised that more fans don’t show up to support the team that has worked so hard all season to reach the playoffs. It’s always exciting when the team you are rooting for does well and who wouldn’t want to watch extra games? I’m sure I will never truly understand why people would hope all summer that their team makes the postseason and then not come to games to continue watching them play.

Regardless of how many fans show up, I know I get excited for playoff baseball and I hope I get to watch the team play in September in the near future!