NEW YORK (AP) — Cincinnati catcher Tucker Barnhart could hear the difference at Great American Ball Park http://www.rockiesfanproshop.com/authentic-ryan-mcmahon-jersey , one of six major league stadiums that set record lows for attendance this year.“It’s pretty hard to not notice it when you can hear the light towers buzzing,” he said.Major League Baseball’s average attendance dropped 4 percent to 28,830, its lowest since 2003 after 14 consecutive seasons topping 30,000.Baltimore’s Camden Yards, Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field, Minnesota’s Target Field, Miami’s Marlins Park and Pittsburgh’s PNC Park also drew their smallest attendance since opening as part of a ballpark boom. In a season of unusually cold and wet weather, 17 of the 30 teams experienced drops.Major League Baseball attributed the decrease primarily “connected to the historically bad weather we faced back in the spring” and noted the percentage drop decreased markedly after May 1.Total attendance fell to 69.63 million from 72.67 million last year and a high of 79.5 million in 2007. The average is down 14.4 percent from its high of 32,785 in 2007, the last year before the Great Recession. It had not been this low since 28,013 in 2003.“I think it is a concerning number, and a think a lot of factors go into it in today’s climate http://www.tigersfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-jimenez-jersey , particularly when fans have as many options as they have in where they’re spending their entertainment dollar,” players’ association head Tony Clark said.On-field success and attendance usually are linked.“When teams rebuild, it always has an attendance effect,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said.The NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers set a club record, Colorado drew its biggest crowds since 2001, World Series champion Houston since 2007 and the New York Yankees since 2012 — including a new Yankee Stadium record 23 sellouts.But advance sales were down for several teams that jettisoned veterans and went with youth. Under the five-year labor contract agreed to before the 2017 season, limits were placed on spending for international amateurs following restrictions that began in 2012 on amateurs who reside in the U.S. More cost certainty for controllable players may have encouraged more teams to rebuild at the same time.“If our system encourages teams to be either all in or all out, there are some things worth discussing and we look forward to having those conversations,” Clark said.The Orioles (47-115), White Sox (62-100), Marlins (63-98) and Reds (67-95) had among the poorest records, while the Twins had a losing season at 78-84.“People have a lot of decisions to make in their life about what they’re doing with their commitments and money and what have you. It’s up to us to give them something they want to embrace,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. “Attendance is down. It’s our fault Miguel Cabrera Jersey , not theirs.”But the Pirates contended until late in the season and finished 82-79, yet fell by more than 450,000 to 1.65 million, the smallest for the franchise since 1996 at Three Rivers Stadium. Perhaps the cause was a lingering effect from trading away stars Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole the previous offseason.Cleveland fell by 120,000 even though the Indians won their third straight AL Central title.Despite a 90-72 record and third-place finish in the AL East, Tampa Bay was 29th in the major leagues at 1.15 million. The Rays and Oakland Athletics are the last two teams seeking new ballparks.“I know it’s a hassle getting to the ballpark. I get it. Even if we’d have won 100 games, who knows if it would have been different?” Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier said.In its first season under new chief executive office Derek Jeter, the Marlins drew 811,000 after trading star slugger Giancarlo Stanton to the New York Yankees, the low for a franchise that started in 1993 and the fewest home fans for any major league team since the 2004 Montreal Expos in their last season before moving to Washington, D.C. The Marlins said they changed their counting method to include only tickets sold. Still, the vast amount of empty seats is unsustainable.“That’s something we need to improve,” Jeter said. “Where we’re starting from Alan Trammell Jersey , the only way we can go is up.”Bad weather played a factor in the falloff, especially earn in the season. The average of 26,867 through April was down 9.4 percent from 29,654 through the first full month in 2017. There were 54 postponements, the most since 1989, and 26 of them were higher-drawing weekend games. Manfred said 35 games in April had a temperature of 40 degrees or less and a quarter of the games were played in 50 degrees or under.“We got ourselves in a hole that I’ve never seen since I’ve been in baseball,” said Manfred, who first got involved in the sport as an outside counsel in 1987.Still, he knows changes in the sport and the audience have to be examined constantly.“All live entertainment is challenging because of changing habits,” Manfred said. NEW YORK — During the fifth inning Saturday, Giancarlo Stanton struck out swinging on a high strike that sent his momentum toward the ground. He then slammed his right fist on the dirt to express his disgust at how the at-bat ended.It was that kind of day for the New York Yankees, who hope to rebound from a difficult showing at the plate Sunday afternoon in the finale of a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays.Stanton hit his 34th homer in his next at-bat but the Yankees fell behind by seven runs before their furious comeback fell short and they were handed an 8-7 loss.Article continues below ...Didi Gregorius homered twice and Miguel Andujar hit his second career grand slam to cap a six-run seventh, but the Yankees could not overcome striking out 16 times http://www.tigersfanproshop.com/authentic-al-kaline-jersey , stranding 10 going 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.“We have a group in there capable of turning this thing in a heartbeat,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got to keep battling through this right now. I feel like we are showing some signs of pulling ourselves out of it a little bit, but we’ve got to do better.” As a result, their uneven play of late continued. The Yankees (91-57) are 8-10 since Aug. 26 and what was once a 4 1/2 game lead over Oakland for home field in the wild card game is down to 1 1/2.“Does it concern us? Yeah, because we’re supposed to win,” Gregorius said. “You always want to play to win. That’s what’s going on. That’s what you want to do, for us. We’re not playing that way right now, but I think we’ll pick it up soon.”The Blue Jays will try to get their first series of the season from the Yankees. They are 5-13 against the New York but hit three homers and held on to snap a four-game losing streak.Randall Grichuk homered twice while Kevin Pilar added one.Sunday could be manager John Gibbons last game managing the Blue Jays in Yankee Stadium, across the street from where his first managerial stint with the team began in August 2004.“I’m a fan of the history of baseball,” Gibbons said Friday. “This is a new stadium but it’s still Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park … You look back to the first time you were there and you’re kind of in awe of those places. You never know either if you’re ever going to come back so you try to enjoy it.” New York right-hander Lance Lynn looks to reach double figures in wins for the sixth straight season when he makes his eighth start for the Yankees. After going 7-8 for Minnesota, he is 2-2 with a 4.79 ERA in eight appearances for the Yankees.Lynn rebounded from an ugly outing Sept. 2 against Detroit on Sept. 8 when he allowed two runs on three hits in six innings of a 4-2 win at Seattle.Lynn is 0-2 with a 6.88 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the Blue Jays. He took a no-decision against them Aug. 17 in a 7-5 New York win when he allowed four of his five runs in the first inning and lasted four frames.Rookie Thomas Pannone makes his fourth career start for the Blue Jays and 10th appearance. As a starting pitcher, he is 2-1 with a 4.86 ERA.Pannone last pitched a week ago in a 6-2 victory over Cleveland when he allowed two runs on four hits in 6 1/3 innings.