Photo Credit: Dinur (Flickr CC)
Despite the low expectations of a rebuild, a brutal post-All Star Break slump, a shrugged-off trade deadline and what felt like 300 utterly excruciating Nick Franklin plate appearances, fan excitement for the Milwaukee Brewers has been high this year, to judge from the season's attendance figures. Today the team surpassed the 2 million attendee mark, no small feat for any team, let alone one of the smallest markets in baseball. The Brewers now have the tenth best attendance in the MLB this season, according to ESPN.
Of course, that still puts the Crew behind two division rivals, not coincidentally the ones they're currently locked in a playoff race with. The Chicago Cubs have so far drawn 2,258,40 fans (sixth best in baseball), while the St. Louis Cardinals sit at number two, with 2,653,985 attendees. In fairness, though, both of those teams have a considerable upper hand over the Brewers, and not just in terms of market size and payroll. Both have recent World Series championships under their belt, and one has a magic cat.