Elbow room in the grandstands at minor-league games has been tougher to come by this season.
According to Minor League Baseball, more than 20-million fans have attended games through June, a 2.8 percent increase from last year. Ten of the 15 leagues have shown improvement, including the Florida State League, which had the third-highest increase (9.2 percent).
The league's three area clubs, Clearwater, Dunedin and Tampa, have not shared that success at the turnstiles.
Attendance has dropped slightly for each. Clearwater is averaging 884, down from 1,154. Tampa is averaging 50 fewer fans and Dunedin 13 fewer.
The biggest factor in the decline has been Mother Nature.
Torrential rains in June wreaked havoc on the area clubs' schedules. Clearwater, Dunedin and Tampa had a combined 16 games washed out since the second half began June 16. Most will be made up as doubleheaders in August, a grueling way to end the season.
"The rain is always tough to deal with," said Ken Carson, director of Florida operations for the Blue Jays. "If there are dark clouds, people don't want to come out. But there's still time to catch up."
CHECK IT OUT: Clearwater's Gavin Floyd and Ryan Howard and Tampa's Robinson Cano will play in the Futures All-Star Game on Sunday at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field.
The game, which features the top U.S. and international minor-league players and is part of All-Star festivities, starts at 5:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.
There have been 76 Futures alumni that have made it onto big-league rosters. MLB, in conjunction with its 30 clubs and Baseball America, selected the 25-man roster for each team.
ATHLETE UPDATE: Gabe Gross, a former first-round pick from Auburn who made his professional debut with Dunedin in 2001, recently was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse.
Gross spent most of the season at Double-A New Haven and played in the outfield alongside Alexis Rios and John-Ford Griffin, former first-round picks who also were FSL alumni.
SPECIAL APPEARANCE: League president Chuck Murphy will attend tonight's game at Dunedin and Saturday night's at Clearwater. Murphy, in his 13th year as president, visits each of the 12 teams at least once a year. He already has been to Tampa.
CLEARWATER: Dave Coggin, who was on rehabilitation assignment, returned to Philadelphia. He appeared in three games with Clearwater, allowing one run and three hits in four innings.
Other Phillies pitchers who have made rehab assignment in Clearwater are Brandon Duckworth, Bud Smith and Turk Wendell.
TAMPA: Left-hander Sean Henn showed signs he was recovering from a sore shoulder after pitching three scoreless innings for the Yankees' rookie-level Gulf Coast League team Wednesday.
This is the second injury Henn is trying to come back from the past two seasons. He missed last season after having Tommy John surgery and started this season in Tampa. He is 2-3 with a 4.58 ERA.
DUNEDIN: After starting the second half 1-6, the Blue Jays have won nine of 11 to move into a tie with Sarasota for second place in the Western Division.
