Major League Baseball Shatters Attendance Record

Wild card races have done it again for Major League Baseball.

Such a plethora of teams have remained in contention deep into the season that for the fourth-straight year, MLB has smashed its attendance mark. And that's with a week to go in the regular season.

Baseball was quick to ballyhoo the record today, citing "increased competitive balance because of the significant changes that have taken place in the sport over the last decade, and the construction of fan-friendly ballpark" in many cities. And it certainly helped that almost two-thirds of baseball's 30 teams were in playoff contention as of Labor Day.

``I am extremely pleased that our great national pastime continues to be so popular with our fans,'' Commissioner Bud Selig said.

Photo of Yankee Stadium by Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated

Of course the commissioner is pleased. The sport is thriving despite the swirling clouds of performance-enhancing substance suspicions. Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron's all-time home run record amid allegations of steroid use, and the public yawns.

Through yesterday, baseball's attendance mark was at 76,215,082 fans, an average of 32,710 per game. Last year's mark was 76,042,787 attendees with an average of 31,423.