Catfish win fourth straight, improve to 4-2

The Columbus Catfish won their second straight 3-1 game over the Charleston RiverDogs (Yankees) tonight. With the win, the Catfish are now 4-2 after dropping the first two games of the season on the road,

Lucas May hit a towering home run in the 6th inning to cap the scoring. That is Luke's first homer of the year, and the Catfish' first homer at home this season. Luke also hit the Catfish' first home run of the 2005 season.

None of the Catfish has more than one hit, but they managed to put across a run in three straight innings to take a 3-0 lead. The RiverDogs managed a run in the ninth, before Cory Wade recorded a strikeout for the final out to secure the win and record his first save of the young season.

The bad news: after 2,765 showed up for the home opener the night before, only 406 wandered into the stands to see the Catfish' winning ways continue.

The win, combined with Rome's (Braves) 7-3 loss to the Savannah Sand Gnats (Nationals), leaves the Catfish a game out of first, tied with Asheville for second place in the division.

Tomorrow, it's a day game, with the Catfish and the RiverDogs facing off at 11:00 AM.

But, let me take a mintue to talk about the crowd.

Things looked good last night when 2,765 showed up for the game. But the good times weren't as good as they seem, with many being given freely to soldiers. A nice thing to do, to be sure, but what would happen the next night?

Easy. 406 showed up.

Today's Columbus Ledger-Enquirer had a column by Troy Johnson that asked the question: "Fans come out, but will it continue?"

He's written about the topic before, as have I.

Like Troy said:

You can blame Heller all you want for acting like a man intent on making an end run for the city limits, but what would you do if you owned a professional team that has recently struggled to draw more than 900 people a night? What would you do if there were 800 people at Golden Park on a Friday night and the three-year contract you just signed with the city offered a $12,000 escape clause? Yeah, thought so.

It's very possible that baseball would be better off here with a locally based owner who possesses a stake in this community. But any owner, no matter the zip code he or she resides in, is going to let the marketplace be the ultimate guide.

Why try to sell minor league baseball to a public that has acted as if it doesn't want it any more than it did women's professional fastpitch softball, indoor soccer, NBDL basketball or arenafootball2? Clary has heard all about the failures, both within this organization and in others that have played in this town.

And I agree. If I up and won the lottery and bought the Catfish, I'm not sure how long I'd keep them in a town that didn't support them.

Minor league baseball is a heckuva deal. Some of the players are absolutely great players, and I've seen some future Major League all-stars play during their formative years. Also, you can get close to the game, and best of all, it's safe to take the kids.

I hope people around here understand what kind of opportunity they have. And if there's a minor league team near you, I hope you take the time to attend at least one game this season. You'll have good time, win or lose.