Fans flock to ballpark for pitcher's (possibly) final game in Syracuse
The fourth-largest crowd in Chiefs history watch while Stephen Strasburg pitches during the Chiefs/Yankees game tonight at Alliance Bank Stadium. Syracuse -- The potential for problems was all there: 20,000 free tickets on Little League night for 3,500 general admission seats to a game with flame-thrower Stephen Strasburg on the mound.
The Syracuse Chiefs and Onondaga County prepared for the worst: extra attendants all around, park rangers at Alliance Bank Stadium for the first time this season, a widely disseminated new plan for getting cars parked more efficiently.
No one knew how many of those 20,000 promotional ticket holders might show up for what was possibly Strasburg’s final game in Syracuse. The city fire marshal was prepared to halt people at the gate.
But no one was turned away from today’s sell-out game against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. No jostling for seats. No overflow crowd. Just a few had to stand along the fence at the back of the upper deck. The crowd was at times one- or two-people deep along the concourse.
Seven park rangers patrolled in and around the ballpark. When the gates opened at 5:10 p.m. for the 7 p.m. game, about 1,000 people were lined up. After that, there wasn’t the same backlog at the gate as previous Strasburg games. Most people were seated for his first pitch.