SEATTLE (AP) -Better than any other Mariners player, Jose Vidro knows small crowds.
He used to play for Montreal, which hosted the major-league equivalent of private shows.
``I remember we had crowd of 6,000, 8,000,'' said the veteran designated hitter who played for the now-extinct Expos from 1997-2004. ``During games we'd be talking to each other saying, 'Man, we don't have anybody here!'
``Definitely, we paid attention to it.''
Safeco Field hasn't turned into old Olympic Stadium, not yet. But yes, the Mariners are paying attention to turnstiles that are moving as slow as Seattle's season. Seven weeks into a hugely disappointing year, the team has drawn eight of the 10 lowest crowds in the history of its $514 million stadium with a rollback roof.
Just 15,818 showed up for the game May 6 against Texas on a 53-degree night, the smallest crowd ever in the nine-year-old stadium.
Mariners president Chuck Armstrong said last week he expects an ebb and flow to crowd counts during a season. Especially one that begins in unusually cold weather with home games against Texas, Kansas City, Baltimore, Oakland and the Chicago White Sox. Those traditionally are among the weakest-drawing teams on the road in the AL.
``The weather hasn't been good. We haven't played as well as we wanted. And this is the worst schedule ever,'' Armstrong said. ``I'm optimistic, but when you see 15,000 against a division rival, yes, you are disappointed.''
He said the calendar will take care of the issue.
Yet the Mariners, who entered Monday night's game at Texas with the AL's worst record at 15-24, aren't just waiting for the Yankees, Red Sox and 70-degree days to come this summer. They are teasing their increasingly indifferent fans with the prospect of beloved Ken Griffey Jr. returning soon to the city where he and the Mariners enjoyed their finest years.
There was buzz in Seattle Monday from reports out of New York that Duane Shaffer, a special assistant to Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi, was at Shea Stadium watching Griffey and the Cincinnati Reds play the Mets last weekend.
Respecting baseball's rules against tampering with players under contract with another team, Armstrong and manager John McLaren refuse to comment directly on possibly trading for Griffey, who was traded from Seattle before the 2000 season.
He would fill not only seats but the left-handed power-hitter void the Mariners have had for years. The shorter fences in right field at Safeco were allegedly built for him. At least Griffey could help get the Mariners back toward the 36,322 fans per game they drew as recently as 2004, when they finished last in the AL West.
Seattle has had eight crowds below 20,000 in 21 home dates this season. It had five all last season.
``I think good is 22-25,000 a game, and that's on bad days,'' Vidro said. ``On weekends you definitely want to have around 35,000.
``It's definitely not fun with less than 20,000.''
The Mariners are averaging 26,038 fans per game this season, 18th in the major leagues entering Monday. Excluding the season's only sellout, on opening day, and the only other crowd of 40,000 that came for Ichiro Suzuki bobblehead dolls on April 25, and the average is 24,197. That would be almost 6,500 per game lower than the previous low at Safeco Field from 2006.
``We've got great fans here. When we get going, they'll be here,'' McLaren said. ``We appreciate our fans.''
Armstrong and Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln said last fall the team's increase in attendance from 2.48 million in '06 to 2.67 million last season - despite a sixth consecutive season without a playoff appearance - was a factor in keeping Bavasi and McLaren. They called that proof the franchise was going in the right direction.
While concerned, the Mariners aren't exactly looking for pennies inside the cup holders of each seat. They get a healthy revenue stream from concessions, luxury suites and a favorable lease arrangement through the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District, which built and arranged the financing for Safeco Field's construction.
Armstrong noted again last week that the Mariners spend annually to improve and maintain Safeco Field. Financial records filed with the Public Facilities District for 2007 show that total for ``unanticipated capital costs'' in 2006 was $3,154,091.
But the statement then noted that money will be reimbursed to the Mariners out of the district's excess revenue fund.
That's partly how the Mariners reported an $8 million profit in 2005 when they went 69-93 and finished in last place for the second consecutive season, a whopping 26 games out of first place. They drew 2.7 million that season.
And it's part of why Seattle has a player payroll of about $115 million this season, about the same as last year and below only the ultra-rich teams in New York, Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles.
