The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the second half of the 2022 season by hosting division-rival San Francisco Giants with a promotional Cody Bellinger bobblehead giveaway.
Thursday’s game drew an announced attendance of 53,165, which was the team’s 10th sellout of the season and the largest paid attendance in all of Major league Baseball this year.
The series opener against the Giants also drew a bigger crowd than the 2022 MLB All-Star Game, which of course was played at Dodger Stadium as well and drew a crowd of 52,518.
Fans in attendance on Thursday night were treated to an exciting game as the Dodgers took an early 5-0 lead only to see the Giants tie it with a five-run seventh inning.
San Francisco then took a a 6-5 lead in the eighth. However, the Dodgers rallied to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning and capped it off with a three-run blast from Mookie Betts to take a decided 9-6 lead.
Craig Kimbrel closed the door in the ninth to give the Dodgers their National League-best 61st win of the season.
Bellinger did not have a hit on his bobblehead night, but did draw a walk, score a run and make an impressive catch in center field.
Dodgers road attendance
Earlier this season, the Dodgers helped set a Petco Park attendance record when they traveled south to face the San Diego Pares. The series finale between the two teams drew an announced attendance of 44,930, which was the largest crowd of the weekend at Petco Park. That mark also helped the Padres set a franchise record.
The 133,856 total attendance represented the highest in Petco Park history for a three-game series. It bested the 133,456 announced attendance from May 3-5, 2019, which also was for a three-game series the Dodgers were part of.
Stan Kasten credits Dodgers fans for attendance numbers
Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten has credited the fanbase for showing up in large numbers and believes their support has been vital to building the best team possible.
Kasten noted the Dodgers’ strong support from their fans gives them a notable advantage both on the field and off of it as well.
In 2021, the Dodgers finished the regular season with 2,804,693 in announced attendance (34,626 per game average) and once again leading the Majors in the category. Excluding the pandemic-impacted 2020 campaign when fans were not permitted, the Dodgers have drawn the most home attendance in baseball for eight consecutive seasons.
Their 2021 season attendance total was roughly 500,000 more than the No. 2 ranked Atlanta Braves.
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