Detroit Tigers: 5 reasons to still watch in 2015 (VIDEOS)

Mar 31, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers short stop Alex Gonzalez (second from right) is swarmed by teammates after hitting a walk off RBI single against the Kansas City Royals in the ninth inning of an opening day baseball game at Comerica Park. Detroit won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Tigers shipped out three of their best players in order to get better for next year and beyond.

The reasoning behind selling at the non-waiver trading deadline last week was simple, the team did not show that they could be a legitimate contender this season, particularly since the All-Star break in which they have failed to win a series.

So we understand why they did this, but it should be interesting to see how the team fares the rest of the way, not particularly on the field, but with the fans.

Will the fans continue to show up to Comerica Park for the final 28 home games? Because teams all have different numbers of home games thus far, and because capacity is different in each stadium, the total attendance figure can often be misleading.

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So a better look is the average attendance. The sub-.500 Tigers rank ninth in baseball at 33,915. The only other likely non-playoff team in the top 10 is Boston (at #6 with 36,028). Detroit is also slightly ahead of baseball-mad Kansas City (33,189) to round out the top 10.

When you look at percentage of sold tickets vs unsold tickets, the Tigers move up to seventh at 82.2 percent.

Though these numbers are solid, there are a bit down the last few years and no longer eclipse 3 million as they did in 2012 and 2013. Last year they finished just under that mark at 2.9 million and this year they are on pace to finish at 2.7 million, though you gotta think that pace will decrease a bit with the loss of David Price, Yoenis Cespedes and Joakim Soria.

If you remember the Tigers’ lean years when Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park were sad, empty vats of apathy, could the team be heading this way for the final two months?

Let’s hope not because despite the sale last week, there are many reasons to still watch this team in 2015. Here are five….

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