By: Liz Farmer

Well, we’re at the All Star break and it’s time for another Orioles attendance update. And this time — are you sitting down? — it’s good news!

If you’ll remember, back in early June I predicted we’d start seeing a boost in our beloved O’s attendance rate because the Birds were hosting a string of high-drawing teams, Matt Wieters had arrived and school was out.

I love being right.

After the June 9-11 series against Seattle, Oriole Park’s total attendance for the year was 692,891 — a whopping 21 percent down from its corresponding 32nd game at home last year. Since then, the O’s have hosted Atlanta, the New York Mets, Boston, Washington and Toronto and picked up 15 points in the meantime.

The team is still down from last year, but only by 5.2 percent. And that’s pretty much in line with the rest of Major League Baseball attendance, which is down between 4 and 5 percent, according to the Sports Business Journal.

Meanwhile, since Wieters joined the club on May 29, more than 600,400 people have passed through the gates at Oriole Park in 21 games. During the previous 26 games, attendance totaled about 541,000.

Now, not all is well — I attended Sunday’s matchup against Toronto (which drew about 21,600) as a plain old fan and the atmosphere was almost sleepy in the upper reserves. And this was despite the fact the Orioles won and had the lead for most of the game. Toronto’s not the kind of team that will draw road fans (as opposed to the previous clubs I mentioned), and with just orange and black shirts to fill the stands, the emptiness was palpable.

I know many Orioles fans who pride themselves on their baseball knowledge and their steadfast support of the team (although maybe not always its ownership). And while maybe it’s not as bad as attending a Sunday afternoon game at Nationals Park, it’s still a little depressing to see the lack of turnout from home fans on a beautiful day when you can get tickets for as little as $9.

The visiting fans are doing their part for Orioles attendance — if more Orioles fans showed up to support their team, Oriole Park may even beat its attendance total from last year. But the ball’s in your court — we’ll see how the second half of the season goes.