413 at old Yankee Stadium in 1966

Richard Sandomir /NY Times thinks the Yankees should raffle away their empty seats. At the end of his article, there's also a remarkable account of a Yankee game in 1966 that had a measly attendance of 413. I can't believe Red Barber was later fired for talking about the empty stadium.

This early season’s why-aren’t-they-selling-out situation sends us back to the end of the 1966 season. No, it’s not as bad as all that when the Yankees won 70 and finished last.

But Red Barber gazed upon the absence of humanity in the old, pre-renovation stadium and told his radio listeners, according to his recollection in one of his books: “I don’t know what the paid attendance is today — but whatever it is, it is the smallest crowd in the history of Yankee Stadium.”

By the time he moved onto the TV side, he announced the paid crowed: 413. By order of someone with the Yankees, cameramen were told not to pan around to the vast wasteland.

Barber was dismissed soon after for reporting the obvious.