Sure, they've got problems but still don't buy gimmicks

Cleveland has a big, purple, fuzzy mascot called Slider who wings wienies to the crowd with a slingshot. Seattle has mating night and a moose that rollerblades to Beach Boys music. The Dodgers, well, they are one of the most successful baseball franchises in history and never had to resort to "gimmicks" to jack up attendance.

That is, until this year.

Now they are in the cellar -- a hard place for a team that has finished first or second in its league in 21 of the last 30 years, racking up more national league pennants and world series than any other team. This is a team that has won five world series since it moved to LA in 1962 and draws a yearly attendance of 3 million.

This year, however -- during the Los Angeles team's 30th anniversary -- attendance is expected to drop to 2.7 million, a loss of 600,000 fans from last year's above-average crowd of 3.3 million, said Barry Stockhammer, vice president of marketing for the Dodgers.

But don't expect the Dodgers to resort to Country Western nights or mascots to jack up attendance. That's just not its style. This is a team governed by tradition, from the senior citizen playing the organ to the legendary Dodger dogs.

"We have a fairly conservative marketing philosophy," said Stockhammer. "We believe in promoting the baseball experience and family tradition." He said the team has a marketing plan it put a lot of effort into designing and from which it is unlikely to veer.

"We won't change anything drastically," he said in reference to planning for a losing season. "We've put too much effort in the existing system to overhaul it."

Season ticket sales for the 56,000-seat open-air grass stadium in Chavez Ravine near Elysian Park are capped at 27,000 tickets, said Stockhammer. The rest of the tickets are drummed up from loyal fans and people looking to see good baseball, not people who are looking to be entertained by the music or the mascot, say Dodger promoters.

The most gimmicky event in that system is probably Hollywood Stars Night, when celebrities play baseball one night a season, said a Dodger spokesman. The team has a number of ticket-based programs centered around a wide variety of ethnic communities, such as Hispanic family night, Japanese family night, African-American family night and Filipino family night. They also have senior citizens' nights.