Fay factors in RiverDogs' run for record

Records are made to be broken, unless a serious storm system blows in from Florida.

Clear skies over the next week or so might mean the Charleston RiverDogs set a franchise mark for single-season home attendance.

But Dave Echols, general manager of the Class A South Atlantic League team, watched The Weather Channel in his office Tuesday without smiling much.

"Our average is up and we've been drawing tremendously all summer long," Echols said. "However, safety comes first. The Weather Channel and the local meteorologists do a great job of keeping everybody informed of the pending weather situation and I think the potential Fay brings could cause us a little bit of a hiccup as we try to wrap up the season."

The RiverDogs have nine home games remaining over eight days, all in a row beginning tonight with a 7:05 game against the Columbus Catfish at Riley Park. The teams will play a doubleheader Thursday night.

Averaging 4,252 customers per home game, the RiverDogs are on pace for a total of 289,138 for the season. The club attendance record of 284,718 was set last year, a big jump over the previous high of 267,908 in 2006.

"We're proud of what we've done," Echols said. "Not to dwell on the negative, but if the forecast is right and we have a rough three or four games with the weather, we will have lost four Thirsty Thursdays throughout the season and possibly our second full weekend. To still be in the top five attendance years we've ever had and have the best average we've ever had says a lot about our fans and how we're trying to operate."

The RiverDogs are sixth in the 16-team South Atlantic League in home attendance average.

Noted promoter Mike Veeck no longer is a member of the RiverDogs' ownership group but remains club president, and his "Fun is Good" influence is felt in the schedule of the final homestand. The usual mix of strange and tender includes All-U-Can-Eat Wild Wednesday ($20 at the Ashley View Pub) and a chance for one fan to win $10,000 tonight, Thirsty Thursday ($1 food and drink specials) and midget wrestling between games of Thursday night's doubleheader and Ken Carrington Bobblehead Night (a toast to the RiverDogs' popular public address announcer) Saturday night.

To help Project Cool Breeze, fans tonight are invited to bring air conditioners, fans and cash donations to help elderly people who live in residences without air conditioning.

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com.