Fourth of July weekend around the Majors was a blast. And baseball fans were locked into the action at levels rarely seen.
July 4-6 was the most-viewed three-day period in the history of MLB.TV, while the 4th and 5th were the two most-watched days ever. The huge audience watched a total of 419 million minutes over those three days.
Nearly every game on MLB’s July 4 schedule was free on MLB.TV, and that afternoon’s series opener between the Yankees and Mets at Citi Field turned out to be the second-most-watched game in MLB.TV history, topped only by Shohei Ohtani's return to pitching last month. The Mets’ 6-5 victory was a Subway Series classic.
Fans who weren’t watching MLB.TV on July 4 were instead packing stadiums across the league. The collective ballpark attendance on the national holiday was 537,768, the best turnout on July 4 since 2015.
Beyond the Mets’ thrilling victory, that day’s action included two homers from Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, MLB’s home run leader. In Chicago, the Cubs set a franchise record with eight home runs in their drubbing of the Cardinals at Wrigley Field.
There were 48 home runs hit on July 4 this year, the second-most on that date behind the 52 homers hit on July 4, 2000.