Blame it on lingering effects of the pandemic, resentment over the lockout or economic fears. Major League Baseball is struggling to fill the stands at pre-COVID levels as the sport heads into the last 2½ months of its first season since 2019 without capacity restrictions. MLB reached the All-Star break with an average attendance of 26,409. That represents a drop of 5.4% from the All-Star break of 2019 — which was 10 days earlier than this year. League officials remain encouraged and point to the recovery. […] … Victor Matheson, a Holy Cross economics professor who specializes in sports economics...