New ticket policy, my trip and other misc stuff

by Doggie Stalker on Jul 14, 2008 4:31 PM CDT

There is a sign up at the box office that as of Sat the 12th if you buy Day of Game tickets including standing room you must IMMEDIATELY enter the park or they will be rescinded. I assume this is an attempt to keep scalpers from buying and reselling them. I honestly believe the box office TRIES to prevent this kind of thing. One thing though is does this mean they wait till 11 to sell day of game tickets so you can go in right away ?

I passed El Jardin which is wonderful Mexican restaurant about 5 blocks south of Wrigley on Clark that always gets a big before and after crowd. They have a sign up that they will be closed for vacation July 14-16 which I figure is there own All Star break.

I saw a familiar face boarding my flight back to NYC last night , Jason Marquis and his family. I am not at all good recognizing players outside the park but between his heavy gold chain and VERY thick New York accent I was 90 % sure it was him.( I checked this morning and the kids sexes and ages match so it was him) I was kind of stuck there trying to get to my seat ( almost last to board ) and the Marquis family was in the first row of first class. I had my Cubs hat on but I took it off self consciously when I looked at him a 2nd time. I would have been happy to tell him how good he pitched Friday but I don't believe in bothering players with their families and the little ones where a little ancy. When I got off the plane they were still there and the kids were sound asleep. Hope Jason enjoys a few days off back in Staten Island.

Lastly I just called my Yankee fan friend with season tickets who will take me anytime. I had no interest in saying goodbye to ugly Yankee Stadium but I am now going to one of the A's games so I can actually see Matt Murton play this year. Too bad Gallagher won't pitch in the series.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation, Bleed Cubbie Blue, or Al Yellon, editor-in-chief. FanPost opinions are, however, valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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Hopefully Murton won't have been traded by then...

"It’s like they have 40,000 players on one team. Forty thousand people want to be in the dugout slapping fives. ‘Passionate’ is an understatement. Fans like that are special." -- Giants LHP Alex Hinshaw on Wrigley Field

by northsider on Jul 14, 2008 4:37 PM CDT 0 recs

The policy on SRO tix...

... is, as far as I can tell, just for SRO tix and ONLY for SRO tix, which means yes, you’d have to wait till 11:20 (for a 1:20 game) to get in. This just happened over the past weekend.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Jul 14, 2008 4:41 PM CDT 0 recs

Sign at box office says Day of Game and SRO

Who knows

"I am not ashamed to say I love Greg Maddux" - Jim Hendry

by Doggie Stalker on Jul 14, 2008 4:43 PM CDT up 0 recs

I was going to comment on this

It is for all day of game seats. It is an outstanding policy. When you purchase any tickets (I was able to get section 120 row 4 at 12:40 on Sunday) you are ushered directly into the ballpark. Also, day of game sales have been moved to the ticket window on Addison.

I am not sure how they handle people showing up to get in line before the gates open. They had barricades set up (similar to a line at the airport/amusement park). I assume you would wait in that line until they start selling tickets at 11:20 a.m.

Again, this is a great thing for the everyday fan who is not trying to profit on Cubs tickets.

by gocubsgo22 on Jul 14, 2008 4:47 PM CDT up 0 recs

I wonder

this may be my best chance to get tickets on the 30th. I can’t see being able to bring my 9 year old with me for two hours in line, tho.

"We expect to win. We go out to win. So we're just living up to our own expectations." Derrek Lee, 5/29/08

by drewishdrewid on Jul 14, 2008 4:51 PM CDT up 0 recs

Won't work for a 9 year old

But in the off chance you can ever actually get two tickets I strongly suspect if you asked nicely
they would allow you to leave one of them at the courtesy pick up window. They are trying to prevent scalpers from buying them and I don’t see any scalper having a name to leave at the window let alone going to all that much trouble.

"I am not ashamed to say I love Greg Maddux" - Jim Hendry

by Doggie Stalker on Jul 14, 2008 4:58 PM CDT up 0 recs

The new day of game sales window

Is no where near the courtesy window. BUT, if you try about 30 minutes before the game, there are usually new tickets released. That is what I did yesterday.

by gocubsgo22 on Jul 14, 2008 5:42 PM CDT up 0 recs

was there a big line?

"We expect to win. We go out to win. So we're just living up to our own expectations." Derrek Lee, 5/29/08

by drewishdrewid on Jul 15, 2008 9:59 AM CDT up 0 recs

It was about 15 people long, but they had 4 windows open (at 12:40)

by gocubsgo22 on Jul 15, 2008 10:23 AM CDT up 0 recs

Won't work for a heavily pregnant wife, either

This policy was in place 9 years ago this August when my wife and I were in town. I had a convention, and she was eight months pregnant, so she came with me to chill out in the hotel while her mom watched the older kids. The last day of the convention, we decided to head out to Wrigley to try to get in. We got out of the cab near the main ticket windows on Addison, and they said I had to go around to the back for day-of-game tickets (behind LF bleachers). She didn’t want to walk that far, so I just went. But after I had been in line for about 20 minutes, a guy came by and said, “When you get your tickets, you will have to go directly into the park.” I raised my hand and explained about my wife. They were a little skeptical, so he got on the walky-talky and had someone go look for my wife, who I said was probably still standing out by the donut shop. They didn’t see her, but let me go in anyway.

I got two tickets about 15 rows behind the visitor dugout. I walked through to the gate nearest my wife, and then couldn’t see her. Of course, this was before we had cell phones, so I had no way of telling her where I was. They finally let me go out of the park to find her and come right back.

Then, we sat through 11 innings of a game with the greatest view of Randy Johnson’s motion that you could imagine. It was this game.

11 innings in the August heat, 8 months pregnant. That’s how I knew she loved me.

Fontenot (fon-te-no): Cajun for "scrappy"

by zambranofan on Jul 14, 2008 8:18 PM CDT up 0 recs

Well...

... keep in mind that if you are going to buy the 30-minutes-before-the game tickets that are released, you’re probably going to want to go right in anyway, rather than try to race around reselling.

Still, it’s a good idea. What I don’t understand is why the Cubs won’t set up a “no-scalp” area like other teams have, the Brewers and Orioles among them, where you can legally resell tickets at face value or below. With the demand as high as it is, if you allowed people who have extras to do this, you’d drive a lot of the scalpers away.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Jul 14, 2008 8:21 PM CDT up 0 recs

Then the scalpers would buy up the "no-scalp" tickets

and attempt to flip them for a profit.

"Every team will win 60 games, every team will lose 60 games, it's what the team does in the other 42 games that decides the season."

by flachimesa on Jul 15, 2008 9:52 AM CDT up 0 recs

You can set it up just like day of game

You buy them and you have to go right in. It is kind of INSANE that someone who has
an extra either has to sell it to a scalper for resale or risk being arrested for selling it
themselves.

"I am not ashamed to say I love Greg Maddux" - Jim Hendry

by Doggie Stalker on Jul 15, 2008 10:02 AM CDT up 0 recs

Correct.

And if they had the no-scalp zone, they could concentrate more resources on getting the scalpers off the street. Also, as I said, it’d drive the market price down—why buy from a scalper when you can get it cheaper, legally, elsewhere?

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Jul 15, 2008 10:18 AM CDT up 0 recs

Totally agree!

"Every team will win 60 games, every team will lose 60 games, it's what the team does in the other 42 games that decides the season."

by flachimesa on Jul 15, 2008 10:20 AM CDT up 0 recs

I agree

I’ve been “stuck” with an extra ticket on several occasions. Trying to find a friend to buy it on short notice can be tough. I’d rather give away a ticket (with the condition that the person walk in with me) than sell it to a scalper.

"Every team will win 60 games, every team will lose 60 games, it's what the team does in the other 42 games that decides the season."

by flachimesa on Jul 15, 2008 10:18 AM CDT up 0 recs

well!

let me know the next time you have extra tickets! I’ll let you give them to me! :D

"We expect to win. We go out to win. So we're just living up to our own expectations." Derrek Lee, 5/29/08

by drewishdrewid on Jul 15, 2008 4:08 PM CDT up 0 recs

In Baltimore...

Sellers and buyers go into a special area supervised by O’s personnel. Sellers stay on one side, and buyers are let in a few at a time. If they agree on a deal (at face or less), they go to an entry area where the O’s staff verifies the tickets are good. Then the buyer has to enter the ballpark, so no chance of re-scalping. If you didn’t find something you like, you had to leave and get back in line.

The times I was there (mid-late 90’s when the place was packed) we got the chance to sit in some incredible seats for reasonable prices.

Since the O’s aren’t quite as hot anymore (and have lots of inventory to sell), I’m not sure if they still have this scalp-free zone anymore. But you could ceerainly do it at Wrigley, though it’s labor and space intensive.

by bison on Jul 15, 2008 11:45 PM CDT up 0 recs

Wow, that's weird you saw Marquis.

I can totally understand your self-consciousness. To be honest, I’d probably feel a little awkward if I ever got a chance to shake his hand. Not that I’ve ripped into him as much as others have – to be honest, I had some hope for him in the first half of last season. But he’s so inconsistent, it’s hard to get behind the guy. Nonetheless, I wish him and his family a happy vacation.

Nanika Ga Okoru!

by dat cubfan daver on Jul 14, 2008 5:37 PM CDT 0 recs

I have said some nice things about him

Like he does not suck and has is uses and should probably be kept for next year.
On the other hand I did want him to go the BP or get a minor injury to make room for Maddux
I probably would not have mentioned that.

"I am not ashamed to say I love Greg Maddux" - Jim Hendry

by Doggie Stalker on Jul 14, 2008 5:44 PM CDT up 0 recs

El Jardin

I worked with a guy whose family owns El Jardin, and he’s a long time season ticket holder and massive Cubs fan, so maybe the whole family is too and they’re goin’ to cheer on the Cubs, I mean the NL, at Yankee Stadium tomorrow.

''Listen, losing Soriano is no box of chocolates.'' ~Lou Piniella

by JohnM on Jul 14, 2008 6:30 PM CDT 0 recs