Yesterday, the sale of Shea seats to the general public began.
AMNY wrote up the results today and quoted a very handsome blogger from Loge13. According to the article,
"more than 6,000 seats from the closing stadium were snatched up in the first two hours they went on sale Monday on the team's Web site, according to Mets officials.
"We expect to sell out in short order," said David Newman, the Mets' senior vice-president for marketing.. "The demand and sales have been overwhelming." Shea will close after this season to make way for its new ballpark, CitiField.Apparently all the orange seats are now gone.
I got a call for comment from AMNY at the end of the day,
as I was heading to Shea. My first quote in the article (about rich Met fans) was indeed my first reaction. Unfortunately the rest of the conversation didn't make the story. Here's what we also talked about.
Here is the data the Mets should publish: how many seats were sold before August 25th, when only season ticket and partial ticket plan holders could buy seats. I don't think those 6,000 seats sold Monday went to Met fans who will cherish these relics of their beloved stadium. They went to collectors, investing in product, who finally got the chance to snatch up the seats. I'm grateful the Mets at least gave ticket holders a week or two to buy seats before the vultures swooped in but that is essentially what happened.
The AMNY reporter asked me why I thought the orange seats went first. I figured they are the most recognizable (Met colors, field level seats always on TV, distinctive Mets, etc). The fact they went first also buttresses the theory that collectors were flooding the zone Monday. Fans would have bought the seats that mean something to them, regardless of color.
Of course, there could be another explanation. Perhaps Loge13 readers all independently got charitable Monday and bought Kingman a surprise gift. In three months, a convey of trucks will pull up outside my house and drop off 6,000 seats. Then I'll be forced to rebuild Shea Stadium as a Little League park.
O Henry couldn't have written a better ending!
I'll let you know if that happens.
Kingman - Maybe you are right about the 6,000 seats that were sold yesterday, but if this is any solace; I bought a pair of orange seats and I'm not selling them. I bought them because I've been a Met fan for 40 years and I cherish Shea Stadium and the many memories I have of the great stadium. The taking down of Shea will be a sad day for me and I will keep those seats as a memorial to a wonderful and irreplaceable era in Mets history.