Good article in yesterday’s NY Daily News about the single-game ticket sales at Shea Stadium last weekend.
Fans lined up for the last time ever to get tickets for the season. Very bittersweet tale.
Anthony D'Alessio fell in love with the Mets in 1981 and has since called the wilting Shea Stadium a second home.
Twice he pulled off the ultradedicated feat of attending all 81 home games, and Sunday he sealed the deal on the hat trick - snagging $5 and $10 ducats as single season tickets went on sale for Shea's final act.
"Oh, yes," D'Alessio said, holding the stack. "To me, baseball is life."
The 44-year-old dry cleaner who grew up in Flushing was one of a handful of Amazin' faithful who braved chilly, whipping winds to stand in line for the 9a.m. box office opening.
"It's a tradition for die-hards to come here," said D'Alessio, dressed in a heavy parka and a Mets ski hat that looked like it dated back to when the team last won the World Series in 1986.
That tradition seems to have lost out to modern technology as tickets went on sale simultaneously by phone and Internet.
The most coveted seats for the home opener, the Subway Series and the final regular season game at Shea sold out weeks ago in a lottery system that most fans panned.
"It's a disgrace," said Pete Poshka, 51, who was disappointed he and his son Eric, 12, were only able to get tickets to midseason games against the Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies.
Barely 80 fans had bought tickets by 9:30 a.m., and only a few more trickled in as the morning progressed.
"It's not like the old days where lines wrapped around the stadium," said a security guard who didn't have much to do.
The anemic numbers contrasted greatly with the scene at Yankee Stadium last week where hundreds of fans camped out overnight for a chance to buy tickets and say goodbye to the legendary park.
With rising, state-of-the-art, 45,000-seat Citi Field casting a shadow on Shea, fans spoke fondly of the old-school arena and their need to bid farewell.
"I'm going to miss this place," said Poshka, who used to pedal his old Sting-Ray bike from his childhood home in Jackson Heights to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park just to hear the crowd roar.
"I know the new stadium is going to be so much better," said Poshka, a bank technology manager who now lives in Roslyn, L.I. "But I've got so many memories in this place."
Friday afternoon I received many versions of this e-mail. Any Loge13.com readers fare better?
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Comments
Comments
I actually won the lottery. But getting tix for the last game at Shea was impossible. They must have sold out in minutes. I wound up getting Mets/Yanks tix. (Game 3 on Sunday)
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Has anyone won the lottery yet?
The Shea Stadium ticket lottery ends Friday night, midnight. It is your only fair and balanced chance to buy single game tickets for Opening day, Shea’s last day or the Subway Series.
The odds aren’t very good. According to published reports, only 11,000 people our of an estimated 275,000 registrants will have a chance at Opening day tickets. The rest of those 55,000 tickets are claimed (presumably) by season-ticket and seven-pack plan holders.
The NY Daily news had a good article the other day about the end of pre-season ticket lines at Shea. Some excerpts:
Diehards who annually camp outside Shea Stadium to get big-game tickets the moment they go on sale are annoyed with the Internet lottery - now in its second year - that chooses who can buy highly prized ducats.
"It's a major disappointment," complained Matt Hoey, 32, a teacher from upstate Newburgh, who had a seven-year streak, from 1999 to 2005, of being first in line, ahead of thousands of fellow fanatics.
"After baseball season, it was always, 'See you in February.' Not anymore," said Hoey, bemoaning the loss of a treasured fan ritual that rewarded grit and stamina over mouse-clicking prowess.
A Mets spokesman said the team decided an online drawing was the fairest way to sell tickets - especially for fans not near Flushing> - to the home opener, matchups with the Yankees and the last regular-season game at Shea.
The Amazin's will offer the seats to 11,000 of the 275,000 e-mailers who registered. The faithful will learn whether they made the cut by tomorrow night.
Single-game tickets to remaining home games go on sale March 9 by phone, online at mets.com and at the ballpark.
That day, the box office line is expected to reach an anemic 100, a far cry from the thousands who used to pitch tents - and forge friendships - as they waited in line for days at a time.
Paul Bayona, who was first in line in 2006, wondered if he'd now be shut out of the home opener and Mets-Yankees tickets.
"A fan who'd put in his time and spent a week out there is pretty much getting screwed," railed Bayona, 21, of Kearny, N.J. "It's not fair for the real fans. It takes a certain person to stand out there for their team."
The day tickets went on sale, fans were often treated to free coffee, giveaways and greetings from Mets greats like Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter, who stopped by the ticket line in 2005.
"It's kind of surprising that they canceled that. The fans looked forward to it," said Carter, now a manager with the Orange County Flyers, an independent team in California.
I admit it, I was cranky before when I wrote about Santana’s evil ways at Shea.
So lets move on. Do you wanna go to the last game at Shea? Or Opening Day? Great! This year, the Mets are doing something special. They have bundled most of the Opening Day, Subway Series and Shea Finale tickets into 7–pack ticket plans. But a handful of these ducats will be available to you and countless scalpers in a special lottery drawing. Just go here to apply. Winners will be announced February 19 – 22. As the site says:
The online random drawing will be the sole means of purchasing single game tickets for these games.
The Mets have launched the online ticket registration to provide fans a fair and convenient way to purchase tickets from the limited availability for Opening Day, Subway Series, and the Final Regular Season Game at Shea. The limited inventory is a result of a significant increase in year-to-date sales of Season Tickets, Ticket Plans and Packs, which also offer tickets to Opening Day, the Subway Series and the Final Regular Season Game at Shea.
Good luck!
Loge 13 residents have recently been in touch with Mets brass about the status of our ticket plans beyond 2008. We were told the same party line: upgrade your package to a fullseason plan ASAP or take a hike.
As we enter our 23rd — and as of now final – season as Met ticket holders, I am a) not surprised at the Mets stance and b) not too excited about the 2008 season.
MetsGrrl posted a ticket manifesto recently. She is also a long time partial plan owner and also disgusted with how the Mets are treating loyal fans. You should read the entire post, as she expresses disdain for the Mets last game lotto, as we did a week back. On the subject of transferring plan owners to Citi Field, MetsGrrl says:
The whole thing smacks more of fearmongering than any kind of marketing savvy. At some point, no one will care. At some point, the people who have $5k for a full season have stepped up to the plate. There will be those people who panic at the last minute and commit, but my gut is that it’s not going to be a number that will make a true financial difference to the Mets.
I’m trying hard to understand why someone who has had a Saturday plan for 10 years would have less priority in Citi Field than someone who coughed up the cash for a full season in 2008. I do not expect to have the same priority as our friends on the Loge who have had their Tuesday/Friday plan for twice as long as I have.
I hate to mention That Team From The Bronx on here at all, especially in comparison to the Mets, but I can tell you that:
1) Plan holders have already been told what their rights are regarding all games, INCLUDING the All Star Game
2) Plan holders have also been told that they will receive information regarding what will happen in 2009 in a few months.
Come on, Wilpons. Step UP here
MetsGrrl advises her readers to call the Met ticket office to complain. We’ve been on the case and will continue. But this will probably go down to the wire.
Hope. Same message. Except mine came in plain text.