seminarad

This is what happens when you sign huge names like Marlon Byrd and Kevin Millar! 28 minutes in the Cubs Virtual Waiting Room so far this AM, on two different computers and still no shot at getting any tickets yet. So much for not many people taking advantage of the pre-sale. So is this a sneaky way to look like they didn't raise prices on some seats that much? When they indeed raise prices by 12% across the board since the tax was included in the price of the ticket before. Yeah, but I don't believe all net prices went up. The biggest change is probably the large number of platinum games this year. Found the confirmation E-mail from last year. I went during the 4 days leading up to memorial day weekend (W-Sat). So I am guessing they were platinum pricing. I sat in the bleachers. Plan on going the same time this year. Here is my Saturday price from last year. Dodgers at Cubs Saturday, 5/30/09 at 3:10PM CDT Bleachers Section Row Price Type BLCHR GA $50.00 ADULT Total Convenience Fee for 1 seat $4.90(includes 9.00% sales tax) Price for 1 seat $54.90 ---------------------------------------------------------- Subtotal: $54.90 Order Processing (including delivery): $3.75 Total: $58.65 I plan on going during the same time this year. Bleacher tickets for that time are $54.00 add the convenience fee we are at 58.90 now add the amusement tax where going to hit 65.38. Now add the Order processing fee we are now at 69.13. Ouch. That is $10.48 more then last year or a 17.8% increase. It will be even higher if the Order Processing fee goes up. Now lets say the 9% sales tax is part of the 12% amusement tax then we are looking at 64.23 for a ticket. Which is only a 9.5 % raise. While although significant would not be as bad and able swallow. Looking at some articles online I see them saying bleacher tickets are going to be around $60.50(guessing that does not involve the convenience fee). So maybe they will be going for the $64.23 a ticket instead of the $69.13. I will still be going like I do every year but if my first scenario plays out it is a very sneaky way of raising prices IMO. It just means 1 less beer I guess. :(

I think you are being a bit extreme here. I see this thing as kind of what they did last year in with their pay a boat load of money for the right to buy tickets early. They even say there is a limited amount of tickets they are selling early. Outside of Whitesox and Opening day I see very few people doing this. Shoot I'm going for St. Louis tickets on Memorial day weekend and I never even thought about doing this. Time will tell. I hope you are right, and I will be online friday morning trying to get tickets myself. Let's see what happens. My guess is that all the cards, sox, and most of the saturday games in july/august will be gone.

I got this email today too and it turned my stomach. They already raised prices 10% according to ESPN, and now they are trying to get an additional 20% for games that will be in high demand. The only silver lining is that this will make it harder for brokers to profit. Still, this move will likely make it impossible to buy any good seats for weekend games in the summer at face value. By friday, all that will be left will be weekday games and april, may, september dates. Price increases are a fact of life, but this is so slippery.

I'm contributing to a story about the Mesa/Naples debate, if anyone has a strong opinion either way and wants to weight in, please drop me a message. Cheers!

The years kind of run together for me, so I tend to forget which slogan went with which year. Last year was It's Gonna Happen, right? Before that, was it This is the Year? What are you favorite Cubs slogans, and what do you think this year's will be?

Now that Byrd is officially a Cub, let's take a look at his stats compared to that other guy the Cubs got from Texas after a career year. 2009- hit 20 HR's, 6 on the road, 14 at home. Milton Bradley had 22 HR's in his final season in Texas, 16 at home, 6 on the road. Byrd posted a 329 OBP (down drom 380 in 08), Bradley's OBP during his final season in Texas was 436, his OBP with the Cubs in 2009 was .378. 2007-9 Road stats: 328 OBP, 15 HR, 91 RBI, 39 BB, 127Ks in 684 ABs. The 2009 Baseball Prospectus refers to him as a good "fourth outfielder." They rate him as a slightly below average fielder. He is, on the plus side, half the price Hendy paid for Bradley for what that's worth. And there is no indication he's a clubhouse cancer, as Bradley was.

I'd like to interview Cubs fans that will be attending the convention this season. If you follow the team closely, and will be at this year's convention, please drop me a line at dave.seminara@gmail.com. If you're interested, let me know, I'd be happy to give you more details on the publication and storyline. Thanks! Dave