Virtual Waiting Hell: Now With Improved Hell-Bagels

Part of the fun of being a Sox fan is to disprove the theory that it's impossible to get tickets. It's not impossible. Not at all! But it is hard.

I will not go to scalper sites. Can't afford to do that. I won't buy from scalpers at all, actually. Not even the dirty ones at Kenmore Square asking everyone if they're buying or selling tickets. I get all of my yearly tickets through the virtual waiting hell. That's why it's hard. No, waiting around on the internet isn't hard. It's not any harder than what I do during the week. The hard part is strategizing. The average fan isn't thinking about baseball in December or January. They don't sign up for the mailing lists. They don't know when tickets go on sale. You know who knows when tickets go on sale? Diehards and scalpers. I fall into one of those categories, I guess.

I know. For some people, trying to figure out when you can go to a game is hard. You don't know what you'll be doing in June, or even September. How can you buy tickets now and expect to be free? Especially for parents, I hear this is hard to do. People get sick. Things come up. So picking games in January? Ridiculous. That's where I have an advantage. I don't care if I'm sick. I'll go to the game anyway. If something comes up, I put off taking care of it until after the the teams walk off the for the night. If I can't do that, well, guess what? I know plenty of casual fans who are usually willing to buy the tickets off of me for face value... and plenty of people that I don't mind just giving tickets to. Hey, I try to spread the love of baseball.

So anyway, I've had to cut my ticket fund a little this year due to some upcoming expenses that I'm looking forward to, but I still managed to secure tickets for seven games in Boston and one game in Baltimore. Granted, I didn't get the exact dates that I wanted, but I won't complain. I get to be at Fenway.

But, I will complain about the process. I HATE the virtual waiting room more than I've ever hated any virtual thing ever. There have been years where I've waited in that thing all day and never got through. Usually in those situations, I get through on the phone, but I hate calling in because the busy signal frays my nerves. Don't know why.... it's just one of those sounds that I despise. Why does that shit have to be random? I click in at ten AM. How come, theoretically, someone who comes into the VWH at 2 PM has an equal chance to be the next person chosen by the ticket Gods? Logically, I know the answer. They do it to prevent the scalpers (one of the groups of people who are aware of ticket sale dates) from getting all the tickets before the average person can. Still don't like it.

My second item to whine about is obstructed view seats. I know, I know. My complaints are neither interesting nor original. I bitch about the same thing other people bitch about. I just don't get how they can justify charging the same price for a seat where you can see everything as they do for a seat where you are literally right behind a pole. I got obstructed view once. It, for a lack of a better description, sucked. Flat out sucked. I had absolutely no view of the catcher, the pitcher, the second baseman, and the occassional outfielder. If I can't see half of the team, the half that is actually in motion the most frequently, why am I paying full price? Not this year, though. It wasn't worth it. And considering that I didn't actually see a single game sell out this year (granted, I may have just missed seeing it. Perhaps there were sell outs), I think more and more people are starting to realize that they actually want to see what is going on in the game.

Well, either way, I am out of virtual waiting hell for at least another year. Another successful trip to the underworld, if I do say so myself.

Saito Better Not Pull the Same Crap

So Saito is going to wear number 24, according to Dirt Dogs. It hurts a little. I mean, it hasn't even been a full season since Manny's been gone, so seeing someone else wearing his number has a little sting to it. I just can't be angry at Manny.... despite how he left town, I still love the big lug. Hell, it took them five years to give Nomar's number away. Couldn't we just have had a year or two? Or rather, couldn't I just have had a year or two? I'm still not over it!

In all fairness, I'm still not completely over the Bronson Arroyo trade either, but we're just gonna pretend that's irrelevant.

Charlie Zink is apparently not being shipped off to some foreign team for the good of mankind. He accepted his assignment to Pawtucket, and will continue to be one of those adorable little PawSox (whom I hope to see live at some point this year!)

David Pauley has been designated for assignment. As someone I know likes to say about him... "Pauley? We won't see him again." Actually, that's probably a lie. I'm sure we will see him again, just not on the Red Sox roster. Godspeed, David!

Alex Cora is not coming back. I'm ok with that. He was one of those players that, towards the end, frustrated me more than anything. I think it was time for a change. Good luck on the Mets, Alex. I really do wish you well, because you were such a team player. It only took two years, but Dustin Pedroia finally gets some kind of revenge for everyone wanting Prince to start over him. Actually, I think he got his revenge with the gold glove, silver slugger, AL MVP.... yeah, you get it.

-Congratulations to Jon and Farrah Lester! The two got married recently (how recently, I do not know. I can't even find the link that told me they got married). If it is indeed true, then I hope they have a long, happy life together.
-Lowe is signing with the Braves.
-The Astros are instructing Billy Boy Clemens to stay far, far away from their impressionable youth.
-Now that Rickey Henderson is in the HOF, he wants to play again. And he contends that he could still be the base stealing champ in '09. Please, Theo. Do NOT sign him.
-Gabe Kapler received an $18 raise in his paycheck. The number 18 is apparently Gabe's lucky number, and the Jewish symbol of life. See that, I learn something new every day.

In unrelated news... if I could burn down a virtual waiting room, I would. I am so sick of this stupid virtual waiting room. When April/May/Sept/Oct game tickets went on sale, I was in the virtual waiting room on two different computers and as many browsers as I could open, and calling in on the phone, and I came away with exactly 0 tickets. Zero. Not a single one. I don't do the whole standing room only thing, because I'm not a good seat snatcher, and I don't like standing for that long.

So I do my whole Red Sox Nation thing (I don't want to HEAR how it's a terrible marketing ploy and it makes me a fair weather fan and whathaveyou... I see it as an easy way to get tickets, I like touring Fenway Park whenever I can, and the 10% team store discount gets used frequently by me and my family, so it's worth it). I got my code for my tickets, and I'm plopped into the virtual waiting room. I wanted to rip my hair out. There is no need for a virtual waiting room, and I see absolutely nothing useful about the fact that if I got to the waiting room at 12 PM (the on sale time), someone who got to the waiting room a half an hour later could still get tickets before me. Hell, people who get to the waiting room five hours later could still get tickets before me. There's no justice in this system. I finally got my tickets a little while ago, but I couldn't get the game I wanted. I guess it's ok. I'm gambling on the fact that John Smoltz will be pitching the Friday night game against the Braves. I lucked out the year Pedro came back with the Mets... could the luck happen again? I'll have to wait and see.

In comparison, I got my presale tickets for Camden Yards this morning, as has become an annual tradition for me. I'm sitting in the same general area that I always sit (I really enjoy section 210). I know there were probably tons of Sox fans gearing to buy tickets for this particular weekend, because how can you really beat a weekend series at Camden Yards? It was fabulous. I clicked the link, I picked my tickets, and I was done. No stupid waiting rooms. No random drawings out of stupid waiting rooms. None of that. Just click, buy, done.

It brings me to the conclusion that the front office needlessly tortures their fans. It really gets under my skin.