In 2011 we gave away tickets to Major League Baseball games. Some of the teams that our readers saw were the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
For the 2012 season we will be giving away 2 tickets a month to a lucky baseball fan. To enter all you need to do is enter your email address below.
From March through September we will give away way two tickets every month to see the game of your choice.
Fans of the New York Mets have received nothing but bad news for months now, and that steady drip, drip of negative news is impacting the Mets at the box office.
It has been a terrible off season for Mets fans. After two losing seasons in their first two years at Citi Field, most Mets had been hoping for quiet off season, but it has been anything but.
First we heard that the trustee representing Bernie Madoff victims has sued the Wilpon family, Mets owners, for $1 billion. The same day that lawsuit was announced in January, Fred Wilpon said he would be interested in selling a minority stake in the Mets. And while the Wilpons have said for two years their finances were not impacted by the Madoff mess, the Times reported last month that Major League Baseball loaned the Mets $25 million to help them get through the end of last season. In addition, the Bergen Record reported in January that the Mets’ revenues have fallen by as much as 35% since moving to Citi Field.
While most sports teams in the U.S. are maintaining ticket prices at last season’s levels or even lowering them, the Baltimore Orioles have actually raised prices for the upcoming season.
Now if you were going to raise tickets in this economic environment you would think that the Orioles would be coming off a great season. Instead the Orioles lost 96 games last season, their 13th straight losing season.
The Baltimore Sun reports that all seats except those in upper left field will go up between $1 and $7. Orioles director of communications Greg Bader told the Sun the average price for a ticket purchased in advance of a non-prime game (all games against the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are prime games, as is the Orioles’ home opener against the Detroit Tigers) will be $28, about $3 higher than last year.
How quickly the Cleveland Indians have fallen!!
Just three seasons ago the Indians fell one game shy of the World Series. But after losing 271 games since then and seeing stars like CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez leave, Indians fans have had enough.
The Indians finished dead last in the American League in attendance last year at 17,395 per game, which, as Crain’s Cleveland Business noted this week, is a drop of almost 64% since the 2007 season.
With the Indians season ticket base down to 8,000 (its lowest level since the team moved to Jacobs Field) the Indians have just rolled out a series of offers in an attempt to get fans to come to games.
The Philadelphia Phillies ended last season with a streak of 123 consecutive sellouts at Citizens Bank Park.
And with all the interest over the Cliff Lee signing it is looking like the Phillies will have no problems running their sellout streak to 204 next season.
On Tuesday, December 14, the day before Lee signed his five-year deal worth a reported $120 million, the Phillies reportedly sold 15,000 tickets before lunch time.
What makes those 15,000 tickets sold more impressive is the fact the Phillies only have one ticket-buying option for fans; any of the five “six-packs” offered by the team.
The Phillies have already sold out their season ticket allotment and won’t put single game tickets on sale until February 17.
The 2010 season was a disaster for the New York Mets both on a off the field. Since the season ended the Mets have taken steps to improve the on-the-field performance by hiring Sandy Alderson as its new general manager.
The poor performance last season resulted in Mets tickets for the final home series against the Milwaukee Brewers going for $4 on the secondary market.
So the Mets have responded by slashing ticket prices by an average of 14% for next season. More than half the seats at Citi Field have been cut by at least 10% while 18% of seats will be at least 20% cheaper. Over 3,300 hundred seats (8%) have seen their prices slashed by at least 30%. Overall, tickets prices will now range from $12 to $440.
Now that my team, the Braves, has errored their way out of the post season, I’m going with my favorite AL team to win it all. That’s right, Rays baby Rays. And I do believe they can do it.
The Rays will complete their comeback over the Rangers today. My oldest son has predicted a final score of 4-1. The Rays are on a roll and there’s no stopping them now. Quite possibly the best AL team all year, even better than the Yankees the Rays will go back to the championship once again. Despite the fact they have no fans show up for most of their regular season games or the fact that management is going to dismantle the team next year, the Rays will be facing the Yankees for the championship, again.
Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz finally won MLB’s Home Run Derby as he beat Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez 11-5, in the final.
When it was over, Ortiz, who hit 32 home runs at an average of 417 feet, dedicated the victory to former major league pitcher Jose Lima, a fellow Dominican who died in May at 37.
“I was really hurt watching him go,” Ortiz said of Lima, who played for the Dodgers in 2004. “So when I got picked up to be in the All-Star game, I feel like I wanted to do something to make sure he feels more than usual. I want do dedicate this trophy and this home run derby tournament to him and his family, because I know that they are going to be hurting for a long time.”
In the Year of the Pitcher, you must also have the Postseason of the Pitcher. October 2010 has followed the script, right into the World Series.
Game 1 of the Fall Classic on Wednesday night at AT&T Park will fittingly offer Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants against Cliff Lee of the Texas Rangers. The FOX telecast will begin at 7:30 ET.
For the record, Lincecum is a two-time National League Cy Young Award winner and Lee is currently the dominant postseason pitcher, with a record of 7-0 and a 1.26 ERA over the last two postseasons.
Pitching becomes even more paramount every October, but this postseason has been a festival of superior pitching and splendid pitching matchups. Roy Halladay’s no-hitter for the Phillies in the NL Division Series against the Reds set the appropriate tone.
Tampa Bay Rays 2012 Schedule
April
Fri, Apr 6: vs NY Yankees – Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Sat, Apr 7: vs NY Yankees - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Sun, Apr 8: vs NY Yankees - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Tue, Apr 10: @ Detroit - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Wed, Apr 11: @ Detroit - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Thu, Apr 12: @ Detroit - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Fri, Apr 13: @ Boston - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Sat, Apr 14: @ Boston - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Sun, Apr 15: @ Boston - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Mon, Apr 16: @ Boston - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Tue, Apr 17: @ Toronto - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Wed, Apr 18: @ Toronto - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Thu, Apr 19: @ Toronto - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Fri, Apr 20: vs Minnesota - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Sat, Apr 21: vs Minnesota - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Sun, Apr 22: vs Minnesota - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Tue, Apr 24: vs LA Angels - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Wed, Apr 25: vs LA Angels - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Thu, Apr 26: vs LA Angels - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Fri, Apr 27: @ Texas - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Sat, Apr 28: @ Texas - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Sun, Apr 29: @ Texas - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
Mon, Apr 30: vs Seattle - Buy Tampa Bay Rays Tickets
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