Cubs Season Tickets Waitlist Update
Thursday, April 1, 2010
If you're on the Cubs Season Ticket waitlist, you probably received an email this morning from the Cubs with good news. According to the email, the Cubs offered 2,600 new season tickets this year, so we can expect our waitlist numbers to decrease by that many. Additionally, the email indicated our wait list number would be updated soon.
If you're a super-diligent reader of this blog (Hi, Mom), you may recall that I periodically update readers on my season ticket waitlist progress. (e.g. Here.)
Well, here's another update. If you're a season ticket holder, please feel free to add your info in the comments.
Date I joined the Cubs Season Ticket Waitlist: October 3, 2006. I believe my initial position was 15,029.
As of February 13, 2007, I was still 15,029.
As of June 12, 2008, I was #14,964 (+65 spots)
As of July 1, 2009 I was still #14,964
And today, April 1, 2010, I was #14,857 (+107 spots)
In total, I've moved up 172 spots in 4 offseasons, so it looks like the Cubs' non-renewal rate is about 43 season tickets/year. If you take a one-time 2,600 jump, I'd be at 12,257. At the current non-renewal rate, my lucky number should come up in 285 years.
Now, I'm no statistics whizz, but the odds of me living another 285 years are a little bit less than the Cubs chances of winning a World Series in the next 285 years. (Bodog: Providing MLB Betting Odds since Al Gore invented the internet.)
What number are you on the list, do you think you'll ever get to have Cubs season tickets?
Posted by Byron at 12:33 PM
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A weight off my chest
Thursday, March 4, 2010
The sun is shining, the birds are tweeting (so are the Cubs bloggers for that matter), and it stays light until nearly 5:30 in Chicago... but the best news is that the Cubs are playing today!
Winter is dead. Spring is here... and the Cubs take the field, if only for a few innings at a time. God, I love Spring!
Posted by Byron at 11:47 AM
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Elton John, Billy Joel, and Dave Matthews to play Wrigley in 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Alderman Tom Tunney continues to devastate true Cubs fans at every opportunity. From today's Sun-Times, we learn that Elton John and Billy Joel will be playing concerts at Wrigley Field during the week of July 7, and then Dave Matthews will be playing in September.
We have now gone from one field-destroying concert week each year to two field-destroying concert weeks... all in the name of a few more bucks. Well, at least I like their music.
Some other zingers from Fran Spielman's article:
"It's great for business in the neighborhood. It also provides real, first-rate entertainment at the park." - Tom Tunney
Thanks Alderman, I couldn't help but notice the implication that the Cubs aren't "real, first rate entertainment." I'm sure the business owners in your ward are thrilled with the implication... even if I know for a fact that many of them agree with you... but are thrilled to take Cubs fans' money anyhow.
And one last interesting note from the article:
The motivation for the concert series for the Cubs is the chance to bring in money that wouldn't fall under Major League Baseball's revenue-sharing umbrella. For every dollar the Cubs make on game days, 34 cents must be shared with other teams. For every dollar from a concert, the Cubs get to keep 100 percent.
34% of baseball revenues to MLB's revenue-sharing? That's got to hurt the net payers' like the Cubs, Yankees, and Red Sox. Jeffrey Loria continues to be brilliant.
Posted by Byron at 9:39 AM
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Hawk in the Hall
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Sometimes, eight years are too much. Today, an interminable wait has ended for one of the greatest Cubs of all times. Andre Dawson, HOF.
His Cubby career only spanned six years, but it was marked by the almost unbelievable story of a free agent wanting to come to Chicago so badly, he signed a blank contract and single-handedly proved collusion among MLB owners during the 1986-1987 offseason. And how did he reward the club who he forced to take him on for half a million? How about 47 homers and an MVP season from a player on a last place club.
The legend of The Hawk is well chronicled elsewhere (Here and here for instance), so I won't go into tons of detail, but there really shouldn't have been any doubt about the Hawk, and his election was postponed by years because of the explosion in offensive stats brought about by the steroid era.
So let's ask ourselves this question: Is there any chance that Andre Dawson was 'enhanced' during his career? Sorry, I couldn't pass up the chance for such a ridiculous joke.
The easy answer is no. Hawk was as clean as they come, like his teammates Ryno and Maddog (both current/future HOFers), the late '80s/early '90s Cubs teams were full of guys that parents could feel 100% comfortable letting their kids idolize. With a few exceptions, Andre Dawson was the definition of a classy sportsman, and he was a terrific player. I'm thrilled he'll be going into Cooperstown this summer, and maybe I'll finally make it out there!
Posted by Byron at 3:42 PM
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Meet Ryan Dempster at D'Agostino's tonight
Thursday, December 17, 2009
There's a special opportunity to meet Ryan Dempster at D'Agostino's Pizza in Wrigleyville tonight. Dempster, along with the good folks at MyWrigleyville.com are hosting a fundraiser for Dempster's Family Foundation.
The Ryan and Jenny Dempster Foundation is dedicated to helping people who suffer from DiGeorge's syndrome. (You may recall the stories from early this summer where Demp's newborn daughter was diagnosed with the disease.) It takes place at D'Agostino's tonight (December 17) from 6-9 pm.
For full details, check out the MyWrigleyville page, where you can buy tickets.
Posted by Byron at 9:32 AM
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This is Really!!?? with Byron
Friday, November 27, 2009
Jon Grabow, 2 years, $7.5 million. Really??!!
I used to think that being a 3rd string NFL quarterback would be pretty sweet. I mean, how many 3rd string QBs actually see playing time, but pretty much every team but the Bears has had their third stringer for something like 6 years. Job stability, decent salary, light workload, half the season off, and telling random women that you're an NFL quarterback. What could be better?
Well, I guess there's left handed Major League relievers. In this offseason's version of, "Jim Hendry, Really??!!" the Cubs GM has handed out a 2 year deal for $7.5 million to Jon Grabow. Jon's primary positive characteristic is that he throws the ball with his left hand. He's not that great, but apparently not that great still lands you $3.25 million/year... and unlike the NFL, you really can play until you're 45.
Other than Grabow, the Cubs have been pretty silent on the Free Agent market so far this winter. The major news, which isn't really news, is that Hendry is trying to find a sucker to take Milton Bradley off our hands. (Milton was last year's version of "Jim Hendry, Really??!!") And if we're comparing Milton's 3 year $30 million deal to Jon Grabow's 2 year, $7.5 mm, I'd say the Ricketts family is already having a positive impact on the club.
Posted by Byron at 1:46 PM
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Cubs sold to Ricketts, finally!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The Sam Zell era is over. It was horrible, but not. You see, short term thinking kills franchises. Franchises of any sport are built with steady hands thinking long term. For every 1997 Florida Marlins World Series title (purchased and disassembled within 2 years), are dozens of franchises with lost decades due to stupid short term moves. Think Kevin Brown's Dodgers, Albert Belle's Orioles, Mike Hampton's Rockies... or Alfonso Soriano's Cubs.
For years, the Dodgers, Orioles, and Rockies were hampered by enormous contracts given to players who never produced, or didn't produce well enough to justify what happened to the rest of the roster. In the last few years, the Cubs have made disastrous signing after disastrous signing. They've ballooned their payroll while never quite assembling a championship caliber team... and all of this was designed to create "instant value" so Sam Zell could sell my baseball team for more money.
As I've pointed out before, the Cubs selling for $845 million dollars helps no one but Sam Zell, and the Tribune Company's creditors. It certainly doesn't help the Ricketts family as they have over $400 million in debt to pay off at some point, and it doesn't help me afford tickets, beer, or Cubs jerseys from the Cubs store. Instead, the Cubs need to make about $30 million every year just to pay the banks. That's $30 million that could have been spent on A-Rod, or better yet, Hanley Ramirez... or that's $30 million less the Cubs would need from ticket revenue, beer proceeds, and jersey sales.
Anyhow, now that the Ricketts sale is official, it's a new era for the Cubs, and we're left hoping the four Ricketts kids are good owners. No one knows. Don't listen to the media folks who want to get in good with the new owners, don't listen to the bashers, just observe. See how they handle the front office, how they operate the park, whether they move forward with the Triangle building, and how they treat their neighbors. If these Ricketts kids get it, it will become apparent within a year or two. If they don't I guess I'd better get crackin on making about $5 billion so I can pry the team from their hands at some point!
