Dark Bilious Vapors

I've mentioned a couple times that this isn't the year to be a Cardinals fan in exile, especially when it comes to not getting a chance to spend a couple days in line for postseason tickets. Apparently, things are even worse than I expected.

According to an article in the Belleville (IL) News-Democrat, Cardinals postseason tickets pretty much sold out on the first day, and apparently (reading between the lines here) all the sales were in person, at the box office; it doesn't look like people trying to buy tickets by phone or over the Internet (I'd given some semi-serious consideration to doing both) were very successful:

It may be tough for Major League Baseball players to make it to the postseason.

But on Wednesday, it seemed even tougher for the fans.

Cardinals faithful who tried to buy playoff tickets over the Internet on Wednesday were forced to cool their cyber heels in a "virtual waiting room" for six hours or more. Before they were even allowed a chance to buy seats, the Cardinals Web site issued warnings first that all but upper deck tickets were gone and later that it was down to standing room only.

Meanwhile, callers to the ticket phone lines were met all morning long with a recording that said "Your call cannot be completed at this time. Please try again later."

Phone lines and modems were still tied up late in the afternoon when almost all of the tickets were gone.

"From a volume standpoint, it's been incredible," said Joe Strohm, team director of ticket sales. "In the past it has taken a couple of days before we sold out. We have never sold out on the first day. But we have all but completely sold out today. I think it shows what a tremendous amount of enthusiasm there is for this team."

Even people who camped out for tickets for a day or more had a tough time getting them.

Len on 09.27.04 @ 06:52 AM CST