It Might Be Illegal, Why?

What do you need boys?

Poppie, what do you got?

I got what you need. I got two. . .lower bowl. . .third base side. Face value is $39.

What do you want for them?

I was hoping for $40.

For both?

No, man. Why you do that to me? I was hoping to get $40 each.

What are you trying to do to us? There have already been two rain delays. Already third inning? They might not even play tonight.

Ever bought a scalped ticket? It’s an interesting experience. My friend Manny was an expert at it. He looked looked like he and “Poppie” might be at it a long time. I was pretty sure when we got done, the scalper wasn’t going to get “$40 each.”

I was in the San Francisco Bay on business. My meeting on the American River ended early. If I hurried, I figured I could make it by the top of the 3rd. I pulled into the AT&T ballpark parking lot, and realized it was a perfect day for baseball. I wasn’t halfway across the parking lot before he made me.

Yo, bro. Whaccu need?

What have you got?

I got a single. Upper deck. Twelve dollar face, but I’ll let you have it for $9.

Interestingly, this wasn’t a great seat. He was serious, it was upper deck. . bench seating. Oh, but the view was fantastic. I was straight behind home plate, and I had an awesome view of McCovey cove.

What made the Giants’ ballpark exciting was two things. First, as you walk into the park you are greeted by a huge wall that bears a “famous” quote. Not really famous since it’s not a real quote.

(Photo Credit: 30 In 38 Blogspot)

Ray. People will come, Ray. . . for reasons they can’t even explain. They’ll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They’ll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they’ll watch the game and it’ll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they’ll have to brush them away from their faces. This field. This game. It’s part of our past. It reminds us of all that was once good and it could be again. Oh people will come.

People will most definitely come.

The second great part of the visit was the company. Who goes to a midweek game? Real baseball fans, that’s who. The family I sat next to was three generations of baseball fans. The youngest was a boy of about 7 years old. His dad was an enthusiastic fan, but his grandfather was a veritable walking history book of Giants trivia. It was the most enjoyable three hours I’d had in a long time.

My friend Manny finally settled at $20 per ticket. He could have probably gotten Poppie to go lower, but I asked him to take the deal.

(Photo credit: Manny Sosa)

I’m not sure if scalping tickets is illegal. I’m not sure if it should be illegal, but I’m glad I got to keep tickets from being wasted.

Yes, people will most definitely come.

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife and thirteen children and one grandchild.

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