Friday Music Day – Ticketmaster is bad

Whether you are a event-goer having to use Ticketmaster or not, I think everyone is aware how bad and expensive the ticket buying process is in general but especially if using Ticketmaster. Lots of news lately about trouble getting tickets and/or the expense with the mega-acts like Taylor Swift or Bruce Springsteen but it also trickles down to the lesser acts. I'll describe my experience this week.

Nick Cave is coming to the State Theater in October and since I follow Nick Cave, I received information on a Artist Presale for this past Monday, a full four days prior to the "general public sale" happening today. I'm a huge fan and would be willing to pay for good seats. So on Monday, I log into Ticketmaster a few minutes prior to the presale and get put in the queue. 10:00a rolls around and I'm like #240 or so, which was disappointing but whatever. As soon as my number comes up, there's a technical issue and I'm put back in the Queue. Now I'm like number 450! I wait around and this time I get in but now all the good tickets are gone. What!!!??

There's literally more presales during the week so I think I will try those but just for the heck of it, try about 30 minutes later in case some tickets got released. Oh I have a $50 Ticketmaster Gift Card, so I'm not as price sensitive as I may normally be and I'm willing to pay for good seats. Sure enough I found a Row O ticket for the face value of $110, even though I was hoping for better. In the process of buying the ticket, I noticed a ton of seats are now being released but now at a higher price. First 7 rows or so are now $217 and tickets around Row 0 are $135 (this is before fees mind you). The $217 ticket are "Premium" and the $135 are due to dynamic pricing. They were literally not available 5 minutes after the presale opened but are now 45 minutes later.

I close the sale and thank my lucky stars I got the seat that I did at the price ($30 in fees which is 27% btw). I was curious so I checked the State Theater presale yesterday right at 10:00a. There was probably less than 100 ticket listed for sale (all at those higher prices). So if you got a presale notice from the State Theater and thought you had a decent chance of getting a ticket to see Nick Cave, you were sadly mistaken.

This is definitely a "First World Problem" and frankly I don't know how to change it but it is frustrating nonetheless and I am worried that fans are getting priced out of seeing their favorite acts. Also the Artists need to take a stand as well, like Robert Smith did of the Cure. I know they get a cut of the fees and increased dynamic or platinum pricing so they are in on the game too.

Anyway, drop your lists if you got them or just feel to vent about Ticketmaster.

Happy Birthday–March 31

Bill Hallman (1867)
Jack Stivetts (1868)
Big Jeff Pfeffer (1882)
Brick Owens (1885)
Tom Sheehan (1894)
Carson Bigbee (1895)
George Mitchell (1900)
Mule Suttles (1900)
Marv Grissom (1918)
Dave Koslo (1920)
Moises Camacho (1932)
Moose Stubing (1938)
Balvino Galvez (1964)
Chien-Ming Wang (1980)
Jeff Mathis (1983)
Peter Bourjos (1987)
Josmil Pinto (1989)

There have been two players in the majors named Jeff Pfeffer.  They were brothers.  "Big Jeff" Pfeffer was actually Francis Xavier Pfeffer.  Plain old Jeff Pfeffer was actually Edward Joseph Pfeffer.  "Big Jeff" was 6'1", 185 pounds.  Plain old Jeff was 6'3", 210.

Brick Owens was a longtime major league umpire.  His first name was Clarence.  He got the nickname "Brick" after being hit by one while umpiring a game in Pittsburg, Kansas early in his career.

Mule Suttles is sometimes credited as the all-time Negro Leagues home run leader with 237.  He swung a fifty-ounce bat.

One of the top second basemen in the history of the Mexican League, Moises Camacho played  there from 1951-1975.  He was known as the Rogers Hornsby of Mexico.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 31

2023 Game 1 – MN Twins vs. KC Royals

Opening Day greetings from Minnesota, the land that spring forgot. Outside there are still two feet of snow on the ground and there's a winter storm watch until 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Game time conditions in Kansas City, though, should be more pleasant, about 68 degrees and breezy. There's a reason our home opener is never on actual Opening Day.

To say last season was disappointing for Twins fans would be an exercise in understatement. So many things that could have gone right went wrong, and it far too often involved severe bodily harm to key players. By most accounting, if not for a plethora of injuries late in the season the Twins would have won the division. But those are the vagaries of the game that make it so maddening and endearing, and keep us coming back for more year after year.

You generally put your ace starting pitcher on the mound for Opening Day. For Kansas City, that means Donald Zachary Greinke and his 223 career wins, 2882 strikeouts, and 3.42 ERA. It will be the seventh Opening Day start of his career. The Twins, I believe, selected their Opening Day starter by draw and Pablo Lopez pulled the short straw. He'll go to the mound for his first ever Opening Day start with 28 career wins, 489 strikeouts, and a lifetime 3.94 ERA under his belt.

I have no prognostications to offer for how this season will go for the Twins, my crystal ball is perpetually hazy these days. Conventional wisdom says don't be surprised to see the Twins and Guardians battling it out for the division title again come September, but every season starts with a big old question mark. If we're lucky along the way and enough things go right, we get to end it with a giant exclamation point.

Play ball!

 

 

 

March 30, 2023: Here We Go

I couldn't tell you if the Twins are going to take the division or go crashing down in a flaming pile of injuries. Or maybe just somewhere in the middle. Oh, right, optimism. Um... Win Twins!

How many games will the Twins win in 2023?

  • 84-87 (53%, 10 Votes)
  • 88+ (21%, 4 Votes)
  • 81-83 (16%, 3 Votes)
  • 78-80 (5%, 1 Votes)
  • 74-77 (5%, 1 Votes)
  • 73- (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 19

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Happy Birthday–March 30

Tom Burns (1857)
George Van Haltren (1866)
Ripper Collins (1904)
Dick Fowler (1921)
Dick Woodson (1945)
Grady Little (1950)
Jason Dickson (1973)
Jeriome Robertson (1977)
Josh Bard (1978)
Shairon Martis (1987)
Chris Sale (1989)
Jake Marisnick (1991)

Grady Little was the manager of the Boston Red Sox from 2002-03 and the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2006-07.

Josh Bard was drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-fifth round in 1996, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–March 30