Sec 513, Row 8, Seat 10

by 2 June 09, 2012

My ticket reads: Section 513, Row 8, Seat 10. I'll never forget the night of 6.1.12, of course as we all know, the night hi57ory finally happened for the NY Mets. I actually plopped by butt down in seat 6 since we were with a large group of people. We each grabbed any available seat and I made sure not to move until the last strike was thrown. After jumping around and celebrating with my friends my first instinct was to pose for this photo. My ticket stub means so much to me and I wanted to snap a photo that I'll cherish forever. I was there, thank god. If I missed the game or decided not to go I'd never forgive myself. Call me crazy but one reason I go to as many games as I do is because I don't want to miss anything. Thankfully the game was at home, in front of our fans and it ONLY took 8,020 tries. This past Thursday I heard some very disturbing news. The Mets have decided to reprint tickets from that historic night. All 41,922 seats in the house are up for grabs. My stub that means so much to me is now 1 of 2.

The New York Mets today announced tickets from Johan Santana’s no-hitter, the first in franchise history, will be reprinted for fans wishing to secure a pristine keepsake from the historic game. Fans can purchase tickets reprinted on Season Ticket Holder stock for $50 each, plus order and shipping fees. The tickets will be available starting Monday, June 11 at 10:00 a.m. on Mets.com. Mets Season Ticket Holders will receive complimentary reprints of every seat in their account. An order and shipping fee will apply. Mets 40-Game, 20-Game, 15-Game and 6-Game Plan and Pack Holders whose packages included the June 1 game will receive a discounted rate of $30 per ticket, plus per ticket and shipping fees. Plan and Pack Holders whose packages didn’t include last Friday’s game, will be able to purchase reprints for $40 per ticket, plus per ticket and shipping fees, through an exclusive pre-sale on Mets.com starting tomorrow, Friday, June 8. The Mets will reprint all 41,922 seats at Citi Field. There is a limit of four seats per order. Fans can select a seating category and receive the best available seat in that location.

While looking out at the fans celebrate the historic achievement I had a thought. Isn't it great that this wasn't a sold out game? When the Phillies or Red Sox do something great a packed house of fans gets to see it in person. Now the majority of those fans might be die hards but plenty of band-wagoners also get a taste of the history. Those 20,000 or so people at Citi Field last Friday saw something that WILL NEVER happen again. The fans that were there are an elite bunch and we have the memories embedded in our brains that we've been waiting for our whole lives. Taking absolutely nothing away from those who weren't in attendance and by no means am I saying we are "better fans" than you. The ticket stubs are just something we took away from the game that were ours. Something we had that others wanted. After the game I saw some fans selling their stubs outside for $300. I was just nervous I'd lose mine. I checked my pocket every 5 minutes or so just to make sure I didn't somehow drop it. My stub is priceless to me. Now someone else gets to buy the same one for $50? BULLSHIT! I completely understand the Mets want to make money off this. As Randy from ReadTheApple.com pointed out why not offer a fake ticket stub that fans can buy? Why taint the memory of our stubs by offering them up for sale to people who weren't there? Nobody sat in my seat with me that night. They didn't live and die with every pitch. The re-print offer would be cool for people who had the print at home version and wanted something nicer, that's it. Here is what Randy had to say:

Which brings up another thought. The great thing about being the Mets is that they are allowed to slap the name Mets on anything and sell it for a premium. So why not just make a special commemorative ticket and sell that.  You could put either a bogus or vacant seat location on it.  It would be no more a "real" ticket than a reprint ticket.

If the Mets absolutely have to go through with this why not just sell the unused ones? Or better yet slap a reprint stamp on the ones that are the actual reprints. This won't make me feel entirely better about the situation but it's a start and simple solution. I think the Mets need to release a clearer explanation of this process. If season ticket or plan holders don't want a reprint why are the Mets reprinting "ALL 41,922" tickets? Where do those tickets go if the original ticket holders don't want them? I want the beat up stub that was in my pocket all night. Not some fresh reprint for $50. As I type this my ticket is staring at me from the wall and some day John Doe will have the same one on his. Sec 513, Row 8, Seat 10. "Yea, yea, I was there! It was crazy!" No you weren't you bought my reprint from the Mets for $50. Thanks.

Photo by: Nicolas Panchano

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