Want Series tickets? You gotta have clout

[Linnwood]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...ll=chi-news-hed

 

Want Series tickets? You gotta have clout

Politicos, celebrities call in favors for Sox seats

By Ray Long, Brendan McCarthy and John Bebow, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporters John Chase, Ray Gibson, Delroy Alexander, Barbara Rose, Mickey Ciokajlo, John D. McCormick, John Dowd, Ma

 

October 23, 2005

 

Don't seat nobody nobody sent.

 

That was the general rule on the eve of the World Series in the city that may have invented the political favor.

 

While lowly fans tried to come up with the thousands of dollars it took to buy tickets in advance of Saturday's series opener at U.S. Cellular Field, politicians, movie stars and other big shots worked back-channel phone lines all week.

 

Crooner Tony Bennett bought tickets. He called the White Sox front office. The front office delivered.

 

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Gov. Rod Blagojevich were able to avoid the hassle of ticket brokers. Their offices confirmed they bought their World Series stubs straight from Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.

 

Numerous other Chicago pols--from aldermen to county commissioners to state legislators--are on hand, courtesy of a special invitation the White Sox mailed in mid-September.

 

"It's creating a strain on my credit card," said Ald. Joe Moore (49th), a longtime Cubs fan who acknowledged he couldn't stay away from the success on the South Side, even if the special White Sox offer for pols came at a cost of $185 per ticket.

 

But not every big shot is clouted down on 35th Street.

 

David Axelrod, a Chicago-based political consultant who holds White Sox season tickets, wouldn't name names but said the number of calls he's received from people seeking World Series tickets has astounded him.

 

"I thought most of these people had enough smack to get a ticket without resorting to me," Axelrod said. "Friends, relatives, officeholders. ... I hope no one thinks I am holding out on them. But the fact that they are calling me shows how crazy this is."

 

Those still on the outside Friday included state Sen. James DeLeo (D-Chicago), who is known in Springfield as the unofficial ticket broker of the Illinois General Assembly. Downstate legislators often ask DeLeo to score tickets in the Chicago area.

 

"Over the years, I've been able to secure a lot of tickets to Bears games or rock concerts in Rosemont, but I don't know if I'm going [to the World Series] yet," DeLeo lamented Friday afternoon.

 

Expensive favors

 

Those who manage to call in favors and score seats are calling in expensive favors, indeed.

 

Among the general public, bidding remained furious Friday for tickets that sold out in 18 minutes earlier in the week. StubHub, an online ticket broker, had a listing Friday seeking $50,000 for a luxury suite for Game 6. Tickets for a possible Game 7 are being offered for as much as $10,000. Two tickets in the sixth row behind home plate sold for $7,500 each, StubHub spokesman Sean Pate said.

 

Oh, to be powerful--and a loyal Sox fan.

 

Chicago's first family, the Daleys, has had a block of 10 season tickets since the 1950s. As such, they had no problem booking their playoff and World Series tickets. Cook County Commissioner John Daley said he would to be at Game 1 with Mayor Richard Daley and other family members.

 

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who also owns season tickets, acknowledged that he may have gotten better box seats, about a dozen rows back from the Sox dugout, because of his status as the state's No. 2 official. But he also said it could be because of his years of devotion through "thick and thin, through thin and thin, through thin and thinner."

 

He said he paid face value for four tickets for Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, he said, he is taking two Illinois National Guardsmen, Sgt. Gabe Garriega of Aurora and Lt. Steve Rice, who were wounded in Iraq. But Quinn said he has friends and family lobbying him for his other tickets.

 

"Now you know what the players go through with people who want tickets," Quinn said.

 

One family member in contention for tickets is Quinn's 91-year-old father, P.J., who was around for the last Sox World Series championship in 1917. He has a cold, however, so it will be, as they say in the majors, a "game-time decision," Quinn said.

 

Former Gov. James R. Thompson, who led the legislative battle in 1988 to keep the Sox from moving to Florida, said he's been a season ticket-holder for the last 14 years "out of my own dime." He planned to go to the first two home games, taking his wife, Jayne, to one game and their daughter, Samantha, to the other.

 

Another season ticket-holder, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), plans to share his World Series tickets with family and friends, among them Ald. Frank Olivo (13th), who failed to take advantage of the earlier Sox ticket offer for pols.

 

"I'm very fortunate to have a friend like Speaker (Michael) Madigan," Olivo said Friday.

 

Pedigree as a former Cubs minor-leaguer didn't appear to hurt Secretary of State Jesse White's bid for World Series tickets. White, who as a legislator voted for construction of the stadium that replaced old Comiskey Park, called the Sox on Thursday and a day later paid full price for four tickets, White spokesman Dave Druker said.

 

Those baseball-loving politicians without their own season tickets were to be placed in a large White Sox corporate suite in left field. Those corporate seats are never available for general sale, said Sox spokesman Scott Reifert, who declined to say how many city, county and state officials took advantage of the special offer.

 

White Sox sponsors also enjoyed easy access to World Series tickets. Sox advertisers were allowed to purchase "playoff strips" at the beginning of the postseason, Sox Marketing Vice President Brooks Boyer said. These strips consist of a single ticket to each of the games in a series. Most sponsors purchased four strips to all postseason series.

 

Major sponsors bought more.

 

U.S. Cellular Corp. paid $68 million for the naming rights to the White Sox stadium. Now, it has about five dozen tickets to the Fall Classic, including a skybox, Chief Operating Officer Jay Ellison said.

 

Most of those tickets will go to U.S. Cellular's most prominent customers and dealers, as well as employees who have "burned the midnight oil at both ends," Ellison said, adding that phones in the executive suite rang this week with hopeful calls from less-than-fresh business contacts.

 

This week, he said, "You are best friends with people you haven't heard from in 25 years."

 

Saying no to Springsteen

 

The Sox also fielded calls from celebrities ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Bernie Mac, but the team politely rebuffed most of the glitzy beggars and referred them to World Series broadcaster Fox and Major League Baseball, Boyer said, noting that only a few celebs got special treatment from the team.

 

"If you were a Sox fan earlier in the year, that helps; it's part of the criteria," he said, declining to list the rest of the criteria.

 

Some without tickets didn't fret, though.

 

Cardinal Francis George, reached in Rome through an aide, said he had not sought tickets.

 

"Of course I'm a Sox fan," George said. "Everybody's a Sox fan. Obviously, it's God's will that the Sox win. But God's will can be thwarted by human freedom."

 

In theory, at least a few choice seats could remain empty. Longtime Chicago powerbroker Michael Segal, who is in jail awaiting sentencing on a fraud conviction, had a Sox suite and four seats in the second row, behind the Houston Astros' dugout. Control of those seats was given to a court-appointed receiver for Segal's insurance business.

 

"I am dying to know who has been sitting in those Segal seats," said Kitty Kurth, a former Segal spokeswoman. "We've been trying to see on TV who's been in those seats."

 

Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune

[Spiff]

gross

[nitetrain8601]

It's disgusting to see Rod Blagojevich there. That bum said he would never wear a Sox hat.

 

I know Homer Simpson's "voice" was at the game as he's a huge White Sox fan, Bernie Mac was there, and someone else pretty famous that Fox mentioned that's not on this list.

[The Ginger Kid]

It's even worse with the super bowl -- it's one big corporate outing

[bschmaranz]

Did John Cusack (FLIP-FLOPPER!) show up?

[Rowand44]

I hate celebrities.

[LosMediasBlancas]

We were joking that Bernie Mac showed up with a Sox, Cubs and Astros jersey. He'd change into a different one depending on the situation.

[Greg The Bull Luzinski]

I think it is funny that George Bush (#41) was not at the game since he goes to all the Astros home playoff games. I would think this game would be important enough for him to make a special trip. Either Bush does not like the idea of going to the south side, or he is just a home game person. He has the money to come to Chicago.

[JUGGERNAUT]

They should take a page out the STL & HOU playbooks. Tickets available to the general public should be made available thru a lottery system. Do away with the perks & the scalpers.

[Whitewashed in '05]

It's sad most of the real fans have to sit at home while f***ers who don't even care pay a grand just to say they were there.

[Brian]

We were joking that Bernie Mac showed up with a Sox, Cubs and Astros jersey.  He'd change into a different one depending on the situation.

 

Bernie Mac has always been a Sox fan, like when he sang the 7th inning stretch in 2003, he never said "Root Root Root for the Cubbies."

 

I never saw him in an Astros jersey.

 

Now the dude from the Simpsons was just blatant promotion.

[Greg The Bull Luzinski]

When Bernie sang"take me out to the ballgame" in 2003 at the Cubs game, it was moments before the Bartman incident. Because Bernie Mac is a known Sox fan, many conspiracy theorist on the internet believe he initiated the fall that awakened the Cub's curse. Bernie was only there promoting a movie and a TV show. He is a known Sox fan. He's not a Cusak.

[The Critic]

Bernie Mac has always been a Sox fan, like when he sang the 7th inning stretch in 2003, he never said "Root Root Root for the Cubbies."

 

I never saw him in an Astros jersey.

 

Now the dude from the Simpsons was just blatant promotion.

Dan Castellanetta (sp?) is a Sox fan, or so I'm told.

A friend of mine at work knows him.

He's from the area, and from all accounts is a cool guy.

[Soxman72]

Bernie Mac sat across from me during game one and he is a nice guy. He had his Sox stuff on and he was really getting into the game. He did leave by the 5th inning to go upstairs for interviews.

[Steff]

Bernie Mac sat across from me during game one and he is a nice guy.  He had his Sox stuff on and he was really getting into the game.  He did leave by the 5th inning to go upstairs for interviews.

 

 

The Dahl's were ripping him a new one. I think that's why he went upstairs.

[SAVVY18]

On the pe-game show on Fox, Roeper was on and called the flip floppers "TranSOXuals".

[LosMediasBlancas]

On the pe-game show on Fox, Roeper was on and called the flip floppers "TranSOXuals".   

 

Did you see when Roeper was sitting with Black Jack and the guy from Fox asked him: "so Richard, you being a die hard Sox fan and all, surely you must have some fond memories of seeing Jack here pitch". Roeper looked kinda stumped and on the spot and pulled some general BS otta his butt like: "oh yeah, I remember Jack going out there and always giving his all for like 7, 8 or 9 innings at a time". McDowell gave Roeper that big crazy eyed look like: "That's all you got"?! I love live tv.