February 13, 2005
Spring Without the Stars
Despite the loss of Sammy Sosa by trade and Barry Bonds by injury, ticket sales are ahead of last year in the Cactus League.
Reservations at Scottsdale's famed Don & Charlie's restaurant are "unbelievable," said co-owner Don Carson, whose walls are decorated with an array of baseball memorabilia.
"We accept reservations up to 30 days in advance, and we're getting calls at midnight," Carson said.
With all the teams so close together, taking a vacation to spend a week in Arizona during spring training sounds like a baseball fan's dream.
Yes and no. Part of the reason ticket sales are up is because scalpers buy up Cubs and Giants tickets well in advance and prey on the weak-minded. Bonds will miss much of spring with knee surgery and Sammy is going to be in Florida with the Orioles.
Last year we paid $50 a ticket for seats three rows behind home plate at a Cubs game against the A's. Not bad, but the scalper had no idea it was Mark Mulder against Greg Maddux. Otherwise, it would have been $75 or more.
The real fan's dream in Az is the AFL. Once you've gone for a week and watched two games a day, every day, you'll be hooked.