Article Published: Thursday, September 18, 2003

$1 seats? Must be front row
By Mark Kiszla
Denver Post Sports Columnist
 

The Rockies sold $31 tickets for a buck, and it did not matter. This was a night for lonely hearts at Coors Field, when rather than introducing the starting lineups, it might have been faster for the ballpark announcer to recite the names of all customers actually present in the stands.

How big a joke was the alleged attendance of 22,454 on a frigid Wednesday? By the eighth inning of Colorado's 7-5 victory against Houston, there were more stoic ushers (two) than shivering spectators (zero) in the center-field bleachers.

It was a stark reminder of the worst financial blunder ever committed by the Rockies, a bigger waste of money than the millions thrown away on failed ace Mike Hampton. Franchise ownership got fat and happy, with the mistaken belief the fans would never stop coming and the good times could go on forever.

"That's tough when you come out and want to watch the home team win, and we are not winning," Rockies outfielder Larry Walker said. "I have always said the prices are outrageous from the minute you park your car."

Remember? Back when generous fans were so trusting as to build the Rockies a cozy new ballpark with a capacity of 43,800, a young franchise grew greedy.

The owners reached into their wallets for an extra $30 million to enlarge the blueprint of the original Coors, popping the top in right field. They added nearly 7,000 seats that now sit empty night after night, mocking a good thing gone bad.

For anybody who scrambled for tickets here in 1995, when Blake Street was the hottest address in the major leagues, the dead zone that Coors Field has become is almost spooky.

"It's glaring," Walt Weiss said. Once a player in baseball's best party, he now serves as an instructor for the struggling Rockies. "It went from being the most special place in the major leagues to kind of just another ballpark."

Although still beautiful, the silence of Coors Field is now deafening. Fans have given up on the Rockies.

"I take the fans' side," Walker said. "If I am a baseball fan, it would be tough to come out here."

Once the unbeatable attendance leader, the Rockies are so desperate for an audience that prime seats, with a retail price of $31, have been marked down to one buck each. Unbelievable, but true: Any spectator willing to brave the cold could purchase four tickets with a face value of $124 for a five-dollar bill, and get change back.

Rockies tickets have become barely worth the paper they are printed on. And know what is even more amazing?

These ridiculous prices were not being offered by frantic scalpers anxious to unload product as the thermometer plummeted to 45 degrees at first pitch.

Throughout the season, the team itself has offered discounts so deep as to acknowledge the on-field product is nearly unmarketable.

Plastered in the front window of a Rockies Dugout Store located in a suburban strip mall, there are signs posted with the shameless urgency of a panhandler: "1ST LEVEL SEATS FOR $1." Too good to be true? It's too sad to be fiction.

The Rockies, who once enjoyed 203 straight sellouts in Coors, have been reduced to begging. Tickets for a franchise that has drawn more than 37 million fans now can be had for less than a 20-ounce soda.

But here's the catch: You are required to buy $25 in Rockies merchandise adorned with the team logo as a stipulation for getting two seats for two bucks. This is harder than it sounds, especially when your 8-year-old son declares only a dork would be caught wearing a Rockies T-shirt to school.

Nevertheless, a Rockies shot glass ($2.99) can be used for medicinal purposes to deaden the pain of watching Walker hit .279. A purple-and-black dog collar ($10.99) is perfect for keeping general manager Dan O'Dowd on a short leash.

The Rockies are practically giving away this junk. For a total outlay of $57.63, it was possible to obtain tickets and souvenirs with a list price in excess of $175, a whopping 67 percent discount.

Lest anyone think this a September clearance sale, the store clerk insisted these bargains have been available almost all summer. I know he was telling the truth, because I got the same deal to see San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds and the first-place Giants in early July, when the Rockies were trying to dupe folks their undermanned team was in the playoff hunt.

Slashing prices is risky business for a franchise so dependent on gate receipts to meet budget.

Good seats at 67 percent off? It seems like a great deal, unless you are one of those poor saps still paying retail for season tickets.