Sept. 22--Can't stand to miss the Cubs during their final homestand this week? You may have to -- literally.
Standing-room-only tickets could be your best chance, because as the regular season comes to a close, seated tickets are going quick. Just before Friday's early afternoon Cubs-Cardinals matchup, standing-room tickets were all the box office offered. (And they were $35 each for about 300 spots, but prices and availability vary per game).
As for the postseason, don't count on standing room to be your secret savior. Cubs officials said they may only be available through a lottery, if at all.
So are they worth it if you want to catch the Cubs before the playoffs? And if you buy them, how do you navigate the ballpark once you're in?
First, since prices do fluctuate per game, it's good to know what you get for the money. There are no specific standing-room-only sections at Wrigley Field. Instead, the tickets grant you access to the entire horseshoe of the "Terrace reserved" area, which is the midlevel walkway situated above the lower level seats and sheltered by the upper deck.
This access means that, from your vantage point, you can basically walk the front perimeter of the field -- down the third-base line, behind the catcher and up along right field. But as you do, you can't move higher or lower from that vantage point unless you snag a random, unattended seat and go unnoticed. The chances of that are low now though, since the park's buzzing, and ushers are mindful.
Speaking of mindful ushers, they care a lot about where you stand. You can walk around as much as you want along the horseshoe, but when you stop, you can't linger right up against the seat backs in front of you or form a kind of glob with your group.
The standing-room area is single file, against a railing about 10 feet back from the last row of seats. It doesn't affect your view, but it does put you shoulder to shoulder with strangers. In an ideal world, that could help you meet new people and build team camaraderie, but if you come with a group, it makes it hard to talk with everyone.
That was the struggle for Dan Cheeseman, 63, who watched the Friday game from a standing-room-only spot with four family members. They were in town from New York and decided to buy Cubs tickets the day of the game.
The group of five bent forward and sort of shouted to talk to each other, but they mostly ended up chatting with their immediate neighbor. The same would be true in seats though, minus an usher constantly correcting their lean.
Cheeseman said standing-room fans do have a clear view of the field, but that's it. "The only thing you can see here is line drives," he said.
For fans who want a peek of the sky, where pop-ups and home runs fly, they can hike up a few concrete switchbacks to the Jack Daniels upper deck. There, they can buy some drinks and snacks (or not) and linger for a bit at the entrance, where there is a wide open view of the ballpark -- that is, before an usher either turns them toward the outer deck and its TVs or points them back down to the designated standing-room walkway.
From that midlevel walkway, the broad but stunted view didn't bother Robin Scaro. The 46-year-old did standing room with her boyfriend, both of Westmont, because they bought their tickets the day of the game -- a common theme.
"It was spur of the moment," Scaro said. The couple was planning on going to the game early in the week but bailed because the weather was supposed to be rainy. On Friday, when they woke up to overcast but dry skies, they ended up buying tickets anyway.
"It's our second time (doing standing room) this season," she said, "There's not really a downside other than you don't have a seat to sit in."
Season-ticket holder Bill Masser, 64, disagreed, saying the price bothered him. He tried to buy three tickets so he, his daughter-in-law and grandson could go to the game together, but when he realized they would be $35 each, he opted out. They were about $10 more than his two season tickets, which were valued at $24.64 each.
"It seems like they're pulling a scam here," he said, but ultimately said he didn't mind missing the game (or standing room) so his daughter-in-law and grandson could experience it together from his season seats.
Though you can buy standing-room tickets at the box office like Masser tried to do, you can buy them online too. They typically go on sale about two to three days in advance, said Julian Green, the vice president of communications for the Cubs.
"There's an art and science to it," he said, in reference to determining how many standing-room tickets would be sold per game, how much they would cost and when they would go on sale.
But the postseason is a different ballgame.
"The only way to guarantee an opportunity to purchase postseason tickets is through the registration lottery," Green said. The team hasn't even decided if it'll offer standing spots in October, but if they do, "it's likely to go through the lottery as well."
The registration lottery closes Wednesday at noon for the National League wild card game and division series; Oct. 8 at noon for the National League championship series; and Oct. 16 at noon for the World Series.
High school friends Dan Loya, 41, and Kevin Hunter, 41, both signed up for the registration lottery about two weeks ago, the day after it opened. They're hoping either of them can go, Loya said, but also "hoping they don't jack up the prices."
Green said more than 260,000 people had registered for the lottery as of Tuesday. He had no word yet on how much the tickets could cost, but said prices would be tiered for different seating sections (or standing tickets).
rcrosby@tribpub.com
