Saturday, March 31, 2012

Update On The Digital Ticket Non-Fiasco

I bought those "digital tickets" for some key games--the deal where you just bring your credit card to the ballpark to get in--and as you know, the credit card I used was later "compromised." Meaning I'd be getting a whole new number for my account.

So I called the ticket office, and they said when I have my new card info, I could just call again and give them the number, and they could transfer the tickets to that card, which I would then bring to the game and use as my tickets.

I got the new card in the mail, cut the old one up, and called the ticket office. After a while of trying to explain that I couldn't just "bring the card you used to buy the tickets, sir" because it no longer exists, the woman finally reluctantly took the new new number.

I realized later that I wasn't satisfied. The person didn't sound like they knew what was going on. I had no proof she even entered the new number, let alone entered it correctly. I also didn't know if she changed it for all the games I had bought with that card or just one game. I kept imagining showing up at Fenway, giving some 90-year guy my credit card, having him look at me like I'm crazy before getting help while the line is held up behind me, only to have it explained, at which point he scans my card...which doesn't work anyway since it's the wrong card number.

I planned to call the ticket office next week, just to have some peace of mind. But then, yesterday, I got a phone message...from the Red Sox! That's always a weird moment--you hear "Hi, this is the Boston Red Sox" and you figure that they must be calling to ask you to throw out a ceremonial first pitch or that you've won the Lib Dooley Fan of the Century Award. Turns out they were calling about my digital tickets!

They just wanted to confirm that the issue I called them about a while back had been solved, that they were indeed able to transfer that order to the card ending in xxxx. Isn't that weird? It's almost like they knew I wanted a confirmation. It's not like the first woman had said "I'l enter the new number and we'll let you know once it's officially transferred." But it seems like that's how it worked, like they had to verify it was really my card and now that they have, they've let me know. So I've got my peace of mind. Though I'm still dreading the ticket-taker's reaction when I hand him/her something other than a ticket at the gate.

So I hope this helped any of you who bought digital tickets and need to transfer them for whatever reason. Reminder: Write down (or e-write down) your seat numbers and bring them! I have to figure they just scan your card and you walk in--and if you don't know where you're sitting, you just...better go to the standing room. (Which you should think about doing anyway since you bought upper bleacher seats.) It's not like they scan the card and give you a little printout, right? I read they did this method last year for certain season ticket holders--anybody know how it went down in '11?

Friday, March 30, 2012

Yankee Tix/Sked Stuff

Tickets available to the April Sunday night game against the Yanks. Mainly singles, but there are a few together in RF Box 92. You'd be craning your neck out there though.

So I noticed they've removed the clutter from the schedule. Now to see the extra stuff (besides the ticket-buying button), you have to hover over a date. I'm fine with taking the hotel/airline info off, but why'd they have to remove the broadcast info?? Obviously most games are on NESN, and you can tell if a Sunday game is ESPN if it's 8:05, but in general I think people like looking at a schedule and seeing right away what channel a game is on. Gimme time, opponent, channel and I'm happy. But in this case I'll just be happy MLB attempted to make the right move, despite that they took it a step too far.

They also took the "promotions" link entirely off of there.

Agent Of Green Death

Back in the late 90s, my friend Chan would always say how odd it felt rooting for a guy named "Chad." He was talking about the Yanks' Chad Curtis. Now we Red Sox fans might have to get used to rooting for a man named "Cody." Ross has hit 2 dongs today, giving him 6 on the spring. (He also hit 2 against Northeastern which don't count in the "official" ST-ats.)

I consider this in in-your-face to Mike Francesa, who yesterday went down the list of HR leaders, and when he got to the guys with 4, he just trailed off, seemingly purposely leaving Ross out. Granted, a bunch of guys had 4, but A. he didn't say that, he just said "...and this guy's got 4, and those are your home run leaders" and B. he obviously chose to only give the "important" guys. You couldn't leave him out after today, now that he's tied for the league lead. I hope Mike gets to know the name well when Cody's lofting fly balls into the Monster Seats against the Yanks.

And singing this!



Also--Bard with a great start today so far. Five innings, one run. Seven Ks. But now starting to weaken a little in the 6th.

Oh Yeah

Zack Hample was in Japan for the Invisible Opening Series, and will be posting his adventures bit by bit. Here's the beginning. Keep checking back over there for more. (His non-game posts from Japan are here and here.)

The Red Sox-Twins Chamber of Commerce Assistant Secretary's Cup series is tied at 2. The teams go at it today at 1:05. Daniel Bard gets the start.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Two More For My Psychiatrist. I Mean For My Blog!

The two latest uses of the pre-tweaked logo that I've noticed:

1. Sports Illustrated's main baseball page (at bottom). Marlins logo changes, and they fix it right away! Ours changes in 2008, no change made, as of 2012. (Though we're dealing with people who also didn't hear the news that the Marlins also changed their name. That O's logo is also 3 years old.)

2. The last episode of "The Red Sox Report starring the Overenthusiastic Don Orsillo" had a feature on Sox prospect Jackie Bradley Jr., which was a "day in the life of a draft pick"-type piece. At one point, Jackie looks at the day's schedule, and sure enough:

Once again, the Red Sox themselves didn't get the memo that their own logo was changed in 2008. Don't worry, these papers aren't anything important, they're just the lineup cards. And every other thing they print out.

I think I have a solution. Have a press conference announcing the logo will be changing back to the old version. Then no one will notice that announcement, and therefore start using the new one.

Just in case you're still reading: I have to admit I was kind of excited about the A's-Mariners game this morning. (First time I've ever said those exact words!) I knew I had to get up at 7:30 anyway, so I flipped on the TV just to be able to see a regular season baseball game. And it wasn't on. Leave it to MLB to not show their opening game. I was pissed, and I only wanted to see five minutes of it. As I heard on radio later, sure enough, lots of people who cared more about it than I did were also pissed.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Beyond Cycledrome

Do you know who won the 1928 NFL championship? It was the Providence Steam Roller, of course. While researching old baseball stuff, I came across a reference to the Roller's stadium, the Cycledrome. It was a stadium with an angled bike track around it, on the Providence/Pawtucket line off of North Main St. This is an area I'm in quite a bit--examples: the Met Cafe (where I saw a Bob Mould solo show and a Henry Rollins spoken-word show) and the place where my girlfriend runs a craft show are on this street, just on the Pawtucket side of the border. Anyway, I wanted to figure out the exact location of the Cycledrome. Here's a map of the area:

We've got I-95 on the left, and North Main (rte. 1) on the right. See that parking lot on the left? That's supposedly where a drive-in theater sat until the 70s. This was advertised as being on the old Cycledrome site (and right on the town line). So if that's all true, that's pretty much the spot where the stadium was. I also figured it might have extended north to that grassy area, Morley Field. I took rather unexciting pictures of both the lot...

(that's facing north--95 is to my left through the woods)...and the ballfield...

(looking west toward 95.)

Supposedly there is or was a plaque in the lot, but I didn't see it. It's kind of a rough location--if you miss the sign on North Main, you'd never notice the road that goes down a hill to the plaza, which is completely out of view. That might explain why these giant retail spaces are empty. But it would have been a sweet spot to see an NFL game. If anybody knows more about the exact location or the plaque, add it to comments. Thanks.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Sid Is Wicked

Jon Lester dominated the Phillies today. Ten Ks through 7 innings of no-run, 2-hit ball. Red Sox win 6-0. Dongs from Pedroia, Ross, and Mauro Gomez.

Myth Busting

We all know that booze in the clubhouse was a part of the Red Sox' 2004 championship run.

But many people forget that eating chicken on the field, in uniform was part of the 2007 championship drive:

[Picture of Julian Tavarez taken by me, April 23, 2007. (I captioned it at the time and I don't have the original handy so this'll have to do.)]

TV Stuff

During the Red Sox game today, I noticed that I couldn't pause or rewind. ("Uh huh huh, you can't pause the TV, Beavis." --Butt-Head, c. 1994. "You can now." --whoever invented the DVR.) I started checking other channels. They were all fine. Went back to NESN. Still no pausing! Now I'll grant you this: the batteries in our remote are clearly dying. But I pressed the buttons really hard. Still no pausing on NESN, still pausing elsewhere. I know, I'll see if there are any other MLB games on! There was one, on MLBN. And it also wouldn't pause! Now I started getting really suspicious. The NCAA basketball tournament game was live, and it was pausable/rewindable. So I started thinking that MLB had pulled another fast one on us, somehow disarming DVR functionality during live games.

I did notice that if I recorded the game, I was allowed to then go to the recording and do what I wanted with that. But still, I was getting pissed. DVR is key for if you have to leave the room and you don't want to miss anything, or to rewind plays to watch again without relying on the network's replays, or to go back and get screen shots of wacky stuff to post on your blog. And I didn't wanna have to record every game I watch to be able to do that.

A few minutes later, everything was back to normal. I fully admit this could have just been a glitch. But it just seemed like too much of a coincidence. I wonder if they were testing it out and will enforce this crazy new rule once the season starts. I really hope it's all in my mind though....

Anyway, we lost the game in 10 innings, as neither team walked off the field after 9 without telling the other side first. Bard was so-so, having a not-too-bad day until the 6th really. Also, several guys with no names on their backs played.

Tonight on PBS there's a National Geographic special about Fenway Park called Inside Fenway Park: An Icon at 100. I saw the teaser on redsox.com and it looks like a quality production. Click here for more info and for air-time in your area.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Bobby And Jobby

From an mlb.com article:

"It's all ridiculous," Valentine said of the daily question surrounding who will man the [shortstop] position for the Red Sox

I like when V tells the media they're being ridiculous. I look forward to more of that, no matter the topic.

As for the Red Sox' own version of Joba, Bobby Jenks: eff that guy. Another one of these people who brag about how they've "found Jesus," yet seem to live their lives in direct opposition to what Jesus supposedly preached. What would Jesus do? Apparently, he'd go to a strip club, crash his car into another car, leave the scene, then go driving around on painkillers. I'm sure his wife and kids--the ones he said he gave up drinkin' for--are very proud of him. I know he had some kind of near-death experience with his surgery and he must be pretty messed up, but he's an adult, he has to know better. He and Joba should go off and start a trampoline business together. Tramp No Lean. I never wanna see either of 'em again.

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