When he fields calls from Texas Rangers fans inquiring about World Series tickets, TexasTickets.com President Scott Baima can’t help but to echo the preferred cliché of every baseball player and manager to ever reach the major leagues: One game at a time.
Of course, given that Rangers fans such as Baima have waited 38 years to get this close to the World Series, it’s tough to blame him for assuming the Rangers — who enter Game Six of the American League Championship Series tonight, October 22 with a three-games-to-two lead in the best-of-seven set — will beat the New York Yankees once in the next two nights to clinch the first pennant in franchise history.
“We’re getting a lot of calls from people wanting to know what we’re buying [World Series tickets] for and what we’ll sell them for,” Baima told TicketNews. “I’m basically telling people ‘Wait and see if it happens.’ No reason to jinx it and start buying them yet.”
The Rangers, who raced out to a 3-1 series lead by winning three straight games by the convincing margin of 25-5 after squandering a four-run lead in the eighth inning of Game One Friday, October 15, missed out on their first chance to close out the Yankees when they lost Game Five in New York, 7-2, on Wednesday, October 20. And while the return to Texas probably raises the anxiety levels of Rangers fans, it has been good business for ticket brokers.
On the National League side, the San Francisco Giants also lead the Philadelphia Phillies three-games-to-two, heading back to Philadelphia for a Game Six on tomorrow, October 23, and a possible Game Seven on Sunday. According to ticket search engine FanSnap, tickets for those two games were listed on secondary ticket sites for averages of more than $400 (Game Six) and more than $500 (Game Seven).
As of early this morning, StubHub had 3,345 tickets available to tonight’s Game Six in Texas. The cheapest non-standing room only ticket was a seat in the upper reserved section 335 for $70, just $10 higher than face value. Most of the tickets priced at $125 or less on StubHub are for upper reserved or bleacher seating, but there were a handful of Lexus Club Terrace tickets going for less than their $125 face value.
Baima said he is hearing from people who are hopeful tonight’s the night for the Rangers and, as a result, want the best tickets possible. “Everybody’s wanting real good seats, more so than the lesser seats,” Baima said.
There is more than three times as many tickets available on StubHub for a potential Game Seven in Texas — 12,759 as of this morning. The cheapest non-standing room only ticket is priced at $73.99 for an upper reserved seat in section 313. Presumably, though, those prices would rise if the winner-take-all tussle pitting the Rangers’ brilliant ace Cliff Lee (7-0 with a 1.26 ERA in eight career postseason starts, including 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA in three starts this month) against Yankees veteran Andy Pettitte (a postseason record 19 career wins) comes to fruition.
