The Orioles "pitched 2015 season ticket plans with the opportunity to buy seats for October baseball at Camden Yards," but many season-ticket holders said that they "felt shortchanged by the club's reach for new customers," according to Jeff Barker of the Baltimore SUN. The Orioles on Tuesday announced that they were "offering new 20- and 40-game ticket plans for next season, and that fans putting down deposits will be assured access to a select number of home game tickets" for the ALCS against the Royals and a possible World Series. The team said that 13-game plans, which include this year's postseason tickets, "are sold out, but fans who placed deposits on 29- or 81-game plans by 5 p.m. Wednesday are guaranteed playoff seats." Many 13-game ticket-plan holders "took to social media to protest that they had to compete in the playoffs presale with fans just putting down deposits for next season." They said that the club's website "frequently produced error messages and that some were denied tickets after more than an hour's wait." The Orioles have not been in the ALCS since '97, and fans "seem starved to see them." Standing-room slots "are selling for more than $150 on third-party online sites, and the best box seats are being offered at more than $1,500 on StubHub" (Baltimore SUN, 10/8).
OLD FLAME VS. YOUNG LOVE: In Baltimore, Jeff Barker the Orioles were many DC residents' "baseball team of choice" prior to the Nationals arrival in town, and thousands of those fans "never stopped following the team that was, for many, their first love." It seems "socially acceptable to be a fan of both" teams, and DC-based attorney Carter Phillips "is just that." Phillips "is representing the Orioles in a lawsuit over how much money the Nationals should receive in rights fees from the clubs' shared TV network, MASN." But he "has season tickets to Nationals games." With the Orioles advancing to their first ALCS since '97, DC "regards the Orioles' success with a mix of admiration and nostalgia" (Baltimore SUN, 10/9).
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK: In S.F., C.W. Nevius writes the Giants not so long ago "were at least second" on the city’s "radar, if not farther down the list." But the sports landscape "now is all orange." All over town, it is "hard to miss." The Giants "look more like us, right down to Pablo Sandoval’s struggles with the bulge above his belt." Twenty years ago, the Giants "played baseball and were interesting, but they didn’t really matter." Nevius: "Now they do. It is because of this team. This ballpark. This city" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/10).
ARCH MADNESS: In St. Louis, Joe Strauss writes Cardinals Chair & CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. has "shown himself patient more than impulsive, flexible rather than sedentary, open to input but also firmly in command." More than one agent who "has traded negotiating knives with DeWitt refers to him as the game’s best businessman." He is perhaps MLB's "ultimate insider." The Cardinals "have played 124 postseason games, winning 68, under current ownership." Independent estimates "put the franchise value beyond" $1B with a "renegotiated cable rights deal on the horizon." Strauss: "Loathe to overstatement, DeWitt recognizes 2014 and its 3.5 million attendance as the most financially successful season of his stewardship" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/10).
K.C. MASTERPIECE: MLB.com's Phil Rogers wrote Royals GM Dayton Moore and team Owner David Glass "were unusually patient in the early stages" of rebuilding the team, "spending heavily on the foundation, but then Moore made the tough calls." Moore "by and large" has made "excellent decisions." Moore's biggest success "might have been getting Glass' approval to invest heavily in the Draft before limits were established in 2012 -- while also expanding the organization's international footprint" (MLB.com, 10/10).
