Cheryl Jacobs had planned to campaign for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama in Iowa this weekend, but she quickly abandoned the presidential race for the pennant race and a last-minute road trip to Cincinnati to watch her beloved Chicago Cubs.
“At the very least, I get to see another Cubs game,” she said Friday.
Thousands of anxious Cubs fans planned to hit the road this weekend, ready to will their faltering team into the playoffs, if necessary. Instead, many will arrive for a two-day party.
Reds officials say a surge in ticket sales started about a week ago, when it became clear that this weekend’s three-game series might have added importance for the Cubs. Reds spokesman Rob Butcher said that the Cubs always draw well at Great American Ball Park, but that demand for this weekend’s games was strong by any measure.
Thursday’s Reds game against the Houston Astros drew 13,626. Butcher said sales for each of the three games this weekend had exceeded 30,000 by Friday.
“I’d imagine it’s Cubs fans,” he said.
Count Saul Bustamante among them. Bustamante and five friends planned to pile into a Ford Explorer about the crack of dawn Saturday and drive five hours to Cincy. The group found hotel rooms at a Comfort Inn 18 miles from the stadium and bought tickets on online auction site eBay.
“It’s not every year the Cubbies win the division,” said Bustamante, 22, of Aurora. “I’m hoping to be a part of history.”
Anthony Voisard, a Cubs fan who lives in Fort Mitchell, Ky., said that when he realized the Cubs might clinch a playoff spot this weekend, he bought the cheapest tickets he could find — $5 face value seats that he purchased for $3 with a Reds coupon — and sold the tickets online for the princely sum of $12 each. By Friday afternoon, he had sold 20 tickets online for this weekend’s game, 17 of them to buyers from the Chicago area.
Voisard, who goes to many of the regular season Cubs games in Cincinnati, said that for past games Cubs-Reds games, the crowd has been 30 percent to 40 percent Cubs fans. He expects double that this weekend.
“It’s going to just be one of those surreal moments in sports,” said Voisard, who plans to attend Saturday in full Cubs gear.
Jeff McDonald of 333seat.com, Cincinnati’s largest ticket broker, said calls from Cubs fans have kept his 42 employees busy. He compares the demand to Reds’ opening day.
“It’s been crazy,” McDonald said. “Crazy, crazy. Let’s put it this way, you’d think our Reds were on the way to the World Series the way tickets are selling.”
Tickets behind the visitors’ dugout that sold for $20 for Thursday’s game against the Astros are selling for $150 this weekend, McDonald said. All of the buyers are Cubs fans.
With the hometown Reds’ record well below .500 and the team long since out of the playoff race, many were happy to see the arrival of rabid Cubs fans bearing cash, regardless of the outcome.
“We’re pleasantly surprised at how our dismal season is ending from a business perspective,” McDonald said. “We’re very, very blessed that the Cubs are doing well.”
So are Cincinnati hotels. Most hotels in the city were already pretty full because of several big conferences and festivals this weekend, hotel staff said. The crush of Cubs fans has only added to the demand.
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At a Quality Inn and Suites about 5 miles from the ballpark, front desk clerk Saneithia Green says the hotel realized Friday it had taken on 19 more reservations than it could handle.
“We’re all booked because of the game,” she said. “I’ve seen lots of blue hats around the lobby. People are very excited.”
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