CHICAGO, June 2 (UPI) -- It was a cloudy overcast day with a strong wind blowing from the southwest toward straightaway center field. Cries of "Good seats," "Cheap seats" and "Cubs tickets here" could be heard above the bustle of a developing crowd.
Ticket brokers were out in force. Some worked street corners, though a few are respectable enough to work out of storefront offices located across the street or down the block from Wrigley Field -- the North Side structure that serves as the home of the Chicago Cubs.
I ventured into the brokers' world Friday to try to buy two tickets for one of the three games in this weekend's inter-league series between the Cubs and the New York Yankees -- who because they play in different leagues haven't faced each other since the 1938 World Series.
Chris, my brother, is a hard-core Yankees fan who wants to be among the smattering of visiting fans cheering their team in the face of the opposition. He also wants to razz Cubs' slugger Sammy Sosa, whom he considers an egomaniacal, overrated ballplayer.
But doing that is a pricey proposition, as all three games -- Friday and Saturday afternoon and Sunday night -- have been sold out for months. Tickets sold so quickly for the Yankees series, the Cubs turned away fans lined up outside the stadium when single-game tickets went on sale in February.
Complicating the situation is Premium Ticket Service, a subsidiary of the Cubs' owner, Tribune Co. In theory, Premium exists to resell seats not used by season ticket holders -- preventing those tickets from getting into the hands of the ticket brokers.
In reality, many tickets were transferred directly from the Cubs to Premium, which is now trying to charge more than $1,000 per seat for the prime seats in the stadium for the Yankees series and several hundred dollars for other seats.
For many Cubs games, ticket brokers charge roughly double the price printed on the ticket. But the actions of Premium have inspired brokers to join in the scalping of fans' wallets for the Yankees series.
Six ticket brokers I spoke to, all located within two blocks of the stadium, all claimed to have available all the seats I could possibly want for any of the three games. But the lowest price I could find for two seats was $125 per ticket.
Keep in mind that was for "obstructed view" seats -- where the overhang from the private luxury boxes blocks the view of fly balls hit deep to the outfield. Any kind of decent seat pushes the ticket price to the range of $500 each.
Also consider those same "obstructed view" seats have official ticket prices of $15 each, with the more respectable seats going for $36 and the top seats listed at $45.
Of course, some people are willing to break the bank and pay up. That point was driven home to me later in the day when I happened to stop off at a Borders' bookstore where the sales clerk was quite proud of himself. Just the day before, he had managed to secure three prime seats for one of the Yankees games, at a "bargain" rate of $400 per seat.
Of course, everyone blames everyone else for the situation. The Cubs argue it is the ticket brokers who hog up the prime seats and charge exorbitant fees, thereby making Premium Ticket Service a means of fighting back. But the brokers I spoke to Friday said they had no trouble getting their usual ticket supplies.
So either the Cubs have failed at cutting off the brokers or they're succeeding at getting a chunk of ticket broker money. Cynical fans are inclined to believe the latter and several have filed a lawsuit against the Cubs. They achieved a victory of sorts last month when a judge granted class-action status to their case.
There also is the question whether Premium violates Major League Baseball rules.
Commissioner Bud Selig's aides will only say "no comment" about the Cubs' situation but teams are required to pay up to 30 percent of their ticket income into a revenue sharing fund to help bolster financially weaker teams.
The amount paid is based on the price printed on the ticket. But a different division of Tribune Co. (the communications behemoth that owns the Cubs and the WGN television superstation that broadcasts their games) is making far more than that price. In theory, the Cubs don't see that money. But someone in Tribune Tower does.
So unless there's a drastic change this week, my brother and I won't be inside Wrigley Field for any of the games. Although we could stand in line and try to get "standing room" space, we'll more likely wind up in one of the taverns outside the stadium during the Saturday game to try to capture a bit of the ambiance of the stadium crowd.
In reality, my brother wants to wear a Yankees jersey and get into the faces of a few Cubs fans when the Yanks rejuvenate their slumping ball club's pennant hopes with (if baseball history repeats itself) a three-game sweep over the cutesy Cubbies and Roger Clemens (finally!) getting his 300th victory.
