Saturday, February 12, 2000

Griffey is a hot ticket

---

Fans hurry to stand in line

BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ken Griffey Jr. | ZOOM |

        The mystique of Ken Griffey Jr. has made the Reds a hot item. Fans new and old were lining up for tickets to see the Cincinnati native in a Reds uniform.

        Heavy demand prompted the Reds to open the team's advance ticket windows today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Cinergy Field. And Ticketmaster is reporting brisk sales.

        “Bringing in Ken Griffey Jr. definitely sparked my interest,” said Julie Hagenmaier, 29, of Fairfield. She gave up her season tickets several years ago and didn't even see a game last year.

        On Friday, she stood in freezing temperatures to buy Reds tickets. The line stretched back about 200 people. The fans were gobbling up tickets.

        While Reds officials would not say how many tickets they have sold the past two days, they acknowledged ticket demand has been “overwhelming.” Besides ticket windows and the Internet, the Reds phone lines were jammed all day Thursday and Friday by ticket seekers.

        “They started lining up about 10 a.m. Thursday,” said Amy Hafer, manager at the Reds Dugout shop in the Westin Hotel downtown, which also is open today. At 2 p.m. Friday, Ms. Hafer counted about 50 people in line.

        “They started to line up about 8:30 a.m. today (Friday). I would say since the trade was announced several hundred persons have bought tickets here. Most of them are buying tickets for several games,” she said.

        At 10 a.m. Friday, William Merk, 38, of Delhi Township, was at the head of the line at the Cinergy Field box office. He balanced his 2-year-old son Ryan on his shoulders as he purchased tickets for four different games.

        “I heard a line was forming and I didn't want to miss getting extra tickets,” said Mr. Merk, a medical assistant. “Bringing in Ken Griffey Jr. can only help. I usually make three or four games a year. I will probably double that this year.”

        Reds officials said plenty of tickets remain for games throughout the season. There have been no other reported sell-outs besides Opening Day.

        At the Reds Dugout in the Westin, George Custer, 37, of Westwood and Curt Wible, 37, of Anderson Township, stood next to each other, hoping to get tickets to any Reds-Chicago Cubs games.

        “Part of my reason for standing in line this early is Ken Griffey Jr. I have two children, ages 6 and 8, and Ken Griffey Jr. is their favorite player,” said Mr. Custer, owner of Awards & Sign Graphics Inc., in Westwood.

        The only other thing Mr. Custer would like to see is grass at the new stadium, he said.

        Mr. Wible said he might have been in the ticket line even if the trade had not taken place, but maybe not this early.

        “I need to get tickets for my son's birthday on April 7,” he said.

        The line at Cinergy Field grew Friday morning even as a cold wind forced ticket seekers to bundle up. Some were on their lunch hour, some on their off day and some were students between classes. Sue Szymanski, 42, of Brown County, who works as a paralegal at Dinsmore and Shohl law firm, used her lunch hour to join a crowd of about 200 at 11:30 a.m. at Riverfront.

        “I already have some tickets, but I wanted to make sure I had tickets to take my parents to a game to see Ken Griffey,” she said.

        Doug Lyons, 42, of Hebron, Ky, is amazed at the deal to get Ken Griffey, Jr., “This is the greatest deal ever to get him to play here for half of what he is worth,” said Mr. Lyons, an accountant for Scripps-Howard. “I am buying more tickets now to make sure I have them.”

        Seventy-four year-old John Parks of Roselawn, a retired truck driver, stood just ahead of John Brisken, 19, a student at Miami University in Hamilton, to make sure they purchased tickets.

        “I am a die-hard Reds' fan,” Mr. Parks said.

        “I am just amazed that they have two Moeller graduates on the team (Griffey, Jr. and Barry Larkin),” said Mr. Brisken of Montgomery. “I graduated from Moeller and I have followed Ken Griffey Jr. all his career.”

        The Reds stadium ticket window is located at Gate 13 on the plaza of Cinergy Field.

        Phillip Pina contributed to this report.

Join the discussion on our Reds forum
Complete Griffey trade coverage at Cincinnati.com

---

Reds Stories

The makings of a grand-slam deal Junior will wear No. 30 Griffey is a hot ticket Borgman cartoon Reds expect windfall from Junior Reds face fine from Griffey talks Griffey contract stuns baseball Know Junior? tell us your story Seattle: Cameron, Tomko - Who? Seattle fans mourn the morning after Bowden says no Rocker Sullivan wins $1.1 million in arbitration

Blake's No. 1 again - with Saints
Blake's up-and-down career
Bengals court top defenders
Xavier faces former No. 1
'Q' focus of UC's defense
Celtics stop Fortson trade
Critical time for NCAA tourney hopefuls
UK in hunt for No. 2 or 3 seed in NCAA tourney
Miami's Allendorf solid in middle
Williams predicting easy win in Olympic Trials
Local boxer stumbles at Olympic Trials
West Hi clinches 1st league title since '80s
Cincinnati boys basketball roundup
Cincinnati boys basketball scores
Ohio boys basketball scores
Ohio girls basketball scores
Simon Kenton keeps on winning
Kentucky boys basketball scores
Kentucky girls basketball scores
N.Ky. boys basketball roundup
St. X swimmers dominate sectional
Cyclones 5, Kansas City 4
Mighty Ducks 4, Louisville 4

Reds page