Fans shut out Monday

The countdown to possible World Series ticket bliss ticked away Monday on computer screens:

9:57 a.m. . . . 9:58 . . . 10 o’clock.

“I want four tickets,” said 41-year-old Doug Roman, his Dell laptop loaded and ready at a Pikes Perk Coffee & Tea House in north-central Colorado Springs. “To any game.”

A table away was friendly competition.

“You will yell or say something if you get through, right Doug?” said Jeff Hamilton, 39, his credit card perched by his iBook.

Instead of getting tickets, both stared at the message, “The site is experiencing heavy loads at this time” frozen on their screens.

There was no happy ending for the vast majority of Rockies fans hunched over computer keyboards Monday hoping to get World Series tickets in online sales.

Most struck out.

Sales were suspended around noon after about 8.5 million hits crashed the Rockies’ vendor offering seats from $65 apiece to $250.

Before the meltdown, about 500 seats were sold of the 60,000 total up for grabs — about 20,000 each for the three home games at Coors Field in Denver.

Late Monday, the Rockies issued a statement blaming the crash on an “external, malicious attack” and said tickets will go on sale again online at noon today.

The other 30,000 seats per game were already allotted to the two teams, Major League Baseball and season-ticket holders, who got a chance to buy extra tickets over the weekend.

The Rockies opted for the illfated online sale of the rest, saying it was the fairest method for fans.

There was no such consternation in Boston, the other World Series city. The Red Sox have already held an online drawing for the right to buy tickets to Fenway Park games, with winners purchasing tickets at a private sale.

Boston also had a telephone sale for fans without computer access.

Fans outside Coors Field booed during a noon announcement that sales were on hold. After getting nowhere online, some had headed to the ballpark, hoping the Rockies might decide to sell tickets at box-office windows instead.

“Virtually the entire allotment of tickets that were on sale are still available,” Rockies spokesman Jay Alves said as fans chanted “We want tickets! We want tickets!”

Representatives of Paciolan Inc., which provides ticketing networks to Major League Baseball and 700 college and professional teams, were stunned by the onslaught.

“This is not the Rockies’ fault in any way whatsoever,” Paciolan CEO Dave Butler said as technicians at the Irvine, Calif.-based company scrambled to fix the glitch.

Major League Baseball executives previously said their network, MLB.com, which oversees the Internet traffic for all 30 clubs, could handle the ticket crush.

At the Springs coffee shop, Hamilton kept his cool under his Rockies World Series cap after two hours of futility.

“It’s nothing to lose your mind over,” he said. “It is a disappointment. You’d think they’d know everybody and their mother is trying to get tickets.”

He wasn’t giving up, saying, “We still have a shot at it.”

Roman said he’ll watch the games at a local sports bar if he can’t score tickets.

The Series opens in Boston with games on Wednesday and Thursday. Games 3 and 4 will be on Saturday and Sunday in Denver. If there is a Game 5, it will be played Monday in Denver.

That’s the day before Colorado Springs Air Force Lt. Col. Roger Ouellette turns 41. His wife, Cindie Latke, wants the family to celebrate “Dad’s birthday” at a World Series game.

“There’s nothing better than being there,” she said. “I was online at 9:30. I had everything ready. I had someone to pick kids up from school. I already have plans for tomorrow.”

Brad Olson, a clinical assistant for Apria Healthcare in Colorado Springs, took Monday morning off from work in a futile attempt to buy tickets on his home computer.

“It would be nice to have a portion of these tickets available to Colorado residents only,” he said. “There are a lot of true Rockies fans who are excluded who really want to see a World Series game and follow their team.”

Those who don’t get to buy tickets at face value will have to pay royally to get into Coors Field.

At StubHub, an online site for buying and selling tickets, $65 Rock Pile seats were going for $730 — and up.

Way up.

Asking price by a greedy seller of a seat in Rock Pile Section 402, Row 31: $17,800.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0253 or andrea.brown@gazette.com

The Associated Press and the Rocky Mountain News contributed to this report.

TICKETS

Tickets will go on sale again today at noon at www.colorado rockies.com