Original Tickets Weren’t Worth Price of Admission

Last spring’s baseball labor dispute resulted in a lockout for some fans Wednesday night who had the wrong tickets for the Dodger-San Francisco Giant game at Dodger Stadium.

The game, won by the Giants, 2-1, was one of six designated as a makeup because a labor dispute delayed the season opener by a week.

The Dodgers had reissued tickets, but for an assortment of reasons some fans arrived Wednesday with original tickets. Some holding season tickets were denied entrance to the stadium because there was no way to determine whether someone else was using the seats, a Dodger official said. Others, who had bought by mail or from ticket outlets, exchanged their outdated tickets and saw the game.

The first two makeup games, also against the Giants, were played April 16 and April 30. Dodger officials said they had no problems with those games because the season was new and reissued tickets had not been misplaced or forgotten.

But Wednesday, three months later, many arrived with tickets marked April 3, the game’s original date.

Dodger officials had sent season-ticket holders and mail-order customers letters informing them of the date changes. Included, they said, were reissued tickets. Customers were asked to destroy original tickets so they would not be used accidentally.

“We really tried hard to avoid any problem,” Dodger spokesman Mike Williams said.

Williams said it was difficult to determine how many fans were turned away.

“Whatever the number was, where people were disappointed or confused we feel bad about that,” he said.

The final three makeup games--all against the San Diego Padres--are scheduled for Oct. 1-3.

Even before Wednesday’s game, a Dodger official said, some fans were confused. The ballclub received calls from fans complaining that they could not find the right tickets.

Others, who were given tickets by friends and were unaware of the changes, simply arrived at Chavez Ravine expecting to watch the teams trying to catch the Cincinnati Reds in the National League West. Angry and confused fans demanded help at the will-call window as the game was about to begin, Dodger officials said.

“Obviously, it wasn’t the Dodgers’ fault, but someone should have come out and explained what was happening,” said Lea Petrick of Reseda.

Petrick said that she and her husband John, as well as others, waited for more than half an hour, trying to get an answer for their problem before finally going home.