How To Acquire A Lifetime Golden Ticket To Every MLB Baseball Game

Are you a huge fan of the game of baseball? Do you watch games on TV, attend Major League Baseball games in person, go to fan festivals, research stats on your favorite players past and present? Would you say that in your office, in your social network, in your household, at friend’s parties – you are the most knowledgeable baseball person in the room? Do you write a blog or freelance with a local news magazine or host a podcast about baseball with some modicum of success? If you had the choice between front row seats at the Grand Ole Opry or bleachers seats at Fenway Park, would you choose Fenway Park every day and twice on Saturdays? Would you like to know how to acquire a lifetime golden ticket, essentially a free pass into any Major League Baseball game for the rest of your life? Step inside my office and I’ll tell you how to get one of these incredible, esteemed golden tickets, like this one:

First, here are the rules courtesy of the Couch GM:

Second, sorry to disappoint all you baseball fans out there who said yes to one or all of my introductory questions. During the YouTube Short, The Couch GM lays out the rules – 8+ years of MLB service for players, coaches, and managers. 25 plus years for MLB executives. Non-transferable, no post season access, no All Star game access. Digest those facts for a moment. Here are a few thoughts on the Golden Ticket. Players, coaches, and managers with eight years of Major League Baseball experience likely won’t need any golden passes to obtain a ticket to an MLB game of their choice. More likely, they just pick up their phones and make a call or send a text stating “hey, I’m in Miami, can I get tickets to the Red Sox vs. Marlins game for myself and my family.” Click, done, no questions asked – most likely. Executives, like the A’s Carl Finley whose Golden Ticket is pictured in the article, who have logged 25 plus years in a MLB operation are also not likely to need any more than a head’s up that they will be in town and would like tickets to the game. How about special issued cards for non-baseball personnel? Here is a great article that discusses the history of the golden ticket, lifetime pass by baseball historian, John Thorn – The Golden Ticket, Not That of Willy Wonka’s but MLB’s.

Third, an obvious question might arise as to how to acquire one without playing a single game or helping build a team or coaching a single player in professional baseball. I am guessing online sites, sports card shows, estate sales, and auction websites have ones that they have acquired and will sell to the highest bidder. If you obtain one by sale or by gift, you can frame it and put it on your wall because the rights of the ticket do not transfer to you. You have to earn this golden ticket by service as a player or coach or executive. According to sources I have read online (and the internet is always accurate), you cannot transfer ownership and rights of the Golden Ticket to a relative or friend. The ticket’s rights go away when the issuing party passes away.

Fourth, as you leave I will leave you with this. These Golden Tickets are a piece of baseball history that should be acknowledged and shared. For the issuing party of the ticket did a great service to the game of baseball, whether as an executive like the A’s Carl Finley or a coach who logged 25 plus years with an organization from Single – A to the Majors or a player who played the game at the highest levels of professional baseball. Each ticket is a story, an opportunity to learn about the person engraved on that ticket. Take Carl Finley for example, I knew very little about him prior to researching this ticket and communicating with his daughter, Nancy. His brother, the late Charlie Finley, garnered most of the headlines (good and bad and ugly) during the family’s operation of the Kansas City A’s, then Oakland A’s. But after reading his bio and chatting with Nancy, I came to learn that Carl Finley played an incredible role in the success of building three World Championship Oakland A’s teams, dare I say more important than his headline dominating brother, Charlie.

Last, yelling out to you as you start your car, wouldn’t it be awesome if the ticket was transferable? I mean the issuing party could pass it down to a relative or a groundskeeper or a T-shirt vendor or a hot dog vendor. MLB could obtain the will and testament of the issuing party stating that “upon my passing, I would like Mr. or Mrs. (insert name) to have my MLB Golden Ticket with all its rights and privileges.” This way, the Golden Ticket would be seen more at MLB games than locked up behind layers of glass and security at some museum or private collector’s case. Why not keep the ticket alive by transferring its ownership to someone who will continue to use it to go to games and spread the positive message about the ticket’s original owner? “Oh, I see you have a golden ticket with the name, Carl Finley. Is he related to Charlie Finley from the Oakland A’s? Oh really, what was his role?” That would be awesome!

Finally, huge thank you to Nancy Finley for allowing me to share this MLB Golden Ticket and the opportunity to learn more about the well deserved name issued on the ticket – her late father, Carl Finley.