FORT MYERS, Fla. — It’s only been a week since Black Friday and Derek DeArmond is once again camping out in line.
This time, he was waiting for 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. He began camping out for Red Sox spring training tickets at about 3 a.m. Friday morning, long before before the gates to Fenway South even opened, and about 30 hours before tickets went on sale.
They call him “The Mayor of Fenway South” and for just over 10 years, DeArmond has been the first in line and the sheriff of the line to buy Red Sox spring training tickets. He keeps the line behind him organized and fair with “The List” – a handwritten, chronological record of who showed up and when.
“We got tired of people butting in line,” DeArmond said, who started keeping track of who got in line and when 12 years ago when the Sox were still playing at City of Palms Park in downtown Fort Myers. “I just got tired of watching people take advantage of others and cheating them. It just keeps it fair.
“So now we’ve been doing this for years and everybody knows: When you get here, you check in with the mayor and sign in. Then you can go off and do what you’d like till it’s time to be back in line.”
While waiting in line may be a hassle for some, DeArmond doesn’t mind it. Just a week prior, DeArmond camped out in front of Best Buy for over a week to wait in line for a 49 inch Toshiba LED 4K Smart TV, regularly priced over $500, for $200. He then donated the brand new TV to be used as a raffle prize in the upcoming Red Sox Celebrity Classic golf tournament in Feburary to benefit the Golisano Children’s Hospital.
“Some people look at us and say ‘Why are they doing that?’ ” DeArmond said. “I say, ‘Why not?’ Someone’s got to do it for the kids and make a difference. Someone needs to step forward to and do something for these kids.”
Once again, he’s doing it for the kids.
For the past six years, DeArmond has picked up four tickets to the St. Patrick’s Day game and donated them to the hospital.
As of 6 p.m. Friday night, a little more than 60 people’s names were on the list, many holding out for tickets to the World Baseball Classic exhibition game against Team USA on March 9, which is expected to feature players like Jake Arrieta, Andrew Miller, Giancarlo Stanton, Kris Bryant, and more, although a final roster has not yet been announced.
Other games that are high on the list for Southwest Florida fans include the St. Patty’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, the American League East rivalry game against the New York Yankees on Feb. 28, and one of the two games against cross-town rivals Minnesota Twins.
There will be a $1 price increase in box seat, grandstand, and “Green Monster” seating categories for the 2017 season, while all other seating categories will remain unchanged. Tickets for the Red Sox against Northwestern University on Feb. 23 will be half price.
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