October 3, 2013
The 2013 St. Louis Cardinals finished the season with the best record of any Cardinals team since 2005, which includes the two teams that won the World Series in 2006 and 2011. St. Louis finished three games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who will be their opponent in the National League Divisional Series.St. Louis Cardinals tickets for the NLDS at Busch Stadium have an average price of $119 on the secondary market, a 106 percent increase on the regular season average of $57.72.
The Cardinals had a breakout year from second baseman Matt Carpenter, who hit .318/.392/.481 on the season with 55 doubles and 126 runs scored. Carpenter finished third in the National League in Wins Above Replacement, behind only Andrew McCutchen and Carlos Gomez. Just as impressive as Carpenter’s ability to get a big hit was his ability to avoid negative plays by only hitting into four double plays all season.
On the other side of the field sits the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team finally back in the postseason after a 20-year hiatus. The crowd at PNC Park during the Wild Card game was one of the loudest at a baseball game in recent memory. If that is a sign of things to come, playoff games in Pittsburgh will be can’t miss events. Pittsburgh Pirates tickets for home playoff games currently have an average of $308 on the secondary market, a 504 percent increase on the average price of $51 for a regular season home game.
Pittsburgh can look to outfielder Andrew McCutchen, who had a stellar season batting .317/.404/.508 with 21 home runs and 38 doubles. Third baseman Pedro Alvarez also had a breakout year with 36 home runs and 100 RBIs. The pitching, though, has been the strongest part of the Pirates. A.J. Burnett, Francisco Liriano and Gerrit Cole combined for 472 strikeouts during the regular season.
Looking way ahead, The average price World Series tickets in Pittsburgh are currently $1639 on the secondary market, the second highest of any team. While World Series tickets in St. Louis are going for $950 per seat.
