The Nationals are trying to keep Phillies fans from filling up their ballpark

Remember how all those Phillies fans came down to D.C. the past couple of years and basically took over the Nationals’ ballpark during Nats-Phillies series? Yeah, that was awesome. Especially considering that it was helped out in a major way by the team actively soliciting group sales in the Philadelphia area prior to regular season tickets even going on sale, ensuring that Philly fans had an advantage.

Well, the Nationals have re-thunk that strategy. Here’s Nats’ COO Andy Feffer:

“For several years now, our fans, everybody, have been screaming about the number of Phillies fans that invade our park when we have a series here at Nationals Park,” Feffer said. “Frankly, I’m tired of seeing the Phillies fans in our ballpark in Washington more than anything. We sat down as a group and we said, ‘You know what? It’s time to take our park back in Washington and get our fans in this park.’

The solution: the Nationals have launched what they call the “Take Back the Park” initiative. Beginning Friday, single-game tickets for the May 4-6 Nationals vs. Phillies series are only available to season-ticket holders and fans who reside in Washington, Maryland or Virginia.

Thank goodness such a system cannot be beat. Because, really, no one in Philly knows anyone in those three states who could order tickets for them. Nor can they employ proxies to conceal their IP address when ordering online. That would be unheard of! I mean, if people could do that, they’d also be able to get past MLB.tv’s blackout policies by tricking ‘em into thinking you were logging on from an un-blacked-out area.

Which has never happened ever! Especially during a particular Reds-Braves series last year!