Say this about fans in Philadelphia, despite their less-than-stellar reputation around the sports world: they are nothing if not resourceful.
On Thursday, Phillies fans put their savvy on full display ahead of Game 3 of the NLCS. Philadelphia leads the Diamondbacks 2-0 and the game's first pitch is at 2:00 p.m. local time on a work day; thus, ticket prices in Phoenix have cratered.
Taking advantage of the situation, a few enterprising Phillies fans made the decision to buy up tickets specifically to block Arizona fans from attending Game 3.
One Philadelphia fan bought 14, becoming a minor Twitter celebrity and getting a write-up in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
GM to everyone except AZ, I just bought 14 tickets for game 3 in Arizona to assure that there will be 14 less loser diamondback fans. If there are any Phillies fans out there in AZ need of a ticket shoot me DM. No charge, will accept a donation if you feel so obliged #RedOctober pic.twitter.com/SdFXDippEi
— sidebar taurus (@ugh_its_Dan) October 19, 2023
Others pitched into the effort, seemingly spurred on by Philadelphia sports radio.
@WIPMiddayShow couple more empty seats pic.twitter.com/63ezULo8DJ
— milkysideburns (@Duh_vey) October 19, 2023
Much ink has been spilled on the Phillies' prohibitive home-field advantage this postseason, which helped them to a 5-3 win in Game 1 and a 10-0 shellacking in Game 2.
Ranger Suárez will get the ball for Philadelphia in Game 3; how many Phillies enthusiasts show up to greet him the desert remains to be seen.