Nationals Turn Down Some Perfectly Good Money From Philadelphia-Based Company

Another one of those stories that has swirled around like dead leaves for weeks on end is the story of Project Services Inc., in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania. As this story from CBS Philly retells, it seems that back in December, the company sent a deposit for group tickets to the Nationals. A month later, the Nats instituted their now-famous (or is it now-infamous?) "Take Back The Park" policy, which caused a little bit of perplexity and a soupcon of outrage before everyone more or less moved on with their lives. As it relates to the good people at Project Services, Inc., it seems that the Nats took their money, gave them an invoice, and then left the matter simmering.

Until ...

It was almost the end of January, and neither Kate or Chuck had heard a thing from the Nationals about their tickets. "we had tried to contact the Nationals because we thought by the end of January we were suppoesd to know," McCorriston said. "So we called and emailed and called and called and emailed and called, this had been going on for two and a half weeks, and they finally just notified us and said ‘well sorry, we have to take back our park, you know, you can’t have the tickets, there aren’t any tickets left, and we’ll refund your deposit. That was it."

This story got picked up by Craig Calcaterra over at Hardball Talk, and here's what he had to say.

Just an idiotic business decision to address a problem — too many Phillies fans in the park — that, while slightly embarrassing, is not exactly the sort of thing that a sophisticated business should really care about. And it’s the sort of thing that could lead to a lawsuit, so that’s great too.

Win some baseball games, Nationals. That’s how you take back your ballpark.

We don't see how the Nationals could be on the hook for a lawsuit, since they apparently refunded the deposit (Note to PSI: Next time confirm the tickets BEFORE you put down the nonrefundable bus deposit, sillies.). But the larger point is correct. The Nationals run the risk of some real embarrassment if those Philly games aren't sold out or even if the games are sold out, but Philly fans still make up a large chunk of the crowd (the far more likely scenario).