Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
The Washington Nationals have had it pretty rough. With consecutive 100+ loss seasons and no finish above 4th since 2002, it can be hard to sell people on coming out to the ballpark. So to address this concern, they've gone and done what any good franchise would do: start spying on fans. A partial transcript of a recent call placed by the Nationals to a 2009 ticket buyer:
Hey Gregory, this is [name withheld] with the Washington Nationals, calling for a couple reasons. One is I read your article on the economic school of thought of the stolen base, and I thought it was fascinating. I'm a big stat geek myself, so I love breaking that sort of stuff down. The other thing is, you came a bunch of times to baseball games last year, and we have a lot of flex plans that I think would be good for you...
One would be tempted to suggest that, rather than spying on fans, the Nationals would be better served spying on people who can evaluate talent. And if you thought the creepiness stopped there:
Interestingly, about half an hour before the voicemail from the Nationals, I also got two e-mails that were sent at the same instant: "Don't miss the Dodgers in Washington!" and "Don't miss the Padres in Washington!" Each had the dates of when the team would be in D.C. I follow both teams, as I grew up in Southern California.
Perhaps the Nationals are doing this all wrong. Given the product they've put on the field and the likelihood that Stephen Strasburg begins 2010 in the minors, they might be better off identifying people who've never seen the Nationals play before in their lives, and going after them instead.
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