Nats ask fans to ‘Take Back the Park’ vs. Phils

You can’t spell effen Phillies without Feffer!

When it comes to the Phillies, chief operating officer Andy Feffer wants Nationals fans to fill up Nationals Park—and for a good reason.

In the last few seasons, whenever the Nationals played their National League East rival in D.C., almost nothing but Phillies fans flocked to the stadium.

...“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.’

“We have a great team this year—one of the best pitching staffs in the National League, if not the best with the addition of Edwin Jackson and Gonzalez. You have [Stephen] Strasburg and Zimmerman healthy. We sat down and said, ‘Let’s do something we’ve never done before. Let’s go out prior to single-game tickets going on sale in March and open it up early starting Friday.

...“Someone asked me, ‘What do you think of Philly and Phillies fans and the series?’” said Feffer. “I couldn’t be more direct. I said, ‘Forget you, Philly. It’s our fans, our time, our park and we are going to fill it with Nationals fans.’ We are going to do everything we can to ensure our fans here in Washington that first opportunity to make that happen.”