It looks like Phillies Phever is really sweeping the Delaware Valley. While fans will be flocking to see the Eagles practice across the street in August, the Phillies, a first-place baseball team (for now), are attempting to lure fans that have previously purchased tickets this season with a buy one, get one deal via e-mail to fill the seats at Citizens Bank Park:

From the e-mail:

Thank you for purchasing a game earlier this season. We hope you enjoyed your experience at Citizens Bank Park. As a thank you for your support, we invite you to take advantage of a BOGO (buy-one-get-one free) ticket opportunity for select August dates.

• Aug. 2
• Aug. 4
• Aug. 16 (Doubleheader – see two games for the price of one)
• Aug. 27-29

While that’s certainly a generous deal, it also illustrates a lack of interest and/or excitement in this baseball team. They have averaged 27,287 fans per game this season, which is 18th out of 30 teams. Is that because baseball is dying? I don’t think so–we’re not the far removed from regular capacity crowds at Phillies games. I think it’s more of an indictment of the team’s current composition. It just lacks star power, and though they have clearly exceeded expectations despite their recent struggles, there just doesn’t seem to be much juice right with these guys right now. Given that, I guess the BOGO offer makes sense. “Come on down to the ball yard for 3.5 hours to watch the Phillies score two runs and strikeout 14 times. Maybe Tommy Hunter will blow it, maybe he won’t, but YOU’VE GOTTA BE HERE,” probably isn’t going to put asses in the stands.

Anyway, plenty of good seats are available.