An ode to the good old days of Major League Baseball’s paper tickets
Christopher Tremoglie
Baseball is affectionately known as “America’s pastime” because, for the longest time, it was synonymous with the nation’s culture. Very few recreational activities compare to going to the ballpark, sitting with friends or family on a warm, summer day, and watching your home team while you chow down on unhealthy, overpriced food and drinks.
Often, this experience was commemorated by keeping your ticket stub, saving it as a memento to recall fondly the great times of that day years later, especially for those memorable games. But the pastime of baseball caught up with the future, resulting in a fan experience that’s not what it used to be. Major League Baseball’s switch to digital tickets has ruined the time-honored tradition of ticket stubs and the nostalgia and sentimental value that came with paper tickets.
DESANTIS SHOWCASES ABILITY TO GOVERN WITH HURRICANE RESPONSE
As a lifelong, die-hard Philadelphia Phillies fan, I’ve attended many of the team’s highlights (and many, many lowlights) over the years. I’ve been fortunate enough to see every Phillies home opener since 2006. I attended the 2011 19-inning game in which second baseman Wilson Valdez pitched in relief to get the win. I attended Game 5 of the 2011 National League Division Series in which the Phillies, who had the best record in baseball and a legendary pitching staff with Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels, lost to (and were eliminated by) the St. Louis Cardinals.
I was at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Oct. 6, 2010, when Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter against the Reds in the 2010 NLDS. I was also there later that month for the crushing loss in Game 6 of the 2010 National League Championship against the San Francisco Giants. And I witnessed Philadelphia sports history in person as the Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 of the World Series on Oct. 25, and Oct. 27, in 2008.
I still have the tickets from every single one of those games. But I wouldn’t have a ticket if I attended any similarly memorable games today. And that is precisely what happened on Wednesday. During the eighth inning between the Phillies and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, slugger and two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper hit his 300th career home run. It was an iconic blast that put the team ahead after trailing 7-6.
The lead was short-lived, and the Phillies would ultimately lose (talk about lowlights), but the memory of his 300th home run is a moment I will cherish forever with my mother, who I took with me to the game. But unfortunately, neither of us will ever have a ticket stub. Instead, we have a great screenshot of the “ticket.”
Apparently, I am in the minority. During an interview in 2019, Noah Garden, who oversaw MLB’s ticketing, claimed that people preferred digital tickets to paper ones. I find that hard to believe, especially during memorable games. But, based on Garden’s words, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like paper tickets will ever make a comeback.
“You can go to the box office and get a commemorative ticket [at most stadiums], but far fewer people do that than you’d think,” said Noah Garden, who oversees MLB’s ticketing, in a 2019 article in Sports Illustrated. Apparently, the number of people who still used paper tickets in 2019 was “very, very low. Really low.”
Todd Radom, a Boston Red Sox fan, also commented in the same article. His sentiments echoed my own.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“I’m a Red Sox fan, and I was at Games 3, 4 and 5 of the World Series [in 2018] and saw the Red Sox win it,” Radom said. “I had electronic tickets. Great! I could transfer a ticket to my friend. But I also wanted a memory to feel and touch and look at — and, really, there’s nothing to look at with a screenshot.”
Not all conversions to newer technology are good. Sure, there are a lot of benefits to digital ticketing. But unfortunately, one of the things that made going to a baseball game special was an emotional connection and nostalgia that millions of baseball fans experienced each year, for decades, vanished with the switch to digital tickets. Screenshots are great, but the lack of a connection to something intangible is disappointing. MLB should return to paper tickets. I miss it, and I know I am not alone. It would bring back some of the heart and soul of the nation’s pastime.