WASHINGTON — Whether you like eating at Ben’s Chili Bowl or at Boog Powell’s Barbecue, whether you think Screech the Eagle is cute or the Oriole Bird is funny, whether you look sharp in red or stylish in black and orange, it’s a great time to be either a Washington Nationals’ or Baltimore Orioles’ fan.
Now that the teams have won their division championships, fans are snapping up playoff apparel and the rush is on for playoff tickets.
“We’ve got our phones ringing off the hook, people calling in asking about tickets, asking about merchandise,” says Valerie Camillo, chief of Revenue and Marketing for the Washington Nationals.
Season ticket holders get first crack at post-season tickets.
“Within the first 15 minutes, we moved over 10,000 tickets,” Camillo says.
If you sign up for Nats or Orioles’ season tickets for 2015, you get an opportunity to snag playoff tickets for this year.
A limited number of playoff tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday, at both Nationals Park and Orioles Park at Camden Yards.
“Tickets will be very limited,” Camillo says about the availability of Nats tickets. Also, Orioles playoff tickets might be hard to come by.
As they did for the 2012 postseason games, the Nats will offer a limited number of “standing room only” tickets on the day of each game. “We anticipate there will be some pretty long lines,” Camillo says. “We saw that in 2012 for walk up.”
Online StubHub is offering tickets to the Nats’ first playoff game starting at $77.75.
In Washington and Baltimore, fans love to wear their hearts on their sleeves. Playoff gear is available online — at the ballparks, and at area sporting goods stores.
“We have Nationals t-shirts [in] three different styles,” says Cornelius White, manager of the Modell’s store on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda. The store, White says, caters to both sets of fans, though they sell more Nats merchandise.
Modell’s has locker room-style Nationals and Orioles t-shirts, with lettering spelling out their 2014 East Division championships. There are also playoff ball caps.
“We have another red shirt that says nothing but October,” White says about the special Nats postseason tee. For the Orioles, “we have a black one that says Birdstober.”
Both Nationals and Orioles team stores are promising women’s and youth merchandise; men’s and playoff gear is available online, including t-shirts, caps, sweatshirts and hoodies.
Exact playoff game dates depend on the final season outcome, but the Orioles expect to open their first round playoff on Thursday, October 2. The Nationals anticipate an opening round game for Friday, October 3.
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