This is a letter that I am sending to Arte today about the ticket scalping abuse that goes on during Spring Training. I have been a long time reader of Halos Heaven, but have never posted anything. If I have done something incorrect, I apologize. I know certain members of the Angels organization read this blog, so I am hoping together we can control the ticket scalping that goes on here.

Dear Arte,

First, please let me say a big thank you for continuing to put the best product on the field for our beloved Angels! You are no doubt one of the best owners in all of Major League Baseball. I am confident that we will once again reach the Promised Land called "The World Series"!

I am writing to you about an issue that you may or may not be aware of. I live in Tempe, AZ, home of Tempe Diablo, and plan my vacation around Spring Training. It is by far one of the best things about living in the beautiful State of Arizona. In fact, I moved here ten years ago from Newport Beach partly because of Spring Training. This past Saturday, February 9, 2013, I went to Tempe Diablo to purchase tickets to a game on March 15th. I knew that this was the first day that the Tempe Diablo ticket office would be open, so I wanted to make sure I was able to get the tickets that I wanted. I also knew that it would be a possible that several fans were there for the same reason. When I arrived, there were approximately 15 people in line. No problem. I understand we have a very popular team, so I am willing to wait. I was very disappointed that there were only three ticket windows open!

The line was moving quite slowly, but the fans in line were very pleasant to talk with. One window had two gentlemen buying tickets the ENTIRE time I was in line, which turned out to be one hour!! When I got up to this window, after the two gentlemen left, I asked the ticket agent what took so long, and wondered if these two men were buying tickets to scalp. She assured me that they were, and they purchased $3,000.00 worth of Spring Training tickets!!!! I was appalled as you can imagine. The ticket agent let me know that there was NOTHING they could do about it. Are you serious??!! Surely there must be a way to mitigate this out of control problem.

I understand scalpers are a necessary evil; in fact I have probably used them to purchase a ticket to a game that was spur of the moment. I believe I paid $25.00 for a lawn seat from one of these bottom feeders! It was my fault for not planning ahead. Isn’t there a way to limit the number of tickets an individual can buy per visit? Let’s say 10 tickets per person per day? Or at least make it more difficult for people to buy the amount of tickets it takes to scalp on the side of the road?

I have a hard time that these individuals take advantage of true baseball fans by charging sometimes two or three times the face value of a ticket because the game is sold out. Arte, I know you are a busy man, but on one other occasion since you have owned the team, I wrote to you about the name change. You were kind enough, and cared enough about your fan base to write me a letter in return explaining the reasoning behind the name change. From that day forward, you were nothing short of amazing in my book. I think this is an issue you should know about, and hopefully work along with the City of Tempe to put a stop to this abuse. Thank you again, first for listening, and second for being such a "hands on" owner. Let’s go Angels!!

Sincerely,

Lisa Clemmer