Scalper strikes out while swinging for the cheap seats

By Tammy Malgesini

Staff Writer

Published on April 19, 2016 1:56PM

A pair of $20 bills were pulsating in my pocket as a young man demanded his money back.

The 20-something guy was a ticket scalper outside Turner Field in Atlanta — and I had just played him.

My frustration with scalpers had been brewing within. A longtime baseball fan, I was looking forward to attending the 1998 All-Star Game in Denver. However, due to the antics of ticket scalpers, my husband and I couldn’t get decent-priced tickets. Evidently, that disappointment gave me the resolve to put one over on the unsuspecting Atlanta scalper a few years later.

Scalpers obtain tickets — or even make counterfeit ones — with the purpose of making a profit by selling them for ridiculous prices. At the time, they tried not to draw attention to themselves because Georgia state law made it illegal to sell tickets for more than face value. They often held signs that said, “Need tickets.”

Part of the perk of purchasing reserved tickets on the official Atlanta Braves website was receiving a couple of cheap seat tickets for any game. They had no cash value printed on them, but I later figured they were worth maybe $5 each.

I told the dude I had tickets, good for any game. He obviously didn’t listen, glanced at them and offered me $20 each. We never stopped walking — the conversation and transaction was on the fly as John and I continued toward the stadium.

I shoved the $40 into my pocket and the guy turned back the other way. Then half a block later I could faintly hear, “Hey lady.” I kept walking — there were lots of ladies on the sidewalk. Then louder, “Hey lady, I don’t want these tickets.”

Soon, the guy caught up to us and said he wanted his money back. He said the tickets weren’t for that day’s game. I reminded him I said upfront they were good for any game and he made the deal.

He quietly protested and continued to follow us. Little did this guy know, I wasn’t easily intimidated. Back in the day, I wouldn’t give up my Pepsi and Pizza Rolls to a knife-wielding dude outside a 7-Eleven in north Portland — but that’s a story for another column.

Holding my hand, John quickened our pace and we soon disappeared into the crowd at the stadium — leaving the guy in our dust.

I had just scammed a scalper — and I didn’t feel bad about it.

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Tammy Malgesini is the community editor. Her column, Inside my Shoes, includes general musings about life. Contact her at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4539.