It Was a Hit but Also an Error

An Arkansas printing company made a hit with Allan Hancock College’s box office crew when it sent the school 64,000 World Series tickets instead of theater tickets.

When Marcy Rafetto, assistant box office manager for the college’s Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts, opened the cases of tickets Friday, which had been printed for the New York Mets, her first thought was, “We’re going to New York.”

Weldon, Williams & Licks Inc. of Fort Smith, Ark., sent the college only part of the tickets it had ordered. The rest were mistakenly substituted with baseball tickets, each containing about 16,000 field and loge box seat tickets worth $40 each.

“We have enough (World Series) tickets for all of Santa Maria,” Rafetto said before returning them Saturday. “I tried to call the ticket company but they were closed, and I thought of calling Shea Stadium, but they would be closed too.”

Hancock College president Gary Edelbrock calculated the approximate value of the playoff tickets at about $2.5 million, commenting, “I think this is better than the lottery.”

The Mets, who captured the National League Eastern Division title last week, still have to win the League Championship Series against the Western Division champs to get into the World Series. But it is common for teams assured of being in the playoffs to print tickets in advance.