BY DEEPA BABINGTON
Reuters

NEW YORK - At least someone is bringing in the money -- and a few
laughs -- from the Andersen debacle.

Not to be outdone by accounting scandals as America's favorite
pastime, a baseball team has decided to boost ticket sales and
enliven an upcoming game by poking fun at the embattled accounting
firm.

Document shredders, "inflated earnings" placards and fake ticket
stubs will be part of the scene on "Arthur Andersen Appreciation
Night" when the Portland Beavers, a minor league baseball team in
Oregon, take on rival Edmonton on July 18.

Fans can bring their own documents to be shredded at a number
of "shredding stations" at the ballpark. The promotion is a spoof of
Andersen's announcement in January that it had shredded documents
related to the audit of its bankrupt client, Enron Corp.

Beaver fans need plunk down only $5 to buy a ticket, but will be
rewarded with a receipt for $10. That's for "accounting purposes as a
one-time 'nonrecurring charge,'" the organization noted wryly in a
press release promoting the event.

Season ticket holders will be spared the ticket drama. Anyone with
the name "Arthur" or "Andersen" will receive free tickets to the game.

Stadium workers will wear around their necks a placard boasting fake
sums of money they'll earn that evening, in honor of the "inflated
earnings" Enron fessed up to last year.

"It's obviously a timely subject," said Beavers communications
manager Chris Metz. "Once we started doing some word associations,
the ideas just came flowing. It's fun to sit there and throw out
words and figure out different things we could do with it."

The team is even planning to play its own version of the "Massive
Debt Hide-and-Go Seek" game by tucking away gift certificates around
the stadium for fans to uncover.

Enron began to unravel late last year after revealing it hid billions
of dollars of debt in partnerships kept off its books.

Andersen, once the most revered name in the usually sedate and once-
prestigious world of accounting, is getting used to becoming the butt
of jokes. Since the start of the year, just about everyone from
President Bush to late night talk show host Jay Leno have poked fun
at the firm.

The accounting firm is on its deathbed after being found guilty of
obstructing justice last month in the Enron investigation.

Andersen, for its part, was cryptic in its response. "The last place
Beavers need all the help they can get," an Andersen spokesman told
Reuters.

As for the Beavers, a team affiliated with the San Diego Padres, the
promotion seems to be a home run. Metz said the team has been
inundated with phone calls from reporters and fans eager to buy
tickets.