As a public service, here's the cap the Nats are giving away on Opening Day.
I thought it was a bit odd when, while logged onto my Facebook page a few minutes ago, I noticed an ad that said something like “Phils-Nats in DC, deals on tickets and parking for April 13, 15, 16.” Now I see why: earlier in the day, Washington Nationals president Stan Kasten appeared on the ESPN radio station here, and was pretty much begging Phillies fans to buy tickets for the games next week:
The first question was about the Nats’ roster, and after Kasten wound his way through that question, he ended with this. Unprompted. “It will be fun, and I think Philly’s our best, closest National League rival…”
Wait … what? Why? I don’t think Nationals and Phillies fans give a damn about each other’s teams. It’s not like the Yankees-Red Sox or even the more recently heated Mets-Phillies rivalries. Anyhoo, let’s continue the sports radio chat with Stan from DC:
“We always have great games with them here, because there’s so many Philly kids in college here. So we always have great, enthusiastic crowds, and we hope you all come back again. We have an opening day here Monday, we’d love for all our Philly fans to come down, because I know it’s gonna be so hard to get tickets in Philadelphia this year. It’ll be much easier if you drive down the road and come see us in Washington.”
It gets better…
“You can come here early, we open two and three hours early, have a good time,” he said later, when asked specifically about visiting Nats Park. “The neighborhood, which had so many plans for an exciting nightlife waterfront area, frankly has been pushed back a year or two because of the economy, so there’s not a lot in the neighborhood. But let’s face it, any trip in Washington, which is among the world’s most visited cities, among the world’s best tourist cities, there’s plenty else to do if you want to make a day of it or a night of it. But I promise you, just coming to a ballgame will be more than worth the trip.”
Guh. Please. Stop.
“No, we want to play you, we want to see you here, and we would WELCOME your fans here,” he said later, when the hosts joked about avoiding this improving Nats ballclub. “And I’ve got to tell you, I have gone to enough games in three different sports in Philly to tell you that I haven’t always felt welcome in your parks, ok? But you can root for whoever you want, you will be welcome when you come to Nationals Park.”
At one point Kasten had a complaint, though, and it seems to contradict his little sales pitch: “Well, first of all, the aggravating thing for me is the last few years, the Philly games, it feels like a damn Philly home game,” he said. Gee, Stan, you think? I can’t really blame him, though. As I talked about here, the franchise is at a low ebb. The move from Montreal hasn’t helped much, and the fans aren’t turning out, even to the brand new Nationals Park. I assume he’ll call into the New York stations to invite Mets fans to DC as well.
on Apr 8th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Yes, us Nats fans hate when the Phillies fans show up. But as long as they’re giving our team, city, and region money, I guess it’s okay in the long run.
As far as the move from Montreal, do you know how few fans were showing up in Montreal? Do you remember what an embarassment that was to baseball? Of course it’s better because the team has a new stadium, new city, and most importantly - stable ownership. Yes, the team stinks. But a lot of them do. Half of them are below average, after all.
on Apr 8th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Expos attendance in their final Montreal years is comparable to what the Washington Senators drew from 1961-1971, after which they moved to Texas and became the Rangers. The Expos had a period right after they moved into Olympic Stadium where they drew crowds comparable to what the Nationals draw now, and the team was briefly successful on the field.
The 1994 strike (that ended the season without a World Series), when a young Expos team was in first place and getting people excited again, ultimately destroyed baseball in Montreal.
The fact that Nats attendance only went up about 5,000 per game in their very first year in the new park has to worry ownership — and that was before the recession really deepened.
on Apr 8th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
I will be doing my part as I signed up for a bus trip put together by PhilliesNation on May 16th. So far I think three buses have been booked so far.
on Apr 10th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
I was stunned when I heard about this. Nats fans, yes there are some of us
, are up in arms. Hell, Washington sports fans, in general, are pissed off. Philladelphia sports fans in a Washington sports arena are ALWAYS a bad thing!
Kasten has a lot to learn.
on Apr 10th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Well said, PCC. I’ll be at Nats Park Monday afternoon and Kasten’s comments are VERY offensive to the loyal fan base which he is supposedly attempting to please. Here’s hoping Stan leaves DC and becomes the next President of the Blue Jays (as has been rumored for months) so we can get a REAL team President and not some slick-talking used-car-salesman crony of Selig.