President Obama to Throw First Pitch at Nats Home Opener

I'm reposting this from DCist -- the Nats Triple Play crew will be out.

I'm just starting to care again about baseball.

-- Dave.

President Obama to Throw First Pitch at Nats Home Opener

Photo by laura padgett

If you managed to score tickets to opening day at Nationals Park, you're in luck: President Barack Obama will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals home opener on Monday, April 5.

The pitch, scheduled for 1:05 p.m., will mark the first time President Obama has accepted such an invitation from the Nationals. Obama declined to throw the first pitch last year, citing his busy schedule, and the team instead had members of all five branches of the U.S. military do the honors.

In addition to being Obama's first appearance at Nationals Park, the event will mark the 100th anniversary of the first time a U.S. President threw an opening day pitch, and the 48th time a President has done so in Washington. William Howard Taft started the tradition on April 14, 1910, in a game that pitted the Washington Senators against the Philadelphia Athletics. The Nationals will face the defending National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies on April 5, which will feature John Lannan facing off against Phillies superstar pitcher Roy Halladay.

Individual tickets are no longer available to the game, but the club plans to offer 400 seats in sections 401 and 402 for only $5 starting at 10 a.m. on game day at the Nationals Park main box office. Given the president's planned appearance, we expect those tickets to sell out in minutes.

There will be enhanced security at the game thanks to the secret service, so the Nationals are encouraging fans to arrive an hour to two hours earlier than normal. Gates will open at 10 a.m., and attendees should plan on waiting in line to pass through security.

(Via DCist.)

We Give Thanks...

For a pimpin' new stadium...

An unforgettable Opening Night...

A true American Hero...

And GUZMANIA!, the ineffable faith that sustains us in these troubled times.*

Happy Thanksgiving, from our dysfunctional family to yours!

*Also, for our family; friends; pets; two remaining readers; cold beers, warm nights and a breeze off the Anacostia.

And for 2009... we're choosing to be homeless.

As Nate alluded to in a previous post, the NTP crew has made our season ticket decision for 2009.

Like a great many other folks, we will not be renewing our ticket package.

I in particular have taken a lot of grief over the years for my pro-season ticket holder stance. (See "The Business of Baseball" and "Value of Investing in the Team") So this represents a major change in our thinking as fans and “investors”, if you will, in the team. An explanation is in order.

First and foremost, there’s just no added value in owning season tickets to the Washington Nationals. We aren’t in line for preferred seating at the new ballpark. Frankly, hanging onto our tickets from RFK didn’t get us where we wanted to go anyway, and at this point, we’re not looking to increase our investment to snag “better” seats than Section 223. At best, we’d be looking to continue our current spending, but there are better uses for our hard-earned money. The economy IS down, and justifying a big expenditure on tickets is much harder now than it was several years ago, particularly when there are other ways to get the same or better seats with less outlay.

The final straw was my experience with the Padres/Nats game on Saturday. Watson had the tickets, and was taking his family. Ticket price was $25 per ticket, and we sit in Section 223, Row L, seats 8 to 11. My wife and I decided we wanted to go, as well. So off to Stubhub I went, looking for seats. What did I find? Section 223, Row C, Seats 9 and 10... For $12 each. LESS THAN HALF what we pay for our seats farther back, and I didn’t have to reserve anything. Not a thing! Yes, it’s the Padres. But what this showed me was that I could see plenty of baseball, move around the stadium AND get better seats, for significantly less! How about buying a game in Section 104? Then one in 123? Then one up in 402? Then back to 223? Odds are we can practically pick the seats and still spend less than we’re committed to now, at least for 2009.

Now, let’s be honest. The Nats 2009 aren’t going to the playoffs. They just aren’t. The team has gotten worse — much worse — in the short we’ve been watching. I’m looking for a better season next year, but in the words of the immortal Jim Mora, “Playoffs? PLAYOFFS!?!”. So any though of purchasing tickets in hope of having first pick for the post season is folly. We’ll all be happy to be a 81-81 team again, and that ain’t getting you to the playoffs.

What’s more, apologies to Boz, but the Lerners aren’t spending any money. They aren’t paying rent! Say what you will about the stadium not being “substantially complete” , Mr. Lerner, but the city delivered a habitable, useable major league stadium, on-time and on budget. We know because we were there. You look petty — AND CHEAP — with this rent withholding nonsense. It’s bad PR, and when I’m sitting here deciding on my renewal, it doesn’t inspire me with confidence in your commitment to improving the team. Stan the Man may have the Plan, but I don’t see anything turning around fast enough to make 2009 much better than 2008. Certainly not playoff worthy, which is the prime incentive to secure a whole season’s worth of tickets to this mess.

Is the schedule worth it? Securing good seats for premium games? Next year, Opening Day and the last game of the season are both on the road. No special games there. Memorial Day — road. July 4 — home. Labor Day — no game. A 3 game home series with Boston might be a draw, but the annoying Bahstan fans factor is pretty damn high. Looking at the 2009 schedule, there isn’t much worth “securing”. No big first game in the new park. No Opening Day. No Closing Day. Can’t really say there’s anything here that I need to have.

And even if there was, the Nats aren’t even close to selling out the stadium. You can walk up and buy a seat anytime you want, and even with no planning, you can probably get better seats than you’ll get in a reasonably priced season package. If the ownership chooses to push the fans away by not even trying, well, I’m finally done rewarding them. I have every confidence that in a year or two I can line back up for season tickets and get as good or better than what I have now. With season ticket purchases dropping each and every year, the trend suggests that taking a year off won’t cost me any ground.

You need me more than I need you, Mr. Lerner. I can buy what I want anytime I want. You need me to commit to a season ticket purchase to help prop up your revenue base. Your corporate sponsorships haven’t appeared, the demand for tickets isn’t there, and you can’t sell those $400 seats. And now the economy is in the tank to boot. You may not have needed me in 2006, but you will in 2009. You’re in it for the cash too, Mr. Lerner, and I’m looking to get value. And what am I getting for my season ticket commitment? From where I sit, not much.

Thus, we’re not renewing. We’ll be at the stadium in 2009. I’m sure of that. But we’ll be there on our terms.

PS – Who am I kidding? They’ll make their money back from us on half smokes, Miller Lights and helmet sundaes. It’s not for nothing that MLB is a six and a half billion dollar business.

Closing Day, or You Can't Lose if You Don't Play

The NTP crew reunited for one last inaugural season bash at Nats Park under a light mist that occasionally swelled to a steady downpour over the course of two and a half hours. Matt, Dave and I were gung-ho for a 10 pm start time and a game played before dozens of soaked fans into the wee hours of Friday morning, but it was not to be.

Instead, half-priced inaugural season merchandise was purchased, ($5 is still too much to pay for a Felipe Lopez t-shirt!), Clint was menaced (Hey, Nationals Fans! Have a crippling beating!), and Curly W helmet sundaes were consumed. Best of all, the Nats didn't lose. Second best of all, no lines for Ben's Chili Bowl. Do I value personal convenience over good weather and a competitive baseball team? Yes, yes I do.

Fan Appreciation Night went on as scheduled, and I'm sure the several hundred fans still hanging around at 9:30 felt extra-appreciated when the players popped out of the dugout into the steady drizzle and, after a few words from Manny Acta began unburdening themselves of dozens of PNC Bank t-shirts that they'd apparently been hording all season. After that BP balls went flying into the crowd assembled behind the home dugout. (I would swear one Tim Redding toss was deposited back into the left field corner for what would have been an easy double, but my mind may have wandered.) MissChatter got the whole thing on camera, but her devotion cost her a coveted Wil Nieves bat.

The players certainly seemed appreciative, but few really embraced the moment. They should take lessons from Willie Harris, who engaged in a little impromptu showboating as his highlights were replayed in HD glory, and whipped up a fine call-and-response from the thinning crowd before skimming his cap deep into the lower bowl. With that one gesture, Willie vaulted way up the list of potential free agent Nats I'd like to see back in 2009.

If the night at the stadium was drama-free, the Nats Express trip back to RFK was anything but. Trusting in his internal compass and the infinite mercy of an omnipotent God, our driver saw no need to defog the bus windows, and our ride passed in a hazy blur of streetlights, indistinct road signs and quick-reflexed fellow motorists. Damp and unnerved but unbowed, thus ended NTP's inaugural season at Nationals Park.

The home season may be over, but Nats Triple Play rolls on. Stay tuned for some scintillating insights on economic development in the ballpark district, and news on why NTP will be severing its ties to Section 223 for the 2009 season.

Monday Night Heat

Watson and I made it out for Monday's game. The heat of Hell was on in Washington, and the stadium was no better. But before the team hit the road we figured it would be good to swing by. I had some colleagues in town for a conference from the weekend, so got some extra tickets and headed out.

It was simply too hot to sit in our seats. Just awful heat. And Nationals Park showed what a great place it is to go... we wandered the stadium, watching the game from various vantage points including the Red Loft, and I can say, you can watch the game from just about anywhere. It helps a lot. Ice cream from Giffords, hanging out in the loft, watching from the outfield.. it was easy to move around to stay cool and still watch the game.

Not nearly as engaged in the game as we normally are, but still a fun night out. My out-of-town friends were certainly impressed.

A Saturday night in Charm City

So this is late and slightly less timely, but it's not like we have people beating down our doors telling us to get off our asses and write. You can file your complaint with our complaints department, located conveniently in Nate's office.

My wife and I spent Saturday night up at Camden Yards to catch the O's/Red Sox game. This was lucky happenstance that we had the tickets to the game. A friend of Sharon's had landed a block, and I discovered I had tickets to a Sox game.

I had two big reactions to the game, which was very exciting and I was much more into that I thought I would be. I texted both Nate and Watson that I was cheering on the O's that night. Mostly because...

Red Sox fans may officially be more annoying that Phillies fans. There are plenty of articles about annoying Boston fans (that second one is a personal favorite).

I really felt for Orioles fans on Saturday night. Sitting there in my curly W cap, surrounded by a sea of annoying Red, that Boston humility really is gone. When a Boston fan yelled out "How many World Series does Baltimore have?", I saw the humility disappear in a cloud of smoke. Let's quickly do the math, shall we? Since 1954 when the Orioles came to Charm City, they have three World Series wins. Since 1954, Boston has.... two. Ah, your mighty dynasty. And to add a little salt to your wound, your hated New York Yankees? 10 World Series since the O's came to Bal'more, hon.

(Yes, so I've answered it crazy Boston Fans... How many to the Nats have? We have zero in that time frame. Considering we didn't have a team from 1972 until 2005, excuse me if I don't give a cr@p about that comparison.)

This added to with several moments that told me these were annoying, fair weather fans of baseball. Now, Nate and Watson will quickly say I'm the last person who should call someone else not paying close enough attention to the game, as I'm easily distracted by shiny things, beer and ice cream at the ballpark, so when I'm annoyed, it must be bad. Even my wife, for whom radio broadcasts of baseball assure her of a good nap, was annoyed.

Every damn pop fly -- EVERY FLY BALL BY EVERY BOSTON PLAYER -- was a cheer like it was a home run. It's one thing to be on your feet for Manny -- I was too, as that was genuinely exciting -- but to cheer a simple infield fly like it's a dinger... you're not engaged. Even I don't pull that crap.

To top that, they stopped and stood in the damn aisles! I'm sorry, your "Big Popi" T-Shirt does not make a very good viewing angle when I'm trying to watch the game! I didn't even have any skin in the game, and I was paying attention.

Sharon and I have also decided that Nationals Park kicks the $hit out of Camden Yards. Yes, Nationals Park has the benefit of being new, but it has made an impression, and some of the items that bothered me the Orioles could fix.

First off, Nationals Park's sight-lines are truly amazing. It sank in for me when I went to get a beer in the 3rd and suddenly couldn't see the game... at all (except for TV). The decision to put the vendors on the outside was genius, and while not a first, it clearly makes Nationals Park a better place to watch baseball than the Yard. Add to that the fact that the seats are angled correctly at Nationals Park -- my head on view of the outfield and scoreboard allowed me to watch Manny fumble two catches but not to easily watch the pitch, particularly through the giant ass of a Boston fan standing in the aisle.

Leaving the bowl left me feeling completely disconnected to the game, and I realized this had shifted for me since Nationals Park. RFK long had this problem, as the moment you left the bowl you were in the dingy concourse, and so the airy outside of Camden was a blessing. With our new park, I never feel this way, as when I wander around the concourse for another beer or a Five Guys burger, I just turn and see the game. I love it, and it's connected me to the field in a new way.

Sharon wanted me to mention the food, as that's even more a priority for her. Our O's seats were up in section 370, putting us in the upper deck of Orioles Park, which is a wasteland for food. I checked, at National Park put premium vendors up there, including Foggy Bottom Diner and a Micro Brew stand, "Base Line Brews". No such luxury is in the upper deck, as Sharon will attest to on her quests for the $1 cheaper beer. (She's always willing to walk down five more stands to find the one that serves beer for $1 cheaper. When we first toured Nationals Park, I made note of these stands for her so as to ease the pain of her quest for beer.) O's, you could fix this one.

Before Watson calls me out for being venomous and just hating, I had a really good time and was into the game. Boog's BBQ is delicious, the ushers in Baltimore were great at working to shoo people out of the way and make sure everyone was having a good time, and the Orioles played some good baseball, despite the loss. I had a great time and am glad I went. Manny's 500th dinger was something to see, and kudos to him for it. Some Orioles fans behind us were just being bad sports as they claimed "Oh, is something important happening?" when everyone stood for Manny. It's something to see. I felt the same way when Bonds hit his record breaker against the Nats, and that's a more controversial moment. Sure, you don't want it to be against your team, but that doesn't take away from the historical significance of it, and I cheered for him. The guy hit 500 dingers. That's 500 more than I've hit in the majors.

I've just come to the conclusion that for all the hype about Camden Yards... Washington out did it. Nationals Park is really something.

And Beantown fans... god I'm glad we only play you here in Washington every three years. You're horribly annoying. Phillies fans may be assholes, but you're another dimension of annoying.

Go West, Young Team

Random thoughts in advance of late night, left coast baseball.

These are the Times that Try Mens' Souls

There's a difference between a bad baseball team and a baseball team performing badly. The 2007 Washington Nationals were a bad baseball team. The late-2005 Washington Nationals were a baseball team performing badly. The problem with the 2008 squad is that it's impossible to say for certain that they are in one camp or the other. Based on recent results, you'd have to say "bad team", right? But these are the same guys who have taken series from the Cubs, Mets, Phillies and pretty much every team not named after fish, and earned a split with the talented if underperforming Brew Crew. What to make of that?

Are you not entertained? Are You Not Entertained?!

Isn't this more or less the team we wanted on the field? Flores behind the dish, Felipe at second, Pena-Milledge-Dukes across the outfield? Youth, notwithstanding the ocassional shoulder impingement, is being served up and down the lineup. And the result is team that's counting on DaMeat Hook to leg out a triple. Folks, that's entertainment.

Buy One, Get One at Regular Price

Among the "Special Season Ticket Holder Benefits" trumpeted in a recent email from Nationals.com: a tour of Nationals Park, at the regularly scheduled time, for the regular price! Act now, before the hoi polloi snap up this not particularly special, not remotely limited, offer.

Faith is the Evidence of Things Unseen

Like Ryan Langerhans's ability to handle a major league breaking pitch. Nonetheless, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of central Ohio, Langerhascendentalism has returned to Washington, DC. That's right, where's your God now, Loganites?

Deep Thoughts

What if Cristian Guzman is the best free agent shortstop on the market next season? You can bet he'll get more, at age 30, than $4M per year.

The Night The Lights Went Out in Southeast

Image courtesy of Cedric's Blog-O-Rama

Because, "Nats Suffer Power Outage" would just be redundant.

To say John Lannan, American Hero, was "in the dark" in last night's 11-4 loss to the Pittsburgh P-Rats just doesn't do justice to his performance. But hey, pitchers, especially young pitchers, are going to struggle from time to time. Some nights you just need your offense to pick you up. Unfortunately for Lannan the 2008 Washington Nationals don't do offense. It's just not their bag, baby.

To make matters worse, relievers "Irish Mike" O'Connor and Irish Joel Hanrahan must have missed their pre-game massages, because they couldn't find their release points to save their lives.

To recap: Best pitcher of the young season implodes, brand new $611M stadium felled by two 50 cent fuses. No wonder Barry Svrluga is bailing on this beat.

I love me some bobblehead action

Watson posted on our freezing our tails off on Tuesday. It was a ton of fun, and our love of the new stadium has not diminished at all.

I'm off to the stadium tonight, with other, non-NTP fans (Watson has other "obligations" this evening, and Nate is difficult to get on a weeknight these days).

Look for me wearing my red fleece. For a summer sport, I have yet to see a warm game. I love the location, but that water breeze is damn cold.

Notes from 223

Dave, Sharon, our friend Borders and I caught last night's game. Despite being windy and cold we had a great time. I'm happy to report that the $3.50 hot chocolate is worth every penny. Also the kielbasa from Senators Sausages was very good. I recommend it with mustard and sauerkraut.

Food and drink aside, the highlight of the game was the back-to-back homeruns by Zimmerman and Johnson. Hopefully last night's 3-4 performance will help get Zimm on track. Dave and I have had an ongoing discussion about whether or not our new home is a hitter's park and right now I'm winning. The statistics will probably prove that it's marginally a hitter friendly park but it's certainly a huge change from the canyons of RFK.

So far this has been a great homestand. The team has won 4 of their last five games and 10-17 sounds an awful lot better than 6-21.

Boz: Ritzy New Digs Unnerve Crapbag Team

In General I regard WaPo's sometime baseball columnist Thomas Boswell as a benign older gent sitting on a sun-dappled bench vacantly watching the buses roll by. Sit down next to him and you may ocassionally be graced with a nugget of hard-earned wisdom amid the gentle flow of pleasant babble. I usually don't subject his columns to a hard read. But for some reason I couldn't let this one go by. Feel free to fisk along at home, it's been edited to fit my attention span. (Commentary in italics.)

New Stadium, New Pressure

Nationals Park is at a slightly different elevation than RFK, so there probably is some pressure differential. Fair enough.

By Thomas Boswell Thursday, April 24, 2008; E01

Time is an artificial construct. Also, must we really have the page number in the online version of the column?

In their old digs at RFK Stadium last season, in a subterranean world of science-fiction-size rodents, insects and fungi, the Nationals often were mortified by their surroundings but seldom miserable in their baseball.

It's true, the Nats never had guests over last season, they were too embarrassed. Fans rarely visited either. And I'm resisting the temptation to make a "science-fiction-size rodent" The Princess Bride joke. Also, Paul Lo Duca = ROUS.

Bonded by obscurity and comfortable with nonexistent expectations, they focused on their sport, played to their limits and delighted some of baseball's smallest crowds. "That was one of the most fun years I've ever had in baseball," Austin Kearns said last night.

Last year Austin hit 266/355/411 good for a 103 OPS+. He earned roughly $3.5M for the effort. This year his salary escalates to $5M. If he had fun then, he must be living the dream now.

Now, their lockers are lined with mink, their shower fixtures are made of platinum and that Gatorade bucket in their dugout is filled with champagne. Not really.

Cue Uncle Teddy Lerner: You're darn right not really! It's skunk, chrome-plated lead and Korbel.

But a walk through their world would make sheiks and sultans jealous. Yet life is hard and baseball suddenly a burden for the Nats, who lost again last night to the Mets, 7-2, extending their spring debacle to 16 losses in 20 games by a humongous margin of 43 runs.

I understand the logic of run differential, but would you feel that much better if they'd lost 16 of 20 by a margin of 20 runs? I wouldn't. This ain't the NHL, point differential isn't a tie-breaker.

Quickly, crowds at the new Nationals Park are filling to the top rows, with 32,780 on hand to see the Mets in Washington's 22nd game of the season; only 21,662 showed up at RFK for the Nats' 23rd game of last season, also against the Mets.

It's easy to fill to the top rows when you fill the stadium from the top down. How're those Presidential Seats coming, Stan?

Who knew the curse of the Midas touch applied to ballparks?

Besides Midas?

The Nats are surrounded with everything money can buy.

Except major league caliber starting pitching and a middle-of-the-order impact bat. But why quibble.

But some might trade it all for the .500 record they built in their last 128 games last season. As catcher Paul Lo Duca said recently of the Nats inept start, "A squirrel could do better."

Look, quotability is the one skill Paulie LoDown has left, I get that. But what does this even mean? Also, Paul Lo Duca = ROUS.

There's still a week left in April, but the suffering 6-16 Nats already have had two team meetings. No method of self-flagellation has been neglected.

I knew the whole papal visit charade was a cover for an Opus Dei team meeting.

[Section detailing Nats losses redacted for redundancy.]

[Section detailing Nats injuries redacted to fit in the time alloted.]

But the Nats' biggest problem is a complete heart-of-the-order clutch-hitting breakdown -- often a sign of a team coping poorly with pressure.

Even more often the sign of a bad team playing badly.

Last night included a prototypical mega-slump moment. Pitcher Tim Redding, of all people, hit a 390-foot two-run double off the center field wall off Earth's best pitcher, Johan Santana, for a 2-1 fourth-inning lead. With one out in the top of the next inning, Redding walked the eighth hitter, then also walked Santana when he was just trying to lay down a sacrifice bunt and give away an out.

Should've called up Levale Speigner for the spot start. This is the only reason he's still in the organization, right?

A team without demons kicks the dirt and moves on. A team in full gag mode thinks, "Uh oh, here we go again." And there they went, soon tied, quickly behind, then so dejected as to be barely ambulatory by the late innings.

We have demons? We traded science-fiction-size rodents (Paul Lo Duca = ROUS) for Demons?! It's a brand-new building!!! Stupid, useless papal exorcism. And somebody get HOK and Clark Hunt on the horn about the warranty. Was this thing built on an alternative nightclub burial ground?

Expectations have increased around the Nats in recent months, partly from the luxury of their surroundings, but also from a growing sense of pressure that runs through the whole organization; demands for results, not just effort, have been raised. Soon, the internal demands of this franchise will be for a contender, nothing less.

Disclaimer: Pressure to perform does not apply to ticket vendors, concessionaires, advertising agency or General Manager.

"This team needs to believe it is good. You have to start every season wanting to go to the playoffs and expecting to be in contention," Lo Duca said. "You need to be cocky. We're going to have some fun this year.

Cue Jim Mora: "Playoffs? Playoffs!?!" Also note, "this year" includes off season.

Once we get over the hump, we're going to enjoy this new park.

The hump = Paul Lo Duca (= ROUS).

But we've given away four or five games already. We have nothing to lose. We should play that way. The worst thing you can do is play not to lose."

I'm no expert, but playing to lose sounds like it would be worse than playing not to lose. Just ask Shoeless Joe Jackson.

"The days pile up on top of each other." Manager Manny Acta said. "I know how hard the players are trying. I can handle it." But he worries about his young players. They are trying too hard, while his veterans sometimes seem flat.

Obvious typo. Clearly Boz meant to say the veterans sometimes seem FAT.

How can a team try to do too much, care too much for its own good, yet also seemed enervated at times. Aren't those contradictory? Third base coach Tim Tolman has pondered the problem.

So that's what he's doing over there, working on a correspondence degree in Philosophy. That actually explains quite a bit.

"Shrinks say that depression is anger turned inwards," I said.

And a doughnut with no hole is a danish.

"That sounds like us," Tolman said with a bitter chuckle. And he'd know. Last week, Tolman got a runner thrown out at home plate with the Nats six runs behind. Even the third base coach is trying too hard.

By this standard Tim Tolman has been trying too hard since April 2007.

The list of self-incriminating quotes by the Nats this month would include almost the entire roster. "I let these guys down," Jason Bergmann said before he was sent to the minors. "Boil it down, I didn't do my job," King said last night, even though he really was beaten by two squibbers and a Zimmerman throwing error.

Again, Boz is clearly misremembering. There's no way Ray King said, "Boil it down". "Deep fry it", maybe.

The Nats have nothing for which to despise themselves.

AHEM. Jim Bowden? Also, Paul Lo Duca = ROUS.

Their park is special. But so are 20 others. Crowds are getting big.

And the American obesity epidemic has what to do with this column?

Perhaps it just seems startling and new to this franchise because it's been out of the mainstream for so long, both in Montreal and RFK. Starting a season 6-16 isn't a capital offense, even in Washington.

9-12 got Wayne Krivsky cashiered. I'm just sayin...

It would be nice if the Nats simply could go back in the memories to their near-perfect attitude of '07, when defeat didn't bother them, every win was a joy and they just wanted to prove they didn't deserve the disrespect of 120-loss prediction.

Good news. They'll be getting those 120-loss predictions back any day now.

"Once our offense comes back to life, I think everything is going to roll," Acta said.

Stay the course. It's simple, it's catchy. I like it.

But when will that teamwide case of athletic depression -- a condition baseball simply calls a slump -- come to an end? In April, with plenty of time to make amends? Or after a whole season is buried neck deep? That's for the Nationals to decide.

Solution: Less clubhouse candy. More clubhouse Prozac! Warning: May cause poor K/BB ratios. Consult a sabermetrician before use.

Attendance woes? No. Marketing Woes.

Yet again, attendance is the top of the discussion again.

WaPost has a blog article and full up article about the topic.

Here we go again.

I see a whole lot of bullshit in this spin. Lots of posters in the blog article too about all the various reasons why. I'm not going to bemoan the cheap owners, the weather, or the team itself for attendance.

You know what I'm going to point to as the number one, more important thing than everything else?

Marketing.

This team has the worst marketing I have seen in a while. I spend a good portion of my days thinking about marketing, and do you how crappy this marketing is?

First, let's break down the message. "Welcome Home" is the theme. Right from the beginning, I'll point out the massive flaw. This message speaks to existing fans, not to new fans. You've already got those of us who are fans hooked. We don't need to be welcomed home -- we were going to be there already, with big goofy grins on our faces.

Instead, this message needs to go out to NEW fans, and it needs to be something much more appealing than this. The team needs to speak to the experience, the enjoyment of the game you can have. Some of the (few) radio ads I have heard do go into this, but focus too much on the ballpark and not the game experience.

Now, let's talk coverage. There should be a billboard on every bus. This team should plaster the logo everywhere it can. There should be promotions in the city, ticket offers, and events with every sports bar and restaurant from here to Leesburg. The team needs to be screaming from the top of their lungs that they have a great product, they've gone all out on making it easy to get to, and that they want you there. And I'll give them that -- it's a great ball park, they have gone out of their way to make it easy to get to, and they have quality entertainment going on there.

And let me say, running ads on MASN DOES NOT COUNT. You're already interested if you're watching the game -- you're certainly not watching for the stellar coverage.

I'm not particularly pleased about the ticket prices either, but they're comparable to every other city, and those cities don't have issues. Washington does face unique problems with drawing a fan base, and I'll grant those.

Time to get inventive here, team. You don't have to spend tons of money, but you do have to hussle.

- Promos. Give us our two for one tickets, give us "be a presidential seat for a night". Put butts in seats.

- Encourage your fan base. Appeal directly to the existing fans. Have a "We won't show Clint if you break 32,000 attendance" night. Have a bring a buddy and get a hot dog night.

- Do something interesting. In this "Web 2.0" world, why is everything about marketing this team so damn dull? Why is the marketing department running boring TV ads on the channel that already shows the game and doing slogans that don't appeal to anyone, when it would be so much more interesting -- and buzz worthy -- to have one of the team members Twitter? Hell, do it for them! You want buzz? Send us comments from the clubhouse for them -- put a marketing person on it to do it for the players!

- Stop being so damn scripted. Stan, Mark... I do like you guys. I do believe in you. But you know what's a hell of a lot more interesting? When Jim Bowden was wearing leather pants. Or even better? When Mark Cuban gets vocal. Here's a guy that gets the value of marketing. If you don't think his connection to fans is valuable, you're clearly missing something. The fact that we have a "StanSpeak" translator should tell you something. And you want to know what? If you played with this... if you ran with it.. you'd generate buzz.

- Interesting, revisited. Remember that night when you had Curly W's projected on buildings? Why aren't you doing that all the time? Why don't they move around the city? Put them up in Adam's Morgan the weekend before a home stretch and promote going to the game instead of going out. Put them in Tyson's Corner (remember, Lerner Family, you own that!) and light up the mall on a Friday night and remind people to go into the city. Partner with restaurants in the suburbs and do a dinner and bus promotion, or a dinner and drinks one.

Why is it that in a 45 minute blog post, I've come up with better stuff than what you've come up with in the whole time you've been doing this?

You know what's probably the worst thing? I bet the team spent a sizable amount of money with an ad agency to do this shitty job of marketing the team. That's the worst part. I'm SURE they spent money here, and didn't get very much for it.

Stan, if you're reading this... these ideas are all yours for free. There's more where this came from. Now, imagine if you paid someone to do a really unique job for you. Now that would really be something to talk about... and go to the ballpark to see.

Happiness is a Cold Beer

Dave and I took in Monday's ball game and I discovered something important . . . well, important to me. First off, I'm a beer guy. Which is very different from a beer snob. I love all kinds of beer, dark to light, import to domestic, macro brew to micro brew. RFK had some good choices but I was really looking forward to seeing what would be available at Nationals Park. For comparison, one of my favorite things about Chase Field in Arizona is being able to get Fat Tire Ale. I had read in the Post Beer Madness chat that the Hook and Ladder brewery was the only local brewery represented but I hadn't see any available on opening night. On Monday I discovered that the Baseline Brews stand behind section 223 had Hook and Ladder Golden Ale.

This is the kind of beer I think about when I think of summer. It's a warm golden color with a slightly hoppy taste that is very easy to drink. I have to say it tasted pretty good when I was freezing my tail off along with everyone else on Monday. The only advantage offered by Monday night was my beer stayed cold for the three innings I took to drink it.

Unfortunately it's not all good news. I was a little shocked and a little mad at the $7.50 price tag. Granted this is a good beer but that's the price of a six pack, not one beer. I appreciate the Lerners trying to broaden our choices but those prices take a little fun out of finding the good stuff.

Getting to the Ballpark

I saw this and wanted to forward it on.

Take the Kegbus to the Ballpark on the weekends.

Watson and I are planning to be at the ballpark on Monday. It's one of the top 10 parks to see.

I have an appointment with the home pest people on Saturday, so no open house for me. I wonder why they cancelled the one tonight.

Home Sweet Home

What a night! The NTP crew was among the 39,389 fans gathered to celebrate the opening of our new ballpark and the beginning of another baseball season. From our excellent seats in section 223 we caught every splendid moment. Starting at the introduction of the players and the patriotic pageantry of our national anthem straight through to the Zimmerman's fairytale ending walk off home run, we tried our best to soak it all up.

Here are some of our thoughts:

Dave

The potential of Nationals Park overwhelms me. Looking out over the craters all around the stadium makes me excited to live in DC, knowing what this city can be. Next year, I expect we’ll be in that section of town a lot.

Clearly, the concessions staff needs to get a little more practice, as the lines for the popular places were a little much. Missing two innings for Five Guys isn’t going to cut it.

I’m really excited to have some beers in the Red Loft one night. That’s going to be fun.

Transportation still scares me a little. Getting to RFK was so easy on a weeknight, and in particular, getting home efficiently. Metro was just a little too slow to really feel good about getting home on a Tuesday night when I have to work. We haven’t tried the Nats Express – we’ll have to see how that goes.

That many curly W’s, everywhere you could see, from the stadium to on people’s heads, is great. It sometimes feels hard to be a Nats fan, and I’m glad to see it really starting to take hold.

Nate

For better or worse, Nationals Park is going to be the House that Zimm Built. And I'm okay with that.

Landing flagship concessions like Ben's Chili Bowl, Five Guys and Hard Times was a must for the stadium. But making them accessible is going to be the real test.

Snagging the nationally televised Opening Night game was a coup, but it's a poor test of the fanbase. Between the cold and the folks who were just there to be there for the first game it's going to take a while to judge the real baseball atmosphere. Worlds of potential, but the team has to seize this rare second chance to make a first impression.


Matt

The Ben's Chili Bowl Half Smoke "all the way" is awesome.

My favorite impression of the park from last night was walking through the center field concourse. Coming out from under the stands and seeing the entire park open up in front of me literally overwhelmed me. I just stood there trying to take it all in.

It was refreshing to have a capacity crowd at a game. Every time I've been to Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park I noticed the energy moving through the crowd before the game. The sense of anticipation was palpable. Last night we had that and I hope it continues.

All and all we had a great night at the new ballpark and we're looking forward to this season.

Saturday in the Park

What Dave said, with pictures! For those of you who prefer the synopsis, here it is: "It was worth every red nickel of the city's $611M, plus however much else our thrifty overlords chipped in." Need convincing? Keep reading.

My better half and I left the Van Dorn Metro station at just before 3:30, switched trains twice at King Street and L'Enfant Plaza, and popped out of the very large Navy Yard Station exit just after 4:30. Here's the view from the Half Street exit.


Factoring in the downtown crowds from the marathon, the cherry blossoms, the kite festival and general touristy goodness I'd say that's about the timeline to expect for your average weekend game. The postgame trip is another story, but more on that later.

Half Street is probably not the grandest avenue from which to approach the park, but it does provide a nice frame for the Centerfield Gate, seen here.

And, as Dave said, you can really start to picture what the "Ballpark District" will be like once the construction fills out in a season or two. I expect the revitalization of near Southeast to move faster than the redevelopment of Chinatown because the new stadium isn't the only engine driving things down along the Anacostia.

The Centerfield Gate opens onto the outfield plaza, where we met up with Dave and his dad. To your left the Kids Zone, complete video games for the ADHD-impaired and a Build-A-Screech Workshop. (Warning: Building your own Big Chicken can easily set you back $40.00.) To your right? Food, glorious food. The lines for Ben's Chili Bowl were massive, so if you crave a half-smoke all the way (devine) or a turkey dog w/ veggie chili (also good), line up early.

The sightlines are as advertised. The only bad seats in the house are the ones in the rightfield corner under the overhang with an obstructed view of the ginormous HD scoreboard. Note: this is not the view from those seats.
The concession stands and vending carts are varied and abundant. At least for one night the Disney training seems to have paid off, as cashiers, ushers and stadium personnel were friendly and helpful. The restrooms, as you'd expect, are pristine and that signature sewage backup smell that was omnipresent in RFK is absent. Even better (from someone's perspective, I suppose) the facilities are eco-friendly. Pull the flush handle up, and it uses less water than a traditional downward flush.

The view from the ladies room, an NTP semi-exclusive! The mens room was blue.

From NTP's new home there are views of the Capitol, the mighty Anacostia and the Nats bullpen, where Joel Hanrahan was most assuredly not taking a whizz last night. No photos of the non-tinkle available, sorry, enjoy a steamy Dome shot instead. Expect to see quite a bit of some version of that shot. Note the Red Porch restaurant and bar in the foreground, the Washington Hall of Stars on the parking garage to the right and the fully completed, Lerner-owned office building to the left.

The three flags atop the office building? USA, District of Columbia, and the Nationals. God bless synergy.

Finally, almost incidentally, there was a baseball game played last night. Behind just enough pitching from Jason Bergmann and 4 stellar innings of 1-hit relief from Garrett Mock and Irish Mike O'Connor the Nats blanked the filthy orange birds 3-0, sending the two dozen remaining occupants of NTP's new home into rapturous applause. And yes, Bang! Zoom! went the fireworks.

We'll let Boz have the last word on the new digs:

Until tonight, farewell from Section 223!

The new stadium... is glorious

So I went with my Dad, Nate and his girlfriend to the stadium today for the exhibition game with the Orioles.

The new stadium is just great. So much to love.

Transportation was pretty accessible. From arriving at the Dunn Loring Metro at 3:30pm, I was standing in Nationals Park at 4:45. Leaving Nationals Park at 8:45, I was home at 10pm. That's not too bad. I think with a little more practice we'll be really good at this. And next year, with the buildings and Half Street... it's gonna be fantastic.

The stadium is beautiful. Just a really wonderful thing. The food is great, the sightlines are beautiful... we can see the capital dome from our section 223 seats. The scoreboard is amazing... I'm just very impressed. It was bitter, bitter cold tonight, but I can see many, many beautiful summer nights in our future.

Oh, and there are $6.00 beers. And the $6 and $7.50 beers are both significantly larger drafts than what we had at RFK. More commentary as we go, but this is gonna be a blast this year.

Oh, and we beat the Orioles. I love to beat the Orioles. If only it counted.

Before, after game options

The Post provides a little insight into the potential options around Nationals Park. With the big adventure today and tomorrow, I'm not expecting to spend a lot of time around the park, but I see a long season ahead.

And with beer more expensive than RFK, this won't be the bargain it was the previous three years.

I'm totally excited about the new park. I'm just a touch nostalgic already... parking and it being affordable were two big draws at RFK, and my wife already commented on her annoyance at the prices jumping like that. Her exact words... "Where are the $5 beers? F*** that."

New Season, New Stadium, New Logo

Check out the new hotness. Pretty spiffy, huh? Jealous? Good.

We can't go into a brand-spanking new stadium and have our beloved (if sometimes neglected) blog looking like the underside of an RFK Hondo Homer seat, now can we? Mad stupid props to Watson and his talented crew of Amish graphic design artists for the upgrades.

Just don't go expecting a corresponding improvement in the quality of the writing. Style over substance, baby. It's what we do, it's who we are.

In actual baseball news, the 25-man roster is set. No surprises. The death of LANGERHASCENDENTALISM! as a movement was all but inevitable.

Planning a weekend of baseball

I do love this time of the year. Last night, Nate, Watson and I participated in our annual Fantasy Baseball Draft. We've been doing Fantasy Baseball for about 5 years now, and it's been close friends with a consistent group of managers. With the very last pick of the draft, I picked up Paul Lo Duca. I have FLop too, but will admit it's because I think he'll be traded. A bench player to maybe become a starter elsewhere.

The draft also means we're days away from the big event. Opening Day. My Dad is coming up for the exhibition game, and Nate and I are enjoying our preview experience that night. I expect to be there about 4:30, enjoying some time in the new park. We're section 223 this year, which is second level beyond the first base line. In looking over the directory, I'm pleased to note our seats are by Five Guys, but far from Ben's Chili Bowl.

Sunday, of course, is the big day. It's gonna be crazy. I'm so excited.

I'm using Saturday to figure out transport. Yes, Metro is the way to go, and I'm using Saturday to see how bad the walk is from the Orange Line to the ballpark.

Our tickets arrived last week, and I'll admit I'm disappointed we didn't get any commemorative tickets this year. The whole batch didn't arrive in a cool box this year, and the tickets are just mass printed computerized tickets. It's a shame, too, because I have my 2006 tickets framed with the pennant from that year in my office, and my 2005 ones framed in my home office with the Washington Post Poster, and was planning something for the first and last tickets from 2007.... but 2008 just isn't that interesting. It's a real shame.

I'm just counting down the days.