ARLINGTON, Va. — I have been critical of the marketing of the Washington Nationals in the past, so I thought I would share a positive sign. For years, I’ve wondered why I can’t find a Nats pocket schedule anywhere but the ticket windows at Nationals Park. I am pleased that this season, Harris Teeter, the team’s official grocery store (like this one in Ballston) is making pocket schedules available. I am not pleased that the font office learning curve is a sphere though — this should not have taken six years.

I don’t know if marketing analytics support widespread pocket schedule distribution in 2011, but my instinct says that putting them at the check-outs in area grocery stores is worthwhile for brand awareness. Someone who doesn’t regularly go to Nats games might suddenly be inclined to pick one up and check out that “new stadium.”

Now, the next thing the Nats ought to do is get some sign in the front of every Harris Teeter store like the Redskins have: