Stan Kasten Sings a Hymn to Philly Fans – DC Sports Bog
Dan Steinberg keeps saying that the Nats will be a big draw once they start winning and I agree with him. Until that time being a Nats fan is going to be a tough road for those of us “true believers” who are just so damned happy that a team wears Washington on its jerseys. That being said, it would be preferable if those running the club would stop going out of their way to be embarrassing.
After a tough, but image enhancing spring, Stan Kasten has gone out and blown a lot of good will by taking a page out of the Abe Pollin playbook and marketed Nats Opening Day to another team’s fanbase. In this case, he went on a Philadelphia radio station and plugged, unprompted Opening Day tickets to Phillies fans. I though Kasten was smarter than that — pennywise, pound foolish. How about going on D.C. radio stations to shill tickets? Duh! Call it a hunch, but maybe the (potential) fanbase in your own neighborhood might be a better long-term investment. Doesn’t Kasten realize that the franchise has been in disarray since the Montreal days and there is still a great deal of negativity surrounding the team. They have a lot of things working against them, so perhaps they ought not be chasing away the fans willing to pay for their poorly regarded product.
Earlier today, I was going to ask why the Nationals were such a punchline when there are worse franchises in the sport, but now I won’t be asking that any more.
The tone of this post was not helped by the fact the Nationals were down 8-0 in the fifth inning when I started it.
