The Potomac Nationals will be playing a game at Fenway Park on July 10. The Boston Red Sox have been playing the Futures at Fenway for the past five years, giving Red Sox fans a chance to see some of the team’s top prospects.
It’s something that I hope the Nationals will adopt themselves some time in the near future. With Harrisburg, Potomac, & Hagerstown as close as they are, it makes sense. I’ve asked Nats President Stan Kasten about this and he understood my interest in the game but was not sure there would be enough fan interest.
#1 by Sue Dinem - February 10th, 2010 at 17:41
Well, at least we know why Boston agreed to play an exhibition on April 3rd — making the PNats travel from Frederick to Boston to Salem in the course of 36 hours.
#2 by alexva - February 11th, 2010 at 10:03
Take a weekend where you get two of the three on Saturday, the remaining Nats farm team and Syracuse (convince ie pay Norfolk or Lehigh Valley to give up a home game) on Sunday and play an afternoon doubleheader each day. $10 for adults, kids free. I don’t care how much money the Nats lose, it would be worth it as an investment in fan interest.
#3 by alexva - February 11th, 2010 at 10:06
Better yet, forget Syracuse and get Vermont vs Aberdeen
#4 by CapPeterson1 - February 11th, 2010 at 14:47
Brian,
I was trying to get a handle on the Nats’ scouting department–specifically, whether international scouting has been beefed up (e.g., I notice the Nats now have a couple of young prospects from Venezuela–does that mean we have a scout based there?). The Nats’ front office directory lists the FO scouting department, but does not list all scouts employed by the club–e.g., area scouts, crosscheckers, etc. I then found a link to the Blue Jays’ front office directory, which does lists all their scouts. So, my original question remains unanswered: do the Nats have a scouting presence in Venezuela? I also have a couple of new questions: how many scouts do the Nats employ in total? How does this number compare with the Jays, e.g.? And are the Nats outliers in not posting such information on their website?
Would be grateful if you could shed any light.
#5 by Steveospeak - February 11th, 2010 at 16:02
I think there would be plenty of fan interest especially if it was in the middle of a long road trip and/or against one of the O’s affiliates or a team from VA, MD, or WV
#6 by Sue Dinem - February 11th, 2010 at 16:38
The last time anything remotely like this was tried it was a doubleheader with the parent club at RFK on a late Sunday afternoon in May 2006, and the park basically emptied out by the time the PNats played the Salem Avalanche.
There’s something to be said about Fenway park being part of this attraction^ — but we’ve seen already that getting a Red Sox, Baltimore, or Yankee tie-in works well too. I agree with steveo that timing this for a parent-club roadtrip (especially when they’re on the West Coast) can help juice things.
#7 by Brian Oliver - February 11th, 2010 at 16:45
SueD – I was at that game. Sat right behind home plate (big shock I know).
It’s something that I think would have some legs if the Nats gave it attention. There are enough season ticket holders from Woodbridge and Harrisburg that would make the trip I’m sure.
The thing is that the Nationals would need to start selling the farm system to get more fan interest.
#8 by peric - February 11th, 2010 at 16:55
“The thing is that the Nationals would need to start selling the farm system to get more fan interest.”
To sell the farm system of our “Damned Yankees” Nationals you would likely have to fill it with prospects like Boston (who according to Keith Law has the most, just not the best like the Rangers) plus some decent ex-MLB’es to fill out the edges? They don’t even come close yet .. it would have helped, as many have mentioned, if they had signed Crow and Chapman in addition to Strasburg. They seem to have hit a lucky number with the development of Derrick Norris who looks like a poor man’s Bryce Harper and at almost as young an age. There is Espinosa and Eury Perez …
Otherwise its like Syracuse … have all sorts of free dinners and events associated with the home games. Looks like there will be lots and lots of rain this spring … they even had a Frank Howard day …
They appear to be too much like the Redskins … needing double the number of draft picks particularly in the upper rounds.
#9 by Terry Byrom - February 11th, 2010 at 17:11
This has been done with other major league teams over the past few years. Outside of Boston, the most successful event was in Milwaukee when Prince Fielder, Richie Weeks, etc. were with Beloit. They drew about 15,000 if I recall, correctly.
It works in Boston because it’s Fenway.
#10 by Brian Oliver - February 11th, 2010 at 22:21
Cap – I wish I could give you an answer to that. It’s something I’ve been trying to get a handle on over the past year (since Rizzo took over). It’s not something they make public
I’ll let you know when (if) I find anything out
#11 by Sue Dinem - February 12th, 2010 at 10:40
It’s actually something they ought to add in for free to all the Nats season ticket holders at any level with the option of buying additional tickets before the general public. Reward them for their loyalty and seat them in the lowest levels.
Then, sell the next levels as cheaply as possible until there’s an artificial cap reached. As Terry alluded, we’re not going to sell out the park, but if it’s half or a third full with people packed in as closely as possible (which also enables the costs to be controlled by virtue of fewer stadium workers needed) it’ll help sell the experience of going to Nationals Park, which is still a new state-of-the-art stadium.
#12 by peric - February 12th, 2010 at 14:19
The cupboard still looks bare with just a few cans on the shelf. Meanwhile, Boston can open those doors to display a full pantry.
#13 by Steveospeak - February 12th, 2010 at 16:04
Good idea Sue, I wouldn’t mind a free ticket to the game. Or even a discounted one. I’d love to see this idea get legs even if the Nats farm system isn’t budding with top prospects. For this season at least Norris should be at Potomac so there would be a nice reason to go.
#14 by A DC Wonk - February 14th, 2010 at 03:23
“wasn’t sure there would be enough fan interest” ?!?! Compared to what?! It’s not like there’s a whole lotta sell outs when the parent club plays!
Like alexva wrote up higher — bring in a team or two, charge very low rates, perhaps free for kids — and make an investment in young fans. Not everything has to be an instant money-maker.