Welcome to the dog days of summer. Here are your division leaders entering June:
AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Twins (???)/Indians
AL West: Astros
NL East: Nationals
NL Central: Brewers???
NL West: Dodgers
All-Star voting is well underway. Which players get your vote(s)?
Does anyone think the Nats’ mediocre attendance might be related to the park being downtown, rather than out in the 'burbs?
Also . . . what is the beef with Harrelson? I loved him here in Boston.
Is any ballpark better for attendance in the burbs? I highly doubt that. It’s fine for football, with games usually played on a Sunday and the tailgate association. I’m far from an expert on Washington DC, but I think the answer of it being a transient town is probably the reason.
Even the White Sox fans I know here hate Harrelson. His schtick is tired, it’s worse than Back Back Back, and He Could Go All the Way!!!
https://www.outsidepitchmlb.com/is-ken-hawk-harrelson-the-worst-broadcaster-in-the-mlb/28369
Are there good train connection to the stadium? City ballparks work best with good train lines.
One of the metro lines has a stop about two blocks from the stadium. It is a heavily used method of getting to the park, particularly for those already coming from work in downtown. That is definitely not the issue.
I was only there once as part of a Boy Scout trip. I seem to remember having to leave early because the last train was leaving. Does service really stop in the 7th-ish inning, or did the leaders just want to get us out of there? IIRC, it was a Saturday game, maybe 4:00 PM start.
The DC Metro stops running about midnight. That has come into play for a couple of late-starting playoff games, but would never be a problem for a normal late afternoon or typical night game. (Extended extra-innings or rain delays could pose an issue for a 7:00 game).
It was a definite factor during last year’s playoffs, and was the reason I chose not to attend Game 5 (there were actually decent seats available through StubHub, probably for the same reason). Looks like Metro is going to start shutting the Green Line down at 11:30pm on Monday through Thursday. As you say, that shouldn’t interfere with a normal game, though.
I guess I stand corrected on Harrelson. Well, it’s been a long time since he was here in Beantown.
I raised the question about the downtown ballpark not because I object to it, but I just wondered if suburbanites might rather drive than take the Metro. When I was a kid we went downtown to RFK and it was usually pretty empty. Of course, the Senators weren’t much of a draw.
The Reds were swept by Toronto…not the result I was hoping for. And on the local radio today, a scout said Homer Bailey was “done” and that Anthony DeSclafani was “damaged goods”, so now I have no idea what to think about my “salvation scenario” where starters returning from injury lift the Reds to above .500. I knew it was a rebuilding year, but damn…outside of Toronto they’ve been scoring runs in bunches, even when losing. I really, REALLY don’t want them to waste a historically incredible team offensive effort if this continues.
**2 Yankee questions: **
Is there any market for Chris Carter at all? I mean even a bag of balls for picking up most of his remaining salary? I think when Bird gets back, Carter will be moved.
Is there any team in enough need of a CF to take **Ellsbury **off the Yanks. Assuming the Yanks pony up lots of cash. There is $68 million left after this year counting a 2021 buyout. So would anyone take Ellsbury with $30 million, $10 this year and then $5 per year for the next 4?
Of the **Tanaka **pitching woes: I figure they give him 2-3 more starts to figure things out and then try to DL him if he is still lost. Chance Adams is pretty much ready for promotion to the big league and the extra 2-3 starts in AAA would work perfect for him at this point.
I would hate to see the Yanks make a deal for an Ace as it would take too many top prospects to close a deal and I see no reason to trade for a middling pitcher.
So to answer jaycat;the stadium should work, the area just isn’t up to supporting the team yet I guess. DC has always had attendance problems with the prior teams anyway. But suburban parks overall don’t do great. Let it build. Keep winning, it should be much better then Tampa in the end.
I’d be happy with continuing the youth movement. Dump Carter and Headley, Bird at first and Gleyber Torres at third. Tyler Austin can back up both positions.
There’s no reason to play Ellsbury over Hicks, Gardner or Judge. I guess he becomes the fourth outfielder…I can’t imagine any team taking over that contract, even if we eat half of it.
Ideal scenario for Tanaka: he returns to form in the second half, but his year is iffy enough for him not to opt out.
I would *absolutely *go to more Nationals games (my office is just a couple of Metro stops from the stadium), if they played more weekday day games. Some years they have played ZERO (except on, I think, July 4). My office was looking to buy a 40-block ticket package this year and I believe we had 3 days to choose from. Three is better than ZERO, but still not a lot.
We opted for the August game against the Angels. I don’t recall the exact date but they’ll be a whole bunch of us there.
I swear, I’d go to 20 Nationals games a year if I could take the afternoon off and just hop on over to the ballpark. And the Nats are not “my team.” Sure, I root for them in an offhand way, but I’d just love to spend the afternoon at the ballpark, regardless. But the schedule does not accommodate.
Just to clarify in relationship to the original question, what’s stopping you from going to the night games? Too much to do in the evenings? Lack of motivation? Other?
For me, it’s a combination of the lack of motivation (the Nats are basically a distant #4 on the list of teams I root for, and primarily because they’re local to me) combined with how long it would take me to get home. The crowds at the Navy Yard station after a game are pretty intense even though I feel that Metro personnel and the police do a good job of herding people through. My wife and I have gone to a couple of games after work since we’ve been here, and even when we’ve cut out slightly early, we’ve been lucky to get home by around 11:30 PM. Way past my bedtime on a weeknight. Particularly hard when you’ve got to transfer to another Metro line to get home, and trains are only running roughly every 20 minutes at that time of night.
But I have no sense of whether or not my personal reasons are typical of Nats fans as a whole.
I commute into the city on the VRE, and the last train out of Union Station leaves at 6:50. If I were to go to a night game, I’d have to drive into DC (from Haymarket–with no HOV) AND find a place to park for like 18 hours.
Driving across DC in morning rush hour just for the privilege of paying $25 to park somewhere all day is not worth it. Likewise, driving to Vienna Metro, paying to park there, and then having to transfer Metro lines and God help you if it’s a “maintenance surge” day, or a switch decides to start smoking. Screw that.
Joey Votto had the best average in the MLB in May at .470. Adam Duvall, probable future Yankee, had the most RBI’s in May. The Reds offense is for real. The rest of the team kinda…isn’t.
One thing I want to say: Bronson Arroyo’s pitching is remarkable given his age and the wear on his arm. His ERA isn’t good but tonight, at the age of 40, he pitched six innings, gave up seven hits and two runs while only walking one batter. For a guy that’s been eating 190-240 innings a year for what seems like forever, it’s a pretty strong effort. I am certain that part of his longevity stems from not throwing a fastball in excess of 90mph, but his curve is his best pitch and he still throws it often.
He’s not great but he deserves respect for his longevity in the modern era.
Will add my question from late in last months thread to this thread.
When I lived near Houston, the stadium (Enron Field at the time :D) was an attractive destination because you could park for free on the street without too much of a hike to get to the game. There was no viable mass transit from our area.
John Lester overcame the yips long enough to pick a runner off at first base in the Cubs/Cardinals game.
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