From all accounts, the Washington Nationals’ “Our Park” promotion when the Philadelphia Phillies were in town was successful. After being skeptical of what was going to happen when Nationals chief operating officer Andy Feffer declared war on Philadelphia fans, it’s only fair to acknowledge that it seemed to have worked out well — large crowds not dominated by Phillies fans, and nobody that we know of was tazed or vomited on.
Maybe, just maybe, it’s a step in the right direction.
Perhaps the “Our Park” promotion, if it was Feffer’s brainchild as believed, is a sign that the Lerner family may trust someone on the business side with some vision beyond counting pennies. Or not. Let’s see what happens next.
When the Lerners took over the team in 2006, they failed miserably in sizing up a unique situation — a market that was divided between not caring about baseball and caring for a team 35 miles north in another city.
So what did they do? They held a lame winter caravan, parading the manager and a few spare part players around at different locations for several days.
Meanwhile, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, the minor league team in Waldorf, Md., held a Fan Fest a year before they ever took the field.
Since then, the Nationals have held their “Fan Fest” at Nationals Park — hardly an ideal location for such an event, but the price was right.
Let’s see the team hold a real Fan Fest at the Washington Convention Center in January to remind people in the dead of winter there’s a baseball team in town.
Let’s see if they can finally reconnect with Washington’s baseball past and some of the former Senators players.
The Frank Howard debacle remains an embarrassment. The most popular living ballplayer in this town is working for the Loudon County minor league team that doesn’t start play until next year because the Nationals didn’t want to spend the loose change to hire him.
Let’s see if the business side can finally show some creativity and vision to try to sew the team into the fabric of this area.
The Nationals have this heralded scouting department. Why not open it up to fans with a winter program — a “Scout’s Night” — where fans can come and ask questions and hear about player development? It would be baseball geek heaven.
“Our Park” may be a good first step toward people not being confused when someone refers to “our team.” OK — what’s next?
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
