Many were surprised when Washington Nationals phenom Bryce Harper went from low Single-A Hagerstown to Double-A Harrisburg, missing a stop just a few miles down the road from Nationals Park along the way.
The Potomac Nationals must be wondering what they did to offend the parent club. Though Washington general manager Mike Rizzo never promised Harper would hit every stop along the minor league system, speculation was that he would move from low Single-A Hagerstown to high Single-A Potomac and the more competitive Carolina League.
For the second year in a row, Potomac missed out on the Nats’ box office meal ticket. Last season, Stephen Strasburg pitched to sold-out crowds in Harrisburg and then Triple-A Syracuse before arriving in Washington.
Having Strasburg or Harper is a cash register bonanza for a minor league owner — a bigger box office draw than Harry Potter night or Belly Buster Wednesday.
So you might think Potomac Nationals owner Art Silber would be a little miffed at missing out on the two biggest minor leaguers in all of baseball during the past two seasons.
But he called it the right decision.
“It’s [the Nationals’ choice] to do what they think is best in terms of player development,” Silber said. “They felt half a season at low Class A was certainly proper, and there was some question about whether or not it would be the right decision for a player of his potential to break up the second half of his season with a month with us and a month in Harrisburg.
“As owner of the team, I feel terrible about it,” Silber said. “I think our fans were excited and would be entertained by the type of player he is. I would have liked nothing better than to see the stadium filled. But it was a baseball decision, and candidly, putting personal feelings aside, it was the right one.”
There was some talk that there was concern within the Nationals organization about the condition of the field at 27-year-old Pfitzer Stadium, Potomac’s home field, which resulted in some games earlier this season being moved to Frederick. Silber said they had some drainage issues early in the year because of sod problems, but those have been fixed.
Silber has been lobbying for years for a new ballpark in Prince William County, and it appears it may be on the verge of finally moving forward.
Silber, 71, has owned the Potomac club for 21 years and has been through this before.
“About 19 years ago, when we were a Yankees affiliate, there was this guy I really wanted to play for us, but we got skipped over,” he said. “His name was Derek Jeter.”
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].
