An Open Letter To Stan Kasten, President Of The Washington Nationals

dear mr. kasten-

i thoroughly enjoy going to washington nationals games. i have been going to baseball games since i was a little boy, and like most baseball fans, there is a special connection you make with the game when you go to a game and see the grass, hear the crack of the bat, and smell the hot dogs.

there is one thing about attending nationals games that i don't like, however: the ushers. see, mr. kasten, the nationals are no good. as of right now they are 15-26 and have exactly a 0.0% chance of making the playoffs considering the braves, mets, and phillies all reside in the same division. and your stadium sucks. your new baseball palace will be ready next season, but for now your crappy team plays in the crappiest of crappy stadiums, rfk. and one more thing...no one goes to nationals games either. 24,000 people attended the game today. that's 54% of capacity.

so, taking all that into account, mr. kasten, do you think you could tell your ushers to lay off folks like me who come to your ballpark, buy your concessions, support your crappy team in your crappy stadium who want to move to a better seat? why on earth should i be hassled by an usher when i try to move to a seat behind home plate when no one is clearly sitting there? why, in the 11th inning of a game against the phillies earlier this year, should your ushers care of i want to sit on the rail? there was REALLY no one left in the stadium that night! why? why not try and make me happy? when i am happy i spend money. that money goes into your pocket. that money can be used to purchase talent to fill your sparkling new ballpark that will open next year. think about it...

i don't think i am asking for much here. if the stadium was even remotely close to capacity, i could understand the need to be diligent about checking tickets. when your new stadium is complete and you draw 2.5 million fans next year, i will agree that making sure people are in their correct seats will be needed (granted, the stadium will be smaller and will have better sight lines so the need to move from the upper deck will be somewhat decreased). i'm not hurting anyone here. all i am doing is sitting in a seat that would otherwise be unoccupied. why does that matter? i don't get it. if i was forced to buy one of those precious $35 tickets i might not go to the ballpark at all and i wouldn't spend any money on concessions that support the vendors, other stadium workers, and your bottom line.

so please, mr. kasten, lets call a truce. you let me sit wherever i want and i promise to spend more money than i otherwise would at the ballgames. deal?