The best part of this whole endeavor has been the opportunity to interact with all of you, to gauge your thoughts on the Nationals, on baseball in general, on this website. I've had far more interaction with readers this season than I ever did working at newspapers, which has made the experience all the more rewarding.
That said, almost all of the interaction has come via my computer, through comments on the site, emails and Twitter. I've been fortunate enough to meet a handful of you in person at the ballpark, but it's tough to do that when I'm camped out in the press box every night and only venturing down to the stands for an inning or two to take photos.
So here's the deal: I'm going to attend Saturday afternoon's game against the Braves from the stands. My wife and I have tickets in Section 409, and there should be plenty of open seats around us. If you're going to be at the game, come on by at some point to say hello, chat about the team, about the website, whatever. Stay for the whole game, stay for a few innings or stay for a few seconds if you prefer not to watch from the nosebleeds.
Hope to see you then!
29 comments:
I'm in! Who else?
Will try to stop by at some point. fwiw, that's one of my fave sections,* but I'll be sitting somewhere else on Saturday.
*Love the Veeckian upper deckian environs. :-)
I love 409, fantastic view of the Capitol! I will also try to stop by at some point.
Nice idea Mark! Wish I could make it. I just want to hear if JayB shows up! Hoping to see photos!!!!!
For next year Mark should find a member here who has access to a Suite so everyone can interact. I think the suites hold about 20 people and might not be to expensive. It would also be a nice experience to hang out in a suite. Ever since that White Sox game watching Obama hanging out in his suite for the night makes it a spot that I want to try.
If it was a real popular idea, maybe do it a few times a year.
Drats. One of the toughest parts of following this team from the UK is not being able to attend games and chat with other Nats town residents. Having enjoyed your coverage all season, would have loved to have met. I'll make do with ordering a Nats Insider t-shirt instead...
Keep up the good work!
Hey Mark,
Do you think you'll be there at all before/after the game? I don't tend to move around much during the game (gets in the way of keeping score), but I'd love to drop by and say hello and thank you for all of the excellent writing this season!
This is very tempting, especially if I get to meet the Yankee-haters, who think/know that Derek Jeter is not a winner, is over-rated, is a defensive nightmare, and has a very fragile ego. That sounds like fun.
I'd be interested to know that, too, as I also tend to stay put (and keep score) during the game.
FOTB, it's about fellowship, not hating.
(And if you're taking pics, I'll be the one wearing the Groucho eyeglasses disguise and the Insider t-shirt. ;-))
Yes, we'll definitely try to get to our seats good and early for anyone who wants to stop by pregame.
It really sounds like a great time and I would love to meet natsfan1a, JaneB and many of the other co-posters; not to mention spend some game time with our #1 writer and his wife :) I'll see if I can make Sat's game along with Friday, Tues & Wed - trying to get my fill of Nats before the season ends. Thanks Mark, great idea.
They have conference rooms in the stadium like where they held the Hot Stove luncheon that we could do a pre-game reception or like Steve suggested a suite. I know someone who is probably a member that owns a large Lincoln suite which would be a great way to watch the game and interact between innings.
Would be great to meet you, too, cadeck.
I would love attend a game before the season ends but grad school is tough these days. Lots of stuff to do.
Anyways, have fun guys.
Mark,
Great idea but I won't be able to make the game.
Maybe just as well: my record at home games is 7-16 so far this year (0-1 at Camden Yards). I'm going to today's game so place your bets accordingly.
Being a west Michigan resident I won't be able to attend but, please accept the good vibes I will be sending from afar for a good game to discuss(and of course a Nats win).
Excellent. We're not far from you in.... Section 314, of course.
Mark, great idea, unfortunately I will be out of town Saturday, so I will probably not see you again until Spring Training. Thaks for all the great work during this trying season.
I'll be out of town this weekend, but hope everyone has a great time. Thanks to Mark for all the terrific work this year. I think I speak for many of us that you have added a huge amount to the Nats fan experience. I hope you're able to keep the blog going over the off season and next year. As Johnnie Cochran might say, "If you do, I'll definitely renew."
Mark,
So excited that you will be available at the game on Saturday. My husband and I will stop by to say hello. It would be nice to sit with everyone during the game, but this is one of those rare times we were able to score Diamond club tickets. So, no offense, but after we say hi we're going to see how the other half lives! :)
I may get there post-game or during the game. I'll have to hand scoring duties off to my wife. I won't be able to get there early enough for pre-game, but I'll come by and say hello.
This is a cool idea! Thanks!
Dammit. I'm going Sunday, can't do Sat.
Thanks for doing this anyway, Mr. Z, in addition to the terrific weblog.
I am a regular poster to this website but am posting anonymously this time so you won't think I'm sucking up.
I have been grateful for Mark's analysis, breaking news and human interest stories this season. It has made the Nats so much more enjoyable. I plan on saying thank you however I was going to pad my thank you with a little "bonus", so to speak, for a job well done. I plan on kicking in a little extra bucks, hoping I can persuade the Markmeister to do it again next year.
Anyone with me?
Anonymous @ 1:56pm--I'm also happy to kick in more because these season has been more than worth the modest price paid. As for next year, however, I want to formally launch the campaign for Mark to replace Ray Knight on MASN. :)
Rats, rats, rats. This is such an awesome idea, and I hope that you'll be back next year or will continue doing some other events (postseason meetup/fundraiser during the playoffs?) that I can make. Think it was Thursday I decided to take one for the team and sacrifice a day game for a family errand. Certainly regretting that the decision now.
Have fun, folks!
I'm in.
Hey, maybe we could have name tags so we know which Anonymous is which. ;-)
Good idea Anonymous 1:56! I'll join you in the bonus. I am really hoping that Mark will do it again. I wish I could join you on Saturday but I will be enjoying our first day at the Outer Banks and just hope the cable brings in the game.
Something tells me Mark and the missuz won't be paying for their beers and halfsmokes Saturday. Good.
Ken Burns was previewing his 10th Inning film tonight at GW. From the clips shown, it might not match up entirely with the best of the original series, but should be worth staying home for next week when it's TV.
ON tv.
and all you scorekeepers--if you feel like putting your system to work live, and getting lots of experience figuring out unearned runs, I could use some help on Sundays at some rec games.
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