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Considered the favorites to host the 2015 All-Star Game as recently as last summer, the Nationals have been beaten out by the Reds, who will officially be awarded the game by commissioner Bud Selig today, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
One of three NL clubs vying for the event in 2015 -- along with the Nationals and Marlins -- the Reds were initially told by Major League Baseball they would be in line to host the 2019 game. Owner Bob Castellini, according to the Enquirer, pushed Selig to give them the 2015 game and apparently was successful in bringing the All-Star Game to Cincinnati for the first time since 1988.
The Nationals have been interested in hosting the All-Star Game since Nationals Park opened in 2008, but MLB officials have
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As much as I would like to see DC host the AS Game, the lack of bars, restaraunts and other infrastructure is a legit concern of MLB. Heck, it's discouraging for us locals during the regular season.
ReplyDeletethat's okay, we'll have two or three World Series here in the meantime.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Joe S; it's really just not ready.
ReplyDeleteIt truly is not ready. I mean, when the residents of those condo's are excited about a "Potbelly's" going in you know you have work to do. I don't love Hockey and the bullets (I refuse to call them that stupid name about sorcery) but I do love the area and the vast number of options you have. Abe Polin did more than bring both sports downtown, he made it possible for thousands of others to earn a living. I hope the Nationals can do the same in the near future.
ReplyDeleteGo Nats!! World Series or Bust!!
The Nats should block any AS game or other major league goodies for the O's until Angelos turns loose of the TV rights to the Nats. The Nats should use every piece of leverage they have to cause trouble up north. When Angelos decides to let go, then we can all be pals.
ReplyDeleteJoe and sjm make excellent points, but I'm still diasappointed. Bud S. does us no favors, but could make up for this snub by getting the team the freedom to strike a real TV deal.
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that the Nats' neighborhood will look much different in 2015, though it's never going to look like the area around Verizon Center. Whatever additional development takes place it's always going to look a bit like a sunny-side up egg on pile of corned beef hash.
ReplyDeleteWhat would irk me most, if I really had a stake in it (definitely won't be going), would be that pinball park in Cincinnati. One can only assume that Selig was sold (or bought, as the case may be) on the possibilities for the HR contest.
It's time to let the Elijah Dukes sarcastic comments thing go. The guy is in a really bad place and is just making it continually worse for himself and his family. Maybe we can all have a little compassion for him, and stop bringing him up as a joke on Nats comment threads. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI hear their are two new bars/rest near the park this year. I think by 2019 it will be jumping!
ReplyDeleteUnknown --
ReplyDeleteDukes was a fraud on the fans and a melanoma on the body of baseball every time he put on a Nats uniform. He might be redeemed in the eyes of God but has done nothing since to redeem himself in the eyes of the public. I'd just as soon he was forgotten -- and I really mean forgotten -- altogether but I have no animus toward commenters who equally have no reason to forgive Bowden for what he did to this team. I won't listen to Bowden, won't read anything he's written, won't read anything written about him (and, I confess, I have to repress the impulse to pass over "Bowdenball's" comments on this blog), and that will continue until Bowden puts on shorts and crawls on his hands and knees from the Capitol to home plate and begs forgiveness from the fans, doing his obsequies to all four corners of the park.
So if people feel the need to raise painful memories of Bowden and Dukes, snark away, folks.
I sense the malevolent hand of Angelos [SPIT] in the All Star snubbing. It's not the better part of my nature, but I'll admit that Angelos's existence will allow me that much more pleasure when the O's collapse this year.
ReplyDeleteI went to a Nats/Rockies game in Denver several years ago. The area around the stadium was full of great restaurants, housing and easy transportation. A local told me that when the stadium was built, the area around it was an industrial area and train yard. Time and money made it what it is today. It will happen for DC. Just waiting on the economy.
ReplyDeleteLack of development around Nationals Park is a legitimate concern in turning down the request for an all-star game. The area is definately not attractive nor conducive for the game. Wait and do it right.
ReplyDeleteGee, Theophilus,I can't wait for you to tell us how you really feel.
ReplyDeleteTcostant,one or two bars/restaurants is a start, but the Half Street corridor development is long over due.
I've been to Coors Field too. Lots of great Microbreweries within a short walk to the game. It was better than any Verizon Center comparision...
ReplyDeleteJoe - I agree; but if those bars fill up on game day; I think more will follow.
ReplyDeleteVery unfortunate about the all star game would have really wanted one hear in DC. Considering we haven't had one since 1969 while the Reds had one in 1988 it doesn't really seem fair. It is a very viable point however that the area around nats park has not been developed. Sometimes things just don't fall your way, and if Angelos does have a hand in this, i will be laughing when the O's go .500 this season while the nationals will "fly" into the playoffs
ReplyDeleteThe only important thing about the ASG for the next few years is that the National League wins. I want that home field advantage and Game 7, if necessary, at Nats Park.
ReplyDeleteThat's lousy news. The way Selig has not supported the Nats in the MASN dispute, the ASG would be a nice gift to the Nats and the city.
ReplyDeleteSelig fail.
MLB's treatment of D.C. from the very beginnning has been akin to the Bird of Paradise flying over and pooping on our heads, starting with the bare cupboards of the farm system that they gave us. Between the Lerners, Rizzo, and the core fans the Nationals have done pretty good in spite of Selig. The developement is going to happen down there, albeit slowly, and as the highrises go up, with ground floor retail space, the area should eventually be fantastic.In the meantime:
ReplyDeleteGYFNG!!!
Ghost, I think it's better to wait until the area is Jumping, to put the ASG spotlight on it... It'd be sad and embarrassing to be explaining that "someday" it's gonna be real nice....
ReplyDeleteGhost -- which would you rather have, the ASG or Selig's support on the MASN deal? Don't think of the ASG as a consolation prize.
ReplyDeleteI was ready to be really angry with Selig until I read the first few comments here, and I guess the lack of surrounding restaurants, etc, is a good reason to wait. Anyway, I would much rather have our TV rights taken away from Angelos. It really pisses me off that he was given our TV rights. I really despise Angelos.
ReplyDeleteYou can't really blame him for putting it in Cincinati. That stadium has been open a lot longer than Nats Park and has not hosted an All Star game yet.
ReplyDeletePersonally I'd rather have a burr in our saddle than an ASG. Like Alexva says, let's win a couple WS. We can develop the area while we do so.
ReplyDeleteNot really sure why it is moving so slow development-wise. It seems like it would be a gold mine--especially to get in early on. Especially for deep pockets.
We ought to double down on the Owed-Drinks Table and pool our monies and open up Nats Insider as a bar on 1/2 Street.
News:
ReplyDeleteJerry Crasnick@jcrasnick
#Bluejays announce they've signed Mark DeRosa to one-year, $750K deal with a club option for 2014.
Bill Clinton said it best. It's the economy, stupid.
ReplyDeleteI don't think many of you have attended Allstar games because development around the stadium is just a bonus but not a necessity. Its more important that the area around the Convention Center can support the visitors which DC can.
ReplyDeleteMLB uses caravans of buses for transport. In the last few years the Yankees and Angels had Allstar games and besides the game, HR Derby and Sunday events in the stadium all other events occured by the Convention center. If you have been to Yankee Stadium, you know nothing is going on around that stadium.
To the question of rather having the MASN deal worked out or an All Star game, certainly the MASN deal but why not get both.
ReplyDeleteAdam Kilgore @AdamKilgoreWP
ReplyDeleteBlue Jays announce they signed Mark DeRosa to a one-year deal worth $750K. More beloved by teammates than any player I've covered.
MicheleS, good for DeRosa, hope he stays healthy and is productive for them.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting about the Blue Jays signing DeRosa. One can easily imagine they would have trouble melding that bunch of players in to a team. The DeRosa signing might work for them no matter how much (or little) he contributes on the field.
ReplyDeleteListened to a long podcast on the WBC from baseball prospectus. One of the major themes was how certain countries can build (or have) a team for international competition, while other just have a collection of "all-stars" who have never played together.
The heck with the Marlins trade. The DeRosa signing proves the Jays are all in.
ReplyDeleteTony said...
ReplyDeleteBill Clinton said it best. It's the economy, stupid.
Not really. Deep pockets often make their moves during tough times when the competition might be slowed a bit. Also DC is a bubble economy in many ways. Lots of cranes around town Tony. Lots of cranes.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleterealdealnats said....
ReplyDeleteWe ought to double down on the Owed-Drinks Table and pool our monies and open up Nats Insider as a bar on 1/2 Street.
_________________________________
That better be one BIG A$$ pool...
New Post
ReplyDeleteTimDz--
ReplyDeleteThe Nats have been talking about such things as "closing the gap" and "raising the bar" for so long, that now we are WS contenders, I think it's time we worked on "closing the bar." 1/2 St can be the Face of the Bar (FOB).
That would be the name, or at least the tag line: "Faced of the Franchise!"
ReplyDeleteIt might be worth paying a small royalty to Duffy's for the Cortizone Shot.
ReplyDeleteOr as a pregame spot, The Early W.
ReplyDeleteWith your hosts, Early and Shirley W.
I'll be frank, you be earnest...
ReplyDeleteMark,
ReplyDeleteOn July 10, you wrote,
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There's a good chance Major League Baseball's All-Star Game will be played in Washington in July 2015....
...The only hangup has been a desire for more commercial development around the ballpark, a process that was stalled by a poor economy. There has been increased construction in the area this year, however, and more is expected to be completed by the time the 2015 game would be played.
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What do you think has changed since then? If we were the favorites what happened? The area around the park isn't fully developed but there's the new waterfront park, beautiful rehabbing of Navy Yard buildings, restaurants and bars coming on board this year, re-scape of Capital Street, new housing, Harris Teeter coming on board, the team is a great example of building the right way, and it's not like the area around Citi Field has the nice stuff within walking distance.
I think it's we who are saying that the reason we were passed over is the slow pace of development. I think Selig is still stinging from the hearings Congress held over the steroids scandal.
By the way, love your work. Just ranting via frustration. I want the ASG here too!
It may be worth a small noble to its Cortizone shot.
ReplyDeletecheap Hockey Jerseys