Frankie Piliere of the always solid Capitol Dugout has a good recap of the status of the Nationals affiliations.
- New Orleans: Concurs with my thoughts that the only options for the Nationals AAA affiliation are Richmond (if the Braves move) or the soon-to-be available Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
- Harrisburg: Agreement through 2010
- Potomac: Agreement expires at end of 2006, but Piliere believes there is little reason to move (as do I). Though there were some rumblings earlier this summer about Brevard County becoming a Nationals affiliate again
- Savannah: No reason to change affiliation but stranger things have happened
- Vermont: Expires after 2006. Piliere lists Batavia (Western NY near Rochester) and Jamestown (Southwestern NY near the NW corner of Pennsylvania)
Wooden U. Lykteneau | 29-Aug-06 at 9:51 am | Permalink
Potomac is on the verge of building a new stadium - the county meets on this on 9/13 - which would further indicate that the P-Nats are staying put.
BristowNats | 29-Aug-06 at 11:48 am | Permalink
Too bad it will be in the same crappy location as the current one. This team was 7th in attendance in an 8-team league, recreating a mediocre-at-best situation won’t fix that. Move it to Old Town Manassas!
Wooden U. Lykteneau | 29-Aug-06 at 3:24 pm | Permalink
I’ve yet to see a situation where moving a team further away from major transportation routes and major population centers actually improved attendance, never mind the costs associated with (a) securing the land (b) beating back the NIMBYs. Currently, neither (a) nor (b) is an issue whereas these would both be issues for OTM. Furthermore, the current attendance on the weekends is as good as anyone else’s in the league.
Tom | 29-Aug-06 at 4:39 pm | Permalink
Jamestown is in the Northwestern corner of New Jersey. Near the Delaware River Water Gap. Near where NJ/PA/NY come together.
It’s hard to get to and don’t try to book a room during thePocono 500 weekend.
Brian J Oliver | 29-Aug-06 at 4:57 pm | Permalink
Tom, are you sure? The Jamestown Jammers, I thought, were based in Chautauqua Countyin SW NY. Directions from their website have them in Jamestown, NY (716) area code
BristowNats | 29-Aug-06 at 9:45 pm | Permalink
OTM is not near transportation routes?!?! I-66 & Rte 28 are near there and provide better access to Ffx than 123 or Yates Ford Rd.
Property: The old police station at the Courthouse is still County property and is surrounded by parking lots but, in the end, this would have to be approved at some level by Manassas which leads us to the old farts and the NiMBYs you mentioned. The County can keep whatever business deals it has with the stadium and the OTM businesses get the eaters and drinkers before and after the game.
Population Center: The Manassas population center beats the residential Coles district surounding the stadium by a mile and would be a better able to deliver fans during the week than the Coles/Woodbridge folks who just spent 12+ hours away from home. If the Potomac weekend attendance is as solid as you say then that highlights how abysmal it is during the week.
I give the team credit, they create a good family atmosphere. Too bad they have been hamstrung by a poor product and a mediocre location.
Wooden U. Lykteneau | 30-Aug-06 at 8:04 am | Permalink
No argument on how sparse the crowds are midweek, but that’s common across a lot minor leagues - a new stadium does help secure more season-ticket sales, which, in turn boosts attendance #s (which are, basically: season tickets + Group Sales + walkup)
I would, however, have to argue that Rte. 28 and I-66 aren’t any better than 123 or Yates Ford Rd. for Ffx folks (currently at least). In fact, I take the latter to avoid the traffic on 28S when I’m not driving from my work in Alexandria. Can’t really speak for I-66, except that when I listen in on my XM radio, I don’t usually hear anything other than “traffic is crawling from Centreville to Gainesville.” That may improve when 66 is finished, but that brings us back to the NIMBYs…