Nats Owners: Clueless and Tone Deaf?

Owner proud of the job his accountants do

By CHRIS NEEDHAM

Updated 1:15 PM EDT, Fri, Jul 24, 2009

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When the Nationals fired Manny Acta, many fans lobbed criticism at the owners of the Nats for not showing up. The Lerner family sent Stan Kasten out to publicly do the dirty work, and they couldn't even be bothered to sign the "We sawwwwy" letter they sent out to fans.

After seeing the way Mark Lerner answered the round of softballs lobbed to him by mlb.com, it's easy to see why. The family is tone deaf.

Hey, Mark. What is it that your family -- the one who's decried as a bunch of money-loving, profit-first scoundrels -- most proud of that you've been able to accomplish since taking control?

"There were absolutely no controls or checks and balances on the business operations side of the game. The MLB-run Nationals accounting office was still in Montreal, and we had to hire and train a brand new accounting department."

Sweet merciful deity in the sky.

Nats fans can look proudly toward the office building attached to Nats Park, knowing that whatever happens on the field, those accountants sure are balancing those ledgers properly.

Perhaps, worse, in an effort to suck up to the "great" Bud Selig, Cousin Mark drops another napalm bomb on the few Nats fans who haven't swallowed the "Plan!" Kool-Aid whole-hog. "The Commissioner has said he believes we understand that the most effective way to build a franchise is through prudent investment, not buying sprees that damage the parity of all baseball."

It sounds good, but what that really means is that the Commish is happy that he has a franchise in a large market that's behaving like a small-market team. Selig got exactly what he wanted; owners who'll toe the company line doing what's best for what Selig views is the best interest of baseball, not what's always best for the Nats or Nats fans. In short, he got a stooge.

So the Lerners are proud that they run the business toughly, and that they're toeing the company line. Gosh, Nats fans, isn't that great?

We liked it better when the Lerners were hiding out in their money vault, diving into the swimming pool full of gold coins.

Chris Needham used to write Capitol Punishment. Now he tweets about the Lerners' cheapness.