When the rains came late in yesterday's game against the Astros, the game on the field came to a halt. Tied at 10, the game is suspended, to be resumed when the Nats travel to Houston in July. There were no winners, but somebody lost: Nats fans.
Even though the game wasn't over, Nats fans are outta luck. As far as the team is concerned, fans saw all the game they're ever going to see, as Tim Lemke points out.
The team's press release sternly states, "Per Major League Baseball rules, this afternoon's Nationals-Astros contest is considered a regulation game and therefore no rain checks will be granted."
Screw you, Nats fans!
In the team's defense, that is the league's official policy. The teams completed five innings; it's a regulation game.
(Besides, they helpfully have urged Nats fans to have "patients" with the delays)
As always, this team (and its management) is concerned with the exact letter of the law, and not the spirit.
Lemke argues, "If club officials were savvy, they'd offer all fans with tickets to Tuesday's game the ability to come back for any non-premium weekday game. It would be the Nationals saying 'sorry you missed the end. Thanks for putting up with the rain. Your support is important to us. Please come see another game, on us.' The club would lose very little. But it would gain a lot in the goodwill department."
They just don't care about goodwill.
Last season, the Nats offered a mid-season promotion where fans who bought a mini package of tickets to the sections that weren't selling at all would get free Diamond Club tickets to the final home game of the season.
That game was rained out and never replayed, and the team's policy was that since the ticket was a complimentary ticket with no face value, there was nothing to be redeemed.
Charming.
The lesson, as always: You'll get exactly what you pay for -- in this case, a few innings of substandard, Triple-A quality ball at big-league prices.
Chris Needham used to write Capitol Punishment. He notes that his couch is dry, and that the beer is cheaper at home, too.
