Those Who Forget the Past...

...can REALLY make a fool of themselves in public.

ESBP 2: The Washington Story

Last week, in honor of the Baltimore Orioles posting their lowest attendance ever at Camden Yards, I inaugurated my personal economic indicator: Empty Seats at Ball Parks, or ESBP. Unfortunately, the latest example struck a little closer to home.

The Washington Nationals set an unfortunate record of their own on Monday night as only about 20,000 fans showed up to watch their second home game of the season against the Florida Marlins (pictured). 20,000 doesn't sound so bad, you say? Well, 20,000 is the smallest attndance ever for a second game in a brand new stadium in the modern era. I was there, and let me say the crowd seemed even smaller than the official total.

Oh, and the Nats dropped the game 10-7.

There Are No Recessions in Baseball...or Are There?

Last night, the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Tampa Bay "Don't Call Me Devil" Rays 9-6 in front of 10,500 presumably shivering fans, the smallest crowd to ever watch a game in the 17-year history of Camden Yards. Yawn.

Being a Nats fans, I normally wouldn't give two hoots about this story. Two bad teams battling it out early in the race to see which will finish last in the AL East this year. But having given it a little thought, let me introduce my latest economic indicator: Empty Seats at Baseball Parks, or ESBP.

Ever since the sport recovered from the disastrous 1994 strike and started looking the other way while the likes of Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire and Roger Clemens juiced themselves up, baseball's attendance has risen every year. But it would seem to me that the soaring ticket costs to pay escalating player salaries combined with the 162-game season makes baseball particularly vulnerable to an economic downturn. Combine that with corporate belt tightening (anyone interested in that Bear Stearns box at Yankee Stadium?), and you have a potential for a steep drop in fannies in the seats.

So, I will be periodically revisiting this topic as the MLB season unfolds. My prediction is for an overall drop of between 5-10% in the ESBP indicator this year, and the only reason it won't be larger is because most season ticket renewals had to be paid around last December, before the bottom really started to drop out on the economy.

As always, I welcome your predictions.

Bush Booed, Crowd Subdued

The wife and I had a great time celebrating the first-ever regular season game in the new Washington Nationals Stadium last night. Though we tried to beat the crowds leaving on the Metro, and therefore missed third baseman Ryan Zimmerman's game-winning walk off home run (pictured), we still very much enjoyed the experience.

Chimpy was unfortunately on hand to uphold the inane tradition of prez-nits throwing out the first pitch. For that he was loudly booed (yes, I helped with that), though not nearly as lustily as he deserved to be.

In fact, the crowd overall seemed quite subdued given what should have been a grand celebration. The Nats jumped to an early lead, but for most of the game it seemed like the stadium was only about a quarter full. This was quite a contrast to the first Nats game in RFK back in 2005, when spontaneous cheers erupted the whole night and even got the upper deck physically rocking a few times.

I couldn't help but wonder if the economy wasn't a factor affecting the mood. Yes, most of the people who could afford to attend the game are likely to still be doing well financially, but as that faint whisper in the ear that "all is not well" grows louder, perhaps even those who have remained largely oblivious thus far are finding more difficult to celebrate with unbounded enthusiasm.

Chimpy Set to Throw Out the First Pitch at the Nationals Home Opener

Yes, it is unfortunately true, Little King Dipshit is taking time out from his "busy" schedule to befoul the Washington Nationals new stadium by making a soft toss off the mound before the National Anthem on Sunday Night. The White House has said that he will be there unless there is a "national emergency." Well, pardon me, but I think what is happening with the economy, not to mention the recent increase in violence in Iraq, pretty well qualifies as a fucking national emergency.

Chimpy, I know that having the prez-net throw out the first pitch on opening day is a silly Washington tradition and all, but do us a favor and stay the fuck home. As a season ticket holder, I know I'll be one of the ones booing myself hoarse.