Beginning last Friday morning, the Nationals put single tickets for the May 3-5 series against the Phillies on sale.  The trick though is they will only be sold to people with credit cards tied to the Maryland, Virgina or DC addresses.  Live in Pennsylvania?  You are out of luck.  These are the only single game tickets on sale to the Nationals so far, and clearly this is an experiment to see what kind of response they will get. But it also is sending a clear message to the Nationals fans, one that should have been sent from the beginning.  The most important fans are the fans on the home team.  And while the team will benefit from a few Phillie fanatics that head south, the team does not want them overshadowing the fans who are in the park through thick and thin.

They are also sending a message to their own players, and to players who may potentially play for the Nationals.  No one wants to sign a contract with a team where they will get booed at their own games.  The Nationals are showing free agents that they will make moves to protect their players even on the business side of the operation.  Its a great concept.  Hopefully it works.

Do you live in Maryland, DC or Virginia?  Buy your tickets now!

While the job is the same for managers in smaller markets, the media might consist of 5 or fewer reporters before or after a game on a given day.  More than likely, even in those smaller markets the number is closer to 10, but in the big cities the number is closer to 30 on a daily basis and double that many times.  If each only asks one question each day- that is a lot of time spent answering questions.  Ventura should be able to handle that, until the questions get too focused on what he should have done in a particular game situation.  Reporters can work together to make sure that situations are addressed, or even beaten to death, and that can be a part of the job no manager is prepared for.

I think I have asked each of us to consider what it would be like to have 30,000 people boo us at our jobs each day.  Think more about what it would be like if we had to spend an hour after our 8 hours at work answering reporters questions about what we did during that 8 hours?  Now think about doing that every day?  It would get old wouldn’t it?  Think about those days when you just want to get out of your office, and instead you have to run the media gauntlet.

Quade’s words of warning are good ones. If anyone can step into this job without a day managing, it might be Robin Ventura.  He’s qualified to handle the media, just need to hope it doesn’t wear him out.

But the Royals are doing something more. Kansas City has installed 120 solar panels and will use they to help power the stadium.  While the panels might be enough to power four typical homes, they don’t come close to meeting the needs to a full stadium during a game, but they will do a fair amount to assist the team in making the fans happy.

“Your beer will be cooled by the sun” joked the spokesman for Kansas City Power & Light in this Steve Everly piece.

What is great about the Royals first steps here is that if it works, other teams will follow.  Perhaps the Royals will even install more trying to offset even more of their footprint.  Not often do you see new technology take root in a stadium in a small market, but Bully for the Royals for stepping out and giving this a shot.

Fuld, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 10, will be one of the camp’s nine instructors from the college or professional level all of whom have type 1 diabetes.  Instruction will be provided in baseball/softball, basketball, football, soccer, tennis and cheerleading. The camp is open to all type 1 diabetes patients from ages eight to 18.  Campers may register online at   usfdiabetescenter.org.

For more information, or to view the original press release, click here.

The Yankees hired Jim Hendry, former GM of the Chicago Cubs, as a special assistant to the General Manager.  One sure strategy in business is to hire someone who knows how the competition operates, and with the Yankees propensity to hire deposed GM’s, it seems they are living by that skill.  Remember two years ago when they hired Kevin Towers?  Like Towers, Hendry should bring a breadth of knowledge about the National League which can help the Yankees.  Not sure if his knowledge is something they already lacked, but hey, if you can afford it, bring in all the brains you can, right?

The Astros have determined that their fans want the team to remain being called the Astros.  I had begun to believe they might return to being called the Colt 45’s, the team’s original moniker, but with that being known more as a Malt liquor to most of the country, it probably is wise that the Astros stay the Astros.

The Mets are planning to sell 10 minority share units by the end of February, for $20 million each.  Not sure what that gets you, other than a very good parking place and some prime seats for you and whomever you want to bring to the game.  With the team not set to make money for a number of years, I am not sure how it could count as an investment- perhaps it will be someone’s tax write-off.  Nonetheless, it should keep the Wilpons and the Mets solvent for a few more years.