"Stinger" Steve Ray calls out the Nats for being slow pay

[Evolution33]

No surprise. Kudos to the Stinger for doing this. Many would just go away quietly. It would be one thing if this was an isolated case of one disgruntled employee with an axe to grind. But this isn't just one of several stories, it seems to be consistent with the way the Lerners handle everything.

I just got the packet in the mail from Andy Pfeffer (or whatever his name is.) Every season they waste money and send out this BS under the pen of Kasten, Lerner, not Pfeffer, even though it is the same verbiage written by the same horrible communication staff. Does anyone in the organization actually read this stuff and believe it? And do they really believe that the STHs that they are sending it to actually know so little about the organization that they will actually concur with their marketing BS?

It isn't just about the cheapness/frugality. It is the incompetence and the sense that they don't even try to do anything in a professional manner. The organization is run from the top down by people who simply don't seem to care. It is as bad and in many ways worse than a typical government bureaucracy, giving the impression that everything is done by a bunch of zombies who couldn't care less if what they do is perceived as a quality job or not. The Stinger just got caught in that. Part of it is likely a culture of not paying until you have to. But the other part of it is a culture of people running an operation like they just don't give a damn about what they are doing.

I think they have to lie in some parts in the season ticket holder package. I mean we might know that the pipeline isn't as great as they say, but really they have to lie. It isn't like you see adds like, "Hot Pockets: Your future is on the toliet." Or "Mad Dog 20/20: Sometimes taste doesn't matter, like when you're homeless."

[CALSGR8]

It is as bad and in many ways worse than a typical government bureaucracy, giving the impression that everything is done by a bunch of zombies who couldn't care less if what they do is perceived as a quality job or not.

We who work for the government have one thing to say:

Government Workers DON'T SUCK!

http://www.govloop.com/photo/government-doesnt-suck-rally-1?context=user

 

[TheStingerSteveRay]

http://thestingersteveray.blogspot.com/2010/11/number-of-people-asked-why-i-had.html

Although this thread is old news...it's nice to read some of the replies. After spending the last two seasons with the Potomac Nationals the fences are mended with the Washington Nationals & we can move forward with what was, in the end, a major administrative mistake and not done purposefully.

~Steve

[hammondsnats]

Stinger ... huge fan of your work over the years.  Kept close tabs on you w/ P-Nats too ... keep up the awesome work.

[GburgNatsFan]

Thanks for letting us know!

Although this thread is old news...it's nice to read some of the replies. After spending the last two seasons with the Potomac Nationals the fences are mended with the Washington Nationals & we can move forward with what was, in the end, a major administrative mistake and not done purposefully.

~Steve

[wpa2629]

Good to hear

[PowerBoater69]

Although this thread is old news...it's nice to read some of the replies. After spending the last two seasons with the Potomac Nationals the fences are mended with the Washington Nationals & we can move forward with what was, in the end, a major administrative mistake and not done purposefully.

~Steve

Wait, so now it was just an administrative error?  What happened to the thanks to those of us who posted messages calling for the team to pay up, did we get jerked around over an admin issue?  What happened to having to hire a lawyer to demand payment?  What happened to Lerner Family payment delays being an annual joke?  Are the Washington Nationals now "credit worthy"?

Somehow the original posting comes off as being a bit more sincere than the one laying the groundwork for a reconciliation.

UPDATE TO THIS POST: Thanks to a number of Twiiter friends this article was circulated around the blogosphere...and it's amazing what a little bad PR will do to get things moving. Within 48 hours I had the check from the Nationals in hand, in the bank & cleared. Thank you again to the guys in the white hats.

As the Nationals transitioned to the new ownership of the Lerner Family, they slowly got new corporate structure in the legal department, accounting, business affairs and so on...BUT...in spite of the best efforts of those departments...of the six checks for six seasons...all six checks were late.  One check was so late I had to unbook my honeymoon and rebook it, with significant financial penalties. I've gotten used to that "buyout" check being late. It's almost fodder for jokes with some of the support staff.

It's embarrassing for me to have to resort to "outing" an organization that for the most part has been like family. I protected them in many many cases from having stories and internal issues exposed in the media. I defended them in more ways than they will ever know. But now I have to resort to finding legal representation in order to force the team to pay me in a timely manner for those P.A. dates. The Washington Nationals are no longer a "credit worthy" client and no services will be offered at any discount or in advance until payments are made and cleared.

[tomterp]

Although this thread is old news...it's nice to read some of the replies. After spending the last two seasons with the Potomac Nationals the fences are mended with the Washington Nationals & we can move forward with what was, in the end, a major administrative mistake and not done purposefully.

~Steve

Steve! 

Thanks for dropping in, appreciate the update.  I had completely forgotten this thread anyway.   Who started it?   

Glad to hear things are better.  I think we all get the sense that things are better all around.  Certainly on the field at least.   

Feel free to drop in anytime, even if it's not to divulge deep dark secrets (though that would be okay, your secrets are safe with us here.   

[tomterp]

Wait, so now it was just an administrative error?  What happened to the thanks to those of us who posted messages calling for the team to pay up, did we get jerked around over an admin issue?  What happened to having to hire a lawyer to demand payment?  What happened to Lerner Family payment delays being an annual joke?  Are the Washington Nationals now "credit worthy"?

Good luck in your interrogation.   

[TheStingerSteveRay]

"Good luck in my interrogation"  LOL...thanks TomTerp...

Let's take this one at a time, with the understanding that I'm not going to say anything here that would "jump the shark", "screw the pooch", "crap the bed" or "fark the Fonzie" with the team after rekindling the professional relationship.

FROM POWERBOATER69:

Wait, so now it was just an administrative error?  What happened to the thanks to those of us who posted messages calling for the team to pay up, did we get jerked around over an admin issue?  What happened to having to hire a lawyer to demand payment?  What happened to Lerner Family payment delays being an annual joke?  Are the Washington Nationals now "credit worthy"?

PowerBoater69 leaping to conclusions with a false sense of outrage is actually pretty funny...but only in hindsight. His assumptions might have been more on point in 2010 when this whole issue first came up, but I can assure you guys that this forum and an article by my friend William F. Yurasko had a major impact on resolving the late payment.

http://www.yurasko.net/wfy/2010/11/some-support-for-steve-ray-pay-the-man-nats.html

  1. "Administrative Error"... The Nationals employee who was handling the invoices for game presentation had been fired & did not pass along the originals when she left. Thank goodness I had copies & the person who works right under that departmental supervisor had copies. Your postings and WFY's article put the onus on the team to resolve the issue quickly. I looked over the emails from that period this morning & the head of the revamped Accounting department took things into her own hands. The one day delay from finding the invoices and issuing the check was only a matter of getting an authorized signature.

  2. "Hiring a Lawyer" ... Why hire a lawyer when the issue was resolved in two days? I also studied Entertainment Law/Entertainment Management at UCLA and with few exceptions handle my own contracts with a review by my personal attorney. If there had been a refusal to pay...or an amount other than what was due...it might have been proper. I find lawyers just stink up the process.

  3. "Payment Delays Being a Joke" ... Since the team switched flagship stations to WJFK and brought spot production in-house I have no idea what the delays are now, or if they even exist. One of the things Stan Kasten did was revamp and bolster the administrative departments like Accounting, Legal, etc... so I'm sure there aren't the same type of problems as when the Lerners took the team from MLB control with it's under staffing. I consider Mark Lerner a professional friend and do not generalize about the family.

  4. "Credit Worthy" ... The relationship with the team has been exceptional & working down in the High-A Carolina League with the Potomac Nationals has kept me in the family. I can tell the difference between cordial and not being cold-shouldered each time I run into team representatives. At a recruiting event last Friday there were warm welcomes from 4 of the 6 executives...the other two I had never met.

...and for the record for those three who voted "disgrunted" in the poll, there was never any problem with not being picked as the primary P.A. Announcer. I was still the Producer of the Nationals Radio Network, still the TV & Radio promo voice, and both Stan Kasten and Mark Lerner said after the audition at RFK (in 13 degree February weather with the press box windows open!) my reads on the long promos like Jackie Robinson Day & Military Appreciation Day were exceptional, the player name intros from the "Hardest to Pronounce MLB Names" list were perfect, but Jerome had a younger sound & they could still have me as their on-air promotional voice...so it was a win-win. 

So as far as I'm concerned...interrogation over, I'm "un-gruntled" ...case closed.

[PowerBoater69]

PowerBoater69 leaping to conclusions with a false sense of outrage is actually pretty funny...

1. "Administrative Error"... Your postings and WFY's article put the onus on the team to resolve the issue quickly....and issuing the check was only a matter of getting an authorized signature.

2. "Hiring a Lawyer" ... Why hire a lawyer when the issue was resolved in two days?

Thanks for the responses!  Interrogation over (although I will claim credit for eliciting a more interesting response than the prior 'best wishes' postings), so I'm not digging for further info on the issue, but I would like to post a couple follow-up notes:

I'll cop to having a false sense of outrage but not to the part about leaping to conclusions, my statements were based solidly upon items written in your original blog post.

If it was such a simple issue as getting the right paperwork to the right person I'm not sure why you had to resort to a public blog posting, once again going back to the tone of the original post I'm not really buying that things were that quick and easy.

You brought up the lawyer in your original post, I just asked about it.

Congrats on getting back in good graces with the team.  Nothing more aggravating than dealing with an employer who doesn't want to pay what they owe, so I sympathized with you at the time.  Hopefully we'll be hearing you back in your old gig in the near future, it was BS that they let you go over their own failure to pay.

[PowerBoater69]

Steve "Stinger" Ray was the voice most associated with the Nats in the early days, he was on all of their commercials.

@DaveJageler
Very sad to hear of the passing of Steve Ray. He was our very first Nats studio producer in the early years working with Charlie, Jack, Dave Shea and myself. RIP Stinger

[CALSGR8]

Wes Johnson announced the same news