Ted Lerner has passed at 97

[IanRubbish]

To that point, the Nats best attendance season was 2005, the year before he bought the team.

Yeah, but they had 7 straight seasons of 30k+. 

Very mixed on Ted's legacy.  I like how he never allowed the stadium to get renamed "Guaranteed Rate" or something like that, and I like how he owned the real estate nearby so that the park would fit into the neighborhood (unlike OPACY whose surrounding neighborhood has become incredibly shady and all you want to do is get back to the car...by the 7th inning stretch).   But the tanking, especially the 2nd time around, has been too much and not appropriate for a large market team with high ticket prices.  On top of that, treating fans like fools who are supposed to buy into whatever PR Stan Kasten, now Rizzo, spits out about why they're not spending has been insulting to our intelligence. 

[Five Banners]

You might be thinking of the first pitch at Nationals Park (first exhibition game at the new stadium).

They called it the “home run charity game” IIRC. It was 11 days before the official opener, which figured to give them a little more time to get into the swing of things.

https://web.archive.org/web/20050408145459/http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20050403-102329-8023r.htm

[Senatorswin]

That was Dubya.  You might be thinking of the first pitch at Nationals Park (first exhibition game at the new stadium).

It's possible he didn't even throw out the first pitch but I know he was there trying to soak up the glory as if he didn't fight the stadium the whole way.

[Natsinpwc]

I didn't mean the Lerners were responsible for the stadium. That credit goes mostly to Williams, Evan and to some extent Linda Cropp for pushing it through. I was just agreeing about the affect the building of the stadium had on the area it was built in. BTW, it did bother me on opening day 2005 Adrian Fenty through out the first pitch when he fought the building of the stadium. I understand this has nothing to do with Mr. Lerner though.

Ok thanks. I misunderstood.

[PowerBoater69]

They called it the “home run charity game” IIRC. It was 11 days before the official opener, which figured to give them a little more time to get into the swing of things.

https://web.archive.org/web/20050408145459/http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20050403-102329-8023r.htm

Nats320 was the first fan quoted in that article. Here is his write up: http://nats320.blogspot.com/2008/03/first-game.html

[nfotiu]

There is a bit of a penny wise/pound foolish aspect to how the Lerner's have run the team that bothers me.  There was a decent settlement on the table for MASN that would have set the team up well.  It seemed short sited to duke it out for pride/stubbornness/spite or whatever it was that was driving them, but they should have taken the money when RSNs were hot, because the writing was on the wall that it was going to be a bubble.

Now we're seeing the same thing play out with the sale of the franchise.   He is turning down what is probably a fair offer (the team is only worth what someone is willing to pay), and we spend another season in this lame duck mode, the value is only going to be worse in a year or two.   I have a hard time envisioning a path back to competitive baseball with fans in the seats, and it will only get worse the longer this carries on.

I appreciated them as owners through the World Series, but leaving the city a team without much hope and an uncertain future taints his legacy a lot in my eyes.   

[machpost]

Nats320 was the first fan quoted in that article. Here is his write up: http://nats320.blogspot.com/2008/03/first-game.html

Now that's a flashback. I wonder that guy is still a fan. The biggest thing I remember is how he didn't handle criticism in the comments section too well.

[HondoKillebrew]

Now that's a flashback. I wonder that guy is still a fan. The biggest thing I remember is how he didn't handle criticism in the comments section too well.

I wonder about that, too. I used to see him at games but haven't in quite a while. 

[Natsinpwc]

Calling his wife or girlfriend the African Queen was a bit much for me.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Calling his wife or girlfriend the African Queen was a bit much for me.

yah, I mean the Navy heard the African Queen was hanging out around the Anacostia and decided they needed to carefully move the USS Barry out from the Navy Yard before they ran into it.

[PowerBoater69]

I wonder about that, too. I used to see him at games but haven't in quite a while. 

I'm just glad that he leaves his blog up, so much great info from the early days. Most of the old blogs disappeared when the owners stopped paying to keep them up. He had his detractors but no one could touch his level of coverage of all things Nats and Nats Park.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

I rheard that he was really into animal rescue somewhere in NoVa, which as far as I'm concerned pretty much gives him an automatic pass for all of that shameless shilling and superfan grandstanding.   

[imref]

The Nats will wear a patch and will induct Ted Lerner into the Ring of Fame this year.

Seen on reddit: They will only partially induct him this year, the entire induction will be deferred over the next nine years