I realize that Peter Angelos owns the MASN cable TV network and therefore is out to shaft the Nationals any way he can. Just look at the meager rights fees the Nats have received in recent seasons, although negotiations are under way to restructure financial matters more equitably.
Having said that, let’s toss MASN a hardball question: Why in hell isn’t the station televising Saturday’s Grapefruit League opener between the Nats and Mets?
Given the Nats’ MLB-best 98-64 record and NL East championship last season and their sky’s-the-limit hopes for 2013, the game might have attracted MASN’s biggest exhibition audience ever — particularly with Stephen Strasburg on the mound. I know I would have watched.
Asked by e-mail why he and analyst F.P. Santangelo won’t be working this weekend, veteran play-by-play man Bob Carpenter replied, “[That’s] way above my pay grade.” Which means he doesn’t get it either.
The Grapefruit opener isn’t even on radio, although Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler will be doing Sunday’s game against the Marlins on 106.7-FM. The first of six telecasts from Florida won’t come until the evening of Feb. 28 against the Mets.
So I guess I’ll spend most of this weekend shivering (but hopefully not shoveling) and waiting a while longer for the first signs of spring. To quote former D.C. sportscaster Warner Wolf, a big fat Boo of the Week for MASN.
