The Prince William Park Authority has approved major renovations for the Pfitzner Field to begin after the Nationals’ season ends on September 6. Renovations will include the installation new grass, a new irrigation system, new sod and soil. The cost of this project will be about $300,000 and will be shared by Prince William County and the Park Authority. The Nationals will oversee the progress which is supposed to take 6 to 8 weeks to complete.
The field is 27 years old and was the subject of quite dust-up several weeks ago. Quoting Potomac owner Art Silber, according to insidenova.com:
“The field is 27 years old and has never been rebuilt. With the amount of clay underneath it and the natural subsoil in the area, it’s difficult to develop a proper drainage system and develop some low spots in the outfield. It’s also impossible to get the water to not accumulate. That has created some situations that are less than ideal.”
Park Authority executive director Jay Ellington said that one of the project’s main purposes is to raise the elevation of the outfield and that the Nationals are working on obtaining a waiver from the office of minor league baseball that allows the field to be under the regular field standard.
This project will be the latest in an attempt to get Pfitzner Stadium’s field in proper playing shape to avoid the difficult predicaments Potomac has experienced this year.
An April home series against the Frederick Keys was moved to Harry Grove Stadium in Maryland due to field issues.
A July 14 home doubleheader was postponed due to unplayable conditions even when the weather was perfect for a game.
Dust up is probably putting it mildy. The Washington Times reported a heated exchange of barbs that involved Washington Nationals’ general manager Mike Rizzo, Potomac National’s owner Art Silas and Prince William County Supervisor Chairman Corey Stewart.
The short version is as follows:
A ferocious storm tore through Northern Virginia last week. The hourlong deluge left creeks of muddy water flowing along roads, snarled traffic and soaked the field at G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, home to the Potomac Nationals, Washington’s high Class A affiliate.
When the next day’s doubleheader was postponed – on a pleasant evening more than 24 hours after the rain had stopped – Washington general manager Mike Rizzo issued a statement calling the field a “safety threat” and “even more dangerous” because of “unsupervised work.”
“He clearly doesn’t know what he was talking about,” Mr. Silber said. “He has no idea what has happened at our ballpark and really shouldn’t be commenting on it.
Enter Corey Stewart, who was not to be outdone or silenced:
“Rizzo ought to focus on doing his job, which could probably use some improvement,” Mr. Stewart said, voice shaking. “He’s talking out of his rear end. … He doesn’t know what’s happening because he didn’t bother to check.
“Frankly, he’s not a good manager. He’s received a lot of criticism for his performance for the job he should be doing. He should stick to the job he’s supposed to do instead of getting involved in something he doesn’t know about.”
Apprised of Mr. Stewart’s reaction, Mr. Rizzo responded in a statement to The Washington Times: “I don’t really understand Mr. Stewart’s comments. My concerns with playing conditions at Prince William County’s Pfitzner Stadium have related specifically to protecting our players and those of our opponents. I can’t imagine he doesn’t place the same value on player safety that I do, Major League Baseball does, the Carolina League does, and the Washington Nationals do.”
Never a dull moment when Corey Stewart is around. Maybe Corey could have chosen his words better. Perhaps less grinding of the guy’s persona and a little more debate on the issue at hand would have represented Prince William County better. Not our Corey. He went straight for the jugular and debased the manager on his over-all job performance. Is that what we call an ad hominem attack? Corey always provides high drama, even when it comes to baseball.
I only have one question: Does this $300,000 come out of the general funds or is it a bond project? Do we make money on the deal to pay off the $300,000? How does this work? Until Corey went wild, I never gave it much thought.baseball2
I don’t believe this, concerns over player safety just cuz the field is a little muddy? They should’ve seen some of the crap fields I had to play on when I was a kid.
Well, once these austerity measures take effect, no one in northern Virginia is going to have money to attend sports anyway.
I just want to know who pays the $300,000 to fix it. Will we get that money back from gate receipts eventually? How does that work.
You are right. No one will be able to afford sports events.
I hope the tea party folks who got their way are right. I will hold them to it starting today. they will get as much time as they gave Obama. He hadn’t been in office a day before it started.
If we do not fix the field the Potomac Nationals they will morw than likely move to Loudoun or some other nearby county. They offer $1 grandstand seats on Monday’s at home and $1 hotdogs. This is a very affordable night out with the kids. I’m not a big baseball fan, but Mr. Lafayette is a HUGE fan. He’s so pissed at what’s going on it’s not even funny. I contacted one supervisor about this very topic about a month ago.
With the current field conditions games are being postponed. This should not be happening. This problem should have been addressed a long time ago. The Nationals are sending their up and coming stars to the next level, because of the risk of injury. If the field current field conditions don’t run them off, Corey’s commentary will.
The problem with this money is that this was discussed in a closed meeting. This should have been discussed in public meeting time. Now, if they were discussing where possible land for a future stadium, I would agree with closed meeting. However, this was about the spending of tax dollars to correct a two decade plus old problem.
We have many boys and girls that play baseball/softball and having a team here is a good thing for our youth and families. Future stars of MLB should be playing here, not being sent straight to Harrisburg.
Moon, thanks for this thread. I can’t wait for the Mr. to hear about this. 🙂
@Lafayette
My wife mentioned that Strasburg should be joining the PNats fairly soon? Have you heard the same?
I used to never be interested in baseball. Company gave me some Club level seats for a Nationals game and man it’s different being there than watching on TV.
We wanted to pick up a 10-pack of tickets for PNats but with the babies on the way we figured we’d hold off for now and do it later. It was a good bet. 😉
We are about to build a new baseball stadium in Loudoun as we speak. It is part of the large Kincora development project. I believe we already have a team in the independent minor league program lined up to play there; but, if that ever falls through and you guys want to play fast and loose with your long-established PWC minor league team, well — build it, and they will come.
Lafayette is right. There are few things which give you more family fun at a reasonable price than a good minor league baseball program. My son in Haymarket takes his boys to your stadium often. But you will certainly lose your team if the playing field is substandard and invites injury. The baseball leagues and the players have career investments involved. Big difference between a future Major League prospect breaking a leg in a depression in the outfield and Starryflights as a kid falling into a mudhole in right field — or was that “left field”?
Thanks for your input, Wolverine. Lots of people really enjoy the Potomac Nationals. I had forgotten how much I loved baseball as a kid. Of course, I had a major crush on the MIck. I just watched Mantle and the movie with the asterisk after it…I can’t think of the name. Enjoyed them both, especially the Mantle one.
I still want to know who pays for the stadiums improvements.
What did you think of the pissing contest our chairman threw himself in the middle of?
@marinm
I believe Strasburg will be bypassing Potomac and is most likely going to Hagerstown a Class A team, as is Potomac. Bryce Harper went to Harrisburg ClassAA. These are players that should be playing here in our backyard, not Md. or Penn.
We would’ve taken the 10-pack off of your hands. 🙂 Hope the Mrs. and babies are doing well.
I’m still steamed we didn’t get to see Bryce Harper. 👿
For those unfamiliar Google Bryce Harper, that kid is a beast. Playing in the bigs straight out of High School.
Moon, I think it is a mistake to get in a pissing contest over something like this. Those major league enterprises are not small time stuff. If they get pissed off enough at conditions and see better opportunities elsewhere, they may pick up and move without even a howdy do. Rizzo is dead on. They have player investments to protect. It might be different if they were seeking to build a state-of-the-art stadium with bells and whistles and exploding scoreboards; but, when you are talking the basic quality and safety of the playing surface, you are in a much different arena.
And I, for one, would be quite ready to steal your Potomac Nationals right out from under you. I grew up less than a block from the stadium of a New York Yankee farm team. I actually shagged balls for the late Elston Howard once. I also saw Satchel Paige pitch when he was still in the old Negro League. That stadium was the center of existence for us kids. We were proud to be known as “The Knothole Gang”!
Those are neat memories. I remember them stopping class when I was in grade school so that we could listen to the world series on the radio. That was back in the day when there were no TVs in classrooms and a big break for kids might be a Christmas assembly or an air raid drill.
Our chairman often mouth flashes. I think he owes Rizzo an apology also.
A little bird just told me that the Potomac Nationals made a $25,000 campaign contribution to Corey Stewart. Why just to him?
Was the stadium improvement issue discussed in public forum or behind closed doors?