Fans Support Lagging For Last-Place Nationals WASHINGTON, D.C. (wypr) - America has seen more optimistic springtimes than this one, with a recession that seems to have no end in sight. But baseball is still relatively cheap entertainment - or so the sport tells us. And the Nation's Capital has a year-old ballpark to house a team that came to town just five years ago.

THAT'S worth the price of admission on a pleasant May evening - ISN'T it?

"We gave a demonstration at his school, so, the teacher gave us a couple of passes, so you know, here we are.''

"We bought the grandstand tickets, they were five dollars-a-piece, the lowest tickets you could get.''

Those were the voices of fans at Nationals Park that night, part of an announced crowd of almost 19-thousand - about half of the stadium's nearly 42-thousands seats. There's no sugarcoating how bad that figure is - but the reasons are not hard to find. The Nationals began the game with the worst record in major-league baseball, and they faced another last-place team, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

As money gets tighter, the chances that the average fan would spend his or her money on those teams decrease. And that increases the problems for a Nationals franchise playing in a stadium that cost more than 600 million dollars of public money to build.

Through mid-June, baseball's overall attendance is down 10-percent, and nearly four-fifths of the teams are off last year's pace. The biggest fall is in D.C., roughly 27-percent down from last year. The average crowd is just over 21-thousand and falling, along with the Nats' win percentage. Their average ticket, one of the highest in baseball, costs just under 31 dollars.

Those who do show up, often cut corners where they can. Like the Scha-VOH-nee family of Fairfax, Va., Vince, Michelle and their young children Madelynn and Jude, who passed on their preferred seats behind the dugout in favor of the upper deck.

"Right, way up in left field near the very top. We probably won't make it up to those seats, because we'll venture around and just try to enjoy the scenery. But at least you can get into a game for just 20 dollars and not 200.''

The Alstons of Upper Marlboro, Md. - two adults and three young boys - came out for a special promotion that night for federal employees. They admitted not going often, because of the cost. And it's not just the cost of the tickets, said Farnsworth Alston.

"With the way the economy is, and the way they're playing, a regular price ticket, that's, you know, that's kind of steep. And then the food? We just walked by and the lady said a Coke was four dollars and 50 cents. Yeah oh, yeah.''

At that concession stand on the left field concourse, a hot dog also went for four dollars and 50 cents. Nearby, a vendor hawked 16-ounce bottles of beer for seven-50 and peanuts for four dollars. None of this is out of line with the average big-league ballpark - just out of line for the average family, watching two below-average teams.

This is why the Miles family of Washington doesn't attend a lot of games, and why it took a special case - the free passes for the science demonstration - to get Al, his wife Rebecca and their grandson Alex, to the ballpark that night.

"By the time you park your car, and if you have to purchase your tickets, and you bring your children with you, and your snacks, I think you're gonna be out a couple of hundred dollars. I parked in the 25-dollar lot, just to be close because I have my wife and grandkid with me here, because I didn't want them walking up and down the street. But the economy being what it is, it's rather expensive.''

It's creating the worst possible nightmare for the home team and the visitors. The Pirates also play in a publicly-financed ballpark in Pittsburgh, built in 2001. Like the Nationals, they've failed to parlay that into a contending team or into big crowds. They're working on a 17th straight losing season, and attendance at P-N-C Park is below 18-thousand-a- game, off 13-percent from 2008.

Yet nobody at the other end of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway can afford to gloat, not with the freefall in progress at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Tomorrow, in Part 2, hear how Baltimore and the Orioles are handling the downturn in the economy, and in the standings.

I'm David Steele, reporting from Nationals Park in Washington, for 88-1, W-Y-P-R.
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