Paul Begala, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, had to work for his hookup. He went through the team's lottery and was assigned seats several levels above the field. "Nosebleed," he said. "Just terrible."
After he rejected those tickets, Begala said, he found another option. His wife had a friend who knew an aide to James V. Kimsey, a founder of America Online. Kimsey is also a partner in the Washington Baseball Club. Now, Begala said, he's sharing tickets in Section 209, along the first base line.
Paul Begala went to his wife's friend's friend.
(File Photo)
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"I'm happy as a clam," he said.
A more effortless connection was apparently made by journalist George F. Will, who has written books about baseball and frequently refers to the game in his columns. It seems to have been so easy that Will can't recall how it was done. "I don't even remember," he said. "It was a long time ago."
He, too, has seats along the first base line.
Some corporations and law firms, which often use their tickets to entertain current and prospective clients, were able to take a direct path. "I called the Nationals and said, 'I'm from Raytheon,' " said Miles Sawyer, manager of U.S. business development operations for the Massachusetts-based defense giant.
Though the company had waited to buy season tickets until spring training had begun, Sawyer said, Raytheon soon had eight seats in the lower infield boxes at RFK.
Experts on the business of sports said corporations are valued season-ticket holders because they can often afford to spend more than individual fans and are more likely to return year after year. A spokesman for The Washington Post, Eric Grant, said the newspaper has purchased 25 season tickets "through the regularly established process" for companies to sign up. Some of those seats are in the 100 and 200 levels, between first and third base, he said.
Corporations that agree to sponsorships or advertising deals with a team also typically receive tickets as part of those deals.
Most congressmen and senators surveyed don't seem to be buying season tickets. They don't have to; the office they hold is its own connection, since plenty of lobbyists have seats. Bucking this trend were U.S. Reps. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) and Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), who have seats behind home plate. Spokesmen for the two said both bought into a season ticket group after the seats had been obtained.
Another journalist, Morton M. Kondracke, executive editor of Roll Call, said he got his seats through a connection to the Washington Baseball Club. He started out by talking to David G. Bradley, chairman of Atlantic Media Co. and another partner in the baseball club.
Now, Kondracke said, his group has seats in Section 215, one level up behind home plate. But, this being Washington, Kondracke is wondering about the people whose seats are one level closer to the action.
"There are apparently 900 seats better than me," he said. "So I wonder, who are these 900?"
Winston Lord, executive director of the Washington Baseball Club, said his organization compiled a long list of people interested in tickets. Nationals officials said they gave special consideration to many of the first names on that list, including 10 Washington Baseball Club investors.
