ESPN 980 Quiets Wood, Local Baseball Chatter

Wood also has some interesting theories on the Nationals' dismal television ratings, with only about 9,000 viewers reportedly tuning in per night to watch on MASN and MASN2, according to numbers published three weeks ago by Sports Business Daily.

For one, Wood said he had a hard time believing a team with an average attendance of about 27,000 fans per game could only be drawing a third of that number to their television sets. Then again, he added, judging from purely anecdotal evidence gathered while answering listener questions over the last 15 months, he also believes that there are some viewers out there who still haven't been able to figure out the difference between MASN and MASN2.

"If you get used to seeing the Nationals play on MASN, and then you turn it on and the Orioles happen to be on, there are some people who just assume the Nationals aren't on that night and don't look for them anywhere else," he said. "But I really do think 9,000 is way low.

"The Orioles [ratings] are fairly low, too, and at this point, I really don't put much stock in some of those numbers. If a club was drawing attendance like Tampa or the Marlins, 13,000 a game in the ball park, then 9,000 would make some sense."

Some of his listeners called to say they were not happy that all the Nationals games are not aired in high definition. In fact, only 40 games of both the Nationals and Orioles are in HD and, Wood said, "some people have become such HD snobs, they say 'I'm not going to watch it unless it's in HD.' They chalk it up to the cheapness of MASN, but I don't buy that. MASN is still considered something of a start-up, and I'm sure that number is going to increase. But I promise you, budget has nothing to do with it. They don't skimp on anything."

There are other theories on the seemingly low ratings, but the fact that the Nationals are deep in the cellar, with the worst record in the major leagues, with a roster decimated by injuries, surely has to be an overriding factor.

That being said, the Nationals and MASN also could be doing more to promote the team and the telecasts, whether it's print ads, broadcast buys, billboards or even ads on the side of Metro busses.

The fact that Orioles ratings are better than Nats' numbers in the Washington market also ought to be somewhat embarrassing to a team ownership that clearly has been penurious on spending the money to put a decent team on the field. Winning almost certainly will be the ultimate factor in how many people buy tickets or tune in the broadcasts.

And now sadly, with the decision to eliminate Phil Wood from the only sports talk station in town, is it any wonder that hardly anyone is talking all baseball, all the time on the airwaves, save for the game broadcasts themselves.

Then again, how 'bout those Redskins?

Leonard Shapiro can be reached at Len.Shapiro@washingtonpost.com.