An Owner Going All Out and A College Not

Teddy Lerner has a lot of money and his son Mark has a baseball team (Washington Nationals). But the difference is that Mark likes to do something that most professional sports franchise owners won’t even think of, go out and play with the team. Well sort of...

I was sitting in the front row of the right field bleachers at Nationals Park yesterday afternoon prior to the Mets/Nats game watching batting practice (and drinking a $5 beer...good promotion btw!!). All of the sudden a lefty for the Nats launches a ball high and deep towards the outfield wall. A guy who looked a little older then most of the players drifted over on to the warning track and reached up to snag the ball. I thought it was one of the coaches who are routinely out there doing the same thing. The ball glanced off the tip of his glove and hit him square in the nose. The trainer came out with towels and the whole nine and he walked off the field.

Low and behold I come to find out today it was actually the aforementioned owner, Mark Lerner. Adam Kilgore writes the piece in the Washington Post today. How about that? Fortunately Lerner is ok after some stitches, but he’s getting ripped for being out in the field in uniform. I’m not happy about this. It’s his team and he can do whatever the hell he wants with it. If he wants to sign himself to a 10-day contract and go and play 3rd base, that’s his prerogative. Fans may not come to the games but he can do what he wants. William Yurasko seems to feel the same way.

I also want to touch on Brown University. When I run with other people I like to talk which gives me little time to think. That’s to everybody’s benefit trust me. But something I passed (no idea what it was now) reminded me of Brown University. Their sports teams are called the Brown Bears. How is it that Brown is called Brown? According to our friends at Wikipedia, it was named after the Brown family of the 1700 Rhode Island Browns. But isn’t it interesting that it’s the only University named after a color. There is a Black Hills University (SD) and Blue Mountain College (MS). There is also Green Mountain College (VT) and The University of Wisconsin –Whitewater. But no other school with just the color. This is an abomination that needs to be corrected right away. I would be open to anybody’s suggestion or just calling the place what it is (sorry Brown alums) “Not Harvard”. Let it be so.