Cramer: Nationals Game for $1?

How badass does Strasburg look?

About a week ago, my co-writer and co-editor Wills Klein wrote an article concerning the promotion the Nets are offering for a handful of home games this year. He seemed to think it was a pathetic move by a fast-sinking Nets franchise, hoping to accumulate some form of revenue in what will essentially be a throw away season.

Well, the economy's effect can now be seen in baseball. The Washington Nationals are reportedly selling 2,000 tickets for $1 for Friday's home game against the Brewers. Why? Because their new $15 million man, Stephen Strasburg, will be on attendance for an on-field interview at 2 PM for a 7 o'clock game. What do you think the chances are any of the up to 2,000 people stay from 2 PM until 7 PM to watch the worst team in the league take on a mediocre Milwaukee team? Yeah, me too.

Give the Nationals some credit though. It took them until about an hour before the trade deadline to finally sign Strasburg to a contract, and they want to get as much out of the $15 mil they threw at him as possible. Is he a franchise savior? Probably not. I don't think it is humanly possible for any one man to save that team, but I do believe that they can get some fan attention and perhaps raise their attendance a little bit over the next couple of years. We won't really know until Strasburg gets the call up to the Majors, but I could see that happening pretty fast for a team that has won 43 games this year.