Washington Post writer Daniel LeDuc took a look at the Nationals’ schedule this year are realized that there are no afternoon weekday games this year. The team had weekday afternoon games scheduled in the past, when they played at RFK, but have cited traffic concerns as the reason for abandoning them this year.

Frequently called the “Businessman’s Special,” weekday afternoon games have always provided a a good excuse for skipping out of work. Much like moving up to a better seat after the third inning, another thing the Nationals have tried to abolish, afternoon games are an important baseball tradition. They also tend to come at the end of a series and give teams that are traveling extra time to get to their next destination.

But pre-season traffic concerns were largely unfounded, and in the article team president Stan Kasten left open to possibility for weekday afternoon games to return next season. While afternoon games in Washington have generally been well attended, obviously, more people can make it to night games. We wouldn’t put it past people who are currently trying to get $100,000 a day from the District because the stadium was supposedly not finished on time to use traffic as a way to sell more tickets.

Photo by emilygoodstein