Fredericksburg Nationals cancel inaugural 2020 season

The Fredericksburg Nationals ended their 2020 inaugural season before it ever began.

The ballclub, which changed its name from the Potomac Nationals and moved from Woodbridge to a new $35 million stadium in Fredericksburg, called it quits today.

The players never took the field due to coronavirus fears.

The ball club says:

FredNats Fans,

As some of you may know, Minor League Baseball just released the following statement:

Major League Baseball™ has informed Minor League Baseball™ that it will not be providing its affiliated Minor League teams with players for the 2020 season. As a result, there will not be a Minor League Baseball season in 2020.”

While we are completely heartbroken over the loss of our inaugural season in 2020, we look forward to many more seasons in the years to come.”

“We didn’t move to Fredericksburg for an amazing 2020 season, we moved to Fredericksburg for an amazing next 20 seasons,” said FredNats General Manager, Nick Hall.

We plan to continue to host events in and around the ballpark and to spread the love of the game that we all miss so dearly.

We want the thousand plus Founder’s Club members, all of whom acquired great seats for the season and anyone else who has a ticket plan to know, that the seats you picked will still be yours for the 2021 season prepaid by your payment in 2020. If you are a season ticket holder or a mini plan holder, your ticket rep will be in touch shortly to discuss what the cancellation of this season will look like for your ticket plan.

Thank you for remaining patient with us through these unprecedented times. We couldn’t be more excited to bring baseball to the burg. Although it might not be in 2020, we are committed to bringing an amazing show to Fredericksburg in 2021 that will set the tone for many years to come.

In recent weeks, the stadium has been open for fan tours, which has provided area residents with the first glimpse inside the new ballpark, located at Celebrate Virginia South on Carl D. Silver Parkway next to the Fredericksburg Expo & Convention Center.

Team owner Art Silber closed the deal with city officials for the new stadium last fall. The ballpark was still under construction on what would have been an opening day, April 23, when they were scheduled to play the Frederick Keys.

The stadium will host a fireworks show on Saturday, July 4, at 9 p.m. The stadium won’t be opened to attendees. Team officials have asked those who want to see the fireworks to view them from their vehicles and to park within a two-mile radius of the stadium.