Associate Editor

The Washington Nationals have lost much this year -- ball games, fans and now even kosher food.

To the befuddlement of kosher-keeping Nats rooters throughout the Washington area, the cellar-dwelling club has been without an acceptable food concession since the beginning of this season.

A gastronomic reliever may soon be on the way, but until it arrives, fans like Glenn Easton will be miffed as they bear yet another indignity in an altogether forgettable season.

"It completely ruins the experience at the ballpark," said season-ticket holder Easton, executive director of Adas Israel Congregation in the District. "It's one thing to watch a last-place team lose just about every game. But when the thrill of eating a kosher hot dog is taken away, that makes it intolerable."

Kosher Sports, Inc., the New Jersey-based vendor that had supplied kosher food -- prepared under the supervision of a trained overseer known as a mashgiach -- for Nats fans since mid-2006 was terminated prior to the start of this season, leaving a kashrut gap at Nationals Park of at least two months and counting.

Beyond that, what transpired is about as clear as the infield fly rule.

Easton said that since the start the season he tried to find out why the ballpark was suddenly a kosher-free zone, and what might be done about it. He finally received an e-mail reply on May 22 from team staffer Jonathan Stahl, who said kosher food at the ballpark was "very important" to the Nats ownership as well as the fans "since they [the owners] observe the laws of kashrut. Our goal was to offer kosher food from the beginning of the season, but unfortunately [we] have not been able to work out the logistics of the operation."

In an interview last week, Marla Lerner Tanenbaum, a principal owner of the team, said that based on information she received from her brother, fellow Nats part-owner Mark Lerner, she understood that the park's kosher food provider was dismissed because "they were a huge disappointment." (Lerner could not be reached for comment.)

Tanenbaum did not specify, however, whether she was referring to Kosher Sports Inc. or to the Nationals former food concessionaire, Stamford, Conn.-based Centerplate, Inc., the stadium-wide food manager with which Kosher Sports had subcontracted. The Nats severed ties with Centerplate early this year after team officials indicated they were disappointed with Centerplate's performance, according to a January article in the Washington Business Journal.

A spokesperson for Centerplate could not be reached for comment -- nor could a representative of Chicago-based Levy Restaurants, which has succeeded Centerplate as the Nationals concessionaire.

Asked to clarify the situation, Tanenbaum advised WJW in an e-mail to contact Nats team president Stan Kasten. "I don't know the details," the e-mail added, "and it doesn't make sense for me to act as an intermediary on this."

Kasten could not be reached for comment. Nats spokesperson Chartese Burnett said earlier this week that the kosher food provider was jettisoned due to subpar performance, although she declined to mention Kosher Sports by name. She also said hot dogs that are labeled kosher have continually been available to stadium patrons at various concession stands, but their cooking or handling apparently is not supervised by a mashgiach.

Jonathan Katz, founder of Kosher Sports, initially said in an interview that his firm and the Nats reached a mutual termination agreement culminating what had been "a good relationship for three years."

But after hearing Tanenbaum's comments, he said the Nats management had engaged in activities that made it impossible for him to continue doing business with the club.

For example, Katz said, the Nats failed to fulfill their contractual obligations by incorrectly listing the locations for kosher concessions at the park on the team Web site and elsewhere. "People couldn't find us," he said.

In addition, he maintained, the team refused to reimburse him fully after $8,000 worth of still-fresh frozen kosher food had been thrown out during this past off-season. "I don't know who did the actual tossing," Katz added, "but I know they were instructed by the Nats to throw it out."

Katz also said one of his unused concession carts apparently had been tampered with, leaving it unlocked and therefore vulnerable to possible contamination from nonkosher ingredients.

"We didn't feel we could stay there any longer; we allowed ourself to be terminated," added Katz, who said he has never before experienced a similar situation. Kosher Sports operates at nine venues, including three major league ballparks.

Burnett declined an opportunity to review Katz's allegations or respond to them.

In his e-mail to Easton, Stahl said the Nats hope to open a kosher concession during the team's next homestand, which began Tuesday and continues through a week from today. Tanenbaum said Shalom Kosher Market in Silver Spring apparently will be the next kosher provider, although a Shalom part-owner who was contacted Monday said he was unaware of that. Burnett said the team hopes to provide fans "with a great kosher product" by mid-June, but she declined to name a prospective contractor.

As of Monday, the Nats were 13-36, by far the worst record in baseball, and their attendance has declined precipitously since last year. Tanenbaum conceded that this has indeed been a tough year. "But it's not over yet," she added in time-honored baseballese.