Can we just say, wow?! Nationals Ballpark is an absolute treasure…shall we say, a “National Treasure?” Uhthankyou. On Wednesday, as a part of a marathon day as chronicled in an earlier post (sidenote, don’t believe half of the things Gregg writes), we had the opportunity to tour this park before deciding to purchase last-minute tickets to Wednesday night’s game. You’ll recall that we had opted to start the games on Thursday night, but with Stephen Strasburg on the mound on Wednesday night, and with sweet seats available on StubHub for $10, we couldn’t resist. And we are pumped to now be catching two games at this wonderful ballpark.
Built in 2008 for about $600 million, the home of the Washington Nationals does not disappoint. With a capacity of 41,000+, this ballpark offers a great layout, nice views from anywhere in the stadium, a ton of history around the facility (including tributes to many Hall of Famers as well as Negro League players), and a cool kids play area that’s pretty awesome for adults, too. The tour took us on the field, in the visitor’s dugout, to the pressbox (which sits HIGH above all the seats, unlike most stadiums), and to the Diamond and Presidents’ Clubs. If you’re in town to catch a game, it is easily worth the $10 to take the tour the morning of the game (even if some of the other people on the tour are sort of weird…no further comment).
At the game itself, we sat in section 315 which happens to be next to the section we’re in on Thursday night. These seats are a great value and offer a view of the Capitol in the distance. We were impressed by all the SMALL things at this ballpark: the music is cool, the scoreboard quality and layout is superb, and all the media presentations down to the “end-of-the-inning” inning highlight video packages are simply top notch and very well done. Sorry to all the fellow Angel fans, but it makes the jumping Rally Monkey videos just look ridiculous. It’s hard to describe, but it’s all very sleek, tight, and just plain cool, alright?!
In addition to these observations, we found the ballpark staff to be very nice, the fellow fans to be good ones, and the food options to be plentiful. We had Ben’s Famous 1/2 Smoked “All the Way” Dogs (spicy smoked sausage topped with chili, shredded cheese, nacho cheese, mustard, and onions) on recommendation from our Tour Guide earlier in the day, and they were extremely delicious. It’s been said that they “smell like burnt heaven and taste twice as good.” Later in the night, we cruised to the Red Porch–a restaurant in center field–and each enjoyed a local brew before the end of the game.
As for the baseball aspect of the game, Stephen Strasburg struck out 10 through seven innings en route to picking up his ninth win of the season as the Nationals beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-2. Rookie sensation, Bryce Harper, went 1 for 2 with an RBI and a run scored. There were 27,485 in attendance, and no, Teddy Roosevelt did not win the President’s race. Tonight, we’ll be at Nationals Ballpark again as the Nats and Rays play the series finale.
Baseball on the Road 
“sidenote, don’t believe half of the things Gregg writes” – which half? I want to believe.