Nationals Park - Opening Night Review

In the words of John Malkovich in Rounders "Pay him. Pay the man his fucking money."

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So I'm the ECB blogger who was lucky enough to snag tickets to Opening Night at Nationals Park. And yes, the stadium sucked up a lot of tax dollars. And yes, there are other parts of the city that are in trouble. But if anybody thinks that is unique to Washington, I'd like to point you up to another city 30 miles straight up Route 295 where this has been happening for 16 years now. But enough about that, I'm still boiling because I read the Washington Post editorial that somehow seems to expect Nationals Park to cure teen pregnancy in DC, stop poverty, and make people in Ward 8 think that it's not alright to elect a former crackhead repeatedly to represent them on the City Council. On to the truly magical game.

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And I didn't stay until the end. I did not see the picture depicted above. It's Murphy's Law. I never leave games early. However, I close on my first house Tuesday, have an insane day today, had been at the stadium since 5pm, was frozen pretty well and through, and decided alongside my dad that we'll be back often enough this season (9 more times and counting) that we could leave early. I think that's how it always goes the only time that you decide to leave a close game early. I didn't even know there was a great ending until my voice mail goes off when the Metro train exited the tunnel and I have one of our loyal six ECB readers who had been watching the game from Michigan describing an incredible finish.

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I guess the best thing for me to do is to break this up into sections...

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Metro:

Nicely done WMATA. Very nicely done. They planned, planned, and planned some more. There were lots of people, but that was to be expected. They did a fantastic job of moving people into the station, down the escalators, and onto trains. And they didn't let trains leave the station after the game until they were completely full, then they'd roll the next one in. They literally just had trains lined up. They ran "shuttle trains" between Navy Yard (the Nationals Park stop) and Mount Vernon Square... essentially a five-stop route that allowed trains to service the ballpark more frequently and hit the two big transfer stations (L'enfant Plaza and Gallery Place). If you're going to practically demand that people take Metro, you better make sure that you've got a good gameplan in place. And Metro surely did. For as much shit as they take on a daily basis, Metro hit this one out of the park.

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Ballpark Area:

Work in progress. Literally. You come out of the Navy Yard Station and it's a half-block walk to the centerfield gate. Along that route, by the start of next season, we will see a half-block of bars, retail, restaurants, and other things that will make going to a game all that much better and will finish filling in the blanks of what RFK always lacked (i.e. getting to the game 10 minutes before first pitch, leaving immediately after last pitch) and what I've always liked about Camden Yards (get to the game a few hours early, down a few at Pickles, head across the street into the game). For now, it is a sea of construction, cranes, and worksites on both sides of the street.

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Ballpark Atmosphere:

The fact that the Ballpark Area is still a work in progress is not fatal because there are countless places inside the park to grab a beer and chill out before the game begins. The Nats of course stand to profit because a beer is $7.50. But I would highly recommend The Red Loft, which is directly above The Red Porch restaurant in centerfield. Trust me, the Loft is going to rapidly become the place to hang out before games. It's a huge porch that overlooks the whole stadium. Imagine if the Orioles set up a large bar in the bullpen picnic area of Camden Yards, except the bar was elevated and felt closer to the plate. That's what you get with the Red Loft. It's probably about 40 feet above field level and is a hell of place to watch BP, chill out, and relax after a day of work. There is also the Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk which is a huge and wide concourse behind the scoreboard with tables and conveniently located next to the ballpark Five Guys location. Not such a great view though because you're behind the scoreboard. My favorite are the patios located around the stadium on the ends of the 200-level concourse behind section 220 and the 300-level concourse behind section 320. You stand on these patios and on one side have a fantastic view out over the Anacostia River to the Navy Yard, to Alexandria, to National Airport (close enough so you can watch the planes land), and to the lights of Rosslyn and Arlington in the distance. On the other side, you've got a wide-open unobstructed view of the field with the Capitol Dome looming directly overhead down the third base foul line. Another great place to hang out before the game.

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Ballpark Food:

Incredible options. If you want Ben's Chili Bowl, be prepared to wait in a very long line. The good news is if you want a Chili Half Smoke, every Nats Dogs stand around the ballpark serves Ben's Chili Half Smokes. My dad and I did Hard Times Cafe. And yes, the Chili Nachos that are enough food to last you for three meals, will have you gassy enough to destroy the air quality around your seat for the entire game, and will cause you to ingest enough calories to survive four days with no food, are still only $8.50, the same price they were at RFK back in 2006. This is going to be my go-to ballpark food. There were also very popular Red Hot and Blue outlets, and Taste of the Majors is very unique (and located directly behind my season ticket section). For those unfamiliar, Taste of the Majors will offer food unique to the visiting team. For instance, when the Phillies come to town, enjoy a Philly cheesesteak. When the Astros come to town, enjoy Texas BBQ. When the Pirates come to town, enjoy a pierogi. Long lines for concessions again last night and they really are going to have to work to train the concessionaires to work faster. But, unlike RFK, you didn't get screamed at by your concessionaire when you finally got to the head of the line. Fuck you Aramark. Nice to have known you. Or not.

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Team Operations:

This is a team and ownership group that listens to its fans. Reading the Nationals message boards, the team already made changes to correct things that had not been optimal at the exhibition game against Baltimore in time for the gates to open last night (stanchions placed at concession stands to prevent lines from spilling onto concourse), separate lines at some concession stations for those who only wanted simple things like a soda. The team also worked hard to make every person who works at the stadium polite and pleasant. From the women who scan your tickets to the people at the concession stands to the ushers checking your ticket... everyone is pleasant, has a smile on their face, and is quick to have a conversation with you. It's amazing how much that impacts one's general feeling about the ballpark. It works. Contrast this with Danny $nyder or Peter Angelos and how they run their respective franchises, deaf to the concerns of their paying customers.

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Presidential Appearance:

Yeah... security is just a little tight when the President is throwing out the first pitch. Let's put it this way... the Secret Service at each gate is not messing around. And when the team says get there early to avoid lines, they mean it. Those not at the main gate where there were about 10 security stations lined up had waits of about an hour to pass through security. And yes, people booed President Bush. Some people in my section were screaming some pretty mean shit at him. Everyone knows DC is not a very Republican place, and that's putting it mildly (see 1984 Presidential election). Not to mention that Bush has vetoed numerous times bills that have made it to him through both houses that would allow DC representation in the House. He's not a popular guy around DC or around the nation. Still, I didn't boo him. I wouldn't have booed him if I hadn't been too busy trying to snap a picture of him. But I understand those who did. I don't agree with their decision because I believe that you either respect the Office of the Presidency or you do nothing. Anybody who is surprised that he got booed either lives in a really, really, really red state, lives under a rock, or has zero understanding of the DC area political climate.

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Music and Video:

The ballpark is just insane when it comes to this. We didn't have a good angle for the Jumbotron and yet every picture was clean, crisp, and beautiful. In fact, calling it a Jumbotron doesn't quite do it justice. Maybe in Enormotron. Or something like that. Great music selection, played at an appropriate volume. A little chorus of Motley Crue's Mama I'm Coming Home when a run crosses the plate. A little AC/DC Thunderstruck when the team takes the field surrounded by fireworks and a screaming siren. I wish they would show more replays but I read somewhere that there are new MLB restrictions on this. It's something that will never take away from the game experience in my mind, but can certainly add to it. And this definitely adds to it.

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Bottom Line:

The stadium doesn't necessarily have the beauty of a Camden Yards, an AT&T Park, or a PNC Park. But it is distinctly Washington. There are great views of the monuments from much of the upper level. It's a clean, well-run, and enjoyable place to watch a game. It's a home for the Nationals. I think that in the scheme of recently opened parks, it will be well ahead of Minute Maid Park (too gimicky) and Great American Park (too blah). I think it will fall in line with Citizens Bank Park of a great place to watch a game that is comfortable, has good sightlines, is fan friendly, fairly easy to access by public transportation, and pays homage to a city. For anybody remotely close to DC, I think you owe it to yourself to catch a game at Nats Park. Do yourself a favor, come early, explore the vistas from the upper concourses, grab a beer at the Red Loft, and find out for yourself how DC has fallen in love with the Nats. Having been to lots of games at both Camden Yards and in DC, I now can tell you that a greater percentage of Nats fans rock the Nats gear to the ballpark than O's fans who rock the Orioles gear to Camden Yards. The team is getting a foothold in the city and if they can build on the success of the stable of young arms in the minors and young talent in the field (Kearns, Milledge, Zimmerman, Dukes), the Nats will be a viable franchise for quite some time.