Nationals Park 5/4/08 underneath a 72-degree cloudless sky, 5-2 win vs. Pirates No, this was not uttered by Eight Belles, but was actually uttered by Nationals Park, in the wake of the final two games of a four game series in which the Nats took both games surrounded by a total crowd over the two games of over 65,000. And bear in mind, this wasn't exactly a team that would draw a lot of buzz. This was the Pittsburgh Pirates in town.
A few comments on Pirate fan... dude... the stovetop hat that a lot of you all seem to enjoy wearing... it's manufactured primarily as a JOKE. It's not cool or fun or trendy to wear this eyesore and embarrassment to major league baseball uniform history to a game. Further, the total lack of Pirate fan love for any remotely recent Pirate players is all-too-clear when you take a look at the jerseys that they wear. I spotted one Jason Bay jersey. I spotted tons of Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente jerseys. And of course Pittsburgh fans seem to feel the need more than any other fanbase to commit the #1 jersey-wearing sin... get the customized jersey with their own last name on it.
That said, let's talk Nationals Park... we have an ownership group who listens. For the first weeks of the stadium, the single biggest complaint amongst fans was the fact that the biggest scoreboard in the game was being put to total waste. All you'd get for a batter every time they came up was a giant picture, where they were born, how much they weighed, and their date of birth. No batting average. No stats. No prior plate appearances. Nothing. Starting this homestand, Kasten and company implemented wholesale changes. Full lineups of both team at bat and team in field. Double switches and pitching changes showing up immediately. Running pitch count. Accurate pitch speed. Time of day. Stats for batters as they come up. Prior plate appearances. The official scoring of the prior play (i.e. groundout to short you see a "63" on the scoreboard). Some would say why do you need all of this if you're a true fan. Well my response is that if you're going to have thousands of square feet of video screen space, you might as well make the best of it.
It also seems that Nats Park has figured out how to handle large crowds of 30,000+. Opening Night was filled with ridiculously slow concession lines, ridiculously slow bathroom lines, and people who flocked the aisles during at bats blocking the view of the game. Well yesterday, the in-laws and I went to a concession stand in the middle of the sixth inning for some dogs and had... get this... zero wait. (Ben's Chili Half Smoke = MONEY!!!!) In fact, we had about three people calling us over to their register. Line for the bathrooms has diminished greatly. Ushers implementing a new rule whereby patrons returning to their seats have to wait for at bats to end prior to entering the sections.
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I will say that in the offseason, Kasten and company are going to have to seriously examine ticket pricing. The President's Club seats behind home plate that are always empty and that make the stadium look empty on TV are just overpriced. Also, there is such a thing as too many amenities such that even though people might be at the game, they are most likely hanging out inside the Club, enjoying ridiculously good free food and watching the Nats take indoor batting practice. The Diamond Club seats are also overpriced and not going sold. Further, the sections underneath the scoreboard that are priced almost like lower deck seats are rarely sold and need to be lowered in price. However, the remainder of the lower deck and upper deck are packed. And the upper deck seats remain one of the best values in the game, even with a new stadium (they figure that the value will decrease once you drop $4 on a bottle of Dasani, $5.50 for a large soda, or $7.50 for a 20-ounce domestic draft... really not THAT bad of a deal for 20 ounces of Yuengling draft)
The place is really starting to feel like home. I took the in-laws and the wife for a tour of the place prior to the game. All three had previously spent most of their time at Oriole Park. They were all stunned and appreciative of how open the ballpark feels. When you enter from the centerfield gate, you've got the Presidents and Screech waiting for you. You enter the outfield plaza open to the field with a DJ spinning great songs to get you in the mood to have a good time. You've got the best food vendors in the park in the outfield plaza and can linger and watch batting practice. You walk upstairs to the Red Loft, the open-air bar that overlooks centerfield. You've got the wonderful overlooks that allow you to look out over the Anacostia to the Navy Yard and out to Alexandria. The other overlook that gives you the postcard view up South Capitol Street to the monuments.
Metro continues to be a winner. Fourth time at the stadium yesterday and I actually didn't put my parking pass to use that I was given for yesterday's game. The drive would only save about fifteen minutes. It's crowded to get into the Metro station but it moves very, very efficiently. Never waited yet more than a total of seven minutes for the two trains that I have to catch (green line at the park, red line at Gallery Place).
And I haven't even discussed the product on the field which took an incredible turn upwards with an 8-3 homestand. And that being done with series against the Cubs and Mets.
The Nats will do just fine attendance-wise once school lets out, once the weather gets warmer unlike the first few weeks of the season when the line for the coffee carts was longer than the line for Metro. And especially once the team gets beyond that 5-15 start.
