This is from yesterday:

Today the wife and I road-tripped to the new ballpark in DC to partake in the Cubs-Nats game. Okay, maybe road trip is a little silly considering we live in the VA suburbs about 20 miles away from the big city. But it is a trip considering the planes, trains and automobiles we have to encounter (okay, maybe not planes, but you get the point…). Whoever planned this thing to have virtually no parking near the stadium was probably on crack (and probably bought it nearby). I understand the whole Metro thing; but if the Metro is not for you, then this brings up logistical issues. Anyway, this is not a post to banter about travel, this is a post about our first in-person game experience of the season.

Going into today’s game, the Cubs are a historically great (for them) 16-8 and one win from setting their all-time franchise record of 17 wins in April. Carlos Zambrano was brilliant last night and as luck would have it, we get to witness season-long Hunter Flop Ted Lilly pitch for the Good Guys today. Ugh! I had emailed the brother of Nats Manager Manny Acta for a work related question and I indicated I would not be surprised if the Nats won this weekend’s series. That could come true…...
.......and of course it freakin’did! Today was not one of the Cubs better games. Ted Lilly didn’t pitch horribly, but still gave up a couple of untimely hits and it was enough for the Nats to shut out the Cubs 2-0.
So how was the experience? It actually wasn’t bad. We drove into DC and parked near the MCI Center…oh wait…it’s the Verizon Dome now. Oh snap…the Blizards have a playoff game, so surely we’ll have issues, right? Wrong…the train took all of about ten minutes and a quick five minute walk later, we were at the stadium. Nationals Park is a neat ballpark and once all of the buliding is finished in the neighborhood, this could be a better than anticipated area for baseball.

We couldn’t get into the seating (and eating) areas until noon (we’re not sure why), but once we did enter, we circled the entire stadium looking for food. There’s actually so much more to pick from, the beer selection is better than RFK and I actually saw a stand that carried liquor! When was the last time (was there ever a time??) liquor was served in a ballpark? We couldn’t find Five Guys (which was incidentally up a level, but at least we know it’s there), but settled for Ben’s Chili Bowl ( a great consolation prize!). The Hard Times also had a couple of stands, so the food potential is much more exciting.

The seats? We had bowl seats, so we were within about 20 rows of the field between third base and left field. Not bad at all. The weather was kinda crappy, but at least it did not rain; that was saved for the walk/metro back.

The game? As mentioned, the Cubs lost. The Nats have this thing where 4 former presidents have a race. They have it rigged where Teddy Roosevelt always loses and today was no exception. Somehow a banana peel got in the way, casing TR to lose once again. It seemed to me the Cubs fans far outnumbered the Nats fans, so we felt at home (sort of). It was painful to see two innings in a row the Cubs getting runners on second and third with one out or less and not score. Hope it’s not the start of a trend….Derrick Lee looks real big in person; Kerry Wood looks like he finally lost his baby fat.

To recap: Not a bad experience at all. I would look forward to coming again soon, even if parking near the Verizon Center or RFK is our best bet considering we like to drive. Very un-PC in gas conservation times, but it’s the way we work. If the Nats figure out a way to field a winning team, this could be a great destination point. I loved the park and even if I’ve been to only 8 or so others, this ranks up there for me.

jp