Opening Night thoughts

Metro was very crowded on the way in, but efficient.

I like the walk down Half Street with the balloons and all the bunting. Everything looks good on Opening Day/Night.

Security lines were not bad when we went through.

I walked around the stadium taking photographs, which I will upload tonight. Some seats have Capitol dome views, while others don't. It is very unfortunate that the neighboring high-rise got approved not long before the ballpark site was selected.

I respect that the President throws off the mound, unlike most politicians. I did not cheer or boo, though both were done by many.

Why did P Matt Chico think he was the tallest major leaguer ever during introductions?

Where was Charlie Brotman? Is he "retired" from any ceremonial duties?

P Odalis Perez was solid, if unspectacular. He did his job -- keep that Nats in it long enough to get to the bullpen.

The first inning was great, 2 runs and forcing Tim Hudson to throw something like 35 pitches. Little did we know that there would not be any Nationals hits for the next 23 batters. Any Nats batter that faced four pitches felt like a miracle after the first inning.

SS Cristian Guzman got the first hit and the first run; good for him. He made an error later though.

I had forgotten how painful it is watching 1B Nick Johnson run the bases.

Johnson's defense was quite welcome though, I mentioned to Fritz that "Dmitri Young doesn't make that play."

We were sitting in 203, the mezzanine along the third base line -- we liked our seats.

A co-worker, who has never been to a Nats game, asked "did Teddy win?" No, of course not.

The scoreboard is pretty, but not having replays was disappointing.

For the third time in four openers, the visitors wore alternate jerseys. UniWatch didn't like that at all. Neither did I.

RF Austin Kearns make a great play off the wall early, hitting the cutoff man who flipped to second for an out. His defense is an asset, and hopefully his offense will be too. His introduction music isn't.

CF Lastings Milledge usually gets a bad jump on the ball.

The curly W clock next to the scoreboard is hard to read.

While a lot of people leaving early made it easy for me to get out, they missed a good and fairly quick ballgame.

I am going to strongly insist Ryan Zimmerman be called Mr. Walkoff. You should too.

With RFK dimensions, it would have been a 2-0 game.

"Sweet Caroline" was played in the middle of the eighth inning. Sigh. No "Bustin' Loose" after Mr. Walkoff's homer.

I had a hot dog and a half-smoke (with chili, onions, mustard) from the nearby stand. Thumbs up on all accounts. Had to settle for Bud Lite though.

I like the park, but I don't know that I can decide if I love it until I see a day game.

The ride back was pretty good, we got the first train out of Navy Yard and switched a L'Enfant with about an eight-minute wait.

I can't wait to go back.

Labels: Datelines, I Was There, Mr. Walkoff, Nats/MLB 2008

posted by WFY @ 12:40 PM | |

No replays? What a waste of a great scoreboard! For those watching at home, President Bush stopped by the announcing booth for an inning and a half. They joked about his “high heat” from the mound and whether it would have been a strike on the K-Zone. They also talked about the Mitchell Report, which Bush called cleansing and necessary.

# posted by dl004d : Monday, March 31, 2008 1:55:00 PM

Apparently, the lack of replays is a bug they need to work out.

# posted by WFY : Monday, March 31, 2008 2:35:00 PM

Opening Night thoughts

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