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N A T I O N A L S P A R K
September 2, 2011
New York Mets v. Washington Nationals
7:05pm
New York 7, Washington 3
WP: Dickey (7-11, 3.60 ERA)
LP: Detwiler (2-5, 3.83 ERA)
Attendance: 27,907
Time: 2:41
75 degrees, cloudy
Nationals Park replaced RFK in 2008. It’s located along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard neighborhood of D.C. In its short history it has seen Randy Johnson collect his 300th win, Adam Dunn his 300th homerun, and Albert Pujols picked up his 400th homerun here. It’s even seen the Pope. It seats over 41,500 and is easily accessible via the Metro.
As the season goes into its final month, most teams already know their destiny. The Mets and Nationals will be at home come October. Nonetheless, the Nationals’ players still have a lot to prove and hopes for a shot at next year. Their pitching sensation is coming off surgery and should be ready to go sometime this month, as he’s already pitching down in the minors. The game today had the Mets jumping on top early and ultimately hanging on to a 7-3 victory.
The Atmosphere: I was impressed with the good-sized crowd given the team’s record. The stadium’s inviting. Once they get this team going, I think it’ll be a blast to go to. Get your season tickets now, before they get hot!
The Scorecard: Ehh. In a program. It was at least real paper so I could write on it. They do have a small scorecard in the free playbill-sized magazine they hand out at the gates. The program was $5. All I really need is a $1 scorecard and I’m happy.
The Hot Dog: Kayem brand. Was actually pretty good. Grilled. Some taste. Some spice. Just not a top 5 pick.
The Broadcasters: They called a good game. Nothing jumped out. Made the game easier to follow when I wasn’t paying attention, which is always a good thing. Of note, Bob Carpenter calls their games on TV...he’s a former Cardinals TV guy. His scorebook is sold here, as it was in St. Louis. At the HOF today, I saw Bert Blyleven uses his scorebook when broadcasting.
Entertainment: There are these people that belong to “The Nat Pack”. You could compare it to “Team Fredbird”, but be careful. We had “Terrance” in our section, and he was a little scary at times. Every time...and I mean every time...there was a reason to make a noise, clap, anything...he was running up and down trying to get people into it. The big entertainment, in my opinion, are the Presidents walking around. They are reminiscent of the characters in Phoenix (Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Mark Grace, Luis Gonzalez). Here they consist of George, Jefferson, Abe, and Teddy. They race at one point, and this is acceptable because it isn’t food running around.
Scorecard in the program.
They do have game-used items in the team store and gave me a number to call in a couple days to try and get a ball from today’s game.
Views from Around the Park:
Other words: The Nats will be making a run at some point in the next few years. They will just have to figure out how to get passed Philadelphia.
Gripes: None really, but the scorecard is becoming a consistent gripe on the East Coast.
N A T I O N A L S P A R K
W A S H I N G T O N , D . C .
H O M E O F T H E N A T I O N A L S
The gates in centerfield open 2-1/2 hours before game time. Great news if you like watching your team take batting practice. The outfield is open during this time, and the rest of the stadium opens about 1-1/2 hours prior to first pitch. Not too many balls flew out here but several did along the left field porch. Don’t ask any of the Mets to throw balls up to you...they won’t.
The Crowd: As I said before, it was a pretty good crowd. I was surprised how many were hanging until the end given the score, but I was reminded there were fireworks after the game. They do some of the “Let’s Make Noise” stuff. I didn’t see any scorecards or radios.
The Stadium: It’s the first LEED-certified green stadium in U.S. pro sports, yet you can’t recycle your water bottles and bring them in. It’s more of a modern style stadium, but I don’t know what you’d actually call it. You can see the U.S. Capitol from the upper deck, but you wouldn’t sit up there to view it because it’s obscured. Several local tastes have concessions in the park. The stadium itself is very easy to walk around. It also features the nice, new, big scoreboards I’m getting used to seeing.
S T A T I S T I C S U P D A T E
MLB Games Seen
25 of 31
Days
63 of 86
Driving Miles
12,680 of an estimated 18,735
Estimated Gallons of Gas
667 of an estimated 1,102
States
31 + the District of Columbia
Hot Dogs Eaten
Too Many
Border Crossings
0 of 2
P R E D I C T I O N S U P D A T E
(AFTER 24 OF 30 GAMES)
Current Stats (Predicted Total through all 30 games)
Runs
219 (249)
Hits
434 (512)
Errors
32 (36)
Home Runs
59 (65)
Doubles
96 (101)
Triples
10 (10)
Sacrifices (Hits & Flies)
24 (31)
Strikeouts
369 (415)
Walks
139 (189)
Home Team Wins
15 (17)
Complete Games
1 (1)
Shutouts
1 (2)
Saves
14 (15)
Blown Saves
6 (7)
Balks
1 (2)
Wild Pitches
7 (19)
Hit Batters
10 (18)
Walk-offs
2 (2)
Stolen Bases
24 (40)
Caught Stealing
9 (15)
Ejections
3 (4)
Smallest Crowd
11,617
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore
September 1st, Toronto v. Baltimore
Largest Crowd
45,633
Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
August 18th, Arizona v. Philadelphia
B A L L P A R K R A N K I N G S
The Stadium
1. PETCO Park, San Diego
2. AT&T Park, San Francisco
3. Fenway Park, Boston
4. Target Field, Minneapolis
5. Comerica Park, Detroit
6. Wrigley Field, Chicago
7. Safeco Field, Seattle
8. PNC Park, Pittsburgh
9. Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore
10. Minute Maid Park, Houston
11. Chase Field, Phoenix
12. Progressive Field, Cleveland
13. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
14. Citi Field, New York
15. Miller Park, Milwaukee
16. Coors Field, Denver
17. Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati
18. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
19. Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
20. U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago
21. Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
22. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
23. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
24. The Coliseum, Oakland
The Atmosphere
1. AT&T Park, San Francisco
2. Fenway Park, Boston
3. Target Field, Minneapolis
4. PETCO Park, San Diego
5. Wrigley Field, Chicago
The Crowd
1. AT&T Park, San Francisco
2. Fenway Park, Boston
3. Target Field, Minneapolis
4. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
5. Miller Park, Milwaukee
The Scorecard
1. Target Field, Minneapolis
2. Comerica Park, Detroit
3. AT&T Park, San Francisco
4. Citizens Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia
5. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
The Hot Dog
1. Coors Field, Denver
2. AT&T Park, San Francisco
3. Progressive Field, Cleveland
4. Citi Field, New York
5. Wrigley Field, Chicago
The Broadcasters
1. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
2. AT&T Park, San Francisco
3. Miller Park, Milwaukee
4. Target Field, Minneapolis
5. Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore
Yes, it’s known as a “Nats Dog”.
Out-of-town scores go in right.
The big board.
Former Washington Senator Walter Johnson. He was with them for 21 years!
Just good people.
A little late, but I’ll take it. Happy Birthday to me!
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