Root, Root, Root for the Home Team!

Let's start with this:

My first game of the season was a good one! Minerva and I missed all the beginning stuff - the National Anthem, the throwing of the pitch, and the first three runs scored by the Nats. When we got to our seats (directly behind the left field foul pole) I figured the Phillies would catch up pretty fast. I mean, they did win the World Series after all.

Despite the cheering of their fans, the Phillies were never able to muster up enough awesomeness to catch the Nats. They got real close before the Presidents Race in the 5th inning, but weren't able to take that momentum into a lead. The score at this point is 3-2.

Quick sidebar to discuss the Presidents Race. Teddy NEVER wins! NEVER!!! Tonight wasn't any different. Abe was declared the winner, but after reviewing tapes of the race, Thomas was declared the winner by a nose. He tripped (or did Abe trip him???) and his nose hit the tape before Abe crossed the line.

Back to the game. In the 7th and 8th innings, the Nats really hit their stride. Many of the players were making good contact with bat and ball, and we got a couple of homers out of the deal. Screech came up to our section to hang for a bit. It was good times!

Although, I would like to say that I'm a little disappointed that my man Lastings Milledge has betrayed me. I was a big supporter of him as #44, but he's scrapped that now and sporting #85. Alright then, I'm buying Christian Guzman's jersey Lastings. What do you think of that?! Actually, I'll probably get a Milledge jersey too. It's just such a cool name and he's one of the Nats better (in my opinion) players.

Can't wait for more games!

Baseball Season Opens Today (For Me)

The Washington Nationals kicked off their season Monday afternoon at 3:00. All my baseball buddies were working so I didn't go. Last night's game was cancelled and I was doing taxes anyway. But game on tonight!

They're playing the Phillies so I don't hold much hope for a win. But it's baseball and I love hitting up a live game and just relaxing with no worries for three hours. The world just seems to slow down a bit. I'll also be keeping my eyes on the Presidents race. Here's hoping Teddy can end his losing streak...

Nats season opener 4/2008

Give Teddy a chance

One of my favorite parts about going to the Nats games is the running of the Presidents Race. The race is very competitive between four of our country's beloved presidents - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt. I root for Teddy. Every time. And he breaks my heart, just like those darn Nats. Everytime.

I went to the game on Tuesday to see the Nats take on my own Diamondbacks. Never really following D-back baseball while in AZ, I left my loyalties to lie with the Nats. Not breaking from tradition, the Nats lost 2-0. Although the game wasn't too exciting, the Presidents Race was pretty riveting. Teddy held the lead for 80% of the race. Again, not breaking from tradition, Teddy lost a shoe, tripped, and lost the race to Abe. Another bitter loss.

A fellow blogger and Teddy enthusiast is following the Presidents Race very closely. Since the inception of the race back in 2006, Teddy has not won a single race. But I'm not giving up hope. Run Teddy, run!!!

Go here for the Teddy blog: http://blog.letteddywin.com

Root, root, root for the home team!!!

Now that our tickets were secured, Mel and I just had to get to the ballpark, find our seats, grab a beer, and sit back while all the awesomeness of baseball unfolded before us. The people at the Nats stadium must have know we were coming because they rolled out the red carpet for us. There were tons of people and it was so exciting to be a part of the buzzing crowd.




Once we strolled across the red carpet, we stood in line with the masses and made it through the security check point. The people in line behind us definitely pre-gamed it because they were already toast. Whatever you gots to do to enjoy the game. The gal taking our ticket was super nice and seemed like she was pretty happy to be a part of the buzz.



We located our section and then made a b-line towards the concession stands. Mel wanted one of the commemorative cups. I wanted a beer. So we coupled our ideas and got beers in commemorative cups. It was a lot of beer.

We made our way to our seats. They were pretty high up, but we had a great view of the Navy Yard and the Anacostia River. We found several of our friends from our four hour wait in line, and the dude that was collecting signatures of everyone who stood in line was still at it. He had several pages completely full and was asking the ticket lady who worked for the stadium for her John Hancock. That guy was awesome. I failed to mention that I danced with him when we got our pic taken. He was funny!

The opening game at the new stadium was not without fanfare. The DC National Guard came out and unraveled these two ginormous American Flags. I felt a rush of patriotism overcome me.

As the flags were being unfurled, Denyce Grave, a famous opera singer from the DC area came out to sing the National Anthem. I'm a huge fan of hers because I remember all the performances she gave during several of the 9/11 services. Because of that, her voice is very comforting to me. Anyways, we all sang the National Anthem and yelled out a resounding "Play Ball!!" The president marched to the mound sporting a National's jacket. He threw the first pitch a little high, and from our positioning I couldn't tell you if it was straight over the strike zone or not. He quickly walked off waving. Mel and I almost had to do a double take and asked if it really happened because it was super fast.

Now it was time for the big game! If you want major details on the play-by-play, check ESPN or Andrew - he keeps track of that stuff. I can't even remember what the final score was. I just remember that the Nationals scored first and it was a pretty close game and the Nationals were ahead by one run.

Mel had a lot of work she was neglecting and wanted to leave somewhat early so she could go to work early on Monday. I at least wanted to hang tight until the 7th inning stretch. Mel went and got hotdogs and nachos that are required to make a live baseball game official. While she was gone, she missed the running of the Presidents. Abe, Jefferson, Washington, and Teddy squared off in a leg race from center field to home plate. Teddy went a little off course, the Giecko Caveman entered midway through, it was either Jefferson or Abe but one of those two totally face-planted it in the dirt. As fitting, Washington took first!

We started heading out at the bottom of the 7th. As we approached the ground level, Denyce Graves came back out to lead us all in a hearty rendition of “God Bless America” and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” She’s awesome. With her conclusion, Mel and I headed back home. A 12 hour day consumed with lines, baseball, crazy fans, politics, beer, opera, and hotdogs. Not a bad day at all.

But we did miss the final inning clincher. Apparently the Braves scored off a bad play by the Nats, and with two outs, bottom of the 9th, Ryan Zimmerman pops the ball out and scored a homerun giving the Nats their first win at the new stadium. Baseball in the nations Capitol – America at it’s most awesome!

Standing in line because we're awesome!

So Melanie and I are soooo cool sometimes I can’t even stand it!! The Washington National’s just got a brand new stadium built for them and the season opener was promised to be super good times. I thought all tickets were going to be sold out, but my legislative director told me on Friday that they were selling 500 tickets at 3:00 for $5.00. What a bargain!!! I really wanted to go for several reasons: 1) It’s baseball in a new stadium 2) The President was throwing out the first pitch 3) Opera singer and DC native Denyce Graves was singing the National Anthem and 7th Inning Stretch 4) I had nothing else planned for Sunday.

Mel said she would come with. Since the rest of the seats were practically sold out, we thought that these $5 tickets would probably be in high demand, especially since it was the season opener in a brand new stadium. Pretty much, this was the place to be on this particular Sunday. Our game plan was to leave our house at 10:00, grab some coffee/hot cocoa at the Starbucks on the way, walk on over to the stadium, which is about a 25 minute walk towards the Anacostia River, and stand in line for 4 hours to ensure we had tickets to this super cool game.

We got a bit of a late start, but managed to leave the homestead at 10:30-ish. Side story really quick. I learn quite a bit at work. One day, I was informed that dinosaurs were found in DC (no not Robert Byrd), and F St. SE has since been dubbed Capitolsaurus Court. I told Melanie and she didn’t believe me. On the way to the stadium, I proved to her that it does exist.

We made it to the stadium to find that there really weren’t that many people there. We didn’t pop in line right away because we were unsure if it was really the line we needed, but we soon figured it out and secured our spots. We stood for awhile. Then a lady came out and said we would need to reform the line at the opposite end of the wall because secret service had security issues with the location. They handed us numbers so we wouldn’t lose our places and reformed the line. I was number 46 and Mel was 47.

We had a lot of time to kill. Our new buddies behind us busted out the playing cards. I brought out my mp3 player and got the tunes rolling. Mel’s not much of a country fan and I found opera a little inappropriate for the occasion so my options were slightly limited. Mel walked to Five Guys to get some fries. While she was gone, this guy came around with a pad of paper asking everyone to sign. He just wanted to document all the people who stood in line for the tickets as a little memento for the awesome occasion. I got a picture with him.

I was amazed at how fast the time actually passed. Mel went up to the front of the line to see what time those folks got here. The first guy and his son arrived at 6:30, the next guy came at 7:00, and they said everybody else started arriving around 10:00. The line really started to increase around 2:00 and soon it had wrapped back around to where it initially started and past the entrance to the garage. We packed up camp and bought two tickets – section 402, row C, seats 17 and 18. Not too shabby.

Mel and I trekked back home to unwind for a little bit and grab dinner before the 8:10 game. We bundled up and left the house at 6:30.


Up next: The Big Game!!!