Nationals Park

Stepson Devin sacrificed himself last Saturday when he arranged an outing to Nationals Park, to watch the Washington Nationals host the New York Mets. Devin is, to put it kindly, not a baseball fan. Three hours in the sun watching a baseball game was pretty much slow torture for him. But I appreciated the kind gesture and enjoyed the game a lot.

If it matters, New York beat Washington 5-4. It was a well-played game, with good pitching and just one error. Four home runs (two by Michael Conforto, who I really need to get on one of my fantasy league teams). But the big attraction for me was Nationals Park, one of the newer parks in the majors. While not as cozy as Fenway or as cute as Camden Yards, I found it to be a good stadium which offered obstruction-free views for nearly all the 46,000 seats (including the 10,000 that were empty).

The big surprise for me was the location of the park. I guess I had assumed that it was north of the city, near the Redskins Stadium on the Beltway. But it is in downtown DC, within walking distance of the Capitol. A nice, urban ballpark.

The other surprise was that, on the way home, Marine One, the President’s helicopter, flew about 100 feet over our heads as we crossed the Potomac. Devin said it was a common sight, but I had never seen it before. An interesting end to an interesting afternoon.