Looking Back: 7/30/2011 at Nationals Park (NYM @ WSH)

I was looking through some old pictures and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t posted about when I went to Nationals Park back in 2011.

I went with Natalie and her brother and sister. You’ve probably seen them before in my entry on 7/28/12.  Earlier in the day, we did some tourist-y things around Washington D.C.:

Yes, I took that. Feel free to use it.

Here’s some more:

The reason we look so miserable is that it was around 102 degrees and humid for the day. Tack 5 hours or so of that and you get some cranky people. Onto the ballgame…

I took the Metro to the “Navy Yard” station:

… and when I got off, I was greeted with this:

Sweet. As usual with any new stadium I visit, I walked around the outside and snapped some pictures.

The years listed on the ground are specific milestone years in Washington baseball history. I’ll spare you the history lesson for when you go yourself. Here is one for example:

Here I am in my sweaty, tired glory:

And I walked around to the First Base gate:

And ran into a “Nats-Mobile”:

But finally it was time for snagging. I ran inside and got my bulky Jayson Werth bobblehead and made my way here:

(Note the ridiculous David Wright shirt the Mets coach has on.) The Mets were in their usual un-friendly mood, so I waited for Nats BP to start:

I maneuvered a bit and positioned myself in front of the “Red Porch”:

The sun was beating down on me at this point. I’m not kidding, I don’t know how people down here live like this. Probably the hottest I’ve ever been in my life. But I kept going. I almost caught 2 home runs, and missed a Drew Storen toss-up.

Keep in mind, at least at the time I was here, Nationals Park only opens the left field side of the park for the first 45 minutes or hour or whatever the policy was. So, when it was time to head to right field, I started making my way over. There was already a line of kids ready to make a rush for Easter eggs, so I decided to head upstairs and try my luck there:

Not gonna lie, Nats Park is a pretty looking place. BP continued, and I noticed Livan Hernandez shagging flies in Center. I decided to try the “name trick”, since we both shared the same last name. He thought it was funny, since I told him  I had the i.d. to prove it. Which would be ridiculous, since I was in the upper deck… you get the idea. But most importantly, it worked, and he tossed me my first ball of the day. After that, things quieted down, and the Nationals were done. I headed down to the lower deck, which calmed down as well, and hung out here:

One of the Met players (can’t recall who) hit a shot to center field, and it fell between where I was, and the batters eye. I couldn’t reach it, so I asked a groundskeeper:

… and he tossed me my 2nd ball of the day. I then headed over by the Mets dugout, mainly because it was so oppressively hot. I was sunburned, and I needed some shade.

Shortly after, BP was over, and it was time do do some exploring.

Here were our seats for the game:

… and I was completely fine just relaxing. It was a looooong day, and I was pleased with my total of 2. Later, I got to see my first “Presidential Race”:

Poor Teddy still had none (he’s won by now). After a few innings, I decided to walk around and take some pictures and take advantage of the free “cooling station” the Nationals were offering:

See that cup of ice? Heaven. We walked around to the back concourse, full of concessions:

I broke and bought a “Curly W” pretzel, which I thought was cool:

Later, I headed up to the top to take my usual stadium picture:

and a lovely panoramic shot:

…and here I am with Natalie:

How cute. And before I knew it, the game was over. Here I am with my #6 sign, at the time it was the 6th stadium I had visited. Note the high level of tired-ness:

Overall, I like Nationals Park a lot. I give it an A.

Final score:

• 2 balls at this game

• Posted on February 21, 2013 at 6:01 am
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• Filed in: Nationals Park, New York Mets, Washington Nationals
• Tags: Nationals Park, New York Mets, snagging, Washington Nationals