The Nats Win!!
Pretty good start for the Nats and their new stadium. Pretty, pretty, pretty, good. The second Ryan Zimmerman’s drive landed in the bleachers I could think of only one thing. The game was rigged. It was a set up. The Nationals winning their home opener on a walk-off home run by the face of the franchise? Nice try Bud Selig. I’m not falling for it. How much did the Braves get for agreeing to lay down?
The other notable thing about Zimmerman’s home run (and Chipper Jones’ nearly identical blast earlier in the game) is how quickly and easily the balls flew out of the park. Both were hit on a line, and both just seemed to hover for the last 50 feet of their flights. Neither ball would have made it past the warning track in RFK. Unless Sunday night was a fluke, a lot of home runs are going to be hit in DC.
My favorite part of the whole evening was hearing the local media, players, and Nationals personnel raving about the new stadium. It’s a nice stadium. It’s new and state of the art. That’s a fact.
But it’s clear that having to play in RFK for two years has the Nats thinking the new stadium is the 8th wonder of the modern world. “A batting cage in the stadium!!!! Holy cow!!!” So what if nearly every stadium built after 1980 has batting cages in it. “Multiple TVs in the clubhouse!!! What is this, Bill Gates’ house?” Not exactly, but the Nats did spend a few grand of the $600 million stadium bill to make the clubhouse more enjoyable.
I think it’s adorable. The Nats are like the poor little boy who’s grateful for his Playstation 2 while all the rich kids complain about their Playstation 3s. Or something like that. For now the Nats are just enjoying their new home and their time in first place. And they better enjoy it. The stadium won’t be new for long and the next time the Nats are in first place Barack Obama could be running for his second term.