This rite of a Washington spring is now 20 years old

Thursday was not like any other day this week–but it did fit into a pattern that set in starting in 2005. Meaning, I once again had no other choice but to take off work to go to the Washington Nationals’ home opener.

My first 15 years of life in and around the District did not include that rite of spring, because major-league baseball (as opposed to intern softball on the Mall) was an other-cities proposition. But I cleared my afternoon for the Nats’ home opener at RFK that April, and the experience was epically worth the work avoidance.

My wife and I have stayed in the same 20-game partial-season-ticket group ever since, so almost every March or April has treated us to this seasonal event.

Parts of it have changed immensely–especially with the team’s move from RFK and the peeling paint inside that concrete donut to Nats Park in 2008.

Where RFK had no neighborhood bars and restaurants for pregame and postgame enjoyment, the blocks north of Nats Park have filled in with residential, office and hotel buildings. To the south, D.C. has replaced the ugly metal hulk of the former Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge with the soaring arches of its successor over the Anacostia. And to the west, Audi Field hosts the other beautiful game as played by D.C. United and the Washington Spirit.

The neighborhood has overall improved so much since I was reviewing the occasional concert at the Capital Ballroom almost 30 years ago, and I love that.

Inside and just outside Nats Park, some traditions have held while others have flown in the breeze like the World Series championship flag that has graced our ballpark since 2019.

On one hand, hearing the aptly-named D.C. Washington sing the national anthem every year is a treat that fans of no other MLB franchise get. And no other team gets flyovers of F-16s from Joint Base Andrews.

On the other hand, I thought in 2005 that presidents throwing out a ceremonial first pitch would be a regular feature for Nats home openers. But after George W. Bush’s high strike in 2005 and Barack Obama’s comparable throw in 2010, other people have done the honors.

(Thursday featured Washington Post sports columnist Thomas Boswell, who has more than earned that recognition on his way to Cooperstown.)

I get that Joe Biden and Donald Trump don’t have the arms to keep the ball out of the dirt–and that Trump’s fragile ego couldn’t stand being booed by Nats fans who rightly disapprove of his authoritarian garbage–but we do need to bring that tradition back.

And, yes, the Nats have been wildly uneven in their home openers. Thursday was no exception, even between innings: MacKenzie Gore struck out 13 and allowed only one hit and zero walks in six innings, but then the Nats squandered that standout start to lose 7-3 to the Phillies.

That’s not a great beginning of the season. But I will, of course, be in the stands on Sunday.

#ballpark #baseball #firstPitch #flyover #homeOpener #MLB #Nationals #NationalsPark #Nats #NatsPark #openingDay #RFK #stadium #WashingtonNationals