Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Sunday was Opening Night at the brand new Nationals Park in Washington, DC. What more could fans have hoped for: A dramatic victory in the bottom of the ninth by the home team in their home opener in their new stadium provided a storybook ending to a memorable night.


There has been much fanfare and controversy over the new stadium leading up to and after its grand opening. Criticism followed the stadium, a $611 million, taxpayer-built arena in a formerly blighted part of the District, from conception through construction. It is a state of the art nearly 42,000-seat size stadium affording views of the Capitol dome and the Washington Monument with good sightlines throughout. It’s an example of a successful private-public economic development partnership. And, it’s a project where everyone had an opinion – good and bad.

So, I was a bit puzzled by the representation of the three letters to the editor in The Washington Post on Tuesday. One chastised those who booed President Bush before the start of the game. It was from a Navy veteran and the uncle of an Army Ranger on his third tour in Iraq. He said “Booing the president was like booing me and my nephew.” What does that have to do with the price of eggs? As they say, there is a time and place for everything. And at a baseball game, it should be “root, root, root for the home team”.

The second letter was from someone who questioned why the food concession vendors did not offer healthy, low-fat meal or snack options. Granted, I too usually try to avoid high fat, salty, bad-for-you food but what happened to “Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don't care if I never get back.”

The third letter asked why the game could not have been broadcast on a local channel in addition to ESPN so that more people could have “shared in the joy and excitement at a stadium that public money helped to build.” I actually did question this myself but for those of us without cable TV, it is and will be “one, two, three strikes, you're out, at the old ball game" having to wait impatiently at home for the local news to report what happened.

It is interesting that opening day of baseball in a brand new stadium could elicit these type of opines – none having anything to do with the joy and excitement of being among the fortunate first to attend the game – one in which I and others were unable to get tickets. I don’t know if no one actually wrote a letter regarding their experience at the new stadium or whether the Post simply did not publish any of these. But, it would have been nice if someone who attended this historic game had something nice to say about Nationals Park, the home team and/or the game itself.