Game #27-Nationals Park-Washington Nationals vs. San Francisco Giants

We made it to Washington DC a day later than expected due to a flight cancellation. Flying this summer has had many challenges for us with delays and cancellations. Thankfully only two of our “Field of Dreams Tour” games required flights. This is an exciting game for both Jim and I as we will have both been to all 30 parks in our lifetime after this game, not all in the same year that will come in August. There was much anticipation leading up to this game as the Nationals will be playing the Giants who are coming off of two losses. We stayed in a hotel right next to the ballpark which worked out very well. We had a view of the ballpark from our room window and a fantastic view of the ballpark from the rooftop bar at the hotel. We walked the few short steps to the gate when the park opened at 5:30pm. We were amazed at the number of Giants fans in attendance. Nationals Park is very beautiful and sits along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington DC. The stadium opened in 2008 to the Washington Nationals who moved to Washington DC in 2005. The team was established in 1969 as the Montreal Expos until their move to Washington DC when they changed their name to the Washington Nationals. Once the Nationals moved to Washington they had a slow start to earning titles but that changed in 2012 when they won their first NL East title and then again in 2014, 2016 and 2017. In 2019 the Nationals became National Champions winning the World Series as a Wild Card team. The Nationals have only retired one number which is #11-Ryan Zimmerman in 2022. All MLB teams have retired #42-Jackie Robinson. When the team was the Montreal Expos, they retired #8-Gary Carter, #10-Andre Dawson and Rusty Staub, and #30 Tim Raines. Interestingly, the Nationals have put the Expos retired numbers back into circulation. We noticed several names on the stadium near the press box with a G or a W in front of their names and asked the usher why the names were there. He at first did not have the answers but was kind enough to research it and let us know that these players were inducted into the “Ring of Honor”. In 2010 amid much controversy, the Nationals put up a “Ring of Honor” celebrating players from the Washington Senators, Negro League Washington Homestead Grays and the Montreal Expos. The big controversy comes from players being recognized who never played in Washington DC. Most National fans would like to keep it just players they grew up with like the Washington Senators. I say you can’t make everyone happy so they should recognize the Expo players, otherwise they would be baseball orphans with no place to be recognized for their contributions to baseball. While we were on our walk of the stadium we experienced many great patio areas in the upper decks that overlook the ballpark. These areas do not have the very fancy seating like some baseball parks have but they have great views. While we were at the top of the stadium we took several pictures to showcase the parks beauty. We had a very kind usher Jill, in the upper deck take our picture. If fact, it is the picture shown in this blog. From the right field upper deck you can see the Washington Monument and US Capitol. If you are looking for a discount price to attend a Nationals game you can wait until 2 1/2 hours before the first pitch and purchase tickets in the left field upper deck for $5.00 each. Now that’s a bargain! As game time drew near we retreated to the lower deck towards our seats. Don’t tell Jim but these seats I bought were NO bargain. I wanted to be as close as possible to the Giants dugout so I bought seats just 16 rows back….NOT $5.00 each! It’s only money right? Along our path to our seats I noticed a sign that read “Sensory Room.” I asked the gentleman standing outside the front door if I could go in and see the room. As an educator I know first hand how important it is to have spaces for children with unique needs. This room provides a safe and quiet room where guests can decompress if they are feeling overwhelmed or overstimulated. The room has several sensory activities, soothing lights and soft bean bags. This definitely is an asset to some who would not be able to go to a game if they did not have this outlet. Well done Nationals! Additionally, for those kids who need to get some energy out they have a children’s playground that was full of active children before the game. Now on to the food, as we skipped lunch to prepare for the extra calories and our bellies were empty. Through our research and questioning of other fans we found the hot dog for Jim’s review should be the Nats Dog from Haute DOGS & Fries. The Nets Dog is topped with chili, mambo slaw and mustard. Once we had the goods we found a spot that would highlight the stadium in the background. A very nice usher Taylor let us stroll down to a section that would be fitting. Jim gave the Nats Dog a 7.0. He said it was good but not he was not a big fan of the Mambo slaw. I tasted it too and felt it was good but very messy! I probably would not order it again but then again I probably would not order a hot dog unless forced to do so. In our walk around the park I noticed the taco stand and boy I love me some tacos! I had two street chicken tacos from Bullpen Tacos. The tacos had chicken, onions, cilantro, pico de Gallo, feta cheese and lime sauce. YUMMY! Now on to those pricey seats. Our seats were wonderful and we were surrounded by Giants fans. We had many conversations with those around us as to their ties to the Giants. One fan said he was making it his lifelong goal to see the Giants play in every ballpark and he has about 10 left to go. Sitting right in front of us was a young 20 something year old girl and her father. She bought tickets for him for his birthday. It so reminded me of my very special times attending the Giants games with my father who passed away just one year ago this month. Sigh! It’s so interesting to learn everyone’s stories. The National Anthem was sung by a military group which was spectacular. One thing is for sure the Nationals celebrate our military. It was great to have “God Bless America” and “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” both being sung in the 7th inning stretch. As the first pitch grew closer all of a sudden they began to play Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”. Jim and I thought that was odd that they would play such an iconic song for the opposing team. It was not until the next morning we would realize they did that to honor Tony Bennett as he passed away that very day. What an incredible man he was and what a very nice gesture given by the Nationals. The entertainment at the ballpark was very good with the President’s Race being the highlight. The President’s Race features the likeness of former Presidents: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt. They have very large foam caricature heads and have a race at every Nationals home game in the 4th inning. They were hysterical as they pushed and shoved their way to win the race. The mascot Screech is a bald eagle who was hatched in 2005. A 9 year old fourth grade student won the contest on designing the mascot. She said the eagle was a great mascot because it was “strong and eats almost everything.” The first pitch was delivered at 7:05pm with a crowd of 26,062 in attendance in a 41,376 capacity stadium. I was so hopeful for the Giants but clearly it was not their night as Alex Wood was out pitched by Nats rookie Jake Irvin. The Giants struck out 12 times and just could not get it done at the plate. The first inning started off great with JD Davis hitting a homer. Score Giants 1 - Nats 0. Very quickly the Nats answered back in the 1st inning with Lane Thomas hitting a homer. Oh I was hoping we would not hear that submarine horn that celebrates Nats home runs and wins. The Nets use the submarine horn as a tribute to their relationship with the military and the stadium’s proximity to the Navy Yard. Score Giants 1 - Nats 1. Then Wood would walk two batters bringing up Keibert Ruiz who hit a double and drove in a run. Score Giants 1 - Nats 2. As if I had not heard enough of that submarine horn in the bottom of the 2nd inning CJ Abrams would go yard. Score Giants 1 - Nats 3. The top of the 3rd Giants Brett Wisely walked with Casey Schmitt coming up to ground into a double play. With two outs LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a single before Joc Pederson smashed a homer. Just before Joc came to the plate I was complaining about his performance as of late when Jim announced stop your crying he is going to hit a homer and he did! Score Giants 3 - Nats 3. In the 4th inning poor Alex Wood continued to struggle hitting Stone Garrett with a pitch. Next up was Micael Chavis who hit a line drive for a double scoring Garrett. Score Giants 3 - Nats 4. The best defensive play came when Patrick Bailey picked off Michael Chavis on a throw to third base for the third out. I might have been standing up screaming and cheering by that point. The 5th inning came and after CJ Abrams hit a single Gabe Kapler made the call to pull Alex Wood and replace him with Ryan Walker. Walker was able to manage the next two batters when Joey Meneses came to the plate with two outs and a runner on 3rd. Joey Meneses had Ryan Walker’s number as he sent a ball sailing on a sharp line drive scoring the runner. Score Giants 3 - Nats 5. I thought the 7th inning there might be some magic about to happen for the Giants. Michael Conforto hit a single, then Mike Yastrzemski lined out, and one of my new favorites Patrick Bailey struck out swinging. Hey at least he swung! With two outs Blake Sabol came to the plate and hit a single moving Conforto to third base. The Nets thought it was time to sit the rookie Jake Irvin down and brought in a new pitcher, Jordan Weems. Wilmer Flores came to the plate with two outs and runners on first and third. Weems walked him and I flew out of my seat with the bases loaded and the possibility of scoring so close. Casey Schmitt who was playing shortstop in place of Brandon Crawford who is on the injured list with left knee inflammation came to the plate. Unfortunately the rookie Casey Schmitt would strike out on a foul tip. I don’t know who was more disappointed Casey or myself. It just hurts to leave the bases loaded. The 8th and 9th innings would be three up and three down making the final score Giants 3 - Nats 5. I’m not crying no I’m not, as there is NO CRYING IN BASEBALL! Well the Field of Dreams Tour record now is 12 WINS for the Home Team and 15 LOSSES for the Home Team. We will head back to California to finish our Field of Dreams 2023 Tour we will be seeing the Dodgers vs. A’s at Dodgers Stadium on August 2, Padres vs. Dodgers at Petco Park on August 7 and our finale on Jim’s birthday August 23 at Angel Stadium where the Los Angeles Angels will play the Cincinnati Reds. We have many friends and family that will be joining us on that special day as we celebrate 30 in 2023! Until next tine PLAY BALL!