What better way to celebrate this great country we live in than with some national pastime enjoyment on a sweltering, and I mean swelterrrring, summer day?! On Saturday we went with my pops to watch the Nats, his first time visiting the new stadium. The Nats made a major comeback to beat the Mets, scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning off what looked like a walk-off grand slam by Dunn. After review, the umps called his centerfield near-homer as a double. But Rodriguez followed with an RBI single to score the winning run for the Nats. Take that Mets fans!

We went to the Nats game last night with Matt’s company tickets, and I will say it’s the first good game I’ve gone to, of about 5 or 6 attended so far, at the new stadium. The team held onto their lead to beat the Florida Marlins 5-4, apparently putting them on an 8-4 run in their last 12 games. Which is pretty good, for anyone who knows how dismal the Nats can be.

Highlight of the evening for me may have been watching the 3 men sitting in front of us – three generations of baseball fanatics, all with blazing red hair. Grandfather and father both wearing full Nats gear and earphones (undoubtedly listening to the radio broadcast of the game), and the 6 or 7-year-old son, wearing his little league uniform down to the cleats, Nats hat, and giant grey sunglasses that bordered on goggles. Dweeby but so cute! Only a picture of that lineup would do it justice, but I wasn’t that creepy. So you’ll just take my word for it that some of the best people watching is in the stands.

The follow-up email from Jackie on yesterday’s post:
   

well i guess my letter to the man worked. i was contacted by the nationals organization today and a very polite young lady named gwen informed me that what we experienced on tuesday was completely abnormal. she was working that night and agreed that it was absurd. she said that there was a lack of communication and the issue was being resolved. as a consolation to my complaint she has offered me 2 free nationals tickets to any game. since you all had to listen to me bitch (and even posted my bitching) i am offering up the other ticket to whoever gets back to me first. it is for any game, so we’d have to figure that one out.
   

oh and there was still no resolution about the hot dogs or peanuts though. she said i’d just have to tough that one out……

   
There was also a response from Fenty’s people:
   

Dear Ms. Abraham:
   

The Mayor’s Correspondence Unit

   

Dear Mayor,
I was so excited when major league baseball came back to DC. I applauded
when the former mayor Anthony WIlliams held up his new Nationals jersey
for all the country to see. I was delighted everytime I read about the
progress being made on the new stadium. But last night, I tried to go to
my first Nationals game against a city I hate- Philadelphia (boo eagles go
Skins!). Anyway, I got there about ten minutes before the game started
(7:15) expecting some sort of wait as the game was just starting. What I
encountered were lines everywhere, no one being able to purchase tickets
because every computer was running off of one server, and no one explaining
the situation to anybody! I waited in line for 45 minutes and moved maybe
4 people. I decided to just leave, as I was getting no where except more
and more aggravated. This left a horrible taste in my mouth for the whole
Nationals organization and I told numerous other people waiting in line
that it was fruitless and to just go home. I am no stranger to waiting in
line for things (I come from the era of MD basketball at Cole Field house),
but this ordeal was just horrendous. Also, there were no vendors anywhere
outside the stadium, as I think maybe a hotdog in line or a bag of peanuts
would have made my wait not seem quite so unbearable.
What is being done about this situation?
Thank you for your time,
Jackie, long time fan, first time quitter.

   
Has anyone else had this problem? We will keep you posted if she receives any sort of answer…