Opened: March 30, 2008 (I was there!)
Capacity: 41,418
Nationals Park
In a way this is a love/hate relationship with me. I don’t like the stadium but it is relatively easy for me to get to and I like watching baseball so I go. I prefer National League baseball. I was at the first game in the park’s history. I figured how many other stadiums are going to open nearby that I can afford to get a ticket to the first game? When I thought that the answer was none I sucked it up and got a ticket through Stub Hub. Compared to RFK this is a great place. Compared to other parks I am not impressed.
How did I get there?
I used to head down to the Greenbelt Metro station and rode the Green Line to the park. It was about a 40 minute ride after an 80 minute drive which wasn’t too bad. Then the fires on the Metro started. I’ve been stuck in a station before when there was an incident and it was not fun. After that happened I started parking at Anacostia, one stop away from the park. While traffic on the BW Parkway can be heavy at any time of the day thanks to the dogleg around Pennsylvania Ave. I found this to be preferable anyway. It is actually cheaper to park at Anacostia with the added benefit that I can walk to and from the stadium as well. Walking works on the weekends when the Metro garages are free since they add a surcharge to your parking if you don’t use the system on weekdays.
Ticket prices
The big draw for me here is that I can get in for $5. You have to get there early but it can be done, in fact it’s not hard on any games other than giveaways like bobbleheads. Otherwise I find the next tier of ticket prices too expensive. They used to have $10 seats and I would buy those in advance but now its up to $17. Winning will do that. Sometimes I sit in my seat and sometimes I stand in the outfield. For $5 I can’t complain either way.
Finding my seat and amenities
Admittedly I know where I am going so I can go directly to my seats or just stand. This is a relatively easy park to find your seat though it can be a bit confusing in the outfield seats. I typically don’t eat at the park as I find concession prices far too high to begin with. I bring a sub with me and eat it in the Metro garage or get a hot dog or two from a vendor on Half Street. I have also eaten at the Gordon Biersch Brewery down the street as well before a game. The bonus here is that the souvenir sodas, while expensive, at bottomless. I go to a lot of games here with one of my dad’s friends and we split the soda. It works well. The stadium also has in stadium wi-fi, a big plus.
In game experience
They have the usual stable of in-game experiences with an on-field host and the President’s Race. The Nationals have an odd fanbase. So many people in DC are from elsewhere and it seems like many people there just seem to want to show up and drink overpriced beer so that when someone calls they can say they are at the game or get lots of likes on social media. There are some diehard fans and that will only grow as local kids grow up with the team and not with the Orioles but one has to wonder what will happen when the good times are over. It’s easy to root for a winner. There also tend to be a lot of visiting fans there. I was at a game when it seemed like there were more Pirates fans there than Nationals fans back when both teams were abysmal.
Getting out
Relatively easy to do so. A half block walk to the Navy Yard Metro Station and then waiting for the train. I have it just about down to a science thanks to in-stadium wi-fi and the Metro’s webpage. It takes 8 minutes to get from the centerfield plaza to the Metro platform. The drive back can be a bit of a pain. The BW Parkway can be clogged at nearly any point. It doesn’t matter if it is 9 AM or 11 PM it can be packed which slows down the drive. Either way if everything is equal I get about 20-25 minutes of my life back by taking this route rather than Greenbelt. That usually means I am around MD 100 when I would be getting off of the train at Greenbelt.
Wrap
If Philadelphia would have cheaper tickets and a better transportation system I would go there instead. But for me, as I have calculated it, I save the time and save about $20 going to Nationals Park. It has been an added bonus to watch some of the top players in the game here over the last few years but like all things that will come to an end as well. I remember this park when the Nationals were bad. It was empty in the pre-Strasburg and Harper days.