#Nats

We have been talking about getting "cheap seats" to a Nats game since we moved out here a year and a half ago.  It finally happened toward the end of April when we joined in on an outing organized for hubby's co-workers for a weekday game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

View as we entered the stadium

Spring baseball weather is unpredictable at best . . . but despite torrential rains earlier in the day and an inauspicious 40 min rain delay at the start of the game, they uncovered the field at the appointed hour, the rain mostly let up, and somehow they managed to get in all nine innings.

We had great seats on the right field side, in the lower rows pretty close to the field.  But we (and many others) didn't even sit in our seats because they weren't under cover and the people that were sitting down there looked like they were getting pretty wet.  Had it been warmer, we might have endured the rain, but it was in the 40s . . . too cold to be soaking wet!  Instead, we hung out at the top of the section, under cover, with easy access to the mecca of concessions and beverages inside the stadium.

Staying dry in our "adopted" seats

Nationals Park holds about 40,000 people, but you can see from the photos that the stadium was only about half full, likely due to the cold and rainy weather.

View from our under cover perch

One of the entertaining things they do during the game is the "Presidents Race."  The Presidential participants are the four founding fathers that appear on Mt. Rushmore (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt), plus Presidents Taft and Hoover.  The Presidents have costumes appropriate for their era, and they have gigantic foam heads.

For those of you who haven't seen it before, it's pretty hilarious!  Here's a video:

The Presidents greeting fans after the race

We also enjoyed getting to know the players by hearing the songs they chose for when they come to bat.  O loved that many of them were classic rock songs from some of his favorite bands!

The game was really a battle of the pitchers until the 9th inning.  With a base-clearing home run fresh under his belt from a recent game, Bryce Harper came up to bat with bases loaded again and hopes were high!  Unfortunately, he got a big "K" (strikeout).  Bummer.

Philly got their bats going and got a few lucky breaks in the 9th inning to score 3 runs, and it was game over.  The Nats got blanked, losing 3-0 to the Phillies.  This was actually the last of a three-game series with the Phillies, and the Nats lost all three games.  But not long before that they were on top of the National League East, so maybe they'll get back in the groove on their upcoming 10-day road trip.

You can't see them, but we had on our Nats t-shirts under all the layers of jackets.  Win or lose, we were excited to have an opportunity to take in a game and root for the home team.  Go Nats!!!

Awkward family selfie with the stadium sign