2nd ever MLB game

I attended my 2nd ever MLB game yesterday. It was my first time in the new Nationals Stadium. My first MLB game was the same team a year or two ago at RFK Stadium. And I think my only other professional game was the Toledo Mud Hens many many years ago. I’m not much of a baseball fan. I think my boss Robie got these tickets from his wife who got them from work. Robin met me on her bike after an ultimate frisbee clinic. I came via metro since I’m not quite healed yet. They had a free bike valet which was nice. Not too many bikes there this rainy weeknight.

The radar showed all kinds of storms in the area and I thought for sure rain would hit around the start time. We got to our seats right after they started and were impressed with the stadium. There were lots of seats, you could sit very high and far away if you were not so fortunate. No one checked our tickets as we walked up to our seats in the lower section although there was an older gentleman checking the first 10 rows right in front of us. Our tickets ended up being quite good; 12 rows away from 3rd base. The place wasn’t half full. And there were many up on the 3rd tier. You could see signs from your seats that told you which section you could find Ben’s Chili Bowl or Five Guys Burgers & Fries.

Around the 4th or 5th inning I saw everyone on the opposite side of the stadium stand up and head for cover. The rain was coming. I was worried about Robin getting her bike on the metro among the thousands of people so we wanted to beat the crowd. Robin ran off to get her bike and the rain ended up tapering off without doing much. Both of us had enough baseball for one season so we headed for the metro anyway one block away. On both sides of the short block is a fence lining the road that has advertisements for the new stores coming in the rubble behind the fence. At the metro the station manger wouldn’t let Robin take her bike through. No bikes allowed on game days. This is a reasonable rule similar to the restriction during rush hour. Except we were the only ones in the station. No one else left the game. The station manager looked at me like I was an idiot and said “I can’t change the rules for you.” So accommodating of her. So Robin rode back to Arlington and met me in Clarendon for some dinner.

I found out later the game was delayed at some point and eventually play resumed until after 1am.