Submitted by Jeff on Sun, 03/23/2008 - 7:56am.
- National Park was put through its paces Saturday afternoon when it hosted a game between George Washington and St. Joseph's, the first baseball game to take place in the $600-million facility. Although the finishing touches on the new ballpark are being put into place, the game appeared to go well for fans and team officials alike. "We obviously still have things we need to do," team president Stan Kasten said. "But so far, so good." And, for the record, GW beat St. Joseph's 9-4.
- Kasten "clearly has been drinking too many five-hour energy drinks" as he rushed around greeting people and showing off the stadium, the Times' Thom Loverro observed in his column about the new ballpark. Among Loverro's observations: a jagged wall behind home plate makes it tough to determine how wild pitches and such will bounce off it. "[G]iven the fouled up process the ballpark went through – developed and planned without an owner in place – it is remarkable it turned out as well as it did."
- The 5,000 or so people who attended gave the ballpark "rave reviews", particularly when compared to RFK. "It's just a whole lot better," said one fan. "It seems like it's going to be easy to see from every seat." "It's not quite as beautiful as Camden Yards," another attendee told the Post. "But it has a funky feeling like RFK, funky in a good way. It has some spit and humanity to it." (Spit and humanity?) Former mayor Tony Williams pronounced himself "very pleased" about the ballpark.
- Rocco Zappone's essay about RFK in today's Post will raw two very different reactions. If, like him, you're of a certain age and background, someone who mourned the Senators' departure to Texas after the '71 season, you'll appreciate Zappone's extended, biographical paean to the old stadium. If you were born after the Senators left, or didn't grow up in DC, or otherwise didn't have fond memories of the Senators playing in RFK, you'll find his essay a bit… overwrought.
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