A Rare Night Game

Normally when I see the Nationals play it's in the morning: the 11 o'clock 4th of July game. But I recently took in my first ever night game at Nationals Park. A friend I made through Twitter and the Baseball Tonight Podcast asked me to come down to meet him and see a game. We'd never met in person. Like me, he likes to go to ballparks he's never been to and this year it was DC. We've "known" each other for probably 10 or 12 years now and have also been in the same Fantasy Baseball league for a while. So I said yes. And it gave me the chance to see my family (as I'm from the area).

I have been to Nationals Park at night one other time and that was in 2018 for the Home Run Derby. That experience ruined the event for me. It's so much better in person than it is on the television; and I wasn't the least bit upset that I wasn't able to watch it on whatever streaming service it was on this year. 

We met just outside the park and he handed me a stack of baseball cards, buffered by some Magnum PI cards and then took in a beer at a local bar, and then went in to find our seats. Please note this isn't all the cards. I showed them to my dad and he wanted a few and it turns out he kept the good ones! It's actually kind of funny. He had two friends with him; once of whom is also in the Fantasy Baseball league. So it was really cool to meet them all. 

Funnily enough, our seats were in Section 316 which was essentially exactly where I sat for the Home Run Derby. 

After entering from Centerfield Gate

First Pitch

A perfect evening for baseball

A different view, plus the moon (it's not a space station)

The weather was perfect. Zero humidity, which in DC in late August, is a rare treat. The Nationals were no hit through four innings but then erupted at ultimately won 13-3. I got to see for the first time, I believe, a position player pitch. 

My own feelings about this are firm. If a team elects to have a position player pitch and they get another chance to bat, a pitcher has to hit. I'd also be in favor of a forfeit being declared and MLB can get around complaints by adding a statement in the fine print about ticket sales that after the 7th inning a forfeit might be called. If a position player pitches, the game is no longer competitive. So why bother? And why risk hurting a position player if you won't let pitchers hold a bat any longer? Make it a) be consistent and b) make sense. 

Thanks for stopping by!