Washington Nationals Park

Wow, sometimes it's unbelievable how the pace differs between National League games and American League games. I think the last NL game I went to before last night was John Smoltz' complete game 3 hitter in Atlanta, which lasted 2:35. Last night's Nationals/Cardinals affair was hardly a pitchers' duel, given that every single run was scored on a homer, and the game was still over in 2:40. I can't remember the last Sox game I went to that went less than 3 hours, and many have been much, much longer.

In a nutshell, Pujols is as dangerous as advertised. Jordan Zimmerman, pitching in his third major league game, pitched admirably and sharply, but made a few too many mistakes, including an early one to Pujols, and eventually gave up a tater to batters 2-5 before his night was done. The Cards dominated this game in every sense, but there wasn't a lot of excitement. Two double plays, I think? The most exciting moment was the fastest trip around the bases on a homer I have ever seen.

The park (#12 franchise, #13 stadium for me) was nice and clean and our seats were in the club level, which meant padded seats, nice amenities and short lines. But in general, I was underwhelmed. Of the newest stadiums, AT&T, PNC and Citizens Bank Parks have a lot more personality. Beer selection was poor, service was worse and fan intensity was non-existent. Food was mediocre. It certainly seemed that Cardinals fans outnumbers Nats fans, at least in intensity. The spectacle scoreboards had so many gimmicks, I could have sworn I was at a minor league game. And why do so many teams (my Bucs included) insist on copying the old sausage race tradition of Milwaukee? I certainly would rather have a clear announcement of a pitching change (which we did not have) than a stupid "kiss-cam" or follow the baby in the bucket game.

I guess if we sat in the upper decks, we'd have had a nice view of the Capitol and Washington Monument, but from where we were, nothing special.

I'd go to another game there if I happened to be in DC on a game night, but if I go out of my way to go to a game in the DC area, it will be in Baltimore...