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Opening Day 2010
The pre-game activity got start at 12:30 for the 1:05 start and, because it is opening day, everyone from the equipment manager to Ryan Zimmerman was introduced before the game.
Tradition holds that the visiting team is introduced first and it was clear from the cheers which greeted them, that about a quarter of the crowd was Phillies fans who had driven down for the day.
When they got to the Nationals' players, the Phillies fans started booing - they have Spring Training for Philadelphia fans to get their booing to mid-season form as quickly as possible - but got shouted down by the Nats fans' cheers.
Everyone was wearing team colors - red & white - so it was hard to tell who was booing and who was cheering for whom at any given point, but it had all the elements of an English soccer match about to get ugly. In the end, the game was a blow-out so the Phillies' ruffians had no cause to mix it up with the Nats' bureaucrats.
In a scoreboard video showing former presidents throwing out the first pitch starting with William Howard Taft, the crowed actually booed the footage of George W. For his part, President Obama got a lusty cheer when he walked onto the field, then drew some jeers when he (a) pulled a White Sox cap out of his pocket and put it on, then (b) triple- or quadruple-pumped before throwing a pitch high and away, causing Nats 3rd baseman Ryan Zimmerman (who had the honor of catching the ceremonial first pitch) to have to leap up to his right to snare it.
The only time everyone actually cheered in unison was when four wounded service member - one each from the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marines - were introduced and the stadium exploded in the USA! USA! chant.
This was the scene at Nationals Park just before the National Anthem:
The game started well for the home team; leadoff batter Nyjer Morgan singled and stole second. After the number two batter struck out, the aforementioned Ryan Zimmerman smacked a double off the centerfield wall and the Nats had a one-nothing lead.
They held that lead long enough for me to go to the 2010 media guide to look for the Nats first win last year. It was on April 16, after losing seven straight to begin the season. For those who may have come in late, the Nationals ended the season with 103 losses.
I was abruptly awakened from my dream of an opening day win when the Phillies sent 11 men to the plate in the top of the 4th scoring 5 runs and chasing starter John Lannan with the bases loaded and two outs. That was marginally better than his opening day performance a year earlier when, in his three innings-plus outing against the Marlins, he allowed six hits and six runs.
At that rate, Lannan should get through the fourth inning pitching a shutout on opening day April 2015.
The paid attendance was 41,290 - which was announced as a sell-out. The official capacity of Nationals Park is listed at 41,888, which means there were about 600 comps. The largest paid crowd in the short history of Nationals Park was the third game of the series against the Boston. Red Sox in June of last year which as 41,985. The second and third largest paid crowds were the first two games of that same series.
Right hander Jason Bergmann came in to pitch for the Nats with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh and the score 7-1. I said to a Philadelphia writer sitting next to me "now we'll get into double digits." Sure enough, 3rd baseman Placido Polanco swung at Bergmann's second pitch and deposited it in the Phillies' bullpen in left field: 11-1.
Shortly thereafter a significant number of the 41,290 fans started heading for the Green Line subway stop about a block from the front entrance to the park.
A little over three hours after President Obama threw the ball, the game ended pretty much the way last season ended: Phillies in first, Nats in the cellar.
Nevertheless, it was a gorgeous spring day in Washington and I got to spend it at the ballpark.
-- Rich Galen
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