Posted on 03/30/2008 6:57:30 PM PDT by milestogo
No Major Back Ups as Fans Fill Nationals Park
By Daniel LeDuc Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, March 30, 2008; 6:44 PM
Fans are streaming into Washington's new ballpark, preparing for the Nationals' first home opener in a city-financed stadium that officials and the team hope will become a new national icon for the national pastime.
The first pitch is at 8:15 p.m. but thousands of fans have arrived hours early to check out the ballpark, the first built for baseball in the District since Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium opened 47 years ago.
No major road delays have been reported and Metro is running on time to deliver 41,888 fans to the game against the Atlanta Braves, which will be broadcast on ESPN.
About 6 p.m. the fans leaving the Navy Yard Metro station said trains had been running quickly, but were often very crowded. "We were on a cattle train coming in here," said Dave Shineman, 63 of Annapolis. "It was absolutely full. I mean, it wouldn't have mattered if you were holding on."
He said he had parked at the New Carrollton station, taken an Orange line train and transferred at L'enfant Plaza.
Shineman said he knew travelling by train might be more of a hassle after the game.
"We're hoping the Nats blow them out so we can leave in the seventh," Shineman said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I have a better photo!!. :D
Good grief—now I’m REALLY feeling my age. My brand new hubby and I went to the first football game played in that stadium!
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The resaon why they built up Nationals Park so fast was that they dispensed with a lot of the exterior architecture features that can be costly to put up, instead emphasizing the inside of the ballpark first.
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