Saturday night at RFK

I had a chance to catch the Washington Nationals at RFK on Saturday night. One final time to see them play at RFK. RFK holds many great memories for football fans but I find that these all-purpose stadiums are quite uninspiring when it comes to baseball. I have seen baseball games at Shea Stadium, Olympic Stadium in Montreal, and the old Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. These stadiums pale in comparison to Yankee Stadium and Camden Yards. Places that are BASEBALL stadiums. Places where the fans are closer to the action. Places that are worth going to. Thankfully, the trend in baseball over the past 1o to 15 years, has been to make new stadiums that are very "baseball friendly".

Saturday's game was listed as a "premium" game. I guess it got that designation because the visiting team was the San Francisco Giants who just happen to have Barry Bonds on the roster. Barry is the most prolific home run hitter in major league history. How he got there has raised some eyebrows. That, along with his less than friendly approach with the press and fans, had many people booing on Saturday night.

What surprised me, since I am one of those who was booing, was the number of people who really love this guy. I was very lucky to be sitting in the 8th row behind first base, Section 108 for those of you who know the stadium and there were a number of people who were cheering for Bonds. They were taking pictures and holding up signs. Maybe I'm just old school, but Hank Aaron always seemed like a gentleman and above reproach. Sadly, those are 2 things that I find lacking in Barry Bonds.

One fun thing about Saturday night's game, it was Teddy Roosevelt bobble-head night and I "got me a bobble-head". The Nationals do several between inning promotions and one of them has the 4 Mt. Rushmore Presidents in a foot race. That would be Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and of course, Teddy Roosevelt. All year, Teddy had not one. This was his night. He was brought onto the field like a king. He was carried in an elevated chair while the other "Presidents" walked behind. Al of a sudden, he goes down, I don't know if was dropped of if someone took a shot and hit one of his "secret service men", but TR was on the ground. The race starts and before you know it, George came in first and Teddy came in second, still win less for the year.

With the Nationals season winding down and the new ballpark coming along, I am just not sad at the prospect of not seeing another baseball game at RFK.