At least once a year we like to make a trip to the Washington DC / Maryland area to visit Deb's sisters' family. Deb and the kids were lucky enough to be able to stay the entire week and spend a few days at Ocean City. For me it was just a quick weekend trip and a Nationals' game.Attending the game were me, Taylor, Ryan, my three nieces, brother-in-law and my niece's friend. My nieces are huge Nationals' fans....complete with multiple options for game-day clothing. My kids and I picked up some hats and shirts before the game as well so that we fit it. Don't hold it against me, I'm still a Pittsburgh fan.
We arrived early, hoping to see batting practice; unfortunately it was cancelled. Nonetheless, we enjoyed exploring the stadium, which is fairly new....opened in 2008. Unfortunately for the Nationals, their season is not going as well as last year when they made the playoffs, but the crowd was still excited, especially since they were coming off a walk-off win the night before. They are not out of the pennant race yet, but they have their work cut out for them down the stretch.
Our seats were located on the club level, which allowed us to go inside to cool down on a very hot day.
I did enjoy the racing Presidents race, which is much like the sausage races in Milwaukee, except that instead of a hot dog, bratwurst, chorizo, Polish sausage and Italian sausage, you get to watch George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft. Pretty funny stuff. See the video (link below) of the game we attended in which Abe jumped from the stands to tackle Teddy.
See President's Race = 7-27-2013
The game itself was pretty exciting with the Nationals taking a 2 run lead in the 2nd inning on back-to-back home runs. Nationals' pitcher Dan Harden pitched a great game....much to the surprise of everyone, considering he had not won since early May. He even hit a double in the 3rd inning that was subsequently followed up by a home run by superstar Bryce Harper.
After that, the pace of the game moved quickly and the Mets managed to score just 1 run. In the 8th inning, the clouds rolled in and the rain came. We just in time to sprint to the car to avoid the worst of it. The rain delay lasted long enough for us to get home and watch the top of the 9th inning on the couch.Final score - Nationals win 4-1. Great game; great time with family and more money raised for cancer research. 33 games now completed out of 122. My record for the home teams is now 22-11 - including 7 in a row.
Please visit my fundraising page. I encourage you to donate. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel
