I was the player to be named later from the Brewers in exchange for Ray King

Top five: Pretty much any game where Zimmerman did that schoolboy's dream of a bottom-of-the-ninth, game-winning hit.

Also, one of the games last year when (Loaiza? not sure exactly) pitched a complete game. It was such a rare occurrence that it was fun to see.

And I'm told by one of the 55K-plus that were there that RFK was a cool place to be in 1996 during a USA-Portugal Olympic soccer match.

I think that Phillies overnight game basically ended the Phillies WC hopes too.

It was sitting at the Tune Inn at 11 pm trying to decide what to do. Having been there since 8, though, RFK seemed about 40 miles away.

Sigh, "I" was sitting.

"It" brings up creepy Silence of Lambs memories.

It was Pedro Astacio with the complete game. Frank commented that he should have charged the pitchers in the bullpen for the great seats they watched from.

Astacio! Thanks!

The Nats should do a DVD called "RFK: The Early Years" just so we could have all those walk-off homers/hits in one place.

Thanks, Barry, for the stirring, happy memories. I didn't live in the area for the Senators regimes, so can't comment on that front, but as for the current Nats era:

5. I wasn't there, but was listening to the radio at home. Paced around my den for much of the last few innings.

4. That homestand included natsfan1b's first visits to RFK (she was visiting from Chi-town), and is where the love affair began for her (I was already entranced by them).

3. I have to admit that I was listening to this one at home and went to bed before the finale. Props to those fans who were there and stayed to the end.

2. That Yankees series is one of my all-time favorites. The Saturday comeback was awesome, and it was so sweet to see the faces of those Yankees fans around us who thought they had that one sewn up. The Sunday game was the icing on the cake. Just looking at the Zimm photo made me smile at it all over again.

1. I always wondered whether there was any payback to Cormier for that plunking. I've heard that players can have very long memories for such things.

Last but not least, one of my other favorites is Patterson's August 2005 complete game shutout, which featured Wilky's grand slam (and haven't the Nats hit a bunch of those this year?).

p.s. I like JP but I'm not his mom.

Item #1--It appears as if JimBo has done it again. The kid seems to be a "prospect."

On RFK--I came to DC in Aug., 1964 and saw one baseball game (No Redskins until the Allen Era) in 1966 (DC Stadium) but the bulk of games (30 game package, '69, '70,'71) was at RFK. Best memories there, like those of other Bloggers, were Hondo belting them into the upper deck center and left as well as WMP like line drives and seeing Ted Williams a lot that one season. Your best memories of this current run of baseball at RFK mirror mine. I was at Opening Day and Zimm's Yankee walk-off. Also the whole 2005 season--giving new meaning to "the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. On to new memories at the new stadium. LETS GO NATS!!

I go back to the grey lady to when she opened for baseball in April 1962. My dad took me to the first game and I had never seen so many people in one place! We had gone to several games at Old Griffith Stadium, but I was much too young to realize what a dump that place had become. My most vivid memory of then-DC Stadium came in september 1965 when the Minnesota Twins won their first American League pennant by a score of 2-1. Old Nat Jim Kaat beat then-current Nat Pete Richert and the Twins got to celebrate in the city they had previously abandoned. I kept thinking "Those guys should be representing OUR CITY in the World Series." It still hurts to think about it.

Favorite memory has to be game 3 of the opening series in '05 when the gate staff didn't want to let people bring in brooms because they could be "offensive weapons" but after explaining what it was for and what it meant told us "if you hit someone with that say you came in another gate."

My first games were in D.C. Stadium in the mid 1960's, but like most, I didn't pay for the tickets. My brother and I had a "Carnival for M.D." every summer (sponsored by Bill Gormley and WTTG-5) and part of the reward were Senators tickets.

A favorite memory: 1971 double header against the A's: Oakland played the first game with their gold sleeveless shirts and green undershirts, then came out for the second game wearing road gray uniforms. I thought that was just the coolest thing as the Senators had just one road and one home uniform.

Lefave is probably more than we should have expected to have received in return for five weeks of Ray King. True, he's an undrafted free agent and 23 is relatively old for A-ball. But on the other hand, there is something to be said for winning a batting title at any level, and Baseball America has some nice things to say:

"Lefave has hit as a pro, leading West Virginia to the South Atlantic League playoffs while winning the batting title. He hit .345/.432/.525 using an advanced approach. His bat stays in the strike zone a long time and he uses all fields, and he showed some ability to play left field, though he's better suited for first."

Good, get out and stay out. DCU doesn't need the Nats to bring their losing culture into their home stadium along with that horrible baseball diamond they were forced to set up. Have fun losing in a newer, prettier stadium.

Hold up. Does batting practice staged at the new ballpark mean that these players won't be around for the Season Ticket holder appreciation part of tomorrows game? If so, I will be very angry.

I grew up in Woodbridge, back in the day when it wasn't really a close-in DC suburb. (It hasn't moved from where it was then, the suburban sprawl has just grown to encompass it.) So I didn't get into the city much as a kid, but I do remember going to a couple of Senators games. About all I remember of them is looking up at the sky all day long, seeing a cloud and hoping it wouldn't rain that night, and then finally getting to the stadium, walking in and getting that first glimpse of an incredibly green expanse of grass. (Who went medieval on that grass back in the day - anyone know?) After the Senators left, I went away to college and then came back. Got to RFK only a few times, once for a Skins preseason game and a couple of times for those exhibitions that were supposed to prove to MLB that Washington was a big-league town. Also got to Memorial/OPACY for a couple of O's games over the years, but lost interest in following the O's once Angelos started ruining the team and I realized that by supporting the O's DC was actually hurting its chances of ever getting a team of our own.

So when the Nats did arrive in 2005, I was a little late to get on board. Got tickets to a Cubs game in May for my Dad and me as a birthday present to him, but because of all the first-year hype and my lack of RFK savvy, the best seats I could get turned out to be way up in the nosebleeds. Good thing it was after his knee replacement, or he'd never have made it up there. There was a long rain delay that night and we ended up leaving before the first pitch. Went to three or four other games myself that year: a game against Toronto where Bush was there but I didn't know until I got home, a 14-1 drubbing by the Astros with Clemens on the mound, and one of the Giants games late in the season where Bonds didn't play. Did get to see Rick Short and Zimmerman get hits in their September call-ups, though.

Then last year I made it to seven games, but my timing was off in terms of seeing anything really memorable. I was at the Friday night Yankees game that we lost, then saw the amazing Saturday comeback on Fox, but missed Zimm's Sunday walk-off not because of any MASN/Comcast angst, but just because I don't have cable. Did get to hear the Fourth of July walk-off on the radio and saw the Ortiz near no-no because it was on Channel 20.

This year I sprung for the 20-game plan that landed me in 419. I have two big memories of games I've been at this year, one good and one bad. The good: Fourth of July, Zimmerman solo HR in the first and then a grand slam from Dmitri to shut up the Cubs fans. The bad: Cleveland, Saturday night, Nook Logan. Nuff said. No matter what he does from then on, after that I will never ever warm up to Nook.

Oh, two other RFK things have made my life complete. I got to boo both Princes of Darkness there, Barry Bonds this season and that guy who cut and ran right after throwing the first pitch on Opening Day 2006. At least Bonds stayed and faced the boos.

Memories - 2:

1. Opening Day at DC Stadium. Drizzly April day. Got rained on (seams between the sections had not been properly caulked). Bennie Daniels on the mound. Not a great pitcher.

2. Opening Day at RFK. After 34 years I was close to tears when the "old" Senators came out and turned their positions over to the Nats.

Sorry I couldn't hand around and make your life complete. My job is kinda important, you know.

I'll stick around after I throw out the first pitch in '09, but only if the Cubs are playing. Woops, did I say, Cubs....

"Lefave has hit as a pro, leading West Virginia to the South Atlantic League playoffs while winning the batting title. He hit .345/.432/.525 using an advanced approach. His bat stays in the strike zone a long time and he uses all fields, and he showed some ability to play left field, though he's better suited for first."

Seeing this, I am already pumped to have this guy be next year's Robert Fick. No matter what he does, he'd have to be better than this year's Robert Fick. Send him to comedy camp in the off-season and that will be all he needs in order to kick the current Fick off the team and up into the broadcast booth...

GoNats, good catch on the season ticketholder event, and I agree. Especially as the batting practice session that I've been hoping to take in this afternoon looks as if it has a good chance of being rained out.

Ideally (for us STH fans) they'd just take a few cuts each at Nats Park, and then come back to RFK for *real* BP. Guess we'll find out tomorrow.

I don't know how excited we would be if we had a 23yo 1B/OF at Hagerstown who hit .345. At this rate he'll be in the majors by his 31st birthday, the name Rick Short comes to mind...

Still, he's a real player, in a position of need (for the minor leagues anyway). And we got him for someone who was of no use to us anyway. I only wish we'd completed the trade before rosters were finalized so Ray might get a chance at the playoffs if Milwaukee gets hot.

I went to many Senators' games as a child in the mid 60's through 71, but my favorite memory was going to an A's-Senators game in 1971 for my birthday. I got cake, some Senators memorabilia and had my name put up on the scoreboard along with the eight or so other birthday celebrants. The game went 21 innings with the A's winning 5-3, and we stayed for 18 and had a great time. Those memories take on special meaning for me this year, as my father passed away in July. One great regret my brother and I have is that dad was too ill to go to any Nats games during their three years at RFK. My favorite memories related to the Nats are (1) Soriano's three homer game against Smoltz in early 2006, (2) the hot streak in June of 2005 when the Nats ripped off something like ten home wins in a row and (3) getting to go to Opening Day for this first time in my life this year. The game was disappointing, but being there with my son was a memory that I'll always cherish. I'll miss the ease of getting to RFK from No. Va., the spacious parking and the ability to get tickets pretty much any time I want them.

I proudly was at the top 3. Admittedly there will be few major league experiences quite like the 11:30 PM start against the Phillies (and the 2:30 AM finish). I knew it was going to be a great night when the cleaning crew was moving around the top deck BEFORE the game started.

I hate to instill too much negativity into this blog, but Barry, could you ask the blog readers to pick out their 5 worst (or funniest) moments at RFK? I know as a collective group there's so much to share. I can think of several of my personal favorites: the usher that demanded a bribe from me to allow me to remain in some empty seats; the ticket-taker refusing to grant my friends and I admission to the stadium in the 8th inning (even though we had our season tickets) because the ticket-taking equipment had been put away; the cancelled game against the Mets because of the tarp problems; the cold hot dogs; and my personal favorite, one of my friends installing new screws and performing repairs on his season seat because stadium personnel didn't respond to our requests to fix it.

Please, give us an opportunity to share our truly memorable RFK stadium experiences, the ones that hopefully will be left behind when the new stadium opens. And, do you think the front office will mind if we take our screws back at the end of the season?

First game at (then) D.C. Stadium - April 28, 1962. New York 10, Washington 3. Still have the scorecard from that one, in my father's rather ideosynchratic scorekeeping style. After old Griffith Stadium, we thought we'd died and gone to heaven. Now my kids say "Sure, it's a dump. But it's OUR dump!."

I'm looking forward to many good years at the new place.

Best (baseball) memory - Opening day, 2005. Too many others to count, really.

I didn't arrive in town until 16 years after D.C. Stadium was rechristened, so I have to pass on that.

There wasn't a game in '05 that wasn't exciting to me, because the whole year had a "Field of Dreams" quality to it. It was apparent that MLB was by no means done jerking D.C. around, and who knew what might happen at the end of the season?

And after the '05 finale, seeing all those balls and bats and gloves being shoveled up to the kids standing behind the dugout was incredibly cool. You knew some young fans were being built right then. (No doubt a few old fans, too; as for myself, I was long since safely tucked aboard the bandwagon.)

We do have a 23-year old prospect that started the year in Hagerstown ... Justin Maxwell. The difference, though, is that Maxwell's development was slowed by injuries, and he should be a AA Harrisburg next year (would have been this year but for injuring himself sneezing). Lefave will probably start at high Class A Potomac, but if he can join Max at AA and succeed there, this will have been a real coup for the Nats.

Phillie game in 2006 (I think)...there were a bunch of Filly kids a few rows down being pretty obnoxious since the Fillies were up early. A lady in the row behind them finally had enough and tossed her beer on one of them.

Strictly speaking, probably a nice thing to do, and a waste of perfectly good beer, but it was pretty funny at the time (although likely not so funny for the lady, as she was taken off by security).

And the Nats won, so it was fun to jeer the kids as they headed for an early exit.

Oops. I meant "not a nice thing to do". Clearly I'm conflicted about this.

Bob, I don't mean to poo-poo the Lafave pickup, maybe he didn't get promoted to high A because they wanted to let him try to get the batting title. It might have been nice for us to keep Maxwell and Marrero in Hagerstown long enough to play in the all star game...

The most important part of this deal is that we gave up nothing of value (similair to the WMP deal) and Lafave fills a team need in the minor league system. If reports are true Broaway will be released shortly, Whitesell will get promoted to AAA Columbus and Lafave will move to Hagerstown where he will have a chance to shine alongside such top prospects as Flores (my opinion), Maxwell, Daniels, Detwiler and maybe Jordan Zimmerman.

my family and i go every july 4th and the past 2 years have not disappointed for flair and meaning. especially 2006 with zims walk off. being the nations capital and all, i think it belongs on there. right with you on ortiz v cardinals, the air at the park was electric especially after his 8th inning HR. if zim and johnson had not doubled and let ortiz go out with all that energy from the HR, he would have completed the no-no.

another fav memory from RFK was seeing the US national team play guatemala. the upper bowl was almost completely guatemalans, besides me and when the US scored and i cheered i felt as though i were a pilgrim in a strange and unholy land, still great though.

I thought I told you it was last call hours ago, Clancy! What have you been tippling since then?

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Chief Clancy Wiggum vented: Good, get out and stay out. DCU doesn't need the Nats to bring their losing culture into their home stadium along with that horrible baseball diamond they were forced to set up. Have fun losing in a newer, prettier stadium.

For all the reasons Mr. S. mentions, the top moment has gotta be the Opening Night 2005. (A photo of those fireworks exploding above the entire circumference of RFK's roof is my screensaver).

And Catcher50 wrote: "After 34 years I was close to tears when the "old" Senators came out and turned their positions over to the Nats."

I know what you mean, C50, but I confess that I wasn't "close to". I was all the way there.

Interesting video on Andrew Lafave;

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7062983169112830272&q=player+profile%3A+andrew+lefave&total=1&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Re the 9/23 closing day tailgate (come one, come all!), I just looked at the RFK parking map and realized I've surely been confusing people mightily.

When I say "southeast corner of Lot 8," *I* know what I mean: the corner nearest the East Capitol Street Bridge, away from the stadium, and furthest in from the entrance from the freeway. But, of course, that's really the *northeast* corner.

Anyway, if you look at the RFK parking map at

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/was/ballpark/directions.jsp

it's the upper right-hand corner. The reader and my seventh-grade geography teacher, Miss Gertrude Peel (of blessed memory), are welcome to debate how the upper right of a north-oriented map could have become the southeast in my mind. It's too late in the week for me to worry about it.

Summary:
- Northeast corner.
- Furthest from freeway exit.
- Closest to East Capitol Street Bridge.
- Away from the stadium.

See you 9/23. I hope.

I can't say I was at many of these because I didn't move to DC until Nov 2005. But I became a season ticket holder in 06 with big thanks to JennX. She also bought me my first official jersey.

I did thankfully make it to two of those top 5 games:

The late night game where Jenn brought a birthday sign to Zim (that he took and later mentioned appreciating in the paper)

The Father's day Yankees game where Jorge Posada fouled one up to Section 420 for me to catch. I remember this one well. I was sitting on the aisle (I actually brought nuts and bolts to RFK because my seat was literally coming apart. I screwed it back together for the remainder of the season--I may have to go pick those up on the last day)--oh right--the story!

I was sitting on the aisle, holding my beer in my left hand. The ball sailed up very gently and so subtly that nobody stood up to receive it.

I sat there. I casually held out my right hand. The ball landed in it with the reassuring firmness of a used car salesman's handshake. The beer in my cup stirred.

I raised a drink to the Nats and held the ball in the air.

That was my 2006 best of.

chuck brown on opening day 2005... i have never been surrounded by so many happy enjoyable people in my life as at that first game.

nothing earth shattering but it seems like a fair enough trade for both sides. keep filling that pipeline...

You know, those last three games of 2006 were extremely memorable. I think we got blown out in all of them, but the love we showed Frank and the boys was overwhelming. It's as if the Mets didn't even exist, much less win.

You've got to think New York Mets Third Base Coach Manny Acta took note.

oh hey, section 553! my screws!

Good call, Hendo, on the '05 finale. As we were riding home on the Metro after that one, I was a bit weepy. Natsfan1c asked if it was because my team lost, and I replied that it wasn't that; it was that the season was over and I didn't want it to end. It was so special the way that the city embraced a rather vagabound team that had finally (we hoped) found a home and (we hoped) some security about its future. Not to say that the subsequent seasons haven't been fun, but that was a unique time.

---

And after the '05 finale, seeing all those balls and bats and gloves being shoveled up to the kids standing behind the dugout was incredibly cool. You knew some young fans were being built right then. (No doubt a few old fans, too; as for myself, I was long since safely tucked aboard the bandwagon.)

Another good call, Sect. 506, on the Frank-love in the final games. I especially liked it when we all chanted his name (take that, Teddy R.!). I still have the sign that I took with me that day.

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You know, those last three games of 2006 were extremely memorable. I think we got blown out in all of them, but the love we showed Frank and the boys was overwhelming. It's as if the Mets didn't even exist, much less win.

Old RFK: 1969 All Star Game. Willy McCovey hit two home runs and our very own Hondo hit one out. I was 19. Great experience.

New RFK:
1. For all the reasons stated by Barry and so many others -- Opening Day 2005. Baseball back in D.C. at last!
2. The Yankees series in 2006.
3. I hate to admit it, but the upper deck homer that Bonds hit in August 2005 was pretty darn memorable.
4. July 4 games.

Thanks 506 and 1a. I meant to include the farewell to Frank in my list. The tributes -- and his speech -- were true highlights.

Thanks, Hendo, for the parking lot deets. As a lefty who invariably chooses the wrong way when given an option on which way to turn, I'll not weigh in on the north-south parking lot puzzler.

Here are some of my RFK memories:

July 7, 1969: It was my first Senators game. My dad wasn't much of a baseball fan, but I wanted to go to the game for my birthday. The thing that sticks in my mind the most about that night was walking through that portal and into the bowl of the stadium, and how green everything was (Section 419 mentioned the same thing, above). It rained later in the game... but they finished it. They won... I was in love...

April 5, 1971: My first opening game - Senators 8, A's 0. The Nats beat Vida Blue that day. My mom let me skip school, and we sat in the upper deck. I remember thinking how steep the upper deck bowl was, compared to the lower deck. Melvin Laird threw out the first pitch. Good thinking, have the Secretary of Defense throw out the first pitch, during an unpopular war.

Fall/Winter 1982: Saw the Redskins run for the Super Bowl... went to the last regular season game, and all of the playoff games, and sat in the field-level endzone seats... that was something else. Went to the Super Bowl that year, too... at the Rose Bowl... another old stadium.

Opening Day 2005: That was amazing... It was worth the trip for me.

Other notable days: The last game of the season in 2005... Frank's last game last year... Opening day is always special... so opening day in 2006 and 2007. I met Gerald Ford at RFK stadium at an exhibition game in 1972.

As for the PTBNL: I think I called it... I said it would be a position player...

I want to pick out the first game of the 10-game winning streak during the 12-1 homestand (I almost went and decided against it, darnit). I went to the loss the night before with my dad (that damn Wilson Betemit), the first time my dad and I went to see the Nats.
Gary Majewski couldn't get one more out in the top of eighth and Braves rallied to take the lead with three runs. Washington came back against the Braves in the bottom half with Gary Bennett (remember him) capping the rally with a three-run double. To me that was the start of the most magical month I have ever had as a baseball fan, one I shall take with me the rest of my days.

In light of Hendo's excellent parking lot update, I'm carrying forward the invite from the last posting (now, with new, improved directions!!)

It might be, it could be, it IS...almost time for the NJ bloggers' end-of-season tailgate event!

Date: Sunday, September 23

Time: From 10:05 AM (when parking lots open) to approx. 11:35 AM (game time is 12:05)

Where: Northeast corner of Parking Lot 8 at RFK, i.e., the corner nearest the East Capitol Street Bridge, away from the stadium, and furthest in from the entrance from the freeway. It's in the upper right-hand corner if you look at the RFK parking map at

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/was/ballpark/directions.jsp

Here's Your Sign: Look for Hendo's black '07 Miata with the Planet NJ sign on top. Hendo will also provide a sound system for our musical pleasure. Could double-dactyls be far behind?

Attire: Baseball casual (Nats gear or Meat Hook t-shirts for the carnivores among us)

What to Bring: Chair, if desired, your own drinking water, and something to eat or drink. Volunteered so far have been sweet muffins or scones and fruit, bagels and cream cheese, English muffins and hard cheese, poached salmon, coffee, white wine, and plates/cups/napkins/utensils.

Your hosts include: Jenn-X, Hendo, Natsfan1a, SC Nats Fan, and Wigi.

About a dozen other bloggers have expressed interest in attending at one point or another, but we'd be happy to see more. Please come join us so we can put faces to the monikers!

Because I am now serving readers on a case-by-case basis, I bring you this:

John Patterson had surgery to decompress the radial nerve in his right arm this morning at Duke Medical Center in Durham, N.C. The procedure, which took one hour, was performed by Dr. David Ruch at Duke Medical Center.

Will include in the next post when I get to the ballpark.

Thanks, Barry. We appreciate all that you do even if some do not!

Thanks for the update, Barry. See you 9/23. What do you like on your English muffin?

My first visit to RFK was in 1969 to see the Seattle Pilots. I was a wee lad. Wayne Comer (then with the Pilots) gave me a ball after warming-up - when he was traded to the Senators the following season I became an official member of his fan club. I think I still have the card around somewhere. But I was also a big fan of Paul Casonova, Eddie Brinkman, and Aurelio Rodriguez. Hondo would never sign an autograph for me so I didn't much care for his arrogance.
When I came back to DC on business in June 2005 my first stop was RFK. It was a mystical expereince. As soon as I walked in and saw it set-up for baseball again it I felt like Odysseus returning home.
I was also there for the Saturday Yankees game the next year. I'll always remeber Damon bowing to the ladies in CF after hitting a monster shot in hte top half and then the look of dismay on Joe Torre's face when he came to take Rivera out of the game. The highs and lows of baseball. My son became a Nats fan on that day.
RIP RFK

What was the Operating Room temperature? How many were in attendance? Did another surgeon get the "save"?

Funniest Senator moment at RFK was the Senators Jimmy Piersall disputing a home run called by the ump and Jimmy said it was foul. Jimmy, the left fielder tried to climb the foul pole to point where the ball hit.If any one remembers Jimmy Piersall, he was a nut that added a lot of laughs and color to that dismal team.

Wigi sez "As for the PTBNL: I think I called it... I said it would be a position player..."

Well, since 89% of the players on the field are position players, not exactly a tough call there. So don't go botherin' me with any of your stock tips, okay?

"What was the Operating Room temperature? How many were in attendance? Did another surgeon get the "save"?"

Any Junior Mints in that OR? They can be very refreshing...

Thanks, Barry, for the opportunity to share so many memories. What a wonderful microcosm of the regulars and lurkers of NJ! Can I say how grateful I am to be a part of NJ-nation? (I guess I just did)

Looking forward to putting some faces to names on 9/23.

Word to Stan the Plan and the Lerners: if you doubt the passion and affection of your DC baseball-philes, and the depth to which baseball (ok, football too) holds a place in our hearts, take a look at this thread of memories! I hope they keep a copy of these bound and available anytime they MIGHT have an urge to question the passion of our fans.

Some of my favorite memories not mentioned already:

a. One of Chief's saves, right before the All-Star break in 2005 (don't remember the exact game). He was PUMPED and the crowd was rocking, as he was headed to Detroit (or was it Pitt?)

b. Taking a couple neighborhood kids for a Sunday game this year, as I just moved into the neighborhood in February. It's become a bit of a thing now, and when I pass them, they've already checked the schedule for the next Sunday game. Instead of my seats I share with friends, we go to the nosebleeds, as it's all the same to them. It still creeps me out how much they like that overstuffed chicken, Screech, though!

c. The game I went to in mid-May this year to find Carlsberg on tap near my Section 310 seats! A cutie pouring them too, although not familiar with the brand. I think I scared her with my glee. Still my first-bevvie ritual (before sticking with the swill of the vendors, so not to miss a pitch, except when I take the kids, when I stick to my one).

Good luck Lafave! You have the right name to make our Quebecois faithful proud! Now get in the fast lane on the Nats minor-league superhighway. You do your part, we could be seeing you here next September!

There have been quite a few memorable games for me at RFK since the Nationals arrived. I can't say who the opponent was or the final score for many of them (though the list would include Opening Night and the Saturday Yankees game last year), but they are all the games where we had a good group of friends together and we were just kicking back and enjoying a baseball game in our hometown.

One other memory: RFK hosted a number of exhibition games in the 1980s and 90s. I think it was in 1991, when DC was a finalist for the expansion team that went to the Marlins, that RFK was restored to its baseball configuration for the first time since the Senators left. That was just about as cool as seeing it again for real in 2005.

"Hondo would never sign an autograph for me so I didn't much care for his arrogance."

A pretty vivid impression to have lasted 38 years. Present-day stars, be warned!

(The word on Hondo now is that he's a pretty good guy. Must have mellowed over the years.)

Personal Favorite, I was an intern with the Bowie Baysox during the inaugural 05' season. Any way, one night the Baysox got rained out and as I was driving on 50 back to Virginia when I moved my radio dial to the Nat's station and to my surprise they were still playing. Instead of going home I drove to RFK, parked at the stadium for free, snuck in (still feel bad about that) and watched the rest of the game. We were playing the Cubs that evening and won. Also, how could you beat opening night, I drove 7 hours back home from Marshall University to see the game. I even turned in a final English paper early just so I could come. There are few moments in life where you can say "If I could be any where in the world this is where I would be" well that night was one of those moments.

Memories of Frank getting the HR call overturned...? Or am I remembering revisionist history here?

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Funniest Senator moment at RFK was the Senators Jimmy Piersall disputing a home run called by the ump and Jimmy said it was foul. Jimmy, the left fielder tried to climb the foul pole to point where the ball hit.If any one remembers Jimmy Piersall, he was a nut that added a lot of laughs and color to that dismal team.

Lopez SS
Belliard 2B
Zimmerman 3B
Young 1B
Kearns RF
Pena LF
Flores C
Maxwell CF
Chico P

Escobar 3B
Renteria SS
Diaz LF
Teixeira 1B
Francoeur RF
A. Jones CF
McCann C
Prado 2B
James P

"The word on Hondo now is that he's a pretty good guy. Must have mellowed over the years."

In all fairness Hendo, I used to stand right next to the first base dug-out and have often wondered if I was just too dang close to Ted Williams for Howard's liking!

I am trying to clear my calendar for the 23rd. Are tickets still available?

419:

Yeah, that's true... I only mention it because there were lots of people commenting that it would be a pitching prospect...

Here's a sure thing...

Sunrise... tomorrow... take that to the bank!

I'm on my way to BWI to fly home so I'm going to miss Maxwell's first career start.

Here's hoping he's the answer to our CF dileman...

Fear The Turtle!

LCNF: Looks like there are plenty of tix left for 9/23.

Wouldn't be surprised to see brisk walk-up sales that day, though, so probably best not to wait till the last minute.

Like to add;

-Late Aug 2005 JPAT threw a nasty-gem against the Dodgers and Brad Wilkerson hit a "Grand Slam" in the 7th.

-Labor Day 2005 with Livo mowing down a pretty good Marlins line-up and Placido Domingo belting out GBA in the 7th.

-Fourth of July 2007 and the "Meat Hook" drills a "Grand Slam" against the Cubs.

-Memorial Day 2005 when Frank challenged a Brave Home-run down near the foul-pole and won the argument.

-Marlon Bryd making a diving head first catch and Charlie Slows screaming "he made the catch, he made the catch and the Nationals win again, unbelievable".

McCann hits 7th! that is a silly lineup with Teixiera...

Nats fans are worst than the darn school kids at times! I am glad to see them go to the new stadium. maybe you green line folks will love them now. the season cannot end soon enough for me!

J-Max: The future is now!

--------------

Lopez SS
Belliard 2B
Zimmerman 3B
Young 1B
Kearns RF
Pena LF
Flores C
Maxwell CF
Chico P

Escobar 3B
Renteria SS
Diaz LF
Teixeira 1B
Francoeur RF
A. Jones CF
McCann C
Prado 2B
James P

Longterm, not only that, but tonight's lineup doesn't include Chipper Jones. The Braves have four legit stars in Chipper, Andruw, Teixeira and Francoeur. We have arguably one at the moment. Makes the Nats record this season all the more amazing. And The Plan all the more important (all we need are three more all-stars and then we can be 9.5 games behind the Mets in the NL East, just like the Braves).

My favorite moments at RFK all include family and/or friends, beer, and food. I mean I do remember the Zimmerman HR against the Yankees, the Cordero saving games with the help of a warning track catch in deep centerfield by Wilky, and Sorianic blasts to leftfield, but I also remember the first rain delay (and failed attempts to cover the field), women in tight t-shirts and shorts, and foul balls deftly caught by yours truly. All superb memories suitable for framing. I know the new ballpark will bring even better memories, but I am just grateful to have had baseball in DC for the last 3 years.

BTW, I'm going to a couple of the season ticket holder appreciation events if I can get there in time. Anybody know more about these events than what was in the email to us?

I hope we don't, but there is a good chance we'll take one of their "all stars" next year in Andruw Jones. That wpuld only leave us 2 to go...

Speaking of Jones I was looking at his numbers for the year and his numbers were dead on vs his career numbers EXCEPT for 2 awful months in May and June when he was playing hurt.

Maybe he isn't as washed up as I thought he was, but I still don't want to sign him for more than a 1 year "redemption" contract as MLBtraderumors.com and Zuckerman of the Times are suggesting.

Favorite moments at RFK --

June 18th, 2006, with Zimm's walk off HR against the Yankees. Chanting "Yankees go home" in the concourse on the way out was fabulous.

July 4th, this year, against the Cubs. As they intentionally walked Zimm, I remember saying "Dmitri's going to make them pay for this", which he did, with a grand slam.

Astacio complete game shut out, in 2 hours. Funny aside -- when I was going down the Metro escalator, someone was coming up, hoping to come in to the game late. He was astonished when I told him the game was already over.

Frank Robinson's last game, and paying tribute to a baseball statesman.

The first Nats game I attended in June 2005. I felt like I'd come home.

Favorite RFK memory:

Standing in line all night for All Star Game tickets in 1969 and then sitting in the upper deck over the right field foul pole and watching Frank Howard homer during the game. I'd love to see the Nats employ Hondo in some capacity when they move to the new stadium.

Let's hope Chico can give the bullpen another day's rest tonight.

We can sign A. Jones to a three-year deal with options. At 30, he is hardly "washed-up" and, even if he didn't work-out next year, he is the type of player who will be moveable to a contending team - provided his contract isn't too big (and he has guaranteed that himself this year).

As a young kid growing up in the DC area, I went to a few Senators games, they were pretty awful back in the late 60's early 70's. My grandmother lived in Baltimore and so I was an O's fan too.

Back then, I did get to see players such as Frank Robinson, Boog Powell, Brooks Robinson, Mark Belanger, Paul Blair, Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar play ball. Saw Earl Weaver manage and throw fits with the umpires.

At RFK, I got to see Ken McMullen, Eddie Brinkman, Dick Bosman, Frank Howard and the manager Ted Williams, which is amazing to think about today.

Young kids will never get to see the likes of those types of players EVER again. Sad to see RFK go, but it was time! Glad there is a new home for our Nationals! Thanks to all that added hilarious and serious entries to this blog.

I was at the Senators last game, the forfeiture against the Yankees, in 1971. Well, sort of anyway. My parents were there and my Mom was 4 months pregnant. Who knew I would be born and live 33 years until I would be able to see a game in RFK with my own eyes, but my goodness was it worth the wait. There are too many special moments over the last three years to recall, and most of you have already discussed the best of them. I'll be there on the 23rd for one last time, and I am taking my parents. Yup... it's a dump, but it's our dump. Thanks RFK.

Tippy Canoe, thanks for the reminder! After my RFK experience, Domingo became the gold standard for anthem singers (Enrico Palazzo he ain't, thank goodness).

---
-Labor Day 2005 with Livo mowing down a pretty good Marlins line-up and Placido Domingo belting out GBA in the 7th.

Lowcountry,
A.Jones agent is Boras so there is no reason or expectation that a new contract would be reasonable, regardless of the term.

Also, if his numbers are similair to what he's hitting now (for the year) then he's unmovable at almost any price.

Finally, I think even a 3 year deal might be too long if Maxwell is as good as promised, I'd rather give the money to securing WMP for the next 3 years since he would be cheap, is only 25 and wouldn't cost us compensatory draft picks to Atlanta.

All of my favorite moments occurred at Griffith Stadium, 7th & Florida NW. Oh, well . . .

Points well taken estuartj. But I don't think Jones (or any of the FA CFs) is going to sign a one-year deal. Nor do I think we need to be scared by Boras. Who is going to throw top dollar money at Andruw this offseason?

Don't forget Barry, the only loss on that homestand (to the Braves) was because of Ayala.

I attended a lot of games in the 60's and early 70's, back when RFK wasn't outdated. I can still remember my first game there, walking thru the tunnel to get my inaugural glimpse of what struck me as the most beautiful green colors I had ever seen. Remember, black and white TV was all I had seen it in prior to that. The smell of the grass, the sounds of people talking all jumbled together, it will stick with me forever. The PA announcer filling my ears with the batting orders and other pre game announcements. At my young teen years, life was simpler then, you could say innocent, but it's a sweet memory I'll always be glad I have. Opening day 05' brought back so much joy, the anticipation, the walk from lot 8 to the stadium, getting through security (I made it in time for EVERYTHING). It was such a happy, glorious day, and we won to top it off. I can't wait to be there to witness the closing of the old ballpark, while sad to see it end in a lot of ways, it will be good to launch a new era in Washington with Nationals Park. Since I no longer live in the DC area, I doubt I'll manage to get a ticket to the opening game next season, my thoughts and eyes will be glued to the set as the 08 campaign begins. But, I might see some of you in Viera next spring, as I plan on returning there for a couple games, at least. Rip the 10 off the outfield wall tonight., and rip the heart out of the Braves chances...GO NATS...STAY HOT

My family moved to DC in 1972 when I was all of 4 years old. I never knew Washington to have a baseball team growing up, so I rooted for the O's during the Earl of Baltimore days. But the O's were always Baltimore's team no matter how many Washingtonians made the trip up 95.

I was at that Nats/Yanks game last year where Zimmerman hit the game winning HR in the ninth. This was the moment I had been waiting for growing up in DC. How many of you remember the signs at RFK during Redskins games int he mid-80s, "Baseball in '87" After that failure I thought we'd never get a team to call our own.

To now have a real home team with a W on their caps. To have a packed house. Against the mighty Yankees. With famous Yankee fan Spike Lee standing in the tunnel next to Sec 311. And with that one swing Ryan Zimmerman had me cheering wildly like I had never felt before. He did it! We won the game! My team won! My home team! I felt whole. My hometown had a winner that day. They beat the Yankees in dramatic fashion. I'll never forget that feeling and will always be thankful to Ryan and the rest of the Nationals for that moment.

I'm looking forward to more great moments in the new stadium. While another chapter in DC sports history end another one begins. You know whou would have loved having baseball back in DC? Glenn Brenner. Damn shame he died so young and never got to report on his favorite sport. Brenner was a minor leaguer for the Phillies if I recall correctly.

I grew up in Hillcrest Heights, just over the SE line not all that far from the DC Stadium. One of my earliest memories was the year the Nats got the coolest baseball hats I had ever seen - I think it was 1966 or 1967. They were all blue with red piping and a red Curly W.
In those years, all of us little leaguers got to enjoy bat day. I swear to God, they handed you a brand new H&B baseball bat when you walked in the front gate. On those nights the place was usually packed and every kid banged his bat on the concrete, the aluminum third base side, and the upper deck steel behind the last row that created a deafening cacophony of "Let's Go Nats!". I remember one year it was so loud that my father had to leave us with the neighbor to take my little sister home because she was crying at all of the noise. Can you imagine if they had a Bat Day today? Someone would get killed.

I remember Hondo, and Eddie Brinkman (my favorite), Aurileo Rodriguez, Mike Epstein, Paul Cassanova, Jim French, Lee May, Gil Hodges, and Ted Williams.

I remember leaving a game one night with a Nats pennant and some old guy snatched it from me. I had to be 8 and he had to be 60.

Redskins games were the best there at RFK. I loved the Hogs and the Wild Bunch, and the Smurfs. I liked Sonny but my brothers liked Billy. I hated to see the home burgundy jersey go, and I loved the gold pants the 'Skins wore. I had seats in the new stadium but that place is just plain awful and should be torn down.

My alma mater also won the City Football Title at RFK in 1973, when the McNamara Mustangs beat Anacostia High.

I've had the pleasure of being a partial plan holder for the latest version of the Nats and forgive me when I say that the Montreal record of this franchise should be boxed up and shipped back to Canada. The team should never again mention the word Expos, or Montreal in print, on the radio, or during a TV broadcast. I would rather pretend the 33 insult never took place. The other thing this team should do is ditch the red hats. The Nats have been a blue team from 1967 and prior. Red is still "new" to me and it does not belong.

Let's move on to the Navy Yard, win a pennant, and make this new home formidable to visiting teams just as RFK was for the NFC East.

Let's tear down RFK and put a new Redskins stadium up in that hallowed spot. Go Nats! Go Skins!

Sept 2 2005, watching Hector Carrasco start the game from the stretch and pitch 5.2 innings to beat the Giants 2-0. Sept 6 of last year. Chad Cordero blows a save by allowing an two run homer to Preston Wilson, but then gets the win when Jose Vidro hits a one out, two run single past a diving Albert Pujols to win the game and beat the future world champions. Also, Danny White getting sacked for a safety in the last Redskins game at RFK....

#3. And oh my gosh Mike O'Connor was on the front cover of the WaPo with the 11:30 pm starting time in the background. Best moment was when Mike broke off a curveball to strike out Howard and Howard walked to the dugout saying "wow" several times. Must have been close to 1 am.

After a couple of games at Griffith Stadium in 60 and 61 (Safety Patrol Day in the bleachers -- Griffith Stadium may have been a dump by then but you couldn't prove it by me, I still get a little thrill when I see photos of the old shack) my first game at DC Stadium was in 63. Jimmy Piersall came into the stands in his uni and cleats before the game and had a nice conversation with some people a couple of rows behind me. Next, Opening Day in '64 ("Off the Floor in '64.") If I recall right, Claude Osteen had the only hit (a double) off The Angels' Ken McBride -- who went on to a 4 - 13 record that year.

In 65 I got the idea to sell "knothole gang" passes at school (at face value, $1.) My parents, dubious of the legality of this, insisted that I call the Nats' front office for permission and I spoke to a kind, enthusiastic gentleman named Burt Hawkins (who I later discovered was the Promotions Director -- the man who invented "Pantyhose Night.") He was all for it and, in fact, sent me some comps for my trouble. Lots of one dollar games that year, I'd go to doubleheaders and root for extra innings.

For me, the Nationals (I still call them the Senators unless I catch myself) are nothing more or less than my team back from a 33 year spring training.

alan

Every game that I attended that first season was magical.

I wound up copping tickets off my dad's friends, my dad, and just going to the park and buying them. In all, I went to 20 games that year. The Nats went 16-4 in my appearances, with the bulk of that being the June homestand, when I hit 8 of 10 games.

My first one at the park was the most rewarding for me though. Against the Cubs, May 18th, 2005 (I think). We lost, but the bases were loaded with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Guillen drilled a ball that would have gone out anywhere else. That converted me from "rooting for the home team no matter what" to "rooting for the Nationals."

Oh, so so good.

not sure if this was my favorite moment but it was memorable....the 2005 game vs Atlanta, when it rained all day and Guzman picked up a handful of mud trying to make a play, which more or less lost the game.

THe Mets game also in 2005 when the crew could not manage the tarp.

Lotsa redskins memories too many to detail...

The year the senators moved to DC stadium from Griffith, my parents gave me 2 tickets to some game that opening year...The tickets came with a little 45 rpm record "take me out to the ballgame" that i still have.

saw the beatles there sometime in the 60's.

I saw Ted williams hit a homerun v the senators at Griffith stadium. DOes anyone remember taking the trolley to Griffith?

am i old?

If my 86-year-old aunt is any indication, pk, baseball will keep us young. ;)

The end of that homestand in 05 when they won their 10th straight (against Seattle) was great. The fans behind the dugout gave them a great send off.

Frank Robinson's Farewell Address the last game of that season was a memorable moment too.

And I was at the Zim beats the Yanks game. WoW!