Questions about Nationals Park

[hawing]

My S.O. has the opportunity to attend a conference in DC the same weekend that the Brewers play there in mid-April. How convenient! So I'm wondering...

 

- if anyone here is planning to attend (probably the Saturday or Sunday game, April 17 or 18)

- if anyone who has been there before has suggestions for where to sit, or advice on how far in advance to buy tickets. Looking at their website, they seem kind of pricey for a struggling team with less than huge attendance figures.

- if the Nationals fans are tough on visitors (i.e. should I leave a Brewers jersey at home and wear something more understated) or if they're maybe just beaten down by the pain that comes with being recent Nats fans.

- about any other tips bf.netters might have that would make a trip to Nationals Park more enjoyable.

 

Thanks!

[djoctagone]

wear brewers stuff. nats fans can't afford to be tough on visitors. their team is horrible.

 

if you take the metro to the ballpark, make sure you have enough value stored on your card for the return trip before heading in to the stadium. it's a pain to try to add value to your card before going down to the platform.

 

they may still be running a promotion where if you park at rfk, you can get a free shuttle to the ballpark and back. just watch out for low bridges.

 

prepare to be underwhelmed with their stadium.

[jjgott]

I agree, tix are kind of pricey given the state of the team. There was a section in the upper deck that has $10 tickets before the game, but usually they are gone by 2hrs before game time. So if you want to grab those you have to get there reaallly early. I found Stub Hub to be a good spot for tickets and got some behind the visitors bullpen for about $5 off face last season. I'd say anywhere in the outfield is a pretty good spot to sit.

 

Personally I like the food at the ballpark. If you are into chili dogs I'd definitely recommend going to Ben's Chili Bowl. It is a DC establishment with a set-up in the stadium.

 

Hope that helps!

[joepepsi]

Haven't been to the new park but attended a game at RFK three years ago. The metro was definitely the way to get to that ballpark. Cost me $1.75 from my downtown hotel to the park and back. Also bought a ticket from some guy standing outside. There were lots of people selling them. $15 bucks for a seat right behind home plate about 15 rows from the field.

[sheethead]

We went to three games at Nationals Park last year, and announced attendance for each game was around 20k. We bought pricey field level seats (third base side) the first game (went from 15th to 2nd row by 5th inning, granted it was rainy), had a group outing with cheaper seats the next night (started in upper and moved to left field bleachers), and went with cheapest available the Sunday day game (upper RF). I couldn't find too many poor seats in the park. Its rather compact and very open, like whatever they call Jacob's Field now. Moving around didn't seem to be a problem either, and there were plenty of Brewer fans there.

 

Good advice by someone about the Metro. It gets crazy after the game (even with only 12K or so coming from the game, couldn't imagine a sellout). I wouldn't want to be loading a card at that time.

 

I agree the food at Nationals Park is above average. I am starting to question some of the Miller Park vendors (cough*Klements*cough) after having such great eats at other ballparks.

[bball123h]

When we went to RFK a few years back, fans were few and scalpers were plenty. We had bought ahead of time, which was unfortunate, as we could have gotten better seats for half the cost. Worst case scenario, just buy at the window, like you could have during the Jerry Royster era in Milwaukee.

[Flying Dutchman]

I went to a game there last year. It's easy to get there on the Metro, I got tickets from a scalper and got a really good deal on them. The fans I sat by were super nice, but the atmosphere reminded me of the attitude at Miller Park circa 2003, fans know the team is bad, try to have a good time anyway, but there is just this air of despair over all the fans. I thought the park was very nice, but found the PA announcer beyond annoying. When I went they were playing Toronto in interleague play I think, but ran across no fewer than 15 other Brewers fans wearing Brewers gear, which I found amusing. Overall I liked it.

[ReverendBrewmeister]

Planning to go to both Friday and Saturday games. [Got this Sunday morning gig with work. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif]

 

Metro is the way to go, but make sure you do have enough return fare. [Good reminder, djoctagone!] April weather should be more enjoyable than August. Tickets should be plentiful, unless Stephen Strasburg makes the rotation out of Spring Training. Can't add much more to the other posters' tips.

[Polish Falcons]

I was at a Brewers vs Nationals game last year.

 

- I also felt that tickets for the Nationals were overpriced, both from the team and on stubhub. If you like to go cheap and don't mind the upper deck, they have $5 day-of-game tickets available at the box office. It was recommend to me to get there 2 hours early to be safe and get these tickets, but I had no problem buying 4 of them less than 30 minutes before the game. It might be different this April compared to last August or September when the life was sucked out of the Nats fans so try and get there early. It seemed like we could've easily snuck into better seats but didn't because it was super hot and humid and we liked the shade.

 

-Wear your brewers gear to the game. Plenty of brewers fans were there last year. I don't think DC is a very hostile town when it comes to sports, or at least not when it comes to the nationals.

 

- I agree with the person who said they have good food options. I was eating the whole game and loved everything.

 

- Not trying to deter your excitement, but I also agree with the person who said "prepare to be underwhelmed by their stadium". Of all the modern/post-Camden stadiums I've been to, I thought Nationals Park was the least remarkable. I appreciate the stadium's whole Green/LED structure, but unfortunately that didn't translate into an impressive looking design. Nevertheless it is a fine place to watch a ballgame and especially the Brewers. I doub it but might go back this year.

[hawing]

After one night, I can see why people said to prepare to be underwhelmed. It's not bad by any means, just not overly distinctive. Perhaps I was merely "whelmed." The scoreboard was pretty nice, and made us wonder how similar the next scoreboard at MP might be.

 

The S.O. had a veggie (grain) burger which he enjoyed. I had a hot dog which was nothing special. Later we found a stand with a $7.00 bratwurst but didn't feel motivated to try it.

We started in section 107 and moved a little closer to CF after a while. I was a little dismayed that the Nats sold 107 to all latecomers, leaving several fair-territory LF sections at least half empty.

 

The most popular player gear was for Ryan Zimmerman, followed closely by Strasburg. Nats Nation is certainly pinning its hopes on him, even though he's wearing #37.

I also saw an official looking jersey for Screech the mascot (an eagle, not the Saved by the Bell nutso), which I suppose is arguably backing more of a winner than would be the case for many recent players.

 

Last night was rainy, today's supposed to be windy. With no sun last night I have no sense of what direction the park faces yet.