Last Friday, Sandy and I drove up to Washington, DC to visit our son and daughter-in-law. The “kids” had bought us tickets for a baseball game at the city’s brand new major league ballpark, which had opened to much fanfare just a few days earlier. The 
game was a birthday gift for Sandy & me. (Both of us have April birthdays. By the way, I just realized that 2008 is a landmark year of sorts for Sandy and me. For the first & only time, our combined ages add up to exactly 100. Wow! In case you’re wondering, Sandy is 29 and I’m…well, I’ll just let you do the math yourself.)
Anyway, the two of us met up with Jordan and Melinda after work at Jordan’s office on Capitol Hill. It was such a beautiful evening that we decided to walk the several blocks to Nationals Park rather than drive or ride the Metro.
All in all, the new facility is really nice. Not over the top in amenities, but very nice, nonetheless. The first thing that stood out to me was its warm, cozy, friendly atmosphere. There’s probably not a bad seat in the house. We sat out in right field and had a great view. After two years of playing in makeshift surroundings—old, decaying RFK stadium, the former home of the NFL’s Redskins—this brand spanking new facility gives the transplanted Nats more of a sense of permanence. It also gives them enhanced credibility, fostering the sense that this is a real team that should be taken seriously.
game was a birthday gift for Sandy & me. (Both of us have April birthdays. By the way, I just realized that 2008 is a landmark year of sorts for Sandy and me. For the first & only time, our combined ages add up to exactly 100. Wow! In case you’re wondering, Sandy is 29 and I’m…well, I’ll just let you do the math yourself.)Anyway, the two of us met up with Jordan and Melinda after work at Jordan’s office on Capitol Hill. It was such a beautiful evening that we decided to walk the several blocks to Nationals Park rather than drive or ride the Metro.
All in all, the new facility is really nice. Not over the top in amenities, but very nice, nonetheless. The first thing that stood out to me was its warm, cozy, friendly atmosphere. There’s probably not a bad seat in the house. We sat out in right field and had a great view. After two years of playing in makeshift surroundings—old, decaying RFK stadium, the former home of the NFL’s Redskins—this brand spanking new facility gives the transplanted Nats more of a sense of permanence. It also gives them enhanced credibility, fostering the sense that this is a real team that should be taken seriously. 
The Nationals were playing the Atlanta Braves & wound up losing a 3-0 pitcher’s duel. During a brief trek to the concession stand, I missed the game’s only home run, a 6th-inning solo shot by the Braves’ Cuban-born shortstop Yunel Escobar, which broke a scoreless tie.
The Nationals are an interesting team. They’ve got a 6’11” relief pitcher that looks more at home on a basketball court than a pitcher’s mound. Big Jon Rauch, the tallest player in baseball history, has to step off the mound and stoop down when he and the catcher convene for a face-to-face conversation. The Nats also have an infielder named Felipe Lopez that’s a former Orlando-area prep star. He’s my son’s age and Jordan used to watch him play back during his high school days. Now he watches him play professionally in the nation’s capital. The D.C. team also has a new young outfielder from 
Melinda’s hometown of Bradenton, Florida. I love his name—Lastings Milledge. I’m hopeful that someday when Jordan and Melinda have a child, they’ll strongly consider Lastings Milledge as a name. My favorite National, however, is a guy named Dmitri Young. A former Cincinnati Red and Detroit Tiger, Dmitri has had his share of health and personal issues. A year ago, everyone thought he was all washed up. The Nats picked him up as a last minute replacement player when their regular first baseman got injured. He responded with a great comeback season. This year, however, Dmitri, a diabetic, showed up at spring training all ballooned out to 296 pounds! The regular first baseman is healthy again and Dmitri, suffering with a bad back, is on the bench.I suppose that’s one reason I like baseball. It’s full of all kinds of stories and surprises. Stories of ups and downs, successes and failures, comebacks and setbacks. In other words, baseball is a lot like life. Washington fans got all excited when the Nationals won
their first 3 games. Then, they became deflated when they lost their next 8 in a row. I just shrug and say, “Hey, it’s a long season.” After all, every major league team plays a 162-game regular season schedule. And it’s a long way from April to September. A lot can happen…and it usually does. Again, baseball is like life. It’s a long journey with many steps. But you live it one step at a time. And most of the time, one bad game doesn’t wreck a season. There’s always the hope of tomorrow. There’s always the opportunity for redemption.
Speaking of redemption, guess who was on the pitcher’s mound this week at D.C. stadium. A guy that’s a little bigger than the Nat’s 6’ 11” reliever. The Pope himself! The ol' right hander conducted a mass for a capacity crowd at the new ballpark. Last week, while we were there, the capital city was making all kinds of preparations for Benedict XVI's historic first pitch in America.But let me regress and offer a couple of more comments about last week’s game. The game was good. But an additional part of the fun of going to a ballgame is experiencing the peripheral things that invariably happen in a ballpark setting. There’s the food. Yes, all four of us had the obligatory hotdog. We added nachos, salted-in-the-shell peanuts, and Cracker Jack for good measure. Then, there are the sideshows. Ever since the Nationals moved to D.C. from Canada two years ago (where since 1969 they had been the Montreal Expos), they’ve established a popular local tradition—a nightly
footrace featuring big-headed caricatures of the 4 U.S. presidents carved into Mount Rushmore. Yes, that’s right. George W. (Washington, not Bush), Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. Poor Teddy, clearly the crowd favorite, is a lovable loser who never, ever wins, in spite of the thousands of adoring fans that cheer him on each night. The racing presidents are something of a takeoff on the racing sausages that been a staple at Milwaukee’s Miller Park 
for the past several years. Then, lastly, there are always the interesting people you see or meet at a baseball park. During this particular outing, I saw the laziest vendor I’ve ever seen at any ballgame anywhere—major league, minor league, or college; baseball, football, or basketball. I mean, this guy carried his cooler of products into our section, leaned on the fence near an usher, and hardly moved the whole game. He just looked around and ever so often he would call out to remind people that he actually was a real, live, 
breathing salesman, and not merely a life size cardboard cutout. This young mannequin—er, man—rarely climbed the steps up into stands, and only when someone beckoned him and waved money at him. I’ve never seen a commission worker do so little work. Usually, vendors are quick on their feet, eager to make a sale. This guy was like watching molasses race uphill. I can’t imagine he’s going to last in his job. Maybe, if the guy playing the role of Teddy Roosevelt ever quits or gets sick, this guy would be a great fill-in, because there’s no way on God’s green earth he would ever win a footrace…even with a five-minute head start.
It’s quite amazing what you can learn at a baseball game. But then again, it’s quite amazing what you can learn about life in general, when you take time to live it and observe it. All you have to do is keep your eyes open.Pastor Danny
