Ladies and gentlemen, start your mouses. Washington Nationals tickets go on sale on Saturday morning and only the Internet savvy and quick fingered will attend certain games.
Want to see Barry Bonds break Hank Aaron’s record? Opening Day? The latest farewell to RFK Stadium? The Orioles, Dodgers or Cubs? Pony up now or pay scalpers later.
Unlike other professional teams in town, Nats games don’t inflict a financial bruising. I sometimes skip the press pass (but not the parking) and sit in the right field bleachers with family for $5. You can’t beat that and the seats really aren’t bad. The only ripoff is Ticketmaster.com charging to e-mail tickets. They’re saving paper by e-mailing and still want even more money than the first obscene surcharge.
The greatest part of baseball is 81 games means few are mob scenes like Redskins games. It’s not an all-day commitment. And as someone who has attended games at RFK Stadium for 40-some years, there’s a real feeling of home. I’m going to miss the place, though it seems like there are more tearful goodbyes at RFK than lovers torn apart.
But which games to buy first while others are grabbing seats, too? The only rules are no more than 12 tickets per game and 19 games overall to avoid scalpers from buying everything.
First choice has to be Opening Day on April 2 versus Florida. Finally, Major League Baseball remembered this is the nation’s capital where the President throws out the first pitch. And please, no booing like fans did to Vice President Dick Cheney last year. That was disgraceful. Remember, be a role model to your children and show respect.
The Sept. 23 home finale against Philadelphia is a tough choice. The Redskins schedule hasn’t been released and that could be a home game. You can see the Nats the day before, but the finale is special. And the Redskins will just lose anyway.
Third choice is Aug. 31-Sept. 2 versus the San Francisco Giants. Bonds only needs 22 homers to surpass Aaron so he may already have the mark. However, Carlton Fisk’s 18 are the most homers by anyone 42-years-old like Bonds. Either way, you’re seeing a legend for the final time even if he’s a legendary jerk.
Baltimore comes May 18-20. Battle of the Beltways? What dumb marketing person dreamed that up? Still, you can yell “Nats” when Baltimoreans scream “O” during the national anthem. Better yet, show some respect and shut up during the anthem.
Watching the Cubs on July 4 is pure Americana. Take Metro downtown afterwards for festivities.
You can cherry pick the rest of the schedule. Nothing especially stands out in what figures to be a long year. Just remember a bad day at the ballpark beats a good day at work.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
