The Ballpark Tour

Walking around Nationals Park yesterday with virtually no one in sight was quite fun. Sohna and I took The Ballpark Tour, with Les as our guide, beginning at 10:30AM Friday Morning. There were just two other fans along for the ride. Each Season Ticket Holder was given "X" number of free passes from the just completed 2009 season. We hadn't used ours yet, so yesterday was our day.












Damp and rainy weather during the entire 90-plus minutes inside Nationals Park didn't damper the spirits. In fact, it enhanced the outing and gave the entire experience that personal feel. Throughout the entire time walking around, we only ran into four other employees at Nationals Park. Meeting at Center Field Plaza, Les started everything off by talking about the three statues of Washington Baseball Greats, then we proceeded clockwise around the main concourse, The Exxon Kids Zone, The Painted Columns of Historical Players, The Kravitz "The Ball Game" Mobile, and then on to The PNC Diamond Club where Les told the story of how The Washington Senators scored the game winning run in Game 7 of the 1924 World Series at Old Griffith Stadium. The Line Score to D.C.'s only World Series Winning Game, the backdrop to the bar inside Diamond Club. Everybody enjoyed looking at one of the electronic modules used in the HDTV Scoreboard which was presented by Les. The Presidential Suites behind home plate were also on the agenda.





Then, upstairs we all headed to The Stars & Stripes Club. Our Home Away from home during the baseball season as we sit in Section 218 there. Sure enough, part of the tour headed toward our section and the Homestead Grays Bar. From there, up three more levels to the sixth floor and the Shirley Povich Media Center. A nice view from the Press Box, despite the pouring rain. And a good look at the wonderful Shirley Povich artifacts displayed in the elevator lobby there. Some really nice historical items in that display case.





Les then took all four of us downstairs to The Lexus Presidents Club--where it was raining so hard--there no way any of us were heading out onto the veranda for the view. So instead of spending a lot of time there, we headed over to Our Washington Nationals Clubhouse to peek inside. And then walked down the stairs to the home dugout. At this point, the downpour was so thick, the field was hidden behind this gray mist. A little eerie, but became better when The HDTV Video Board started playing a special presentation about Ryan Zimmerman winning the 2009 Rawlings Gold Glove and the 2009 Louisville Silver Slugger Award this past week. All accompanied by a series of Flaming "Z's" dancing across the ribbon boards at Nationals Park.



Finally, we ended our trip around Nationals Park in Washington's Rightfield Bullpen, where everyone got the opportunity to take a few throws from the mound. Since only four of us were there, we each got four tosses.

The small group provided a nice opportunity for banter and storytelling, that back and forth which baseball fans always love. Even Les was into the camaraderie of it all. The casual and intimate atmosphere making this visit well worth our time. The Ballpark Tour, a nice outing for fans during the off-season looking for their baseball fix.

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