Farewell, RFK Stadium
It's hardly the nicest stadium, but RFK Stadium holds a venerable place in Washington sports history. Open since 1962, when it was called District of Columbia Stadium, the venue has hosted two MLB franchises, the Washington Redskins during their glory years, the most successful MLS club ever, international soccer tournaments, concerts, and on and on. It even hosted Team America! Sunday's final Nats home game, a 5-3 win over the Phillies, isn't the last time RFK will be used, but it ends a major chapter in the park's history.
One of the first multipurpose pro stadiums in the U.S., the stadium, renamed for the assassinated Robert F. Kennedy in 1969, is a somewhat dingy, crowded place. The baseball configuration has a vast outfield with seats far above the playing surface atop a green wall. The concessions are fairly basic, there is some peeling paint, and the innards of the stadium are a little cramped. But we liked it anyway. It was a cozy, homey place to watch baseball's return to Washington.
Despite the plethora of visiting teams' fans at every game, diehards have always come to RFK. During the last game of the 1971 season, after which team owner Bob Short would move the Senators to Texas, rowdy fans unfurled a huge banner reading "Short Stinks." As the game drew to a close, fans stormed the field and the team had to forfeit. And this Sunday, fans unfurled three banners reading "Short Still Stinks" in a tribute to those old Washington baseball partisans.
Photo by Specialed98
That wasn't the only nod to the past at the game — the team introduced old time Washington players while announcing the current Nationals lineup, with players like Frank Howard taking the field alongside current team members. The first 30,000 fans received a shirt with the stadium's baseball highlights on the back, the team held a rally for the jerseys off the current players' backs, and the old timers signed a long line of autographs during the game.
And a good game it was. The Nats had been limping to the finish, having lost 4 in a row and facing a 4-game sweep by the playoff-hunting Phillies. Austin Kearns started the scoring for the Nats in the first, singling in DeAngelo Jimenez after Jimenez was pushed around the bases, giving the Nats a 1-0 lead. Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels matched John Hanrahan's scoreless pitching for the next few innings, until the Phils tied it up in the 5th, ending Hanrahan's day, and took a 2-1 lead in the sixth.
But the lead would not last, as Jimenez reached third on errors from the Phillies, coming home on Kearns' second RBI of the game. Jesus Flores then brought in Ronnie Belliard, giving the Nats a 3-2 margin. The home team scored two more in the 8th as insurance, which was needed when Chad Cordero gave up one run in the 9th before ending the game by striking out Jayson Werth.
The team must have had left over fireworks for the season, or just wanted to give the fans an extra show, as they shot some off after each Nats run instead of the usual post-homer blasts. There also seemed to be more explosions during the national anthem. And despite the rumor, Teddy Roosevelt did not notch his first win of the Presidents Race, instead arriving at the new stadium as George crossed the line. The fans chanted for Teddy intermittently during the game, and again when he showed up in the stands, but we'll have to wait until at least next season before the Bull Moose wins one.
The game had tons of photo opportunities, from an old-timey looking sepia shot, the sign showing the number of home games remaining flipping to zero, Screech on a wire, Wily Mo getting the Nats' last hit, and many more in the DCist pool and all over Flickr.
The team finishes its schedule with away series at the Mets and the Phillies.