This DCist finally got to see a baseball game at RFK yesterday afternoon when Nationals met Atlanta for the final game of their first-ever homestand. Having lucked into six tickets — a trio of 100-level seats just above first base and a trio of 300-level seats not far away — this DCist and two co-workers knew what we had to do: scalp the 300-levels for beer money.

And so we did, making it into the park just moments before the game started. And in that time … it started raining. Our fourth-row seats were terrific, albeit unprotected from the rain. On the other hand, those 300-level tickets we’d given away for a fraction of their worth — which in fact were just a few yards back — most certainly were. By the top of the fourth, we were tired of getting rained on. But in this mostly-empty park, the 300 level was standing room only. So the money we’d earmarked for beer was, in the end, split between beer and ponchos. But the seats were worth it. And we sure got to see a lot of the grounds crew. (Look up — there they are!)

As for the game itself, we stuck around long enough to see the Nationals end the eighth inning with a 1-0 lead. Figuring the Nats were three easy outs from a win (the Braves had just two hits by this point) we trekked back to the Stadium-Armory station in hopes of finding warmth and dryness. But finding refuge back in our separate apartments, we all looked to the internet and saw what we were glad to have missed: on two more hits, the Atlanta Braves pulled out a ninth inning rally to defeat the Nats 2-1 and split the two-game series.

Tonight, however, brings the first regular-season match-up between the Nats and the Mets. D.C.’s Esteban Loaiza and N.Y.C.’s Tom Glavine will be dueling. Glavine will be looking for his first win, and the Nationals will be looking to stay in the top half of the NL East; no longer do we lead the pack.

The firsts have all been firsted. Now there’s a season to play.

RFK photo courtesty ESPN.com