August 14, 2008: The District of Columbia

Since MLB relocated and rebranded the Expos from Montreal in 2005, the Nationals have carved out a niche in the nation’s capital. The Nationals played their first three seasons in the District at RFK Stadium, drawing 2.7 million fans in 2005, but the former home of the Washington Redskins and Senators lacked modern amenities and facilities. (The ticket offices, for example, were trailers outside RFK’s gates.) When MLB sold the Nationals to the D.C. real estate developer Ted Lerner in 2006, plans to build the team a new home were already in the works. President George H.W. Bush threw out the first pitch in Nationals Park history to open the 2008 MLB season. The game, played on a Sunday night in March, was a memorable and chilly one, as fans of MLB.tv can attest, ending on Ryan Zimmerman’s 9^th-inning home run to defeat the Braves. Opening night at Nationals Park may have been the highlight of the season, as the Nats finished the year with baseball’s worst record (59-102), drawing 2.3 million fans to their new home in D.C.’s Navy Yard. What might have been a nightmare to some organizations was the turning point for the Nationals. Their #1 draft pick in 2009 and subsequently in 2010 enabled the organization to select two franchise-altering players, Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper. [Read more…]