Ballpark Review: Nationals

My second ballpark review.

If you're visiting the Nation's capital this summer do yourself a favor and take in a ballgame at Nationals Park. While it's true that the Washington Nationals are abismal as a team, their brand new ballpark in the old Navy Yards area is something to behold.

Built, like many of today's new ballparks, in a more accommodating and airy fashion than old RFK Stadium, Nationals Park is a fun way to take in a game. If you ever saw the Nationals play at RFK you may be used to or remember the horrible turf, atrocious seats, and 1970's all-around feel. Here at Nationals Park all that has been scrapped and replaced with comfortable seats, natural grass, and a view of the Capitol Building from the upper deck. Not to mention the great lighting, fun scoreboard, and plenty of fan-friendly areas for entertaining people less interested in the actual game (shame on those people).

Another feature that I like is that Nationals Park is similar to that of Atlanta's Turner Field, where the main gate is in the outfield. According to ballparks.com nearly 70% of the fans come through the outfield entrance, partly because most of the fans are traveling to the park via the Metro. When you enter through the outfield the first thing you see is the open expanse of the field and the stadium. It's a terrific sight.

And of course D.C. has some of the best food on the East Coast and I can personally tell you that fans won't be disappointed.

You get your usual line-up of ballpark concessions, but Nationals Park worked with the community to bring local favorites into the stadium as well. Ben's Chili Bowl, since 1958, gets a stand, as does Hard Times Café. And D.C. area barbeque favorite Red Hot and Blue is also represented. You could easily empty your wallet and fill your gut with all the options. However, the Nats are also encouraging people to bring food in, too. That's right; fans can bring in food as long as the items are individually wrapped like sandwiches. This will help some of those families with two or more kids relax and enjoy the game rather than worrying about taking out a second mortgage to feed their kinfolk with ballpark food.

But like any ballpark there will be some minuses to all the pluses. Since I am no longer a resident of the DC-Metro area I can't comment fully on the decision to erect a behemoth of a ball field for a star-less and lackluster team instead of putting that money back into the community where it is very much needed. But I can say that the ballpark is in an area that is in dire need of the type of revenue positive influence the Nats hope to bring. From the team's success a whole new infrastructure could arise and help clean up an area of the D.C. that has been long used as a toilet by the far less fortunate.

Another detractor is the location. Most people in DC opt to use the Metro, especially now that gas costs as much as it does. Unfortunately the Navy Yard Metro stop which feeds into the stadium gets very crowded before and after the game, which means a lot of fans are arriving late and leaving early, contributing to crowds far less than the 41,888. Of course one could argue that the Nats current standing as doormat of the entire Major League's also contributes to the poor attendance. But really it's about location. 7:30 p.m. start times in DC mean driving against or with rush hour traffic, or traveling from far distances on the Metro. And most baseball fans in DC and Maryland are and have been Orioles fans their entire lives and they won't make that trip into lower D.C. for a mediocre ball team. Not that the Orioles have been much better in recent years.

I also think the planners did a poor job by not orienting the stadium to face the Anacostia River. Views of the Capitol are nice, but ball parks in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati are intriguing because of the possibility of a home-run being hit into the water or just the scenic beauty of water as a back drop.

I give National Park a Triple as a stadium and venue for the game, but until the surrounding area starts to thrive and the team plays better they will continue to struggle to get fans and steal some of the attention away from Baltimore.