Let's Play Three

Sometime around the end of May it was announced the Pittsburgh Pirates would have a make-up game as part of a doubleheader in Washington with the Nationals on Saturday, July 2nd.  Already committed to attending one game, I swiftly decided that July 2nd would be spent entirely at Nationals Park.  Patty - my wonderful wife, who we will reference as "Patty," or "Better Half" in future entries - suggested that we also attend Sunday's game since 1) she knew I wouldn't mind and 2) she was "busy" on Saturday.  Well if you're going to force my hand...

Wait a minute - as euphoric as it would be for me to attend all 162 Pirate games, I knew this might be bad news FOR THE TEAM.  My love for the Pirates can be problematic as sometimes I directly correlate their losing with something I failed to do.  Case in point: the Nationals have been in Washington since the 2005 season and, since then, I had attended six games in DC when the Buccos were in town.  The Pirates were 1-5 in those games.  The nervous energy I bring to the ball yard must have an unnerving effect on the squad (especially since they lost four of those five games in the seventh inning or later.)  Three games in 24 hours could spell doom for the Bucs and I am not sure I could live with that on my conscience.



3:37PM  on Saturday, July 2

 Nevertheless, I took the chance and made the commitment.  When the weekend arrived, while much of the DC area was hitting the road for the beach, I was hitting the metro for Park.

Perfectly perched in Section 307, Row A, Seat 23, Christa (my sister,) Seamus (my good buddy) and I strapped-in on Saturday afternoon for the first of many pitches.  Christa made the trip from home just for this weekend and Seamus is the kind of pal that would watch a doubleheader with you, cheering for your time while wearing a Nats jersey. 

Good fortune strikes quickly: the Pirates plate two runs before the Nats get their swings.  I marvel at the number of Pirate fans in attendance - I would say a good 4,000-5,000.  If this keeps up, I may spend the night.

The next two hours fly by pretty quickly.  We get to the bottom of the seventh and the our starter, James McDonald, has done a nice job minimizing damage.  Livan Hernandez was great for the Nats - very efficient and on point.  Davey Johnson pinch-hit Rick Ankiel for Hernandez and the lefty belted one over the right-center field wall to tie the score at two.  Not good...especially with the top of the order at bat.  Roger Bernadina walks and McDonald is relieved by Jose Veras.  Those cheering for the Nationals are now awake and into the developing situation. 

Then it happened: the turning point of the game, brought to you by Mr. Bernadina.  With ONE out, Danny Espinosa hits a fly ball to deep left field.  I'm fairly certain 95% of the fans knew it was playable and 99% of the stadium knew there was one out.  Luckily for us, Bernadina was in that one percentile and just as Alex Presley makes the catch for out #2, Bernadina is rounding THIRD.  We tag him out around second base and the inning is over.

Relief momentarily sets in, but now it's tied going into the late innings.  I don't want to get my hope too high because there's a lot of baseball to play.  One over-zealous thought could lead to implosion.

With one out, Seamus states, "[Sean] Burnett's ERA is too high for him not to give up a run here."

I respond, "[Garrett] Jones doesn't hit lefties; he might have two hits off of them all year."

"He's getting a hit here," counters Seamus.

Thirty-some seconds later, Jones crushes an opposite-field bomb to left-center.  Seamus, the prognosticator, saves the day.  With two more runs on our side and one more on theirs, the Pirates took game one of the doubleheader and Christa, my 5000 cousins and me share in the victory.

The second game would start 30 minutes later - a true doubleheader that one ticket would vouch for.  (Editor's note: I fully expected to pay for two games for this doubleheader, even up to the day before the game.  We were told it would only be the price of one ticket, but that didn't seem like a concept the Nationals ownership would embrace.  But since they did, let's take the time to say "thanks.")  My master plan of walking the concourse between games was, apparently, the master plan of many of the other fans.  Mark - unrealated brother and frequent reference in future columns - and Julie - friend and fiance of Mark - joined the three of us for game two. 

My type A personality, though, would get the best of me...again.  Just as quickly as we found them, I wondered to the Box Fries stand in right center all by myself.  After all, we were on a schedule, and there's no way I could miss the first pitch of game two.  Christa found me at the stand and we both hurredly paced back to section 307.  I managed to eat all of my fries while 1) not using my fingers 2) walking back to the seat 3) fasting from ketchup 4) not regarding many of the obstrcutions in front of me.

The second game began at 7:15PM and ended around 10PM.  All you need to know is that the Pirates were leading by one going into the bottom of the eighth and were losing by one going into the top of the ninth.  Luckily I had been to this rodeo before and, even with the 4-3 loss, I was content knowing we had at least one win with me as a witness.  The masses stayed for the post-game fireworks and the traffic on foot getting out was brutal, but I would call it a successful day.

Now if you've ever attended a traditional double header and turned around for a 1:35PM start to the next day's game, you feel like you work for the organization.  I was now fully equipped to make pitching changes, roster moves, and decide if we would wear our alternate jerseys or the road grays (we wore the road grays, which I would have chosen, too.)  And since you are part of the organization, there should be anything stopping you from getting to your seat in time.

Unfortuneately, we missed the first two batters on Sunday's game because the center field entrance at Nationals Park is a travashamockery.  We couldn't break the fortress of bag ladies and strollers in time for the start and, in case I wasn't clear, we MISSED THE FIRST TWO BATTERS!!!....WHO GOT TO FIRST AND THIRD!!!!!!

Luckily Patty and Christa could calm me down and I briskly stomped to the left field walkery to catch Jones pop out to third.  Now I'm really wondering if I should return to the bullfight at the turnstyle to keep any hope of a win alive.  I briefly talk to myself and decide to stay...clearly I'm in a rationale state of mind.  My suggestion to myself was rewarded for today's game was unlike any game I had seen in Washington.  The next three batters all singled and we were ahead 3-0 just as my pal, Evan, joins us for the daytime fireworks.

We rode the escalator to the upper level, but instead of ascending to section 405, we picked-out a shaded row in section 306 and took in the game with no one within seven rows of us.  We took our seats in time to watch the visiting nine send nine batters to the plate and score five more runs, including five straight hits from our second through sixth hitters.  It was 8-0 going into the bottom of the second.  Horray for me.

The gentleman to our left, though, was steadfast on cheering his Nationals to the comeback trail.  He applauded every Nats player when announced and stayed compelled with every pitch.  This was a stark contrast to the eight people behind us, who formed a circle on the ground to play some form of listening exercise geared to letting out their emotions.  Seriously.  Since we we in the back row of section 306, we had to maneuver around the Circle of Trust to refill our bottomless popcorn.

By the time the Pirates had posted their 10-2 victory, Mark had arrived, a local Nats fans debated with Evan the merits of having Donovan McNabb over Tom Brady, Christa somehow got burnt in the shade and Patty reminded me to not allow her to attend anymore July day games.  More importantly, my attendance record for "Pirates at Nationals" shot up to 3-6 and the mental investment was well worth the contemplation.

I will more than likely be back at Nationals Park on Wednesday - this time to support Mark's Cubs as they visit Washington.  I don't think I will be worrying as much - and I know I won't be entering at the center field entrance - but I will be looking at the out-of-town scoreboard to see how we are doing against the Astros.

After all, the Pirates record in games when I attend another MLB game isn't that good, either.