I’ve been meaning to write about the new Nats stadium for a while. I went to the pre-season game against the hideous O’s nearly a week ago and here are some first impressions:
COMFORT: This is an excellent stadium in which to simply see a game. Sightlines from everywhere seem terrific, even from the cheap seats. Seats are, as a whole, much closer to the field than at RFK. The outfield area holds the potential for rowdy fun (despite some alarmingly stiff seat prices out there). The openness of the stadium means you can see the game from virtually anywhere, even as you walk around the concourse. I’ve never seen a stadium like that.
SETTING: Disappointing, even poor. You get no sense of the city from most seats — in fact, the view looking out through the outfield is that of two parking garages. The redevelopment of the area around the park is supposed to improve the bland appearance of the setting, but I am skeptical of that. There is no sense of the adjacent Anacostia River at all when you’re in the park. The outside of the park is so forgettable that, with the exception of the center field entrance that goes to the subway, you can walk around it and hardly notice it is there.
The setting is stronger at night. The parking garages are hardly visible and the lighting away from the field is very muted, so it almost feels like you’re watching a play under stage lighting. It’s actually a nice effect.
Still, the whole area pales in the inevitable comparison to Camden Yards, which is one of baseball’s greatest parks and the best of the modern era, in my opinion. Of course, as I have to note, that setting comes with a price: You have to pay to see the Orioles.
FOOD: Way better than RFK, not that there was anywhere to go but up. Food lines were very, very slow when I was there but it was the first night and the inevitable shakedown cruise was clearly underway. Service should get better, but I suspect you’ll be waiting for heroic time frames all year at, say, Ben’s Chili Bowl or Hard Times Cafe. I know there’s a deli somewhere on site but I haven’t found it yet — there was a little-publicized, but quite good, deli on the lowest level of RFK that had excellent pastrami sandwiches.
BEVERAGE: I was happy to see that they’re still selling beer in aluminum bottles, in addition to the usual draft selection. Aluminum bottles keep beer cold for much longer than a plastic cup (or bottle). If I’m in the mood for a ‘flavor’ beer, which I frankly rarely am at a ball game despite my beer-geek status, there are many selections here.
PARKING: Forget it. Take the Metro or park for free at RFK and take the shuttle. It’ll improve in a few years and the alternatives are actually very convenient.
OVERALL: It’ll work. It’s highly functional, somewhat convenient, fun, unfortunately not architecturally memorable (but very few ballparks reach that status…I’d currently give that designation only to San Francisco, Wrigley, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Yankee Stadium and Fenway) — and in these senses, it reminds me a lot of the Verizon Center that has done so much for the city. Overall it’s just fine.
