We were all waiting impatiently, with anxious and innocent eyes, to reign in the 2010 baseball season.  Sunday night felt like Christmas eve.  It was hard to sleep and I just new Santa would bring me a brand new toy (in the shape of a new baseball season) in the morning.  Well Santa did not disappoint.

Since the last season, my hubbadub and I moved from 3 blocks north of Nats Park back to our native Oklahoma.  It was hard to leave DC, but career changes called and it was inevitable.  I knew when I left DC, the number one thing I would miss would be Nationals baseball.  Nats fans are unique.  We are dedicated folks that still stand behind our team after a few not so perfect seasons.  We have a continued optimism that the next game will turn our team’s fate around.  We get very excited when we win even two games in a row and feel proud when our favorite players see success.  Nats fans are a community, a family.  All from different places, backgrounds, and roots in our baseball fandom, but at the end of the day, we just love our team.  I was sad to leave this city because I knew I would miss my family, so it was good to be home for Opening Day.

The day tickets went on sale for Opening Day, I got online and got mine the second they were available.  I immediately began looking at flights to come back to DC for the game.  While living in DC, I found solace at the Nats games.  It was a place of happiness and comfort, almost like a second home.  I found it very appropriate that I return to my second home on my first trip back to DC.

My hubby and I arrived VERY early for the game.  The anticipation of President Obama’s first pitch had me thinking the lines would be super long and the secret service wouldn’t let me into the game with my over sized purse (my purse could be on the show, Hoarders).  Of course when you arrive at 4 hours before the game, lines tend to be a bit short.  We got in the game and there I saw it, the beautiful pristine field.  It felt like coming home after a long day at work where your boss is yelling, nothing is going your way, and your printer decided it would jam up on you.  We grabbed us a half smoke at Ben’s Chili Bowl (see post on my other blog Okie Foodie) and found a way to our seats.  Finally the opening ceremonies began full of the national anthem, announcement of the teams, and President Obama’s first pitch.  I was so excited to see the President throw out the pitch.  I don’t care what your political persuasions are, this is a great DC baseball tradition!

Finally the game started, and we scored in the first.  This seemed to be a great start.  I was just happy to see baseball!  Shortly thereafter, unfortunately the game fell apart for the Nats.  A few minutes later, we had reached the point of no return and my hopes of watching the Nats win at this Opening Day I had waited to see since October of last year were dropping. Unfortunately (as is with every time we play the Phillies at home), I was SURROUNDED by Phillies fans.  This was not fun.  They were yelling, turning around to rub it in every time, and basically trying to ruin my good time.  Let’s just say they tried to ruin this day for me, but did not prevail.

Of course the Nats ended up losing 11-1 on Monday, but I still had a good time.  The excitement of Opening Day was great.  It was great to see President Obama throw the first pitch, be back with my Nats family, see the racing presidents, and enjoy the atmosphere of the sport I enjoy so much.  It made me miss DC horribly and I really hope I can come to more games during this baseball season.  Opening Day did seem much like Christmas.  Santa brought me that Easy Bake Oven (Opening Day) I asked my mom for but she said it was a little too expensive this year, but unfortunately forgot to bring the light bulb that cooks the miniature cakes (a Nats win).  I’m crossing my fingers for a good season and hope some of the veterans and new guys will prove to be a good change.  I know one thing will hold true, I won’t ever be missing an Opening Day again.

Welcome to September Nats fans!

The Nats know that sometimes being a Nats fan is not the easiest thing in the world.  They understand that the fans they do have tend to get a little bit of grief every once and awhile.  For instance, while walking my little chihuahua this evening (I was wearing a Nats tshirt), someone stopped me and said, “There are actually Nats fans?”  I, being highly offended, said, “Yes sir there are.  In fact, the average attendance in 2008 was 29,000.”  He then turned away and kept walking as he should have.  The point being that Nats fans are great.  We stand by our team through thick (and it can get REALLY THICK) and thin.  We are there cheering every time our Nats are playing down on South Capitol and we take naps so we can watch the Nats on MASN when they are playing on Pacific time (I did this last night and plan on doing it again tonight).  This month, because of our dedication and hard work (sometimes I feel like cheering for the Nats can be hard work!!), they have decided that September is Fan Appreciation Month.

Throughout the month, the Nats will be having ticket giveaways, awesome promotional items and will have players greeting fans at the gates.  On top of the extras, there will be three T-shirt Tuesdays during September.  I LOVE T-shirt Tuesdays, but always seem to get there too late to grab my size, so WORD TO THE WISE:  Arrive Early!!  Also, the team photo will be given out at the game on Monday, September 28th.  It sounds like a fun month down at Nationals Park and I hope to see all of you there!!

On a more serious note, along with Fan Appreciation Month, the Nats are partnering with the American Diabetes Association for Diabetes Awareness Month at Nationals Park.  I’m sure we all have someone that Diabetes has touched, so please be sure to stop by the American Diabetes Association Table at the Nationals Community Desk (Main Concourse, Left Field) and also take advantage of discount tickets with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the American Diabetes Association (www.nationals.com/diabetes).

It’s going to be a fun month here in NatsTown, so let’s show the Marlins, Phillies, Dodgers, Braves and Mets who has the best fans in the land!  NOW, off to take a power nap so I can stay up and watch the Nats take one from the Padres!!

After attending the four game Cubbies sweep over the Nationals at the end of July, the start of this series in Chicago is making me a happy girl!  The Nats displayed some powerful offense at Wrigley Field winning the game with a final score of 15-6.  There was power hitting, fabulous base running, and of course WillingSLAM was at it again!  It was all in all an entertaining way for me to spend my Tuesday night with my TV.

It began with a pretty good performance by Garrett Mock.  He pitched a few solid innings to set up the opportunity for the Nats scoring party.  It all started with some great base hits by Belliard and Willingham and then Wil Nieves hits a sacrifice fly and knocks Willingham in to score one of his 5 runs of the night.  Mock once again pitched a solid second inning and then the Cubs’ pitcher Carlos Zambrano hit a solo homer out to centerfield and believe me…this was the ONLY thing he was hitting tonight because it sure wasn’t strikes.  4th inning rolled around and Josh Willingham hit his first homer of the night (yes there was another) out of the park.  This was followed by what appeared to be an angry Cubs fan throwing the ball over the stands onto the field from the street below.  Ronnie Belliard hits a single followed by an Elijah Dukes double.  Then in a bizarre turn of events on this tragic nights for the Cubs, Fontenot makes an error where it looked like he literally threw the ball straight at the ground.  This of course gives Belliard the opportunity to score.  At this point in the game, the score is only 3-1, so we still have a contest.

THEN…

The 5th inning happened…

This inning had a striking resemblence to the 4th inning of the Sunday game of the last Cubs series at Nationals Park.  I literally remember feeling pain, like physical gnawing pain during this inning where we gave up 7 runs to the Cubbies.  It felt like the inning that would never end.  Well, the Nats gave one of these neverending innings right back to the Cubs tonight.  During this inning, we went through our entire lineup, we got six guys on base and all six of them scored.  The Cubs pitching disaster was just beginning to show itself.  Zambrano hit Willie Harris with a pitch, Christan Guzman singled to center, Ryan Zimmerman singled to left, Zambrano walked Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham, and then finally at the Cubs fans relief, they replaced Zambrano with Heilman.  Well this did not seem to do any good, because Elijah Dukes hit a GRAND SLAM.  All in all, at this point in the game, the Nats were up 9-1 and it felt glorious!

The pitching slightly fell apart in the 6th, but besides that, Mock pitched a great game.  The Cubs scored three runs during this inning before Riggleman replaced him with Tyler Clippard.  The 7th inning proved to be another hitting show by the Nats with Zimmerman doubling to left, Willingham singling to center knocking Zimmerman home, Belliard singling to left, Dukes getting intentionally walked, and Nieves singling to right knocking Willingham and Belliard in.  At this point, it is almost like batting practice for the Nats and gives us a score of 12-4.

Milton Bradley (yes like the board games…I can’t help but giggle a bit) hit a solo homer in the 7th (this did not make me giggle), but then Willingham answers that with his second homerun of the night knocking Zimmerman and Dunn home.  It was 15-5 at this point and with the exception of a solo homer by the Cubs’ Northern Virginia (Dale City) native Jeff Baker, the game was toast.  So the game finishes out on the scoreboard at 15-6 with Willingham having a great game going 4-4, hitting two homeruns (he’s up to 21 now for the season), knocking six runners home, and scoring five runs.  Needless to say, I think his slump is over.

This was exactly what I like to see from the Nats: A decently strong start by the starting pitcher (Although, I wish our starters could pitch a bit longer, but I can save that for another post), emptying our bases instead of leaving the guys hanging out there, great defensive plays, and a pretty good performance by the bullpen.  Now I would like to see the Nats play this great tomorrow and Thursday so we can show the Cubs how it feels to get swept at home.  I will personally send pictures (as I cannot be there in person) of brooms to all of my Cubs fans friends in Chicago, but Nats you gotta take care of business!