Baseball returned to DC last night at just before 7pm when President Bush sauntered out to the mound and threw out the first pitch (ball, up and away) to catcher Brian Schneider. The Nats played exceedingly well in front of a packed house at RFK last night (some 45,549 of your closest friends!) and won 5-3. Livan Hernandez pitched 8 1/3 innings, he had a one hit shut out going through 8 innings, then gave a three run homer in the ninth, picking up his first win. Chad Cordero bagged his second save. Vinny Castilla nearly hit for the cycle, picking up a triple, a double and a two-run homer, but then he was plunked by Lance Cormier in the 8th on the first pitch of his fourth at bat. It’s a pity, really, since he just needed the single. Overall, a good time at the ballpark.

Good things:

• Baseball returns to DC
• Nats win home opener to take sole possession of first place in the NL East
• The crowd cheered everybody from the assistant groundskeepers all the way up to Frank Robinson and the starting nine.
• RFK stayed nice and warm for most of the game
• Taking Metro to the game worked like a charm
• Despite heavy volume, the Secret Service did a great job keeping the security lines moving. Perhaps they ought to give a seminar to the TSA.

Bad things:

• Lines for hotdogs ran upwards of an hour at times.
• Frequently, they ran out of hotdogs. At a baseball game.
• Scoreboard crew had a rough night
• They. ran. out. of. hotdogs.
• The Metro line at the conclusion of the game could only be considered voluminous. I am told that people are still in line for inbound Orange and Blue line trains.
• Some fans preternatural devotion to The Wave. Yes, section 440, row 3, seat 8, I am speaking directly toward you.
• Promising people collectible medallions upon their departure and then failing to have enough to go around. C’mon guys, it’s not like you didn’t know that 45,569 tickets had been sold.

We gave up on the Metro last night, choosing to walk the 2 miles from RFK to Union Station along East Capitol Street and then up Massachussetts Avenue. Cabs were nowhere to be found (hint to cabbies, you will make boatloads of money if you hang out by RFK on home game nights…) and the metro line stretched from the station around the corner and at no point was thinner than 15 people. Buses had to get police escorts through the teeming throngs of people.

But it’s Baseball. Live, in DC.

A special shoutout goes to the person who hung the sign that read:

Dear Angelos,
U Stink.
Signed, Everyone

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs