After a west coast swing that sputtered a bit at the end, the Nationals return
home today for the rest of the week, starting with a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks before the weekend's touted
Take Back the Park games against the Phillies.
The $2 tickets for tonight's game against the D-backs sold out pretty quickly once it was known that this would be 19-year-old Bryce Harper's first home game in the big leagues, but it is the first night of
MLB All-Star balloting, with Adam LaRoche, Danny Espinosa, Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman, Wilson Ramos, Rick Ankiel, Michael Morse, and Jayson Werth all on the ballot. Wednesday is
$1 Hot Dot Night, and Thursday May 3 is a "drawstring backpack" giveaway for the first 20,000 fans (Half Street entrance only) as part of "MLB Network Day."
Look for big crowds over the weekend during the
Phillies series, and note that the traditional Sunday post-game "Kids Run the Bases" offering will be on Saturday this week, since the Sunday game is a rare 8:05 pm start (thanks to it being ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball game). Also, the
Fairgrounds will reopen on Friday, at 11:30 am.
Before Sunday night's game, the
six newest members of the Washington DC Sports Hall of Fame will be honored. At the top of the list is the late WUSA sportscaster Glenn Brenner, who you DC newbies would not remember but
who was much beloved before he died of a brain tumor in 1992. Other inductees include NBA star Adrian Dantley (who lived across the street from me on the DC side of Western Avenue back in the day), Redskins cornerback Darrell Green, Joe Gallagher of St. John's College High School, journalist Sam Lacy, and UDC's Bessie Stockard.
If you haven't ventured to the stadium yet this season, my
Visiting Nats Park page will give you information and links on how to get there, and what there is to eat and see nearby.