Brightwood Lights

Play ball!

April 8, 2008 on 3:21 pm | In The District |

The first photo of Caleb and me (that we know of) was taken at a Cubs game we attended with a big group of friends from college in the spring of 1999. Caleb hates that I am wearing a Cubs hat (a free give away that day) as that is one of his least favorite teams, but otherwise it’s a good picture.

It also was a harbinger of what was to come in our marriage.  One of our main shared interests is the good old “national pasttime.”  I grew up “doing the chop” at Fulton County Stadium, while Caleb caught as many Cards games as he possibly could at the old Busch stadium. Thus, we were both thrilled to learn that the (former) Expos, now known as the Nationals, were moving to Washington in April 2005. Most spring, summer, and early fall nights in our household incorporate the voices of Charlie and Dave, the Nats radio hosts, as background noise, and many a train of thought has been derailed by the words, “way back. . . going, going, and gone!  Goodbye!”

(For the record: We’ve agreed that, though our first loyalties will remain to our respective teams, we will raise Simona a Nats fan and cheer for them when they don’t play (or otherwise affect) our Braves or Cardinals.)

Thus, we were THRILLED to get two tickets to Opening Day in 2008. Not only was it each of our first Opening Day, it also was the opening of the new baseball stadium in Washington DC. President Bush threw out the first pitch, which marked our first sighting of him since living in this city. I even agreed to cheer for the Nationals over the Braves for this one select occasion (though I wore my Braves t-shirt under my Nats shirt, did a few Tomahawk Chops, and was secretly glad that Chipper hit the first homer in the new park. . .) Anyway, the Nats won with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth, and, despite the forty-degree weather, the night was unforgettable. I took WAY too many pictures, but we’ve included just a few on the pictures page.

Here’s to wishing you and yours a great baseball season!