Late in the spring of 2005, Kerry and I got the idea to take a weekend road trip.  Two days later we were driving south to Washington DC with a pair of Mets vs. Nationals tickets in hand.

This was the inaugural season of the Washington Nationals and the city was excited about baseball.  It was also the first trip the Mets had made to the newly reopened RFK stadium, and of the forty thousand some odd fans filling the stadium for Saturday night’s game, it seemed at least half were Mets fans.

Kerry and I sat behind a group that pretty closely resembled the “Chicago Superfans” from the SNL skit.  They were all really nice, and we talked DC and NY baseball with them for a while — including getting a full history of RFK stadium.

In the game, the Nationals took an early lead on a Vinny Castilla double in the first inning and Mets pitcher Victor Zambrano walked in a run in the 4th.  Meanwhile,  Nationals pitcher Tomo Ohka held the Mets scoreless through 7 innings, until Cliff Floyd hit a bases-clearing double in the 8th off relief pitcher Gary Majewski.

However, the real excitement of the game wasn’t provided by the players on the field, but rather by a hapless grounds crew.  Around the 5th inning a light rain started to fall (this made me really appreciate the large overhang at RFK that shelters the fans from sun and rain).  A short rain delay was called in the 6th and the grounds crew quickly covered up the field (although the heavy rain had stopped by the time the infield was covered).  The rain didn’t come down hard again until the 8th, when another rain delay was called.  

This time, however, the inexperienced RFK grounds crew was really in trouble.  Apparently when they put away the tarp after the first delay, they had not folded it properly.  The second time around, they could not get the tarp to unfold over the infield.  For a half hour the grounds crew tried and tried to get the tarp over the infield, even recruiting help from the parking lot attendants, all the while, a heavy rain was soaking the field and the crew.  By the time the tarp was finally pulled over the infield, large puddles of standing water were covering the diamond.

Soon after that calamity, the game was called in the 8th, with the Nationals winning it 5 to 3.  Both teams protested the game.

Some player comments on the game:

The conditions were deplorable. I couldn’t see anything. I caught a popup and I still don’t know if I caught it.  You needed a canoe to get on the field“ — Mike Piazza

“That was ridiculous” — Jose Vidro

“I’ve been in baseball a lot of years and I’ve never seen anything quite like that.” — Willie Randolph