A capital day for baseball: Washington hosts a game

BC-BBN--Return to DC, Bjt,760

A capital day for baseball: Washington hosts a game

AP Photos

By JOSEPH WHITE

AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- From chants of "Lets go, Nats!" at a VIP luncheon to the excitement of former Washington Senators players to the anticipation surrounding President Bush's ceremonial first pitch, the nation's capital welcomed the return of major league baseball with an all-day party.

This is a city that has been waiting since 1971 to host a regular season big-league game. And the Washington Nationals' home opener Thursday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks was a joyous exclamation point for celebrations that began 6 1/2 months ago with the announcement that the Montreal Expos were heading south.

"I'm numb. I'm raking it all in," said Mickey Vernon, who turns 87 next week. "It's been a long while coming, but for those with patience, something good comes along," said Vernon, one of 10 former Washington Senators here as honored guests.

The day was jump-started seven hours before the game's scheduled start with a $1,500-per-table luncheon hosted by NBC's Tim Russert. The Nationals players, weary after arriving the night before following a nine-game road trip, chuckled and otherwise tolerated endless photo-ops with big-name sponsors before being led into the hall by a high school marching band to the cheers of 1,000 of the city's top business leaders and political figures.

Needless to say, the players never got this kind of treatment in Montreal, but they also looked like a group that couldn't wait for the hype to die down.

"There's a lot of attention, a lot of stuff to do today," outfielder Brad Wilkerson said. "And we're just going to be happy to get on the field in front of some great fans."

There already have been numerous milestone dates in baseball's return to Washington, which had been without a team since the expansion Senators departed for Texas following the 1971 season. There was the relocation announcement on Sept. 29, followed by the opening of spring training and the first spring training game in February, an exhibition game against the New York Mets at RFK on April 3, and then the season opener at Philadelphia a day later.

But the last of the welcome-back parties was the biggest. Tickets were for the 46,000-seat RFK Stadium were hard to come by, even for some well-heeled Washingtonians. About 95 minutes of pregame ceremonies were scheduled before the game, including the presidential first pitch, a tradition that began exactly 95 years ago to the day when William Howard Taft tossed out a ball before a Senators-Athletics game on April 14, 1910.

Bush, a former part-owner the Texas Rangers, was the 12th president given the honor of throwing out a first pitch in Washington, and the first since Richard Nixon in 1969. After the Senators left, presidents performed the ceremony in other cities; Bush did the honors in St. Louis last year.

The Nationals had the scoreboard ready: The name George W. Bush was written on the scoreboard with the "W" written in curly script, mimicking the design on the Nationals' hats.

"I'm looking for that thing to come right down the middle," said Nationals catcher Brian Schneider, who was to catch the presidential pitch. "I know he can do it."

So excited was the city that several local TV stations originated their morning newscasts from the stadium Thursday. Jersey barriers were erected near the stadium, part of the extensive security measures taken before the president's arrival.

The Nationals are the last team to play a home game this season, which is probably for the best given the compressed schedule for renovating the stadium. Hundreds of extra chairs were being set up on the field in front of the stands late Wednesday, the sort of additional seating used for World Series games. Mowers trimmed the grass, and workmen were hoping to find a way to get rid of the faint white lines still visible from a Major League Soccer game last week.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the Nationals arrived as a first-place team, having won two out of three against the Atlanta Braves to improve to 5-4 in the NL East. Washington is playing with much of the same roster that finished last in 2004 in Montreal, although the players are finding they have much greater fan support than they had in Canada.

"Believe me, this club will not finish last in the National League East," manager Frank Robinson said. "I've heard people said this the Montreal Expos in Washington Nationals uniforms. Those people don't know what they're talking about. They are not the Montreal Expos in Washington Nationals uniforms. They are the Washington Nationals."

AP-ES-04-14-05 1422EDT