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Nats Provide Fond Farewell, End RFK Era With a Victory
Joel Hanrahan delivers the final start for a Nationals pitcher at RFK Stadium. Said closer Chad Cordero: "Without RFK, who knows where we would be?"
(Photos By Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post)
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With that, Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel pulled Alfonseca for right-hander Geoff Geary, who came on to face rookie catcher Jesus Flores. Geary missed with his first pitch, then got Flores to swing through his second. He came inside at 1-1. The ball plunked Flores on the left elbow.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]"I can do nothing about it," Flores said, smiling. "But it helped."
It drove in the run that made it 3-2, though Flores had to be replaced defensively -- he is listed as day-to-day. The Nationals tagged on a pair of runs in the eighth to go up 5-2.
That left it to the human heartburn that is Cordero. Back in 2005, he got the Nationals' first save at RFK, nailing down a victory for Livan Hernandez on the night baseball came back. So many in the crowd had been pulled in so many directions by Cordero's hair-pulling outings over the past three years, it was somehow appropriate he allowed the Phillies to get to 5-3 on Aaron Rowand's single, bringing the winning run to the plate with one out.
"With Chief," said catcher Brian Schneider, "I've learned over the years not to get worried."
Lerner, the owner, stood in the tunnel in the dugout, waiting for the postgame ceremony. Acta glanced at him.
"I'm like, 'Come on, Chief. The guy's 81 years old,' " Acta said. "He doesn't need to be put through this."
With that, Cordero closed out the game, and closed RFK for baseball. He struck out Wes Helms, then struck out Werth. Schneider greeted him at the mound, wrapped his arm around Cordero's head. They headed for their final handshake with teammates, then to the ceremony afterward. Several players spoke to the crowd. A video montage of this year's highlights played on the scoreboard -- one that will be dwarfed by the high-definition version next year.
"I don't want to downplay it at all," veteran reserve Robert Fick said. "But we're so happy to get out of here and be able to go to a new stadium."
But first, they had to close the old one, and they did so in a way that left 1971 -- and baseball's departure -- even further behind.
