First Games, Seating Set for Nationals' New Park

Stadium on Target for Opening Day

Baseball will be played for the first time at Washington's new stadium March 29, when the Nationals host the Baltimore Orioles in an exhibition game.

Nationals executives announced the game yesterday and said that opening day could be as early as March 30, when the club hopes to host a nationally televised Sunday night game that would kick off the Major League Baseball season.

They also said seat assignments for most season ticket buyers will be mailed at the end of this week. First-time buyers from last season will receive them in about a month.

The team's announcements came as D.C. officials showed off the newly completed playing field at the stadium under construction in Southeast Washington. About 100,000 square feet of Kentucky bluegrass was laid over the past two weeks at a cost of almost $1.5 million and has already had to be mowed.

"We're not only on time, we're on budget," said Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D).

City officials, who are spending $611 million to develop the stadium complex near South Capitol Street and the Navy Yard along the Anacostia River, said construction should be completed on schedule to accommodate what is expected to be a busy first month. Not only will the first ballgames be played there in early April, but Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to celebrate an outdoor Mass there April 17 during his first visit to the United States.

ESPN and Major League Baseball are in discussions about the March 30 opener. "The Nationals are a strong possibility for this," said a source with direct knowledge of the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the schedule had not been finalized.

The March 29 Orioles exhibition game, which Nationals President Stan Kasten called a "dress rehearsal" for opening day, will be free for season ticket holders, but single tickets will not be available. Kasten said the team also would work with city officials to provide tickets for youth groups and the stadium's construction workers.

The move from the Nationals' temporary home, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, has meant a complete seating overhaul. The stadium's most expensive seats, $300 per game, are directly behind home plate in a section that will be called presidential seats. The creation of the new section means that some fans who had lesser-priced tickets behind home plate at RFK may find themselves sitting farther down the baselines. Buyers filled out an elaborate questionnaire about their preferences.

Priority was given to the length of time that buyers had been season ticket holders, the type of tickets they had and how many games they purchased.

Kasten said that 90 percent of buyers received one of their top three choices and that half of the buyers got their first choice.

Single-game tickets are scheduled to go on sale in February.

Parking remains a concern. Officials have said that ensuring sufficient spaces will be critical to the stadium's early success. Team officials estimate that they will need between 5,000 and 9,000 spaces for each game and said season ticket holders will have an opportunity to buy spaces near the stadium.

The Nationals and the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission are in negotiations over use of the parking lot at RFK.