Baseball

Hi everyone,
So it’s a regular Sunday afternoon here in Washington DC. It’s a bit overcast but a lovely day, though I’m sitting in my apartment, not enjoying the weather. Yesterday, however, I spent a rainy afternoon at the Nationals baseball game. I’m taking a class this semester called Baseball in American History, Culture and Film. Our professor set up a visit for us to the Nationals Stadium to watch the game, but beforehand we spoke with the Nats radio broadcaster Dave Jageler. He told us about how him and his partner on the air communicate the art of baseball by using the least amount of words. I’ve listened to baseball games on the radio before, but Mr. Jageler certainly gave me a renewed appreciation for the skill that really goes into creating an entertaining and exciting broadcast each game (especially for the Nats, who have one of the worst records in baseball). We then met with the two television broadcasters, Bob Carpenter and former Cincinatti Reds pitcher, Rob Dibble (Dibble, member of the 1990 World Series champs, is one of a few pitchers who has ever struck out 3 batters on 9 pitches). Bob and Rob told us about what they do each game and how the prepare to go on air by looking at stats for different players and making sure they have all the information they need before beginning the game. They were able to give us some really good insight as to how broadcasters are able to keep the viewers entertained by sort of enriching the images of the games with facts and statistics about teams and players.
The press box is on the 7th floor in the Stadium, making it the highest press box in Major League Baseball. But it’s also arguably the nicest. Since the stadium is only about a year old, it has some of the most spacious press accommodations in all of baseball. The new Nationals Stadium is also the greenest ballpark in baseball, with a large recycling campaign, a garden on it’s roof, and energy saving light bulbs throughout the stadium.
After our tour around the press club, with free Nats shirts in hand, myself and the members of my class sat down to enjoy the Nationals face off against the Atlanta Braves as we ate our lunch (paid for by the University!). It was an okay game (which ended embarrassingly for the Nats, who lost 11-5) and it then began to rain. I stuck it at as long as I could but without an umbrella, I felt uncomfortable and cold by the bottom of the 6th. As I left my classmates and hopped on the Metro back to Foggy Bottom, I couldn’t help but think about how lucky I was, not only to be in this class, but that I go to a University that supports and encourages the exploration of Washington DC and allows its students to take advantage of all the wonderful things this city has to offer.

Abby