Nationals Park

I suppose the first drawback of going to Nationals Park was doing it on a night where the Capitals also had a home playoff game at the Verizon Center; the two venues share a Metro stop in downtown. It took Dad and me two-and-a-half hours to get back to the car after the game simply because we had to wait for an empty subway train to come by.

And while the Nats new stadium has all the attractions and amenities of every new stadium built in the last 20 years, with its extra-wide concourses, plenty of local food concessionaires and restrooms, a huge HD video board with more information than MSNBC, family and kiddie attractions in the outfield pavilions, a local-themed BBQ stand, and the ubiquitous downtown view beyond the stadium walls.

But the more of these new ballparks that are built, the more they all start to look alike, which is defeating the purpose of them being built in the first place. Nationals Park looks an awful lot like Comerica Park in Detroit, new Busch Stadium in St. Louis, or Citizens Bank Park in Philly, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but there's no sense of individual identity.

While I'm a fan of baseball stadiums, both past and present, I'm a fan more of baseball in general. I love the pace of the game, the strategy, the ability to have a long conversation with my dad and still not miss any action.

Oh, and hot dogs. I love hot dogs too.