Game: #038 – Nationals vs. Marlins
Starting Pitchers: Tom Gorzelanny (0-2, 3.97) vs. Chris Volstad (2-2, 5.73)
Final Score: Nationals: 5, Marlins: 6
In addition to being another great night at the ballpark, Friday was Stitch & Pitch. This annual event is celebrated at many MLB parks and is put together for needlecraft enthusiasts (knitters, crocheters, etc.) to get together and socialize, shop, and knit while watching the a ballgame. You may not know this about your First Ladies, but both of them enjoy knitting. Maggie and Ashley sat in Section 202 for most of the game and were surrounded by lots of folks with yarn on needles.
What we ate: Maggie had a pretzel dog that was tasty, but not filling enough. She went back for some cheese fries to round out her meal. Ashley tried the Hard Times Chili Mac and was overall disappointed. It was the same toppings as the amazing Hard Times Nachos, but the extra water clinging to the spaghetti made the whole thing drippy and very, very messy. The pasta didn’t really absorb any of the chili flavor either. Next time, Ashley will go back to chips with her chili.
From our Stitch & Pitch seats, we had a great view of the outfield. It was fun to watch Nix and Bernadina were warming up together, especially because it helped limber up Bernadina for his amazing catch later in the game.
Things got a little heated after the umps made a controversial call about a Marlins bunt. Riggleman came out of the dugout and Hairston started waving his finger around. Ultimately, the call stood and the game kept going.
Werth used the break as an opportunity to take a knee in the outfield.
Did we mention that all of that happened before the 4th inning? As is tradition, the President’s wore their Jason masks to race on Friday the 13th. 13 wasn’t a lucky number for Teddy, but Abe pulled out a win.
In the 5th, Coffey was called in to replace Gorzelanny. Coffey’s fun to watch because he’s so enthusiastic. He didn’t just jog in from the bullpen, he dashed!
The 5th inning was also when Bernadina made an amazing flying catch to get the last out of the inning. The ball went back over his head and he jumped up to grab it. He managed to snag the ball in the webbing of his glove, then tumbled head over heels. After landing, he thrust his glove in the air so we could all see that he managed to hang onto the ball. You can see the confirmation of the catch at the top of this post, more of Ashley’s pictures starting here, and the Nat’s provided video here.
After the 6th inning, Maggie moved up to the Upper Gallery to sit with friends and family who were also at the game. It gave a different perspective – both in that there was more of a social focus, and not as much concern for baseball. She even got razzed by her brother for cheering [over]enthusiastically for Drew Storen when he came in to the game. We stayed to the bitter end (11 innings) which had its benefits: Ashley appeared on the big screen during a Random Act of Red, and Maggie got to wander around the desolate nosebleed section and see what the very high views looked like all around the park. And we all sort of felt like this picture of manager Jim Riggleman – there’s only so much you can do in a game. However, even though the Nats lost, it was a great evening full of amazing plays.
(full album from this game can be seen here)
Tags: marlins, may, stichnpitch
First Ladies of Baseball 
Leave a comment