Washington Nationals Home Opener April 5th

A three-game home stand versus the Philadelphia Phillies kicks off the Washington Nationals 2010 MLB baseball season in Washington DC on Monday, April 5th, 2010.

And while tickets for the Nats opening day may be tough to find, tickets for the next two home games on Wednesday and Thursday are still available.

Last season, the Nats had the worst record in MLB baseball with just 59 wins to 103 losses (.364), a full 34 games back at the end of the season.

The Nationals won just 41% of their home games and even less on the road – just 32% of away games played.   By contrast, the New York Yankees, who won the 2009 World Series, won better than 70% of their home games.

The 4 Nationals players that batted over 300 last season will all be returning this year, including:

• Cristian Guzmán (.319)
• Jesús Flores (.311)
• Ryan Zimmerman (.305)
• Josh Willingham (.304) 

and first baseman Adam Dunn, who led the team in both home runs with 30 and 85 RBIs last season, will also be returning as well for the 2010 season.

Last season, the Washington National also set a unique MLB record, by being the first major league team in history to start their season losing 7 straight games, and then end the regular season winning their last 7 games in a row.

Attendance last year at Nationals Park was down, yet 1.8 million die hard fans came to see the 81 home games. An average of 22,715 fans attended Nationals Park each game, putting the Nat’s in the 25th slot of 30 teams in total attendance.  Nat’s home game attendance was just less than half of the league’s most attended team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, with 46,440 per home game.

This season, the Nat’s will be looking to 21-year old right-handed rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg to add some zip to the pitching staff.  Strasburg was the No. 1 pick in the ‘09 First-Year Player Draft and signed a 4-year deal with the Nationals, netting about $3.8 million per year.

The opening day ball game will be televised locally on WDCW, DC-50 television.

Washington Nationals Baseball
Nationals Park
1500 South Capitol Street, SE
Washington DC 20003  (map it)

Date and Time – Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, April 5, 7 and 8, 2010
Game times: Monday – 1:05, Wednesday – 7:05 and Thursday – 4:35

Tickets – $10.00 – $325.00 and are available online or by phone at 202-675-NATS.

Nearest Metro Subway Station – Navy Yard – Green line, then a 2-block walk.

Parking – Paid parking at the stadium or free shuttle bus service is offered from RFK Stadium.

Images – Josh Willingham from Flickr – Nationals Park entrance from personal collection, ©2010, Jon Rochetti