WASHINGTON (AP) -For two years, residents of the nation’s capital have been watching Nationals Park rise along the city’s waterfront. Late Thursday night, the players who will work there got their first look at the finished product.
Eager to see their new home, the Washington Nationals took a bus from the airport to the ballpark immediately after arriving from spring training in Florida.
“This is absolutely incredible,” first baseman Dmitri Young said. “This is everything you want out of a new stadium. I’m in awe.”
Several players were taken aback by the size of the oval-shaped clubhouse. Catcher Paul Lo Duca called it “the biggest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s absolutely gorgeous,” he said. “This room here is bigger than a lot of these guys’ houses. You can’t get any better than this.”
Many players took some time to break in the new chairs in front of their lockers and watch one of the eight new flat-screen televisions.
The Nationals will hold their first practice in the ballpark Friday. Their first game in the 41,888-seat stadium will be Saturday, an exhibition against the Baltimore Orioles. They’ll host the Atlanta Braves on Sunday in the regular-season opener.
“I’m sure it’s going to be abuzz,” Lo Duca said. “It’s going to be loud in here. A lot of the guys, including myself, are looking forward to it.”
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