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WT: RFK Stadium going out in style?

Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2004 10:27 pm
by ANT7088
In about eight months, RFK Stadium again will resound with the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd for baseball. That is, if widely held assumptions of the relocation of the Montreal Expos to the District or Northern Virginia prove correct.

The probable return of baseball to the Washington area also will begin the final chapter of a long and often glorious history for the 43-year-old facility on East Capitol Street.


Rest of Story...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/sports/2 ... -8310r.htm

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 2:50 am
by milkbone
I grew up in the D.C. area and RFK holds many memories. I remember being at the NFC championship game against Detroit (When we won superbowl '92) and we killed them. Rypien was spectacular that night. The fans were insane. I still go to DC United games to hang at my favorite stadium.

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 9:18 pm
by welch
Good story. We can only hope that the New New Nats come to DC.

As I remember it, DC Stadium / RFK was the best of the new baseball/football stadiums built in the '60's and '70's. It was adequate as a baseball park, because it was not quite round. Shea Stadium was built at about the same time, and is the worst baseball stadium for game-watching. Most of the seats are so far from the field that we used to bring binoculars to see the outfielders.

But the baseball roof made it overwhelming as a football stadium. In the long-gone days when games were played during the day, you would pay extra to sit under a roof. DC Stadium was odd because it had no bleachers -- just roof all around.

The result was that crowd noise gets trapped...fill it up with 55,000 Redskin fans, and watch Erik Kramer dissolve (wasn't it Kramer who quarterbacked the Lions in that NFC Championship game?).

Meanwhile, everyone in NY wants a new stadium. On the Yankees, see:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/30/sport ... adium.html

And

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/ ... adium.html

for the City's response.

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 10:21 am
by Deadskins