Ballparks - # 14 - Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, Washington, D. C. (4 August 2019)

14 September 2007

I can’t address the rest of the Cruise Chronicles or anything else right now because it’s World Series time and I have a relevant addition to my Ballpark Odyssey Life List. The Washington D.C. team is in the final match-up for the first time in 86 years. The Nats are actually the fourth franchise here since 1933 and the local fan base is fired up.

Robert F. Kennedy Stadium Upper Deck Panorama (14 September 2007)

Opened in 1961, the District of Columbia Stadium, the only federally-owned stadium in the country, was the first in that now-discredited era of “cookie-cutter,” multi-use, symmetrical (boring) designs. With upper deck seating all around, the place was also home to the NFL Washington Redskins until they moved to their own playpen in 1997. The stadium was renamed in 1969 following the assassination of Senator Kennedy.

The Stadium’s Namesake (4 August 2019)

In front of the stadium are memorials to Clark Griffith, the baseball pioneer and Senators owner and George Preston Marshall, the NFL pioneer and Redskins owner. Between them, closer to the entry gate, is a bust of the late Senator.

This was the only event I attended at RFK. Don came up from North Carolina and Frank down from Pennsylvania. The three friends who made the Cooperstown-Fenway-Yankee Stadium trip in 2003 connected again. Don also wanted to go to Arlington and visit the new grave of a hometown friend who died in the Viet Nam War and was only recently found and returned. The night before, we visited RFK where the new Washington Nationals team hosted the Atlanta Braves.

The date at the top is also a link to the box score. Future Hall of Famer, Chipper Jones hit a homer for the Braves, but the Nats held on to win 7-4.

Left Side, Lower Level, Robert F. Kennedy Stadium (14 September 2007)

In 2018, I addressed the history of baseball in our nation’s capital when we presented the Nat’s current home park. The original American League Washington Senators left here for Minneapolis before this stadium was built. The next generation Senators played at the brand-new D.C. Stadium. The new Senators were one of the two expansion teams added in 1961. The other was the Los Angeles Angels. The Senators played here ten years before moving to Dallas as the Texas Rangers. For the next 33 years, the city had no team. After the 2005 season, the National League Montreal Expos moved to Washington, became the Nationals and played three seasons at RFK before their new stadium was ready in 2008

Another FORMER ballpark for the collection…visited during its sad last relevant days. This was a happnin’ place when the NFL Redskins were a dominant NFL team. It was spare and threadbare when I finally got inside. Since then, the only team to call RFK home was the pro soccer team, DC United. Once they built their own stadium, the unused, obsolete RFK has awaited the inevitable conclusion to its story. Demolition should be completed by 2021.

Left Field, Robert F. Kennedy Stadium (14 September 2007)

Among the few Senators’ stars during the otherwise pitiful RFK years was Frank Howard. ‘The Washington Monument’ was 6’ 7” tall, over 250 pounds and known for his prodigious home runs. Three legendary blasts have been memorialized in the stadium. The upper deck cheap seats where the balls landed are painted white. I enlarged a section of the above shot to reveal one of them…way out of play.

A Frank Howard Seat, Section 538, Row 4, Seat 19

Here’s a story you can only get from the crack Images and More Sports Department. After his playing career, Frank Howard was a coach for the New York Mets. My sister and her family attended a Mets game in 1994 when the old slugger was a coach. After the game, the team allowed kids to play on the field and run the bases. Older nephew Tyler was so taken by the moment, he ran away from his little brother. Young Jesse freaked out and started to melt down there on the infield…until the giant Met coach and ‘Savior of the Abandoned’ swooped in, scooped up little Jesse and carried him around the bases to save the day.

In Need of Paint, RFK (4 August 2019)

This past August, I returned to RFK to take a few exterior shots. A grand public arena can look pretty sad when it’s empty and left to decay. At least fans have memories of happier times.