WASHINGTON — Inside the ballpark, Stephen Strasburg was throwing heat as the Nationals opened their home season Thursday against the Mets.
Outside the ballpark, some Nats fans were throwing a fit — and they took to social media to voice their frustration about backed-up lines.
It was a scene somewhat reminiscent of last year’s opener against the Miami Marlins.
WTOP’s Julia Ziegler said a line was wrapped around the stairwell in the Geico Garage. And one Twitter user wrote that the garage backup was “trapping” people in elevators as well.
Nats, this is a Lot where you charge $50 and advertise a private entrance w/short lines. Fire hazard. Person in wheelchair couldn’t exit. pic.twitter.com/jijEaMOpTn
— emmarbles (@emmarbles) April 5, 2018
According to the team, the center field and right field gates, which are closest to that garage, had the worst backups.
CF and RF Gates are currently backed up. 1B and Home Plate Gates will offer fastest entry into #Nats Park!
Happy #OpeningDay!
— NatsParkService (@NatsParkService) April 5, 2018
When asked about the situation, the Nats front office cited a late-arriving workday crowd (possibly due to the chilly weather).
“Opening Day is one of — if not the — busiest games of the regular season,” wrote Jennifer Mastin Giglio, the Nationals’ vice president of communications. “And we staff appropriately for a maximum-capacity crowd.”
The lines outside had “completely dissipated by the top of the second inning,” Giglio added.
And regardless of whether they made it inside for the first pitch, fans had to have hated how the game ended: The Metropolitans triumphed, 8-2.
