Baseball’s opening day brings Washington together
At a time of great division, Major League Baseball’s season opener in Washington was an opportunity to forget politics.
It’s no secret in Washington that relations between Congress and US President Barack Obama are not great. A Rasmussen poll last November showed only 24 percent of Americans think they can work together.
Republicans in Congress are threatening to derail the president’s nuclear deal with Iran, making tensions even higher.
But at a time of great division in the US capitol, there’s only one thing that brings the city together: opening day of the baseball season.
On Monday, the Washington Nationals (nicknamed “the Nats”) took to the field for their first game against the New York Mets and for one day, most people in Washington agreed politics be damned.
“I don’t care what your race, religion, sexual orientation is,” said Megan Kelly, 24, a Virginia teacher who took the day off work to be at the game with her family.
“It’s baseball day and we’re here to root for the Nats,” agreed 35-year-old Carlos Aparicio.
“He and I have different views on a lot of things,” said the government employee, sipping a beer next to his friend and fellow Nats fan Sebastian Perez, 37. “Politics don’t matter on a day like today.”
The Nats have fans on both sides of the aisle in Congress, too. Both Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senate minority leader Harry Reid are self-professed Washington Nationals fans.
Unfortunately for them, the team couldn’t put together a win. The Mets beat the Nats 3-1.