Stadium Opened: 1984
Teams Seen: Potomac Cannons (Reds) 2004; Nationals (Nationals) 2005-present
1st Visit: 4/8/04
Most Recent Visit: 9/4/11
# Games: 215
Food: 4/10
Team Store: 4/10
Stadium: 6/10
Future/Rehabbing Stars Seen: Pudge Rodriguez, Drew Storen, John Lannan, Jordan Zimmermann, Dmitri Young, Ian Desmond, Danny Espinoza
This may be the toughest review I have to write. How do you separate a place that has meant so much to you emotionally, but also happens to be one of the worst stadiums in baseball? I don't know, but I am going to try..
Both my gameday and professional baseball career started with Potomac. I spent the 2004 season as a cook/ beer guy for the Potomac Cannons, and 3 years later my front office career commenced with the Potomac Nationals. Those first days of 2007 were the most exhilarating of my working life. I had 3 wonderful, exhausting, exciting years (2007, 09, 10) as Assistant Director of Food Service, Director of Merchandise and Group Sales Executive with the Nationals. Great friends were met in that time, and I got to be a part of the inner workings of baseball. I even got to be a part of a championship season in 2010 and have the ring to prove it. Now that I got that out of the way...
The stadium is horrible. Plain and simple, the Pfitz, as it is commonly referred, is a concrete slab with mostly bleacher seats and no cover from the rain or sun. Until recently, it had a field that would not drain, causing rainouts to happen 12 hours after the last drop fell from the sky. The food stands are antiquated with no variety to speak of. There has been talk for 15 years of a new stadium, to no avail.
Now, does all that mean you will not have a good time seeing the Potomac Nationals? Not at all- in fact, quite the opposite. Speaking from personal experience, working in a run-down place like Pfitzner means you have to work that much harder to give fans a great experience. And this is where the P-Nats shine. And with the Washington Nationals 30 miles away, Potomac gets a ton of rehab assignments and rising stars. In my 3 years there, I saw no less than 3 dozen current and future Major Leaguers.
So if you're in the DC area, go catch a game at the Pfitz. Just don't expect much in the way of comfort or amenities.
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