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Nationals Park The Most Secure in MLB, Helping Their Neighbors At The Navy Yard


Brad Mills – USA Today Sports

The Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braveswere supposed to play a game that had major playoff implications. But just three blocks from Nationals Park is the Navy Yard where there was a tragic mass murder committed.

They will play a day night double header Tuesday, with game one set for 1:00 p.m. and game two set for a 7:05 p.m. 

My colleague Andrew Fisher wrote a fine piece about the Nationals doing the right thing by calling off the game and I could not agree more.  The Navy Yard Metro Stop is where on a normal game night as many as 15,000 or more fans, myself included, use to get to the stadium.

For those not from Washington they are not aware that Nationals Park is the most secure baseball stadium in all of Major League Baseball. This is a ball park where on any given evening they can have have members of Congress, Supreme Court Justices and Ambassadors from a number of countries, all  seated with the rest of the crowd.

The Nationals know where each and every one one of the VIPs are seated for the game and where their security teams will be stationed. For instance, the Nationals’ security team would have to coordinate with as many five different government and international security teams at any game during the season.

When the President is in Nationals Park things are taken to a new level that includes Secret Service and snipers on the roof of the stadium.

It just part of living in the Nation’s Capital in this post 9/11 world. You see the security everywhere, you respect what they are doing, you do whatever they ask without question and you move on feeling a little bit safer.

The Navy Yard and the Washington Nationals are neighbors in southeast Washington, and tonight the most important thing is make sure things are safe in the area. They will play baseball again in this neighborhood, but for now things need to be calmed down and families need to be able to find their loved ones.

Rant Sports columnist James Williams is a seven time Emmy Award winningproducer, director and writer. Follow him on Twitter @Wordmandc and join his circle at Google +


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