Fields of Dreams

I think without a doubt, one of the greatest points of contention for House League teams revolves around home field advantage. Never will you see coaches more adamant than when you try to convince someone to play on a field they have sworn off for good.

The two most popular locations for games are The Mall and Anacostia Park. Both locations can host a plethora of contests on any given night, and still have some room for kickballers, soccer games, and ultimate frisbee clubs. While many teams covet the fields between 3rd and 4th street on the mall, other franchises wouldn't be caught dead between the Capitol and Washington Monument.

True enough there are drawbacks to playing on the mall. There is a distinct advantage for lefty heavy lineups, there is a constant threat of fans streaking across the outfield gravel, fielding a groundball in the infield is roughly the same as tracking a Tim Wakefield Knuckleball while wearing a blindfold, and the beer patrol gets a little crankier every year. But let's face it folks, this is DC, there are few stadiums that offer better infields, real parks have fence around the entire outfield and not just rightfield, fans will ALWAYS find a reason to streak across your field, and where else in the entire country can you boast a 5th inning stretch view like that of having the capitol or monument as your backdrop?

Anacostia Park offers one of the few fields in the city where the threat of fan interference is completely non-existant. There is seemingly always space, and the luxury of being able to secure a permit to always have access to a field does offer extra incentive. The drawbacks? Aside from needing the explorer instincts of Lewis and Clark to find your way around in the outfield, having to use a weed whacker when you run the bases so you can actually make your way through the underbrush, making sure you enter in your frequent flyer ID number so you can get all the bonus miles for the trip all the way across the river, and having to wear 3 inch thick body armor to avoid getting stuck by syringes scattered throughout the field like easter eggs...nothing. The view of the scenic Anacostia River, and the aroma of the water front make these fields prime locations.

Several of the more veteran teams have their own permitted fields at various locations throughout the city. Probably one of the better fields in the District itself is the newly remodeled West Potomac Park Field #7, which plays home to the league powerhouse Dennys Grand Slam. With a legitimate fence in leftfield, real dirt in the infield AND grass around the pitchers mound, outfield that isn't composed of pavement, mini-scale versions of the Black Hills, or the Metropolis of molehill cities - this field is a delight to play at. The downsides here are parking and access, if you're driving you'll miss the first 3 innings of the game looking for parking, and if you didn't drive you'll need to leave sometime early Monday to make it there in time for a Thursday evening game.

The simple fact of the matter is that there are no perfect fields in DC. Every place has it's negatives. This is what cracks me up when I hear about teams that refuse to play on one field or another. Softball is the name of the game, you find a spot big enough to squeeze a diamond in, and the rest is history. Having played on roughly 24 different fields throughout the district, I can guaranty you that no one field will make you much better or worse than any other.

So go grab a chunk of grass, roll out the bats, and be glad the rain has stopped long enough for you to play ball.