Security was tight on Opening Day on April 14, 2005 for the Nationals, and for good reason, as President Bush threw out the first pitch at RFK Stadium.
That created a problem for Jack Voigt, a Nationals coach that season under manager Frank Robinson. Voigt was on the field for batting practice in uniform and then changed into street clothes and headed upstairs in his role as a defensive coach.
“I had trouble getting past the Secret Service. My name wasn’t on the pre-approved list,” recalls Voigt, who eventually got to his seat in time for the first pitch against Arizona.
Security will be tight again at Nationals Park for Opening Day on Thursday — don’t expect President Trump to throw out the first pitch — but the biggest change with the Nationals is on the field.
Washington went 81-81 that first season in 2005, but 100-loss seasons followed in 2008 and 2009. Now the Nationals are an annual contender and have won four of the last six National League East pennants.
“It does boggle the mind a little bit, but it does not surprise me,” said Rick Short, 45, a member of the 2005 team. “Just seeing the excitement around the team, you could kind of feel they were going places.”
Major League Baseball ran the Nationals that first season, after they had moved from Montreal. In May 2006, it was announced that real estate developer Ted Lerner had bought the Nationals for $450 million.
“This has been a long journey. … While I do apologize for the time, I think history will prove it maybe was time well spent,” then-commissioner Bud Selig said that May.
So far, that is looking clairvoyant.
The Nationals are again favorites in the East, and in July will host the Major League Baseball All-Star Game for the first time.
“I have always liked that area up there,” Voigt said. “The fans are very knowledgeable but they are also partial to the players that play hard and play the game the right way.”
Washington certainly has those type of players — and much better ones than the 2005 edition.
The eight position players that the Nationals started in the opener Friday at Cincinnati have a career batting mark nearly 12 points on average better than their counterparts at the first game at RFK Stadium.
That lineup last week consisted of first baseman Ryan Zimmerman (. 280 average prior to this season), second baseman Howie Kendrick (. 291), shortstop Trea Turner (. 304), third baseman Anthony Rendon (. 280), left fielder Adam Eaton (. 284), center fielder Michael A. Taylor (. 243), right fielder Bryce Harper (. 285) and catcher Matt Wieters (. 243).
The position starters for the Nationals in the first home game in 2005 was first baseman Nick Johnson (career average of .268), second baseman Jose Vidro (. 298), shortstop Cristian Guzman (. 271), third baseman Vinny Castilla (. 276), left fielder Brad Wilkerson (. 247), center fielder Ryan Church (. 264), right fielder Jose Guillen (. 270) and catcher Brian Schneider (. 247).
Zimmerman was drafted out of Virginia by the Nationals in June 2005, and made his big league debut that September under Robinson, a Hall of Fame outfielder who led Baltimore to two World Series titles.
“He was awesome. He was a player’s manager,” Short said of Robinson. “He put up an old-school front. But behind closed doors he really had the player’s respect. He related to players well.”
Short was not on the Opening Day roster for the Nationals in 2005, but joined the team later after hitting nearly .400 for Triple-A New Orleans. He made his big league debut at RFK Stadium on June 10, 2005 with a pinch hit.
“It was cool to be part of history with the first team,” said Short, now a hitting coach in the Arizona minor league system at Single-A Kane County of the Midwest League.
Voigt broke into the majors with the Orioles in 1992 and spent the past several years working with the New York Mets, the Nationals’ foe on Thursday.
He was the hitting coach at Triple-A Las Vegas last year and one of his players was Matt Reynolds, an infielder who was in spring training with the Nationals this year after coming up with the Mets.
Voigt is out of pro baseball this year and living with his family in Florida, not far from his hometown of Sarasota. Voigt learned a lesson early in his career, when he played for the late Johnny Oates with the Orioles.
“If you are never nervous on Opening Day, you should hang up the spikes.’ Oates told me that,’” Voigt, 51, said of the former Virginia Tech standout.
Before that Opening Day game at RFK Stadium in 2005, won by the Nationals over Arizona 5-3, Voigt was able to meet President Bush.
“I still have a signed picture of him at my home,” he said.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.