The Washington Nationals will open their new ballpark on Sunday night as they host the Atlanta Braves. It is the season opener in the United States as the Red Sox and Athletics opened in Japan already. The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by President George W. Bush. "That will be cool," said Atlanta outfielder Matt Diaz. "I voted for him twice, and I'd vote for him again, if I could."
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The Braves will be going with their ace pitcher Tim Hudson while the Nationals will counter with Odalis Perez. The Nationals signed Perez in the exhibition season and he will get to throw the first pitch in the new park.
"That's history, to be the first guy to pitch at the stadium," Perez said. "It's a great feeling for me to be able to throw the first pitch. I was just trying to make the team," Perez added, "and [being the Opening Night starter] never crossed my mind. Now I'm getting this opportunity that a lot of people wanted."
Hudson will go for the Braves and he also feels that it is special to be the starter in the new stadium. "Pitching any Opening Day is special for anybody," said Hudson, "Being in the nation's capital with a new stadium, there's a lot of excitement there. You can always say you're the first team to play there and I can say I was one of the first pitchers to throw some pitches in the stadium."
Baseball Betting at SBG Global. The new ballpark is already receiving rave reviews in Washington. "This is absolutely incredible," first baseman Dmitri Young said. "This is everything you want out of a new stadium. I'm in awe." The new stadium will hold 41,888 fans. Pre-game festivities will feature Denyce Graves performing the National Anthem in addition to four F-16 bombers from the 121st Fighter Squadron of the D.C. Air National Guard doing a flyover.
Hudson will be making his fifth Opening Day start. He has dominated Washington in his career going 5-1 against them with a sparkling 1.09 ERA. Perez was 8-11 last season in 26 starts for the Royals.
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