In the aftermath of shootings that left at least 13 dead Monday morning at Washington Navy Yard a few blocks from Nationals Park, the opener of the Braves’ highly anticipated series against the Nationals was postponed and will made up as part of a Tuesday doubleheader.
“It makes our game seem so unimportant when stuff like this happens,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “It’s the right call, doing what we’re doing. You don’t want 40,000 people or so coming in here, for their safety. Who knows what’s going on? It’s the right call, and also out of respect for the people who lost their lives and their families.”
Starting times for Tuesday’s split doubleheader are 1:05 p.m. and 7:05 p.m. The Braves can clinch the National League East division title by winning two of three in the series against the second-place Nationals.
The postponement was not made official until 3:12 p.m., nearly seven hours after the shootings, less than four hours before the scheduled first pitch, and more than an hour after most players from both teams had already arrived at the ballpark.
“We got on the bus at 1:30 and we were all still wondering, why are we getting on the bus?” Braves reliever Scott Downs said. “Baseball, I think, was the last thing on everybody’s mind. Once they heard the tragedy that went on and the extent, and heard there was still somebody out there…. I think the last thing anybody wanted to do was come to the ballfield.”
While one shooter was killed, police said Monday afternoon that they were still searching for two other possible gunmen in the vicinity. With that charged atmosphere awaiting, the Braves boarded a bus at the team hotel across the Potomac River at Arlington, Va., and took the short but tense ride to Nationals Park.
“There were a lot of guys that didn’t really want to play, that thought it was kind of disrespectful to play,” Braves third baseman Chris Johnson said. “It happened right across the street, and to be over here cheering, and they’re using a parking lot for families (of victims) and stuff like that?
“I don’t know, it should just be quiet for today. That’s kind of what we thought. (The Nationals) had their rep come over and talk to (Braves player representative Brandon) Beachy, and they felt the same way. So they made a call to the players’ association to try to get this cancelled for today.”
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said, “It’s a very emotional day. An extremely horrific act happened very near to the ballpark. Our neighbors at the Navy Yard, our thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims over there and all of the people affected by this. We felt it was inappropriate to play a major league baseball game with such tragedy right down the street.”
As for delay in postponing, he said, “There’s a lot of (logistics) that go into canceling the game for these reasons. We have to be in contact with the federal authorities, the state and D.C. authorities to have a coordinated effort and whenever you cancel a game, obviously MLB is involved and we have to go through the correct procedures with that.”
At around 10:30 a.m., Nationals manager Davey Johnson told Washington newspapers that he and Washington players had been told to stay away from the ballpark.
Gonzalez was permitted to enter Nationals Park when he arrived at noon, and the Braves were told shortly thereafter that their players could enter the ballpark as usual.
A machine-gun toting police officer stopped the Braves bus near the ballpark and told the driver that to take a different route. At every corner, police cars were positioned, lights flashing. All afternoon and into the early evening, sirens wailed.
“You wouldn’t know you’re in the United States,” said Gonzalez, standing in front of visitor’s dugout, barely a mile from the Capitol building that’s visible from the pressbox. “Stuff like this shouldn’t happen in the United States. But it does. More and more.”
Most streets around the ballpark were blocked off as a perimeter was established around the sprawling Navy Yard complex, and a ballpark parking lot was used as a staging area for families of victims.
The Metro station used by fans taking the subway to Nationals Park is the Navy Yard stop. It was closed immediately after the shootings, but re-opened by mid-morning.
