Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium

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Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, informally known as RFK Stadium, is a professional sports stadium that opened in the fall of 1961. Originally called D.C. Stadium, it served as home to the Washington Senators of Major League Baseball from the spring of 1962 through 1971, when the team moved to Arlington, Texas. It also served the Washington Redskins, a team in the National Football League, from 1961 until 1996, when they moved to FedEx Field in suburban Maryland. The stadium now serves as the home of the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball and D.C. United of Major League Soccer. Concerts featuring renowned rock bands and performers still take place at the stadium. It has also hosted soccer matches in the (men's) Template:Wc and 2003 Women's World Cup.

The stadium was renamed for slain U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy in 1969.

A complex conversion is necessary, at a cost of $40,000 per switch, to move the stadium seating from the baseball to the soccer/football configuration and back again. This includes rolling the 3rd-base lower-level seats into the outfield along a buried rail, dropping the hydraulic pitcher's mound 3 feet into the ground, and laying sod over the infield dirt. RFK was the first major stadium designed specfically as a multisport facility for both football and baseball - subsequent facilities have been adjusted for this problem in order to be able to change its seating configuration much quicker and at a lower cost. In 2005, the conversion was done over 20 times.

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History

RFK Stadium was, for 35 years, known as home to the Redskins, whose return to prominence as a football power began the same year the Senators left D.C. The Redskins' first game in RFK Stadium was a 24-21 loss to the New York Giants on October 1, 1961. The team's first win in the stadium was over its archrival, the Dallas Cowboys on December 17, 1961. The Redskins' last win at RFK Stadium was a 37-10 victory over the Cowboys on December 22, 1996 capping a disappointing 9-7 season.

As a baseball park, RFK Stadium is unique in having only an upper deck across the outfield, atop a high wall. Burly slugger Frank Howard hit a number of tape-measure home runs in his career, a few of which landed in the center field area of that upper deck; the seats Howard hit with his home runs are painted white, rather than the yellow of the rest of the upper deck. The stadium hosted the first 1962 All-Star Game, which was attended by Robert Kennedy's brother, President John F. Kennedy (in whose Administration Robert Kennedy served as Attorney General) and the 1969 All-Star Game, which was played in the daytime after a rainout the night before. Another memorable baseball moment occurred in a Cracker Jack Old Timers game in the early 1980s, when 75 year-old Hall of Famer Luke Appling hit a home run (because the stadium had not been fully reconfigured, it was just 260 feet to the left-field foul pole, far shorter than normal).

With its revival as a major league baseball facility, RFK Stadium now displaces Dodger Stadium as the fourth oldest major league ballpark, behind Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium. Its first baseball game was the day before Dodger Stadium's first game, and it was first opened for football the previous fall.

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Dimensions

The dimensions of the baseball field were 335 ft. down the foul lines, 380 ft. to the power alleys and 408 ft. to center field during the Senators time. The official distances when the Nationals arrived were identical, except for two additional feet to center field. It was discovered during mid-season that the fence had actually been put in place incorrectly, and it was closer to 400 ft. to the power alleys and 420 ft. to center field, making it significantly harder to hit home runs. The error could not be fixed until the 2006 season due to Major League Baseball's rules.

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Stadium Tenants

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Current

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Former

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New developments

On September 29, 2004, Major League Baseball announced its intentions to move the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C. and rename them the Washington Nationals. RFK Stadium has undergone a $13 million dollar renovation, and is planned to be used for a total of three years for the new baseball team, while a $611 million dollar state-of-the-art stadium is built on the north bank of the Anacostia River at South Capitol Street. Their first regular-season home game at RFK was April 14, 2005, vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks.

On April 14, 2005, just before the Nationals' home opener, the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission announced an agreement with the Department of Defense under which the military would pay the city about $6 million for the right to place recruiting kiosks and signage in the stadium. In return, the stadium would be dubbed Armed Forces Field at RFK Stadium. This plan was dropped within days, however, after several prominent members of Congress questioned the use of public funds for a stadium sponsorship.

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Memorable games/moments at RFK Stadium

Image:RFK.jpg

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Food vendors inside the stadium

RFK is home to such eateries as Forescore Grill, The Diamond Club, Burrito Brothers, Dominic's of New York and Stars and Stripes Brew.

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