Fans leaving after the 12th inning of #Natathon #nats

(I had to go get my live gear so I had an excuse) pic.twitter.com/znNbUMp7da — dckerNBC4 (@dckerNBC4) October 5, 2014

Game 2 of the Nats-Giants series was the longest in MLB playoff history.

This was both a good and a bad thing. Good, because everyone kind of goes to the ballpark hoping to see history, and this certainly qualified.

But bad because the game started in the afternoon and ended after midnight. Over more than six hours, the temperatures dropped significantly, and the winds blew, and the concession stands mostly closed down, and so some people left. I had friends and loved ones at the game; they communicated their noticeable discomfort, no matter what your weather app said about the temperatures.

Now, there are clearly two schools of thought about all of this. There is the absolutist version, in which no accomplishment in recorded time is more important than staying more than six hours in a baseball stadium for what ultimately would prove to be a rather disheartening and difficult-to-stomach loss.

And then there is the more flexible philosophy, which might acknowledge that some people came in summer clothes to the game, and some people brought small children, and many people no doubt had to work on Sunday (yes, people work on Sunday), and others had similar such intrusions from real life.

Do I think it looks better when a stadium is full? Obviously. Does a full stadium with pulsating energy help the home team? I guess it probably doesn’t hurt. Would I 1 million percent have been flying out the center field gate with my 7-year old daughter after four or five hours? Duh.

But we’re on the Internet right now, you and I, and the Internet does not allow for subtlety or flexibilitude, and so this was the reaction to some of the empty blue seats visible on the television and also on in-stadium photographs: BOOOOOOOOO. Also BAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Also WHAT LOOOSERS. Also WE WOULD NEVER DO THAT IN THIS AMAZING PLACE IN WHICH I HAPPEN TO LIVE/ONCE LIVED/ASPIRE TO LIVE.

Are there folks who left early wishing they had stayed for more sadness? Not likely. But laugh away, superior Internet people.



(By Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)

If a Giant crushed a bomb in a 3/4 empty stadium in an epic playoff game in DC, and no one is there to hear it... Does it make a sound? — Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 5, 2014

#Natitude translates roughly into “Passionate D.C. baseball for 9/10 innings” — Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) October 5, 2014

Fans streaming to the exit of Nationals Park right now in a 15-inning playoff game. This is what RF looks like. pic.twitter.com/Tk4UIJYD6w — Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 5, 2014

And named publicly @ByronTau: Everyone leaving Nats Stadium early during a 1-1 playoff game should be arrested and indefinitely detained. — Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) October 5, 2014

My wife is 5 months pregnant and she didn't leave #Nats Park. What the hell is your excuse? pic.twitter.com/QFaSNhR0uc — Holden Kushner (@Holdenradio) October 5, 2014

Those blue seats will tell their grandkids about this night pic.twitter.com/tzQBGnCMuZ — Marc Lancaster (@MarcLancaster) October 5, 2014

You would never see empty seats behind home plate during a Red Sox playoff game. Appalling. — Scott Stossel (@SStossel) October 5, 2014

1-1, 12th inning, 1st and 2nd, 2 outs. At home. Don't see literally anyone clapping. — Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 5, 2014

Tied playoff game in extras. pic.twitter.com/DceSwvlFj9 — Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) October 5, 2014

There is literally no one there. Can't make this stuff up. They parody themselves — Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) October 5, 2014

Regarding the stands... nobody here in D.C. makes any pretense about being a "hard core" fanbase. We're like an expansion franchise, folks. — Steve Czaban (@czabe) October 5, 2014

Feel like Nats should just open the gates for any fans who want to come fill all those empty seats. RT @JeffPassan pic.twitter.com/IpbbO1MRKK — Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) October 5, 2014

Early exiting Nats fans: Why? You paid $ for ticket, it's Sat., already invested 6 hrs in this, and watching potential history. Now u leave? — David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) October 5, 2014

I'll say this for those thousands of empty seats tonight for a tied playoff game in Washington: NEVER would happen in Montreal. #LesExpos — Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) October 5, 2014

Rooting for Nats because we need new playoff blood, but if tomorrow's game in KC goes 15 I'm certain there won't be this many empty seats. — Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) October 5, 2014

As a Bostonian, I can't but help but say it is an absolute embarrassment that there are empty seats behind home plate right now #Nats — JimMacKayOnAir (@JimMacKayOnAir) October 5, 2014

Cmon Nats fans. Really? “@DannyVinik: Now fans behind the plate starting to leave, a bunch of empty seats visible on camera” — Ben White (@morningmoneyben) October 5, 2014

There were also other random jabs at Nats fans.

Natitude officially at half-staff. — Joe Strauss (@JoeStrauss) October 5, 2014

Nationals fans actually booed Tim Hudson after a great pitching effort. What rank amateurs. #fradulentfanbase — Mike Barnicle (@mikebarnicle) October 5, 2014

But as the game wound to a close, there were also a fair number of D.C. media members who spoke on behalf of the Washington sports fan.

Re: half-empty ballpark. This is a 6-hour game. Temps in the 40s. Strong wind all night at RF upper deck. Unfortunate but understandable. — Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) October 5, 2014

People give DC sports fans grief, but I gotta give it up for these hearty souls. Cold as hell, they're up, waving their towels 6-1/2 hours. — Mike Wise (@MikeWiseguy) October 5, 2014

Remember all those people that left early that everyone made fun of? They know DC sports. — Chad Dukes 🇺🇸 (@chaddukes) October 5, 2014