A diehard baseball fan with a tragic story was rewarded for his loyalty to the Washington Nationals Tuesday morning.
Michael Kennedy, 50, lives just a few blocks from Nationals Park, which is fortunate for him, as he is a lifelong fan of the game. As a teenager, Kennedy patrolled the outfield for Woodrow Wilson High School.
"They were sweet memories," he told News4's Kimberly Suiters. "You get this feeling inside, the day of, just can't wait until you get on the field, can't wait to look up into the stands, can't wait to smell the grass, you can't wait to grab a baseball."
So he feels a connection to rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg on the day of his major league debut.
"Supporting this young guy, who's probably worked his entire life to get to this point," Kennedy told Suiters.
That's why he was first in line before 6 a.m. Tuesday to wait for day-of tickets to tonight's sold-out game. Yesterday, the team announced it would sell 2,000 $10 standing-room-only tickets starting at 1 p.m. Then at 4:30 p.m., when the ballpark opens, 400 grandstand seats will be available for $5.
As the first in line for those tickets, Kennedy was a popular interview for the media this morning.
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"I couldn't believe it," his mother, Marian Kennedy, told Suiters. "I woke up and I was laying there and I looked at you and I said, 'That's my son!'"
In addition to revealing his love of baseball, Strasburg Day also called attention to his personal tragedy. Kennedy has suffered the loss of his son to a stray bullet and his son's mother to cancer.
When the Nats heard that, the team decided to have him wait no longer, giving him tickets for three good seats so he can take his mother and his uncle to the game.
"He has that feeling inside of loss, but the baseball does something to him," his mother said. "It just brings him out. You can see the joy he gets from being at the game. The stadium brings happiness to him."
That's why he was prepared to wait all day to get into the stadium for Strasburg's debut.
"Everyone's not going to be that professional athlete," Kennedy said. "We have to learn that we have to be patient, we have to play the hand that life gives us."
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