Ready to Be Just a Fan

If you think that District officials are breathing easier because Nationals Park will open on time tomorrow, think about Ronnie Strompf.

He has been Clark Construction's chief superintendent at the ballpark for the past 22 months, the point man in charge of making sure everything was finished on time. For the past weeks he has seen his wife only a half hour a night as he has spent nearly every waking hour at the ballpark overseeing all the finishing touches. He had crews stringing lights at 2 a.m. Friday just to make sure everything was in place for the first exhibition game, against the Baltimore Orioles, on Saturday.

He admitted to a little depression that he had to finally give up the project and pass the ballpark on to the Nationals. But, he said, as he looked out over centerfield this morning, he is relishing the idea of "sitting in the stands there, drinking beer and watching games."

Dan LeDuc