“The name of the game is to try and stay healthy. If you look at the
teams that make the playoffs, you look at the teams that go deep in
the playoffs, it is usually all about health,” Zimmerman told WTOP radio
in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the 2018 season. “We do a really
good job about having depth. Our bench was unbelievable last year …
we didn’t really miss a beat.”
“During the season, there’s going to be injuries. People are going to
miss time, that’s just how it is in this game. But if we can stay healthy,
we have just as good a chance as anyone else and that’s really all you
can ask for,” he said.
While Zimmerman’s adult life has been spent in D.C., his childhood was
spent in a very different town but coincidentally with the same name.
“I grew up in Little Washington [North Carolina] for the first five or
six years of my life, and then lived in Virginia Beach for the rest,”
Zimmerman told #FlyWashington. “Little Washington is definitely
different than D.C., for sure! Virginia Beach is pretty similar but it’s not
quite as big a city as D.C.”
As for the city that has been his home since 2005, “I love living here
since there’s always something to do and so many great places to go
eat. I really can’t see myself living anywhere else,” he said.
As new manager Martinez said at the start of the season, Zim “is
a veteran guy … he likes where he’s at.” And thankfully, no one is
anticipating him going anywhere anytime soon.
Located on the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard neighborhood of D.C.,
Nationals Park has also been a tourist destination unto itself since it
first opened in 2008. The stadium’s name harks back to the early-1900s
ballpark used by the Washington Senators.
Along with being steeped in historical origins, this new reiteration
is also part of the future of live sports as it is the first LEED-certified
green major professional sports stadium in the United States. To get
an inside look at the park, you can take a behind-the-scenes tour. And
game day tours actually give you even more insight as you can walk on
the field, visit the dugout and throw a pitch in Nationals bullpen.
Nationals Park is Zimmerman’s version of an office during the regular
season (they head to the sun in Palm Beach, Florida, for training camp),
and while he admittedly doesn’t know anything about being a fan at
the stadium — he still has some good advice for visitors going there
for the first time.
“I would recommend coming down early and checking out the new
stuff that’s around the park,” Zimmerman told #FlyWashington. “This
area has really taken off over the last five years or so.
great to hang out, sit by the water and try some delicious seafood,” he
said, of the oyster and ale house that promises to bring New England
and the Chesapeake together on D.C’s southeast riverfront. Not only
does the Salt Line serve fresh oysters, clams, scallops, cod, Maryland
crab and lobster rolls, it also opens 90 minutes early before every
Nationals game and is so close to the park that you can hear the roar of
the crowd from the stands.
“There’s a lot of fun stuff to do around the park now besides coming
to the game,” Zimmerman said. Some of our favorites include hanging
out at the Yards (kids can splash in the “canal” and the fountain); taking
a sunset kayak tour