The Nationals and the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission held a joint event at the new ballpark this morning: an "unveiling" of the finished, grass-covered field. I've got to say, the place looks spectacular. It's amazing how far it's come just in the last two months. In addition to the field, the scoreboard is now complete (and huge!), the outfield walls have been painted green, the backstop has been covered in a cool-looking stone, the press box has been enclosed (not a bad view from up there, I must admit) and all sorts of other big and small touches have been completed.

Here's some other ballpark-related news revealed today by Stan Kasten:

-- Seating relocation packages for all season-ticket holders will be mailed out Friday. In other words, if you had season tickets at RFK Stadium and are continuing at the new ballpark, you're about to find out where your seats will be. Kasten said that more than 90 percent of fans will be seated in one of their top three section choices, with 50 percent getting their first choice. That should make most people happy, though I'm sure some will have complaints about their relocation. In the Nats' defense, this was an extremely difficult undertaking, if for no other reason than the strikingly different seating configurations of the two parks. There was no way everyone was going to come out of this happy.

-- The Nats will host an exhibition game at the park on Saturday night, March 29, against the Orioles. Tickets will be free to all season-tickets holders and to a number of stadium workers and area children. Doesn't sound like the club will sell single-game tickets to this game, though, which will serve as a test-run for Opening Day. Speaking of which...

-- The club is still waiting to hear from MLB if it's been awarded the nationally televised season-opener on Sunday night, March 30. Kasten expects to hear within the next few weeks. If the Nats get the game, they'll get to open at home for one game before hitting the road. If not, they'll open the season March 31 at Philadelphia, with the home opener the following Monday (April 7) against the Marlins.

-- Pope Benedict will celebrate Mass at the ballpark on April 17 in the first non-baseball event staged there.