Good morning, DMV! It’s Thursday, July 9.
Anthony Marasco, of Alexandria, worked in the federal government for 34 years, including 28 of those years at the Internal Revenue Service. His last job was in IRS criminal investigation.
Then last year came DOGE — the Department of Government Efficiency — and the “Fork in the Road” email offering feds deferred resignation. Federal workers who resigned by a given date were paid through Sept. 30. Anthony took the offer in May 2025.
He’s now 64 years old. He had planned to work until about age 67. For a few months after leaving the IRS, he applied for jobs — in finance, program analysis, even retail and as a bank teller — but the market “sucked,” he said.
“We were treated like damaged goods in the job market. And I guess there was age bias, too. Who wants to hired a 60-year-old person?” he said on a call this week, adding that he had applied for about 25 to 30 jobs. “A lot of applications — most of the time — I didn’t hear back at all.”
Yet he knows he’s blessed. He has retirement savings. His monthly pension checks are now coming in. His wife suggested he pursue a passion — maybe baseball, something with the Nationals.
Anthony Marasco at Nats Park on May 6. (Anthony Marasco)
Anthony was born a Mets fan in 1962 and has been going to baseball games for 50-plus years.
So he went to the Nats website, clicked through to their opportunities and put his name in the hat for a job working on baseball analytics. “I know batting average, number of hits and runs,” he told me, “but the stats they’re talking about, I hadn’t heard of half these things. I got to the first level … did the best I could.”
He also applied to be a guest experience representative, providing customer service and hospitality to guests at Nats Park: “Dates were flexible. I get to go to the ballpark to go to work. What could be better than that?”
He started in March. It’s a part-time job. He said he gets paid $18.70 an hour, and they provide a meal and free tickets to select games.
“Wish my lawn looked this nice,” Anthony wrote to describe this photo. (Anthony Marasco)
He got to go to the Bruce Springsteen concert for free. He has a baseball collection at home, but he had never managed to get a baseball at a game until a recent day on the job.
“Zack Wheeler with the Philadelphia Phillies was warming up. He finished up his warmup … he saw me, and I kinda waved to him, and he tossed me the ball,” Anthony recalled with sheer glee in his voice.
“I felt like a 10-year-old when I got it … The simple things, they provide the most joy.”
Anthony poses with “my first game ball” in front of all his baseball memorabilia. (Anthony Marasco)
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📰 News around the DMV
The weirdest takeaways from Trump’s 162-page Smithsonian report (Washingtonian)
D.C. Council to weigh new tax on rich (City Cast DC)
Rare sprites join northern lights in spectacular Virginia sky (Capital Weather)
A new monument may be coming to the National Mall (City Cast DC)
Bishop who confronted Trump releases children’s book (Washingtonian)
🏕️ Things to do
The best camping spots within 2 hours of D.C. (City Cast DC)
📷 Your joy
(Christina DeVries)
Christina DeVries, 69, sent in this pic from her home on Chincoteague Island, Virginia.
“Recent shot of my very joyful butterfly weed which (thankfully) is recovering from the devastating King Tide we had here on Chincoteague last October,” Christina wrote in her submission.
“I try to send my sister photos of flowers every day — it brings her cheer and keeps us in touch!”
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