June 30, 2003 [LINK]

D.C. still "in the running"

There were two more Washington Post articles on Saturday: D.C. Stays In Running For Expos Franchise suggests that the recent hardened negotiating position of the D.C. government on stadium financing terms seems to be paying off, and Arlington to Assess Possible Ballpark Sites reports that the Arlington County Board will do an economic impact study. Meanwhile, "free market" sports blogger Eric McErlain pours a bucket of cold water on the whole idea. (Let's see if he can rationalize the ACC's dagger blow to the Big East!)

On Friday night the Boston Red Sox, playing host to the Florida Marlins, set an MLB record by scoring 10 runs in the first inning before there were any outs! That's gotta hurt! Johnny Damon got three hits in that inning, the fifth MLB player in history to do so. Final score: Red Sox 25, Marlins 8. Not one of Interleague play's finer moments...

Following up on a tip from a visitor to this site (Al Delay) concerning Dizzy Dean's career as a TV broadcaster (and beer plugger), I came across the Texas Handbook, which tell us: "In 1953 Dean dropped his radio broadcasting to concentrate on the nationally televised 'Game of the Week.' As baseball's first national television broadcaster he made $100,000 a year, and he remained on the "Game of the Week" until 1965." Another page I found, Baseball on the air (part of a Spanish-language site based in the Dominican Republic!) provides a much more detailed history on the subject. From what I can tell, Pee Wee Reese was Dizzy Dean's partner from 1960 to 1965 (when CBS bought the Yankees and stopped broadcasting ball games), after which Dean quit.