April 14, 2005 [LINK]
What a beautiful, glorious OPENING DAY!
If the gorgeous blue skies are any indication, Opening Day at RFK Stadium will be an auspicious, memorable occasion indeed for the (tied) first-place Washington Nationals, hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks. I only wish I could be there. (What are the scalpers charging, anyway?) Well, at least I saw the Nats' first-ever game up in Philly, along with Phil; note historic souvenir in photo. Given the media frenzy surrounding today's game, I figure that fan presence at subsequent games as this season rolls on will be more important than one more body trying to squeeze into this evening's Inaugural Game. President Bush will toss the first presidential pitch in Washington since Richard Nixon did so in 1971; Brian Schneider will catch it. It would be nice if W's father, who was a star player on the Yale baseball team, could be there as well. Yesterday's Washington Post reviewed the history of presidential first pitches at Washington games, a tradition that began with William Howard Taft in 1910 and ended after 1971. Among the assorted politicians, celebrities, K Street lobbyists, and other power brokers to attend are former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who once worked in the scoreboard at Griffith Stadium; see sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Too bad they don't make commissioners like they used to...
"Armed Forces Field"?
Last-minute negotiations are underway to reach a naming rights agreement that would change the name of RFK Stadium to "Armed Forces Field at RFK Stadium," or something like that. The deal with the National Guard fell through, but some folks think that a joint armed services promotion might still be appropriate. It depends how they do it; some military recruitment campaigns rub me the wrong way ("an Army of One"?), and I hope this one is done with proper dignity. See Washington Post and stay tuned...
April 14, 2005 [LINK]
Update: The Game
Well, at least I got to see the introduction of the starting lineup on FOX-5 TV. Man, was that an emotional sight! Even the upper deck in the outfield was jam packed. (Well, of course, we knew that, but still, it's not something you see every day.) President Bush's ceremonial first pitch was over almost before it began. (Security?) The game was a pitchers' duel for the first few innings, and then José Vidro doubled, José Guillen got hit by a pitch, Ryan Church popped out, and good ol' Vinny Castilla came through with a clutch 2-RBI triple. The crowd must have gone wild. Brian Schneider's sac fly scored another run, and the Nats didn't leave any on base, a very efficient rally. Score: 3-0, top of the sixth.
WOW! After both Josés struck out for the Nats in the sixth inning, Ryan Church singled, and then Vinny Castilla hit the first at-home home run in the Nationals' history! Nothin' like a two-out rally to keep the fans fired up. Vin-ny! Vin-ny! Then two more singles, but this time they were left on base. Score: 5-0, bottom of the sixth. (SOURCE: MLB.com Game Day)
Ninth inning drama! As the inning began, the question was whether Livan Hernandez could pitch a complete game shutout. Then veteran Luis Gonzalez wore down poor Livan, hitting foul ball after foul ball, and finally getting a walk. Then Shawn Green singled, and Chad Tracy hit a three run homer. Yikes. Chad Cordero came in to relieve Livan, two batters too late, and things started to look dicey when Quinton McCracken singled, but then Tony Clarke flew out to end the game. Whew! Final score: 5-3. Party time in D.C.: The Nats win their first home game! For at least this one moment, all is right with the world. 