September 4, 2006 [LINK]

Stadium impressions: operational!

Many months in the making, the "Stadium impressions" feature has now been activated for all stadium pages. That means you, the fan, now have the ability to share your fond memories of seeing games in young ballparks, old ballparks, and ballparks that are lon-n-g gone. Anyone can view those impressions, but in order to submit your own you must first register for this Web site. It is a regrettable measure aimed at thwarting spam hacking attempts, such as happened back in early April. Additional cyber-security restrictions may be implemented in the near future, so don't waste time. If you are worried about identity theft (who isn't?), see the new Privacy Note on the Terms of use page.

After you register, just go to the stadium page in question, scroll down to the "Vox populi" (that's "voice of the people" in Latin) section near the bottom, and click on the "share your impressions" link. NOTE: Only people who have actually been to the stadiums in question -- i.e., if you have seen a game or have taken an inside tour -- are supposed to submit impressions. Also, each person is entitled to one submission per stadium page, so please think carefully about what you want to say before clicking the "Submit" button. I've been testing that new feature for several weeks, off and on, and nearly all of the bugs have been eliminated. But you know how it is with Murphy's Law: Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. So, please be patient while the inevitable wrinkles are ironed out, and let me know if any persistent errors occur. Thank you.

If you ask me, that sounds like a pretty good reason to Sponsor a stadium page, or at least make a smaller donation. (An alternative Amazon Honor System account has been set up as well.) The next step will be to enable blog comments, hopefully in the next few days.

Nats match comeback record

Just when you thought they were down and out, washed up, and good as dead, the Washington Nationals completed a series sweep against the Diamondbacks, their first sweep since late July. Austin Kearns' 2-run double in the eighth inning put the Nats ahead; he is finally showing real improvement. The Nats really have showed a lot of spunk in the past four games, as each time, they were behind by at least two runs entering the eighth inning. In fact, it was the first time since 1918 that a team had come back to win in such a situation for four consecutive games, according to MLB.com. Pretty darned impressive. The Nationals bid farewell to Daryle Ward and Marlon Anderson, two second-stringers who often came through in the clutch for the Nationals, but were considered expendable for "rebuilding" purposes. It's too bad it had to happen just after Anderson scored the winning run for the Nats in that crazy extra-inning game on Thursday night. Four of the new players have already done well: relief pitches Chris Booker and Beltran Perez, plus shortstop Melvin Dorta and outfielder Nook Logan. You never know, they may be future stars. (But where do they get those names??)

UPDATE: Make that five wins in a row! The Nationals defeated the Cardinals 4-1 in this afternoon's home game, thanks mainly to starting pitcher Ramon Ortiz. He not only pitched eight no-hit innings, he actually hit a home run! If it weren't for the single by Aaron Miles and the solo shot by Albert Pujols in the ninth, Ortiz would have completed the first-ever no-hit game for the Nationals. See MLB.com.

Ashe & Shea Stadiums

It was sad to see Andre Agassi lose before reaching the quarterfinal round at the U.S. Tennis Open yesterday. His hotshot "style is everything" flamboyance moderated over the years, and unlike certain other athletes, he actually grew up. It occurred to me that Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows has the same letters in its name as nearby Shea Stadium, and in almost the same order.