August 8, 2007 [LINK / comment]
Just like the weather has been for the past two weeks, the Washington Nationals are HOT, HOT, HOT! After two consecutive series sweeps and a split of the first two games with the Giants, the Nats have climbed out of the NL East "cellar," sharing the fourth-place rank with the Marlins for the first time since April 21. How long the Nats' hot streak will last is anyone's guess, but I just hope this meterological heat wave ends soon...
Based on my recent trip to Our Nation's Capital to see that "hot August night" game (apologies to Neil Diamond), I have added two new photos to the RFK Stadium page: a very long panorama from the first base side 
(five separate images stitched together) and the lower deck in the shadows (two such images). It makes you wonder how that upper deck stays up! COMING SOON: Photos of the new stadium being built in Washington!
Take me out to the ball game!
Yours truly, with my friend Dave Givens and his daughter Olivia at the August 4 game in which the Nats beat the Cardinals 12 to 1. This was in the eighth inning or so, by which time many of the fans had left.
I suppose it was almost inevitable that Barry Bonds would hit his 756th home run during one of the four games between the Giants and the Nationals this week. History will record the fact that rookie pitcher Mike Bacsik gave up the big blast. See MLB.com. Perhaps the fact that the Giants lost that game to the Nats (8-6) is a form of poetic justice in this imperfect world. It also reminds us that the thrill of watching sluggers perform superhuman feats often diverts attention from the more fundamental objective of baseball, which is to win the game .
And speaking of poetic justice, after the Monday night game, the Nationals know what the Cardinals felt like last weekend, letting victory slip through their fingers. The game was tied 1-1 after nine innings, then Dmitri Young smashed a line drive into the right field balcony section of AT&T Park in the top of the tenth, making it 2-1. Unfortunately, Chad Cordero blew the save opportunity in the bottom of the inning, as the Giants tied it, and in the eleventh inning they scored again, thus edging the Nationals 3-2. D'oh! But at least pitcher John Lannan struck out Barry Bonds!
Thanks to Terry Wallace for letting me know about faulty links in the Griffith Stadium page, where the "dynamic diagram" is still in the development stage.