Blog post

September 13, 2016 [LINK / comment]

Nationals wallop the Mets

The Washington Nationals came out slugging against the New York Mets last night, taking advantage of walks with a series of clutch RBIs. Recently-acquired Mat Latos was the Nats' emergency starter, and he did just fine, giving up just one run over 4 1/3 innings. (He evidently suffered a cramp of some sort.) Not only that, he hit a home run to start the bottom of the third inning, the fourth of his career. That sparked a rally that culminated in a three-run homer by Anthony Rendon. The Nats scored twice more after that, and thanks to a solid bullpen, they won it, 8-1. Daniel Murphy again tormented his former team mates, getting three hits in five at-bats. Rookie Reynaldo Lopez, in his first relief appearance, pitched the final three innings and got the win. The Nats' lead in the NL East thereby climbed to 10 games, and their magic number thereby fell to just 9. The next two games could signify the effective end of the 2016 race in their division...

Shibe Park "photos" & tweak

I added three photos I took two Sundays ago to the Shibe Park page, each showing the historical sign marking that long-gone ballpark's former location. The latter two photos primarily show Deliverance Evangelistic Church, which now occupies the site. (With a seating capacity of about 5,000, it may merit a diagram of its own some day! ) I also tweaked the directional compasses on each of the diagrams, and did likewise for the Baker Bowl diagrams. Nothing else changed in any of those diagrams, so these are not counted as actual revisions. (I revised the diagrams on both those pages earlier this year, on Jan. 31 and Feb. 20, respectively.) As I first noted on June 9, 2012, the main street grid in Philadelphia is tilted about ten degrees east of due north.

In addition, I updated the Stadium proximity page, adding a new thumbnail diagram showing the relative positions of Shibe Park and Baker Bowl, as you can see above. Based on city maps and aerial photos I have seen, I estimate that they were about 2,300 feet apart.

Are you ready for some football?

Well, apparently the Washington Redskins aren't: They lost to the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers on the first of two Monday Night Football games last night, 38-16. Good thing I was watching the Mets-Nationals game! The newly-relocated Los Angeles Rams fared even worse in the second MNF game, losing to the host San Francisco 49ers, 28-0. Anyway, I have added three photos to the Football stadium photos page: Lincoln Financial Field (home of the Philadelphia Eagles since 2003), Gillette Stadium (home of the New England Patriots since 2002), and Franklin Field (home of the University of Pennsylvania Quakers since 1895). That the very same year that Baker Bowl was built! Franklin Field was rebuilt with a second deck in 1922, and has been upgraded over the years, much like Fenway Park or Wrigley Field. Too bad more universities don't follow that example. (See pennathletics.com.)

Franklin Field, as seen from a commuter train; photo retouched to remove window glare. (Sept. 2, 2016)