July 2, 2024 [LINK / comment]
2024 season is half over!
Yes, sports fans, time really catches up on us sometimes. After a thoroughly exhausting (but rewarding) spring semester of teaching, I am gradually getting caught up with sundry tasks that I had to set aside -- such as this web site! But in the mean time, as you will see below, I also took another one of my big travel adventures, lasting most of the month of June. My apologies for the hiatus of over four months since my last blog post on February 29.
For most teams, Opening Day this year was on Thursday, March 28. For the L.A. Dodgers and San Diego Padres, however, it was on March 20, when Major League Baseball came to the Republic of Korea (South) for the very first time. The two teams split one game apiece, with just under 16,000 in attendance for both games at Gocheok Sky Dome. The games were sellouts, and were very successful from a promotional point of view. In due course, I'll have to do a diagram of that venue.
Nationals rebuild makes progress
The good news is that my favorite team, the Washington Nationals, are doing reasonably well for the most part. They won exactly one game in each of their first three series this year: at Cincinnati, and then at home vs. the Pirates and the Phillies. Since then they have had several ups and downs. Getting swept at home by the L.A. Dodgers (April 23-25) and then losing five games in a row from May 14-19 were discouraging, but on a brighter note they did sweep the Miami Marlins in a four-game road series (April 26-29)!
Lane Thomas spent several weeks on the Injured List, but his return in the series against the Braves in Atlanta (May 27-29)gave the Nationals a big boost of energy. They have won two of three games in the series so far, and will try to win the series this evening. Among the pitchers, Trevor Williams, Mitchell Parker, Jake Irvin, and McKenzie Gore have all done splendidly for the most part, and the latter two just became the first pair of Nationals pitchers to get at least ten strikeouts in consecutive games since September 2019! With a win-loss record consistently approaching .500, holding the third wild card spot in the standings (for whatever that's worth this time of year) the Nats are showing great promise. Until late June at least, a postseason berth seemed like a real possibility!
Things started going wrong for the Nationals in the first game of their series in San Diego, on June 24. It was tied 3-3 after nine innings, and in the top of the tenth the Nats scored 3 runs, thanks to an RBI double by Keibert Ruiz and then a two-run homer by Nick Senzel, one of the new Nationals this year. But in the bottom of the inning, relief pitcher Hunter Harvey gave up two walks and three hits, as the Padres won the game, 7-6. Ouch! The Padres went on to sweep the Nats in three games. Then the Nats flew 2,500+ miles straight east to St. Petersburg, Florida, where the Tampa Bay Rays beat them two games out of three.
On Monday (yesterday) the Nats began a home stand by hosting the New York Mets. McKenzie Gore had another fine outing, pitching 5 2/3 innings, and was in line for the win when he was replaced by Derek Law, who gave up a two-run double as the Mets took the lead. An RBI single by Joey Meneses tied it back up in the eighth inning, but in the top of the tenth Hunter Harvey completely imploded on the mound, giving up six (6) runs! In spite of the hopeless odds, the Nats came storming back in the bottom of the tenth, but fell short. Final score: 9-7. Tonight a similar scenario unfolded: The Nats were ahead 2-1 until the Mets scored a run in the top of the eighth inning against Hunter Harvey. (Why was he pitching???) Then in the top of the tenth the Mets scored five runs off relief pitcher Robert Garcia, thus winning the game, 7-2. 
The Nats' starting pitching has been much better than expected, and closing pitcher Kyle Finnegan is mostly superb, but the Nats' batting is very inconsistent, and -- in spite of their high number of stolen bases -- their base-running is often terrible.
2024 stadium renovations
I will have to update the Progressive Field diagrams to take into account the massive renovations that took place over the 2023-2024 winter season. Thousands of seats from the upper deck along the third base side have been removed and replaced by various party areas, much like what they did in the right field upper deck a few years ago. (Coors Field has undergone similar "shrinkage.")
Also, the two-year renovations at the Toronto Blue Jays’ home at Rogers Centre have been completed. Last year they redid the seating areas in the outfield, and this year they completely rebuilt the lower level. That will be a top-priority diagramming task for me.
In addition, the Washington Nationals have replaced their old (2008) scoreboard at Nationals Park with a new one, and at least one other team did likewise during the off-season. Those changes did not involve any structural elements, however, so my diagrams will not be affected.
2024 College World Series
I was pleased that the University of Virginia Cavalier baseball team made it to the College World Series this year, but unfortunately they did not make it past the first round. I was watching on TV on June 16, when they were eliminated by the Florida State Seminoles. I was only one state away (in South Dakota) that weekend, and thought about perhaps driving down to see the game on the spur of the moment, but the ticket situation was uncertain and it seemed like too big of a risk. Congratulations to Tennessee Volunteers, who edged the Texas A&M Aggies 6-5 in the deciding game on June 24.
One thing I learned while watching that game is that what used to be called "TD Ameritrade Park" (which I visited ten years ago) is now called "Charles Schwab Field." I'll have to update that page soon. It was nine years ago that UVa pulled off an amazing triumph in the 2015 College World Series.
Baseball (?) Road Trip, 2024!
As some of you may recall, last year I took the train(s) out to the Pacific Coast and back, attending MLB games in three stadiums that I had never seen before, taking a tour of another one, inspecting the exterior of a fifth MLB stadium that is currently in use, seeing two former MLB stadiums, and visiting the site where a temporary MLB stadium once stood, and passing two current stadiums while riding on the train. That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience! I made another big trip out west about month ago, but this year, baseball was not really my top priority. Getting together with family members and old friends was at the top of my list. The following montage summarizes the baseball stadiums -- present and past -- that I saw. I was expecting to see the bleachers for the MLB ballpark next door to the ball field where the movie was filmed, but to my utter shock, all I could see was the light towers, dugouts, and a few utility buildings. That entire grandstand is temporary, and has to be moved in and installed every time they plan an MLB game there!
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Coors Field, in Denver, Colorado; GoMart Ballpark, in Charleston, West Virginia; the former Bush Stadium (converted into apartments about ten years ago), in Indianapolis, Indiana; and the Field of Dreams, near Dyersville, Iowa.
Much like last year, however, I did see a number of prominent and not-so-prominent football stadiums, such as Empower Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos. I was hoping to see the marker for home plate where Mile High Stadium once stood, but that parking lot was closed off.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Ohio Stadium (Ohio State Univ.) in Columbus; Nebraska's Big Rodeo Stadium in Burwell; University of Colorado Stadium in Boulder; Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, SD; War Memorial Stadium (Univ. of Wyoming) in Laramie; and Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, CO (home of the Broncos).
Random thoughts
Aside from the games in London mentioned above, there was also an historic first-ever MLB game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama last week. Coincidentally, this game was played just a few days after Hall of Famer Willie Mays (who once played at Rickwood Field) passed away. Later this summer there will be a baseball game for the second time in rural Iowa, at the Field of Dreams. I'm generally in favor of such special-occasion MLB games, but I think they are getting a little carried away with it. One or two a year ought to be plenty, I think. In any case, it means I've got more diagram work to do!
There has been much important baseball news this spring, but until I have more time, let me just wish retiring umpire Angel Hernandez: adios, amigo!
I'll have something to say about Willie Mays and other legendary baseball greats who have passed away in the last few months.