April 1, 2008 [LINK / comment]

Nationals lead the majors

What an appropriate headline for April Fool's Day! Well, believe it or not, sports fans, it's true! The Washington Nationals are currently the only team in the majors with a 2-0 record, but since they are off tonight, it's likely that there will be other teams with perfect records by this evening. Last night's game in Philadelphia was almost as thrilling as the Opening Night game against the Braves in D.C. on Sunday. This time it was tied 6-6 going into the ninth, and then the Nats unleashed a torrent of doubles, scoring five runs altogether, thus winning the game, 11-6. Some will recall that the Phillies beat the Nats in their first-ever game (April 3, 2005 -- and I was there), and then the Nats came back to win the next two games in the series.

The superior batting, fielding, and base-running performance by Nick Johnson in the first two games is very encouraging for the team's prospects this year. Dare we dream of a post-season bid???

The mail bag

Another news item from Mike Zurawski: The economic slowdown has put the brakes on the planned "Ballpark Village" next to the new Busch Stadium (III) in St. Louis. See stltoday.com