Thursday at the ballparks
I'm kind of jittery because I haven't seen a single pitch of major league baseball in about 18 hours after seeing exactly 599 of them from Nationals, Braves, Orioles, and Red Sox pitchers yesterday in games both at RFK and Camden Yards. It was 5 hours and 35 minutes of baseball all told.
Come to think of it, I've probably have seen about that many pitches thrown in a single game -- I remember going to Tiger Stadium a number of years ago and seeing a 16-10 affair (or something like that) between the Tigers and the Royals.
Yesterday's games were both pitching duels. All four starters -- Patterson, Smoltz, Lopez, and Clement -- were fantastic. Hitters were off balance all day and the starters were hitting their spots. It was a happy diversion from the steroid/andro/supplement/expansion-bloated scores of, say, the past decade.
I took the train out to RFK, walked up to the gate and bought a $7 ticket to sit in upper left field bleachers. The announced crowd was over 30,000 but the park looked fairly empty, though not terribly so for a weekday afternoon with rainy weather. The crowd was enthusiastic and knowledgeable enough it seemed and the much maligned food service at RFK was fine. As for the game, the weather played a serious factor. I was sitting under the overhang and was dry for the duration, but the infield collected puddles from about the fourth inning on. The funny thing was that the rain didn't appear to be coming down too hard. The infield dirt, however, looked as hard as clay and post game reports indicate that there have been a lot of complaints about the condition of the infield.
Patterson took a 1-0 lead through seven and Hector Carrasco pitched a scoreless eighth before Frank Robinson brought in closer Chad Cordero in the ninth. Cordero promptly loaded the bases with no outs but then struck out the next two batters. He then induced a hard grounder to short which Christian Guzman fielded awkwardly to his right and threw away into the first base dugout for a two-run error. Dan Kolb retired the Nats in the bottom of the ninth. Final score: 2-1.
Guzman looked confused at the plate all day as he has all year. He swings late, weekly, and looks uncomfortable in the box. And he didn't make himself available to the press after the game -- not a great way to endear yourself to fans in your team's first homestand in a new city. How long is Frank going to stick with him?
Going to Camden Yards after an afternoon at RFK is like watching HD TV at my parents house after watching games on my 13-inch RCA at home. The seats were better for one thing, and the field was in spectacular shape. I've been to see the Sox play the O's on their first home stand each of the last four years and am always reminded why the Boston Dirtdogs call the place "Fenway South". When the usher showed us to our seats he said to our section, "Sorry guys, more Sox fans".
Despite the park and the general knowledge and passion of Orioles fans, yesterday, at least, I preferred the crowd at RFK. Seven games into the first homestand and the passion for the Nats, as expected, is still there.
The next opportunity for an afternoon evening two city double header is May 1. Who's going?
Come to think of it, I've probably have seen about that many pitches thrown in a single game -- I remember going to Tiger Stadium a number of years ago and seeing a 16-10 affair (or something like that) between the Tigers and the Royals.
Yesterday's games were both pitching duels. All four starters -- Patterson, Smoltz, Lopez, and Clement -- were fantastic. Hitters were off balance all day and the starters were hitting their spots. It was a happy diversion from the steroid/andro/supplement/expansion-bloated scores of, say, the past decade.
I took the train out to RFK, walked up to the gate and bought a $7 ticket to sit in upper left field bleachers. The announced crowd was over 30,000 but the park looked fairly empty, though not terribly so for a weekday afternoon with rainy weather. The crowd was enthusiastic and knowledgeable enough it seemed and the much maligned food service at RFK was fine. As for the game, the weather played a serious factor. I was sitting under the overhang and was dry for the duration, but the infield collected puddles from about the fourth inning on. The funny thing was that the rain didn't appear to be coming down too hard. The infield dirt, however, looked as hard as clay and post game reports indicate that there have been a lot of complaints about the condition of the infield.
Patterson took a 1-0 lead through seven and Hector Carrasco pitched a scoreless eighth before Frank Robinson brought in closer Chad Cordero in the ninth. Cordero promptly loaded the bases with no outs but then struck out the next two batters. He then induced a hard grounder to short which Christian Guzman fielded awkwardly to his right and threw away into the first base dugout for a two-run error. Dan Kolb retired the Nats in the bottom of the ninth. Final score: 2-1.
Guzman looked confused at the plate all day as he has all year. He swings late, weekly, and looks uncomfortable in the box. And he didn't make himself available to the press after the game -- not a great way to endear yourself to fans in your team's first homestand in a new city. How long is Frank going to stick with him?
Going to Camden Yards after an afternoon at RFK is like watching HD TV at my parents house after watching games on my 13-inch RCA at home. The seats were better for one thing, and the field was in spectacular shape. I've been to see the Sox play the O's on their first home stand each of the last four years and am always reminded why the Boston Dirtdogs call the place "Fenway South". When the usher showed us to our seats he said to our section, "Sorry guys, more Sox fans".
Despite the park and the general knowledge and passion of Orioles fans, yesterday, at least, I preferred the crowd at RFK. Seven games into the first homestand and the passion for the Nats, as expected, is still there.
The next opportunity for an afternoon evening two city double header is May 1. Who's going?
posted by alexzwerdling at 4:03 PM
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