August 11, 2003 [LINK]

Furcal's solo triple play

The Braves' short shortstop, Rafael Furcal, made an unassisted triple play against the Cardinals in St. Louis last night. That's the first time in nine years, and only the 12th time in major league history (including postseason games) that such a feat has been done. Weirdly, there were unassisted triple plays on each of the last two days of May 1927, and then over four decades passed before it happened again. Anyway, the Braves lost, as the totally awesome Albert Pujols hit a game winning homer. His current hitting streak: 24 games! Furcal has had a lot of errors this season, but his hustle and base-running excellence more than make up for it.

In both leagues right now, TWO non-division-leading teams have a greater winning percentage than one of the current divisional leaders in their league: Boston and Oakland over Kansas City (AL) and Florida and Philadelphia over Houston (NL). This suggests a possible modification to the postseason format. The hottest team in the majors right since the All-Star break has been the White Sox, who are neck and neck with the Royals in the AL Central Division race.

Ground was recently broken at the site of the St. Louis Cardinals' future home, adjacent to Busch Stadium. It is planned to be ready by the 2006 season.

Norther Virginia baseball fans recently staged a protest at Arlington County government building, hoping against hope that somehow the County Board will have a change of heart. Unlike other sports, where a clock sets an iron deadline for the end of the game, in baseball there is always the chance for a miraculous comeback, until the final out in the ninth inning. Keep hope alive!