August 10, 2005 [LINK]
For the first time in over a month (July 8, to be exact), the Washington Nationals won a game by a one-run margin, beating the Astros Tuesday night, 6-5. Brandon Watson, who was just called up from the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs, hit a home run in his very first game in the major leagues. (True, it just barely cleared the 315 mark in left field at Minute Maid Park, but who cares?) Watson started in left field, and played the whole game, also hitting a single. He replaces Matt Cepicky, who was "designated for assignment." (What an awful euphemism.) Brian Schneider, Brad Wilkerson, and Vinny Castilla also got homers for the Nats. See the Nationals' Web site. Interestingly, John Patterson didn't pitch nearly as well as he did against the Dodgers last week, but he did hit a single and later scored a run that proved to be the deciding margin.
Monday's Washington Post detailed the process by which HOK architect Joseph Spears is putting together a plan for the future home of the Nationals. Whereas the original idea was to have the stadium pointed southeast toward the Anacostia River, now most people agree that it would be better to have it oriented toward the northeast, so that the Capitol dome would be visible beyond left field. Only folks sitting in the right field corner upper deck would be able to see the Washington Monument, however, and I still think the stadium should be oriented straight north. One good aspect of the tentative layout is that the stadium would be wedged in between South Capitol Street and Potomac Avenue, which would create a meaningful constraint on the shape of the grandstand, much like at Forbes Field or Ebbets Field.