September 17, 2005 [LINK]
Having recovered from a bout with bronchitis, John Patterson was back to his usual top form in San Diego Friday night, giving up only three hits in nine full innings. Unlike the wild Thursday game with the Mets, the Nationals only substitued the second base position, and none of the red-hot rookies played this time. Cristian Guzman, who has been improving as a batter lately, hit a double and a triple, with three RBIs, which were all the Nats needed. Final score: Nats 5, Padres 1. Guzman is now batting .207, a marked improvement from earliery in the season. Maybe he'll work out after all. (Mr. Bowden sure hopes so.) The D.C. crew is keeping pace with Houston, remaining 2 1/2 games behind in the wild card race. Meanwhile, the Phillies beat the Marlins, and are now in second and third place respectively in the wild card race. Need I remind anyone that a wild card team has won the last three World Series?
The Riverfront Stadium (a.k.a. "Cinergy Field") page now has a dynamic diagram that shows the football configuration as well as the unusual "semi-demolished" configuration of 2001-2002 while the Reds' new home, Great American Ballpark, was under construction.
I'm having a hard time finding hard information about Monterrey Stadium (supposed to be "on deck"), which until last year was being considered as one of the alternative home fields of the former Montreal Expos. It's very modern, at least by Mexican standards, and has three decks, with a capacity of 27,000.