August 22, 2008 [LINK / comment]
Fans of baseball in Washington, our long Nationals nightmare is over! The Nats showed just enough pluck and determination last night in Philadelphia to prevail over the Phillies, 4-3, thus averting yet another sweep and putting an end to the awful 12-game losing streak. It was a tense pitchers' duel, back and forth in the late innings. Reliever Joel Hanrahan got out of a jam in the eighth inning, and did likewise in the ninth, getting credit for a two-inning save. In the final play, Chris Coste hit a ground ball to shortstop Cristian Guzman, who threw to Ronnie Belliard at first base just in time for the final out, thereby preventing Shane Victorino (on third base) from scoring. Blessed relief!
Now the Nationals head west to Chicago, where they will play the red-hot Cubs in Wrigley Field.
Before the people of Atlanta (or the taxpayers, that is) built a fine stadium for their Olympic Games, Montrealers did likewise in 1976. The diagrams on the Olympic Stadium page have now been revised, and once again, "after further review," the upper deck turned out to be a little bigger than I previously estimated.
Speaking of "further review," Major League baseball is about to take a leap into the dark by instituting a limited version of an instant replay rule, which will apply only to possible home runs. The cameras already being installed at all 30 major league ballparks, and they should be ready by the end of the season. The MLB umpires had to agree to this measure first. See MLB.com. I suppose it's an inevitable concession to technology, but I don't think this is going to reduce the number of arguments with the umpires. In fact, it might create more arguments, as people demand that instant replay be made available for more and more situations, while the pace of the game becomes as slow as molasses.