May 3, 2009 [LINK / comment]
Shairon Martis pitched a complete game against the Cardinals on Saturday, earning his third win of the season, helped by timely run support from his teammates. Fewer than 20,000 fans were on hand to witness this achievement, unfortunately. As reported by MLB.com, it was the first complete game by a Nationals pitcher since August, 2006. The win may have had something to do with the fact that neither Alberto Pujols nor Khalil Greene were in the lineup on Saturday.
Now that Cristian Guzman is back in the lineup, the Nats' fortunes may finally change for the better. He leads the team in batting with a .373 average, followed by Nick Johnson, while Ryan Zimmerman has surpassed the .300 level for the first time this year, and has hit safely in 21 consecutive games. This could get very interesting...
Mike Zurawski came across some more images of what the Marlins' future ballpark will look like, at miamiherald.com and baseball-fever.com. I share his positive impression of it, from what I've seen so far. However, I wish they would tone down the ultra-modern style and incorporate features that are authentically Miami, such as the 1930s Art Deco pastel colors, glass blocks, and curved corners.
I forgot to mention another discussion on New Yankee Stadium's extreme hitter-friendliness: waswatching.com. Somebody there cited my work, but was apparently not aware of my high standards of accuracy. Hat tip to Adam Shane.
I was working on Sportsman's Park recently, and trying to reconcile the dimensions published by Phil Lowry with the pavilion that was in place through the 1910 season has got me scratching my head. I'll have more time for diagram updates in another few days...