March 20, 2008 [LINK / comment]
The Yankees come to Virginia
Ah, if I had only known about it in advance... As an expression of support for Virginia Tech students and families as the first anniversary of the infamous massacre approaches, the New York Yankees paid a good-will visit to Blacksburg, Virginia on Tuesday, playing an exhibition game against the Virginia Tech Hokies. I was impressed that Jeter, A-Rod, Posada, and most other star players made the trip, which no doubt greatly raised morale on campus. Final score: Yankees 11, Hokies 0. See MLB.com.
American baseball "invades" Asia
In the early twentieth century, the U.S. Marines introduced baseball to Cuba, the Dominican Republic and other "unruly" places in the Caribbean Basin. Remarkably, our National Pastime was eagerly accepted by the local people, in spite of the rather imperialistic manner in which it arrived. In recent years, Major League Baseball has renewed effort so expand its market to Asia. Earlier this week the Dodgers and Padres played an exhibition game in China, where most people have never heard of the sport, and next Monday and Tuesday, the Boston Red Sox and Oakland A's will play real games in Tokyo, Japan. See MLB.com. This will be the third time that official Major League ball games have been played in the Tokyo Dome; the earlier occasions were in 2000 and 2004.
Construction snafus in D.C.
I recently got an "insider's tip" about some goofs that are holding up completion of Nationals Park. Earlier this week several workers were instructed to power-wash the stadium interior, which is still full of sawdust and debris. Not knowing how to read English labels on the containers, however, they mistakenly used 500 gallons of refrigerator coolant instead of detergent. Oops! As a result, the refrigerators could not be turned on in time for the delivery of perishable food items, some of which which may go to waste. Only ten more days to go... ¡Apúrense, carajo!