Monthly Archives: September 2005

Gameday, Players, Washington Nationals

Tattoos

The Phillies pitcher, Lidle, has a funky tattoo on the inside of his arm. So far that’s my most interesting observation of the game. All I’ve been able to find is that it’s to cover a scar (from surgery?) and has baseball seams as part of the pattern.

Well, darn, Guillen’s been put in as a pinch hitter for Bennett in the bottom of the 7th, so I guess Osik will come in as the catcher for the rest of the game.

Did I mention that Nick Johnson is taller than I expected and his hair looks just fine in person? Well, it does.

Well, Guillen pop-flied out, so I guess that wasn’t worth it. Gary has been getting hits, by the way!

We’re down 4-2

Personal, Washington Nationals

Yesterday was a very good day!

Yesterday was the Nationals Foundation fundraising gala at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It appears to have been highly successful and raised a lot of money. I think I need to get my lighthouse non-profit on their community list!

I happened to catch views of a lot of the Nationals players from the hotel bar (you didn’t think I was just going to sit at home, did you?), where my husband and I enjoyed a couple glasses of wine. I even managed to say hello to a few players, which was fantastic and absolutely the highlight of my night!

But since I didn’t smoke and I still broke out in hives, I think I’m going to have to face the grim dark dank reality that I’m allergic to my favorite Marlborough, NZ region Sauvignon Blanc. That’s really bad news in an otherwise glorious day.

pres_suite_liv_wash_1200 My husband, who has always been far bolder than I am (and feels far more entitled to things) managed to schmooze the hotel concierge into showing us the Presidential Suite. Sweet! It looks like it should be in a movie set – you know, something like the “Pretty Woman” suite that Richard Gere stayed in? Only nicer. Wow.

And a nice Fed Ex was delivered containing (finally) the Quit Claim Deed conveying the Craighill Channel Lower Range Front Lighthouse to Historical Place Preservation, Inc. Now if only I could get the keys by today as we plan on spending probably our last weekend on the boat this weekend! Don’t worry, we’ll leave early enough Sunday to make the last Nationals game of the 2005 season.

My dentist trip was uneventful – clean teeth and no bad news. Woohoo!

Players, Washington Nationals

Tied record now

That would be Nationals with the most RBIs in one game. Previously, Gary Bennett held the record for five. Last night Preston Wilson hit in five runs as the Nats fileted the Marlins again scoring 11 runs to their 7, thus tying Gary’s record on the team for this season. Just my little nugget for the day as I’m in mourning over the fact that the Diamond Gala is tonight and I can dress for the ball, but can’t go. Oh, and I can’t even stake out the hotel beforehand because I have to leave work early for a dentist appointment.

My life as a stalker is just not meant to be. Foiled again!

Gameday, Players, Washington Nationals

The Wow Inning

That would be the fourth! My son asked me to take notes on my computer so I can tell him all about the game in the morning, so hey hey, that works in nicely with my blogging! Even better, Ecto, the blog software I downloaded a trial of (which I LOVE and may consider actually purchasing) for my Mac expires in 7 days – after baseball season for the Nats is over. How convenient.

So back to the fourth inning! I watched the first inning, which was kind of a bummer as we did a 1-2-3 up/down thing and then the Marlins scored a run during their turn. BTW, I find Miguel Cabrera to be a smug obnoxious punk (but that’s just my opinion). He smirked during his game-benched for discipline time yesterday – and well, smirks over everything else. Just the mere fact that he “overslept” and was all cocky “I’m-a-baseball-star” about it is irritating. The second inning was non-eventful, but after it, the kids were hauled out of the tub (that would be my kids!) and prepped for bedtime, so my watching was spotty in the third inning. So I missed Nick Johnson’s homer. That brought the score from 0-1 to 2-1 (since Jamey Carroll was on base). However, not to be outdone, the Marlins slapped back by scoring two runs during their turn and retaking their lead (2-3).

Ok, really, now I’ll talk about the fourth inning! It looked a lot like last night for the Nats. Ryan Zimmerman singled. Marlon Byrd doubled, scoring RZ (1). Guzman got a single, then Gary Bennett (yes, I actually saw this!!) hit a single on a strong line drive to left field and Marlon Byrd scored (2). Loaiza hit a sacrifice bunt, advancing Guzman and Bennett. Wilkerson was intentionally walked (?!?!) to load the bases. They changed out their pitcher, then Jamey Carroll flied out. Nick Johnson came up to bat and singled, Guzman AND Bennett scored (3,4). So there were two guys on base and Preston Wilson came up to bat – he hit a home run high up into the stands!! So he scored himself, Nick, and Wilkerson (5,6,7). The first guy up for the Marlins hit a solo home run, so they did gain one run that inning before being retired. End of 4th score: Nats 9 Marlins 4

5th Inning – Gary hit a double!! Oooh there’s Cabrera with that smirk again after throwing out Loaiza. He looks so young, too! Must mean I’m getting old. Eek. Is Wilkerson growing some scruff too? Oh no, I hope not. He looks much better clean-shaven. Well, darn, Gary’s double didn’t lead him to another run as next two batters went out.

Ok, what is with all the broken bats lately? I swear we’ve seen at least 10 bats broken in the last three games alone!

6th Inning: Jamey Carroll looks kinda funny with his back pocket hanging out of his pants. He must have just pulled his batting gloves out – whatever works! Rain delay… Back 14 minutes later. Two more runs scored that Preston Wilson drove in. Bennett was hit by a pitch in the back (ouch!). This was another loooong inning – errr, half-inning.

Well, the bottom of the 6th isn’t going so well. The Marlins have hit two runs in and have kept at least two men on base for a while (so it seems). Whoa – it looks like my Gameday updated before the MASN broadcast. Is that possible? No, I’m going insane.

I want to know who’s got the loud voice next to a game microphone (press box?). He seems to be rooting for the Nats and I think was the same loud voice there yesterday. Nats 11 Marlins 6

That Ab Lounger looks tempting….

Ok, I have to go to bed. Gotta get up at 4:30, so sadly, I have to sacrifice my game time tonight.

Dang, I haven’t left yet. 7th inning we did 1-2-3 again. Cabrera was first to bat for the Marlins and hit a smug home run. Ergh. At least no one was on base. So bedtime for MissChatter score: Nationals 11 Marlins 7

Gameday, Ownership, Washington Nationals

Baseball has stolen my life

I swear, I’m not getting much done at work due to catching up on every ounce of Nationals information and blogging that was posted in the previous twelve hours, writing my own thoughts, and then at home I spend my time watching the night games. Whew! Only one more week of this and I may be a productive employee again! At least until March… My kids are probably sick of hearing, “hurry up and brush your teeth and get your jammies on. I’m missing parts of the game!” Yep, some mother I am!

Last night the Nationals we know and love slaughtered the Marlins. Or would the correct term be fileted? The first inning was uneventful, but the boys rocked in the second, scoring four runs! I think some of the Expos/Nationals may have been a little bitter and taking it out on the Marlins owner, Jeffrey Loria, who used to own the Expos and ultimately sold them into the position they’re in now (being owned by MLB). According to the ESPN “Greediest Owners in Sports”:

  • 9. Jeffrey Loria (Florida Marlins)

  • The whole Expos-Marlins-Red Sox ownership deal looked awfully fishy. Loria failed to build a decent franchise in Montreal, so MLB bought the Expos, which Selig said were no longer worthy of existence, and then let their owner, Loria, buy another franchise. Meanwhile, Marlins owner John Henry takes his $150 million-plus chunk of change to buy a piece of the Red Sox. Is Loria interested in good teams, or just a good shell game?

We didn’t slow down after the second inning either. The Nats were making up for all the missed offensive opportunities by scoring 4 runs in the 2nd inning, 2 in the 3rd inning, 3 in the 5th, 1 in the 6th, and 1 in the 7th for a total of (ready?) 11!! The Marlins eeked out one run in the seventh and that would be their only run for the game (darn, almost a whale of a shutout!!).

The poor guys were getting absolutely drenched during the game as the rains came down steadily throughout most of it. You would think that fish would be happier in water, but they choked. The Nats, however, played their best, it seemed! Luckily, no one appeared to get hurt slipping around in that mud and turf.

In one of the later innings, a foul ball flew down the right field line and landed near some tables and people sitting. I only managed a brief glimpse, but here’s what I thought I saw. Some ballclub guys who looked like they belonged there related to the Marlins (as they jumped out of the way). Behind them appeared to be some dining/bar type tables and behind the tables, a woman was testing the temperature of the water with her hand in a big honking hot tub. Hot tub?! Wow, do all stadiums have those? I had to do some googling to make sure I saw that correctly, and sure enough, there is at least one (maybe two) field-side hot tub there. I found vague references to guys and gals getting in trouble in them, but nothing concrete. It also looked like you could score some high-priced hot tub tickets to games! Huh! Now there’s a marketing concept. Too bad it’s south Florida in summertime. Maybe for the football games when the weather gets (mildly) cooler those would be more inviting.

Final score – Nats 11 Marlins 1

Obviously the stuff I dug up is most likely old news to other Nats bloggers. I am definitely naive when it comes to the inner workings of baseball. For example, it never occurred to me that players don’t move their families with them when they get a contract with a team. Although, now that I’ve thought about it, I suppose it makes sense since your kids may not want the disruption of changing to a new school, your spouse may have a job already, your extended family is still “back home”, etc. Plus, there’s the uncertainty of how long a player may remain with the same team. I’ve been learning a lot this year. My friend was impressed at the game Sunday when I could tell who was on deck to bat based on who was currently batting, without a cheat sheet! I don’t crunch stats to see when we’re mathematically eliminated (or if the possibly of third place is real), and I have no desire to do that! Do I still qualify as ‘Just A Nats Fan’ if I choose to merely enjoy the games and hope for the chance to meet some of the local players some day just to say ‘hi’?