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Capital Offense

Sorry I didn't get to post in Washington D.C. Here are a few quick-hitter leftovers from the trip.

* Got to the Air-and-Space Museum, the Natural History Museum (both Smithsonians), the National Archives, and the Lincoln Memorial. Much to my chagrin, the American History museum was closed for renovation, the FBI no longer gives tours, and the Supreme Court was closed on the weekend. Wasn't the best weekend as far as sightseeing went, but I was able to make a Mets tie-in or two along the way. When my sister lamented how we left the Natural History Museum before seeing the dinosaurs, I told her she got to see the next best thing- Tom Glavine and Moises Alou.

* They gave out Abraham Lincoln bobblehead dolls on Saturday and the craftsmanship is far better than those used in Mets bobbleheads. I wouldn't trade my Lincoln for any of the current David Wright incarnations, none of which have been very impressive.

* Final tally from the 6 games I saw: 43 runs, 71 hits, and one blogger error. I cursed a cabdriver who was gonna charge me $55 for an airport trek. After exiting said taxi, I realized I told him I was going to Dulles (explaining the higher cost), but really meant to be going to Reagan.

Nonetheless, the Mets hit .321, with 26 extra-base hits and 12 stolen bases, offsetting their 4.58 ERA in that stretch. Was it just me or did it seem like there were an inordinate number of two-strike foul balls from Pirates and Nationals hitters? That might explain why the combined game times were 18 hours and 28 minutes and why the Mets threw 60 more pitches than the Pirates (193-133) in their win Wednesday.

* One other oddity from my Pirates-watching. The ushers take their jobs VERY seriously, particularly when it comes to foul-ball management. The usher in my section on Thursday did several stair-length sprints to make sure that the recipients of foul balls were unharmed in their catchings (would've been a good guy to have had around in SF when Bonds was chasing 756). He would conclude with a thumbs-up salute to let his colleagues know that all was well. The senior-citizenry who work at Shea Stadium would be hard-pressed to compete with the younger, spryer ushering group (as well as one high-pitched yelling lemonade vendor who appeared to be about 80 going on 18) that worked at PNC.

Back to walk-off blogging with my next posting...

True Metcationers know...That the Mets have followed their four respective series' with the Braves by going 6-2, 8-4, 6-2, and 6-3 in their aftermaths...and that there's a famous story (not sure if it's true) that Abe Lincoln learned of his nomination for the presidency while he was playing baseball.

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