Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Walk-Offs in Movies, TV, and Other Places

Note: I'm leaving this post up through the end of the week, a) because I don't have time to pump out something new and b)because I was hoping to build a really good list of entertainment industry walk-offs...so if you're looking for something new, check back on Monday or so... Of course, if there's a major trade or move, I'll adjust and try to post something... In the meantime, click on the "Table of Contents" link as well. It has been updated. SPOILER ALERT: Read at your own risk Caught the ending of "A League of Their Own" on one of the movie channels the other day and it got me to thinking that it would be fun to compile a list of walk-offs from movies, television, and other forms of entertainment. Here's the start, and only the start, as I spent about 30 minutes or so thinking it over Help me fill in the blanks by filling out the comments section. "A League of Their Own"-- Racine beats Rockford for the All-American Girls Profess

The best Mets ejections I know

When you think of the Mets and famous ejections, I'm guessing you first think of the famous Bobby Valentine mustache game, when after Valentine got tossed, he returned to the dugout in disguise. You know it. You love it. I remember being amused when I asked Bobby V about it while we were working on Baseball Tonight, how he simply said "It worked. We won the game." (true) But the Bobby V mustache game of June 9, 1999 is one of many, many memorable Mets ejection stories. And now thanks to Retrosheet and the magic of Newspapers.com , we have a convenient means for being able to share them. Ever since Retrosheet's David Smith recently announced that the Retrosheet ejection database was posted online , I've been a kid in a candy store. I've organized the data and done some lookups of media coverage around the games that interested me post. Those newspaper accounts fill in a lot of blanks. Without further ado (and with more work to do), here are some of my findings

The 'Duca of Earl (and walk-offs)

If I told you that the Mets had just obtained a guy who is a career .316 hitter with runners in scoring position? How about if I told you that the Mets just traded for a hitter who has consistently ranked among the toughest in baseball to strike out? Or if I mentioned that the Mets just dealt for a player who was selected to the NL All-Star team the last three seasons, with the last honor coming via a vote by his peers? So, although he's on the down side age wise, his throwing arm isn't as good as it used to be, and he doesn't provide much power, there are a lot of good things that Paul Lo Duca brings to the New York Mets. For example: He'll sacrifice his body for the good of the team The Dodgers and Braves squared off on August 23, 2002 and Lo Duca made an impact both on the start and finish of this game. Three pitches after being dusted by Greg Maddux, Lo Duca made him pay with a first-inning home run. The Braves rallied to tie the game, 3-3 in the ninth, but their bu