Today marks six years since the_sheryl and I walked down the aisle and stomped a glass to smithereens. Amazing how time flies, huh?

We celebrated our anniversary with the Nats/Phillies game down at Nationals Stadium. Originally thought it might be a Stephen Strasburg start, but he wound up on the DL. Still, a day at the ballyard is always fun, even if the Nats lost and it rained briefly. (And the stadium often sounded more like Citizens Bank Park than Nationals Stadium.)

Had a nice dinner at Cava Mezze; ended up sitting out on the sidewalk since the dining room was full. But the rain clouds had moved off and the sun had come back out, so it was quite pleasant.

Happy Anniversary, my love! ::smooch::

Well, I don't know if it was the late notice or the lack of desire to sit outside in 100-degree heat, but I never found any takers (friends or coworkers) for the spare Nats-Padres ticket last week. So I just went myself, figuring one shouldn't let excellent 3rd-base dugout box seats go to waste. Turned out to be a heck of a game. Adam "Get 'Er" Dunn graciously provided three fans in the left- and center-field bleachers with home run balls (a 3-run dinger and two solo shots); Ian Desmond later got into the act with a 6th-inning solo shot.

The game wound up being closer than one would have expected, given Washington lead 4-1 at the end of the 1st inning (thanks to Dunn's 3-RBI homer) and 5-2 after the 3rd. But our middle relievers (including the usually reliable Drew Storen) gave up a run in the 7th and two in the 8th, and closer Matt Capps gave up a solo homer to Tony Gwynn and put the tying and winning runs on base before inducing a game-ending ground-out. Final score: Nats 7, Padres 6.

It's a good thing the Nats had a decent night batting, because their defense stank. JD Martin misplayed two balls off the mound, barely getting the throws to first in time. Both times also allowed a runner on first to advance, one subsequently scored. A third misplay near the 3rd base line did allow a single and scored as an error. And on two occasions, with runners on first, Desmond fielded a grounder and opted for the play at first instead of the lead runner. I'm not convinced he didn't have a play at second either time.

But still, a win is a win, and I'll take any wins the Nats care to ring up.

Our Worldcon trip starts with me fulfilling a childhood dream to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. I realized while using a road atlas to study driving routes to Montreal that Cooperstown was not far off one of the potential paths, and only about an hour past the halfway point on that route. I had also decided to break the drive into two days, thus making the detour to Cooperstown an easy call.

( Take Me Out To The Ball GameCollapse )

But for now, I'm a very happy Washington Nationals fan. Watched Opening Day Sunday evening from the comforts of home. One could not have asked for a better inaugural game for Nationals Park--two runs in the first inning and Ryan Zimmerman's two-out bottom of ninth game-winning home run. Well OK, some Nats offense in the intervening seven innings would have been nice too. But I'm not a perfectionist, and the missing offense turned up Monday night at the expense of several hapless Philly pitchers. Anyway, after last year, where achieving basic mediocrity was considered a huge success, two wins are a great start for the New Improved Nationals [Now With 33% More Budget and Organic Home-Grown Owners!]

Meanwhile, I see that my Favorite Player of 2007, Jarrod Saltalamacchia (he of the longest last name in MLB, AFAIK) is starting 2008 at the Rangers' AAA team in Oklahoma. That's OK--in the meantime I can keep an eye on Cubs rookie Kosuke Fukudome, who I figure is an FCC indecency fine just waiting to befall some unfortunate broadcaster.