Had a fine day at Camden Yards yesterday, if you can overlook the actual ballgame. Since I fully expected the result, even that didn't bother me so much.
Camden Yards remains a great ballpark after all these years. I love that concourse out by the beautiful brick warehouse. Easy in, easy out, eight bucks to park. Lots of great food options. Met my buddy Tony Moss there, an Orioles fan by virtue of growing up in Baltimore. I treated him to a 4-3 Nats win in May, he treated me to a 4-3 Orioles win yesterday.
I got a free hat just for showing up and a free Orioles t-shirt for signing up with some car dealer (but no free car). With the free hat I got there last year, I now have a decent start on gear if I decide to make the transition. Which I might - BECAUSE THE NATS ARE KILLING ME.
Too fried to go look it up now but I could swear this team was 20-15 at one point this season, against some better competition than it has faced in recents weeks. My kids tell me all the time I'm losing my mind and this must be a classic case. Wasn't there hope, optimism, joy, all that stuff - THIS season? Must be a mirage.
What I'm seeing now is so 2009 like it is scary. How you blow 6-0, 5-0 and 3-0 leads in successive games is beyond my comprehension even when my brain was working right. To the Orioles no less. What is a real team going to do to the Nats? Oops, I better ease up on that smack talk since I may, you know, be jumping ship.
I suppose it would be wrong of me to be a Nats fan on the days Jee-SUS pitches and an Orioles fan on the other days. I'm just not that kind of guy. So I suppose I'll stay put a while longer.
Is there a simple answer to what ails the Nats? I fear not. I think what we've seen the past 40 games is more realistic than what we saw the first 35.
At least it is a Jee-SUS night so all will be right with the world for one day. I'm willing to bet if he gives up one run again, he gets a victory this time.
7 comments:
Apparently the front office guy who put together the PowerPoint briefing for the team prior to them leaving on this road trip got one of the slides wrong. Should have said "Baltimore: Wear uniforms of 1970 Senators." Instead it said "Baltimore: Play like 1970 Senators." I wonder if the guy was one of Rizzo's vaunted new FO hires?
I saw Boog Powell there yesterday. I bet he could have ripped a shot off Clippard this weekend.
Great break with the stupid move by Lugo off second - and the Nats take advanta ** oh, wait, they didn't.
Switching your alliegance might help your stress level--but not if you switch it to the O's. My goodness, but that is one hapless franchise. The Nats have a long way to go to match their track record of futility.
That said, this weekend marked a new all time low for me as a Nats fan. The shortage of true major league caliber talent is now showing through--again. And until ownership gets serious about changing that reality by spending money on players the result on the field will remain the same.
Yes, Camden Yards is a nice ballpark and all, but in my visit up there on Friday night I did note a few deficiencies in comparison to Nationals Park.
(1) The closed concourses at OPCY mean you're totally cut off from the game any time you're not in your seat, whereas at Nats Park you can wander freely without missing any of the action. And somehow, even though they look to be the same the seats at Nationals Park seem more comfortable to me.
(2) From my seat in the lower part of the upper deck behind home plate I could not read the scoreboard at OPCY. Even the video replay of Nyjer's great catch didn't reveal much more to me than what I saw from watching it live. The scoreboard at Nationals Park is great - except of course when the persons running it screw up, or when they show Clint and his antics.
(3) Finally, the Nats seem to play much better at Nationals Park than they do at OPCY. This is the one that really frosts me. I've yet to see the Nats play well when I've been in Baltimore.
One nice thing about OPCY though was that the Boardwalk Fries there were actually served crisp and hot, unlike any I've ever had at Nats Park. And the half smoke was better up there too. Nats Park has a much better beer selection in the upper deck, however.
I'll take your word on the beer. I refuse to drink ballpark beer. Yeah, I know. Paying 4.50 for a Coke Zero doesn't make much sense either. I never said it was rational!
I had Boog's Barbecue for the first time yesterday, the beef version. Really good. Not sure it was worth 9 bucks.
Boog's BBQ absolutely CRUSHES anything you can get to eat at Nats Park. And that includes the wings and nachos from Hard Times, which are nothing short of erection-inducing.
has Jesuzzzz asked for a trade yet?
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