More Baseball

We're probably already writing too much about the actual sport of baseball for many of you (there have been fervent cries for tales of adventure from the road, but when you're driving on interstates, most of the adventure comes in the form of deciding which Iron & Wine track to play next. We're trying to remedy this, we promise).

But I thought I would share a few more thoughts from these last two games:

--The Nationals have now won 10 in a row (we saw the ninth in the streak). I applaud the achievement, but with a cautionary note: The Devil Rays won 13 in a row during one stretch last year. Remember how much excitement they provided in September? Oh. Me neither.

--I failed to foresee the reality of traveling around the northeast in mid-June, which feels less like relaxing than being slowly cooked. Last night, the humidity also seemed to plunge us into a wormhole, depositing us in 1987. In the stadium last night -- suited up and playing, no less -- were Jamie Moyer, Pat Borders, Wil Cordero, and Carlos Baerga, whose combined age is 379. (Well, 378, but Baerga turns 104 in August.) I only slightly exaggerate when I say that the announcement of Baerga's presence over the p.a. system stopped my heart.

--The Pirates are a scrappy team, nowhere near as bad as the Devil Rays, despite Sunday's loss. But they're the only team I can remember that consists solely of platoon players. It seemed that everyone who stepped to the plate had 102 at-bats on the year. Humberto Cota, one of sixteen Pirates I had never heard of, tied the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run off the end of his bat that had no business leaving the park. But it did, and I thought for a moment that our karma was once again working for the home team. Alas, the Devil Rays scored two in the 13th to win it. We saw 31 innings of baseball in just over 48 hours. Barring any more extra-inning games, we've got 45 to go... --JW