Category Archives: Baseball

Tuesday evening, Leta and I took in the game at the Nationals’ new ballpark. A well-pitched game that ended, alas, with a 1-0 loss to the Phillies.

We hard fairly good seats, down the right field line, so I craned over my shoulder to see the new, very sharp scoreboard. Too bad that it wasn’t put to better use for some of the replays: many of us missed a good look at a close play at the plate.

The new stadium hasn’t acquired much local character yet, but I do like the formstone used for the backstop. Local materials, y’know. The main promenade around the park is at street level, which makes for easy circulation, and I like the local restaurants with food outlets at the park. Next time I’ll get there early enough to make it through the line for Ben’s Chili Bowl as well as to watch BP.

Via kottke.org, ten brief essays on quirks of baseball, including how to pitch six strikeouts in one inning and the 23 ways to reach first base. So what’s the difference between fan obstruction and specator interference?

Storing baseballs in a humidor may have reduced the number of home runs in Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, but not for the conventionally-assumed reason, argue Edmund Meyer and John Bohn of the University of Colorado at Boulder in a pre-print article. The soggier balls would actually travel farther; but this effect is overmatched by the enhanced grippiness of the balls’ surfaces, which would give the edge to pitchers.

Alan Schwarz profiles Pat Venditte, Creighton University’s junior-year switch-pitcher.

Congratulations to rookie Anibal Sanchez, who pitches a 2-0 no-hitter for Florida against the Diamondbacks.

Peppermint Patty’s been on the juice for years.