Reds prevent being swept by the Nats on Barry Larkin's birthday

Today is Barry Larkin's birthday.  If you don't know who Barry Larkin is, you don't know anything about baseball.  I'm from Ohio, and the Cincinnati Reds play an hour away from where I grew up.  My "first team" was the Reds.

Today the Reds wrapped up their series against the Washington Nationals, and today the Reds won (i.e. preventing a sweep).

It wasn't the most exciting baseball game.  I was late to Nationals Park and by the time I left the Diamond Lounge (i.e. with a full plate of food) the Reds were up 2-0.  Ummm, ok.  Hoping that the Nats would rally back I sat through the rain and some horrible Nats pitching.  Ross Detwiler (i.e. who usually comes through for the squad) wasn't able to get it done.  Don't even start me about Henry Rodriguez's speed and complete lack of accuracy...  At least, I didn't have to see Tyler Clippard on the mound today...  Ugh...

The Nats are off to battle the Atlanta Braves on Monday, and Stephen Strasburg will be on the mound.


THE WIRK

Strasburg throws 10 Ks to break the Washington Nationals' losing streak

I had spent last weekend watching baseball in DC, and last night Stephen Strasburg was on the mound to strike out 10 batters and end the Washington Nationals' losing streak at four.  Last night's game was the 2nd game in the Tampa Bay Rays v Washington Nationals' series.  I was at Nationals Park, since my friend Cathy offered up her seats to the game.

Question: Who can't resist the opportunity to get two free tickets in good seats to go watch the Nationals baseball?!?!

Answer: Not this girl.  I watched the game comfortably behind the Nationals dugout (i.e right before 1st base).

As I mentioned, this was my fourth time at Washington Nationals Park in less than a week, and I was looking forward to seeing the Nationals rebound and get back to their winning ways.  For those of you that don't know, the Yankees swept the Nats over the weekend, and the Nats dropped another game against Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

Last night, I went to the ballpark sporting my Strasburg jersey and the man on the mound did not disappoint.  The Nationals came out on top with a score of 3 to 2. Stephen Strasburg was Player of the Game after striking out 10 batters with an ERA of 2.54.

Last Valentine's Day I got a new camera and of course I brought it to the game. I absolutely love this camera. Hope you enjoy the pictures --- for this blog post I focused on Stephen Strasburg, Joel Peralta, and Hideki Matsui.

Peralta was interesting to me after the pine tar controversy from Tuesday night's game.  Can you see inside his glove?!?!  Neither can I...

After last night's game, the Washington Nationals are 39-27.  They still lead the NL East. 

Personally, I'm more of an Americal League girl, but I have to admit that it's great to have such a fun team to watch here in DC.

Hope you enjoy my pictures!

THEWIRK

Yankees defeat the Nats 5-3 after 14 innings

Saturday afternoon I was sitting pretty (i.e. eating and drinking) on my perch at the PNC Diamond Club at Washington Nationals Park for the 2nd game of the 3-game series between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals.

 

Unfortunately I forgot my camera when I went to the game so all the pictures I have a from my iPhone.  Once again, I went into the game expecting to see Bryce Harper do something special.  After 14 innings, I left feeling a little frustrated that I hadn't seen the special player that everyone raves about.

One special thing that happened at the game was when Eric Chavez hit a foul ball that went into my section.  The older men sitting at the table behind me couldn't catch the ball, so it fell right behind me.  I had to lunge, but I was able to get the ball!  Now both of the baseballs I have are from Yankees!  The first was from Alex Rodriguez, when he tossed me one in Minnesota (i.e. at a Twins game) and now this one from Saturday, 

Yankees won on Saturday with a score of 5-3.  It was a marathon, but a great day for baseball!

I ran into Teddy on the way out and although he never wins the Presidents' Race, he's a winner when he's with ME.

THE WIRK

Mary Poppins & SF Giants defeat the Washington Nationals ~ July 10, 2010

I never turn my phone off.  Ok - that's a lie.  I turn my phone on airplane mode on planes.  Regardless, that's not the point.  The point is I'm rarely if ever away from my phone because you never know who's going to call and what can happen.

I was running around on Saturday and on my way to grab my friend, Amy, so we could go and see Mary Poppins at the Kennedy Center.  I wanted to go to the matinee show so I'd have my night open to do whatever else I wanted to do.  ****  For those of you that are curious about the show ~ go see it.  It's not completely true to the movie, but it's a great adaptation.  My only real complaint is that the show didn't do the whole "Step in Time" song.

View from our seats in the Opera House at the Kennedy Center

Now back to my baseball story...

While I was driving, I received a text from my friend, Pat.  He said he might end up with some really great tickets to Saturday night's game and wanted to know if I wanted to go.  ****  Lucky for me, his buddy was at the beach and couldn't go!  I texted back "Yes!!!!!!"  Next thing you knew I had a ticket to the game in the President's Club.  What a guy!!! 

Awesome night for a baseball game, and I got to see the San Francisco Giants defeat the Washington Nationals.  The Nats had the lead, but blew it.  Regardless, it was a GORGEOUS night out for a baseball game and it was definitely fun to check out the President's Club.

For those of you that don't know ~ the President's Club is the area right behind home plate and the seats are padded.  The seats come with all you can eat food and a buffet before/during the game.  From inside you can see the Nats' batting cages and the Media Room where the post-game press conferences are conducted.

Batting cages behind me ~ Adam Dunn at bat

Pablo Sandoval at bat

Pudge Rodriguez at bat with Adam Dunn ready to run

Awesome seats and a gorgeous night for baseball

Pat and I in our seats

San Francisco Giants won

THE WIRK

Nationals defeat the Mets, bottom of the 9th ~ July 3, 2010

I'm notorious for staying to watch the very end of every game.  I don't care about what time it is.  I don't care about the commute home.  I don't care about the size of the crowd, or what I have to do later or the following day.  In basketball I expect to see 48 minutes of action, and in baseball I'm not leaving until I see the final out. 

Usually I'm in charge of the tickets and my desire to see the ENTIRE game is why I'm the one racing past you in the parking lot znd on the concourse to get to my seat ~ before the opening tip and the first pitch.  I talk to a lot of sports fans when I travel and I find it funny, that I never heard the comment before that new stadiums like Target Field are good, but a major deficiency is that that concourse isn't wide enough.  That's a legitimate and serious concern for fans like me, that want to be able to maneuver easily.  So, for those of you designing new stadiums, arenas, and ballparks - keep it in mind, that when you offer concessions and souvenirs you choke the flow of traffic on the concourse before/during/after the game.  Enough about that...

Wallking towards the park, I noticed 2 guys selling Witness 37 shirts for Strasbug.  I need to get myself one of those shirts.  ****  Mental note: find out how much those shirts are and grab one next time.

Sporting my new Nationals jersey, I went and saw Strasburg pitch and watched the Washington Nationals rally, from a 5-3 deficit, to defeat the New York Mets in the bottom of the 9th inning.  It was an awesome comeback for the Nats (i.e. worthy of fireworks, even though it was only the 3rd of July).  Honestly, the promise of Stephen Strasburg's pitching was enough to get my brother and I's childhood friend, Scott, out to his first game at Nationals Park. 

Even though Scott was there ~ Strasburg's "K-game" wasn't.  He pitched 5 innings and gave up 2 runs.  K-game....  Hmmm, I like the sound of that. 

****  Seriously, has anyone used the phrase "K-game" to describe a pitcher's best performance as opposed to A-game?!?!  If not, I'm claiming that terminology for TheWirk.com right now...  K-game is defined as a pitcher's A-game, but since we want strikes it's a K-game.  Add it to the Wirktionary. :-P

In between innings Scott tells me that he knows the cousin of another Nats pitcher.  Oh really...  It looks like Scott has been holding out on me.  Scott is now responsible for finding tickets to another game, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know it.  I hadn't seen him in months, and he's been living in the area for almost a year so with the lure of baseball, I was able to get him to come out of "hiding".

Adam Dunn hit was looked like a GAME WINNING GRAND SLAM ~ but the ball hit the wall and bounced back on the field.  The play was reviewed, after Carlos Guzman and Willie Harris both scored for the Nats. 

After intentionally walking Josh Willingham, Pudge Rodriguez had his chance to be the hero of the game (i.e. and he took it) when he singled, and Ryan Zimmerman scored!

You can see the smile on Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez's face

K-Rod aka New York Mets' pitcher Francisco Rodriguez , didn't bring his K-game either...

Ever get the feeling that something amazing is going to happen?  Well, I did.  I shot video of the winning play and Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez crossing home plate, but the video killed the rest of my memory card, so I deleted it.   Futther, let's be honest ~ I thought I could scoop a clip of the winning play off of youtube easily.  Turns out I'm wrong, and I just checked my camera and I did delete the video.  Ugh.

Oh well.  Hope you enjoyed the pics from the game.

Remember what Yogi Berra said, "It's not over, til it's over."


THE WIRK

Mets v Nats, July 3 ~ Stephen Strasburg's last pitch for 2010 MLB All-Star roster

I  don't know what you're doing today, but I'm excited to wear my new Stephen Strasburg jersey this afternoon! The New York Mets take on the Washington Nationals at 4:10PM today. The weather looks absolutely gorgeous, and I'm thrilled I get to see Strasburg pitch AGAIN (i.e. before the 2010 MLB All-Star break). Strasburg is now 2-2 and with an ERA of 2.27. 227, huh. Now I'm reminded of that half-hour sitcom back in the day with Regina King and Marla Gibbs, but I digress...

This voyage to Nationals Park will be a new experience also, because I'm supposed to take the metro to the event. If you know me, or keep up with this blog, you know that I'm less than lukewarm when it comes to public transportation. We shall see.

There's a lot of hype around when Strasburg throws, and this game is no exception. This afternoon is Strasburg's last change to make a "pitch" as to why he deserves to be a part of the 2010 MLB All-Star festivities. According to the Mark Newman's article, "A 48-hour poll on MLB.com last week revealed that roughly 65 percent of fans say the rookie pitching sensation does not belong in the event, at least not yet. However, Strasburg is arguably the top viewer magnet in the game right now, his appeal extending beyond Nationals fans. The decision belongs exclusively to Manuel and MLB."

Looks like Charlie Manuel and MLB have something serious to think about.

In honor on Independence Day's impending arrival, Strasburg and Washington Nationals fans can let themselves be heard immediately following the announcement of the All-Star rosters. According to Newman's article (i.e. cited above), "Fans will vote to select the final player for each league's 34-man roster, through the 2010 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint, now in its sixth year. Fans can choose from a list of five players from each league from July 4-8, and the winners will be announced after the voting concludes on July 10."


THE WIRK

White Sox defeat the Nationals 1-0, and Peavy pitched a complete game shut out

It was a Saturday afternoon and the White Sox defeated the Nationals, 1-0.  White Sox pitcher, Jake Peavy, pitched a 3-hit complete-game shutout for the White Sox.  Nationals' Manager, Jim Riggleman was thrown out of the game and a couple got engaged in the section ahead of where we were sitting.  The crowd's reaction to the engagement was mixed (i.e. girls were happy, men were yelling "think it through).  My favorite reaction was Ozzie Guillen motioning to the newly engaged man that his life was over.  Hilarious.

View from section 119

I highly recommend the PNC Diamond Club for those of you looking for seats.  Each ticket comes with a $35 credit for food and drink and there's an air conditioned bar/restaurant area too.  For my money, there's no better place to sit.  Pat and I were lucky to be sitting in the shade, since it was a scorcher with the heat and humidity. 

Washington Nationals' Manager, Jim Riggleman, getting tossed out

White Sox win

With no real horse in the race, it was a fun afternoon at Nationals Park with good weather and great company! I remember Omar Vizquel when he played with the Cleveland Indians, and it's great to see him still in a uniform and playing.  With the win yesterday, the Chicago White Sox had won 5 games in a row.  Needless to say, I've been busy today and have no idea what happened in this afternoon's game.

THE WIRK

White Sox defeat the Nationals ~ Strasburg pitches, Obama at Nationals Park

Yesterday I told my friend, that I'd take him out to dinner for his birthday.  However, later that day, I realized that Washington Nationals', phenom Stephen Strasburg, was pitching against the Chicago White Sox.  Change of plans...  So much for dinner, my friend and I were going to go to a baseball game!

It was my 2nd trip to Nationals Park (i.e. this year) and DJ and I settled into our seats in the Diamond Club.  White Sox scored first and the score was 1-0 in the 1st inning.  We both love baseball so we started to look around the park, and then we noticed that there was a lot of activity in the suites.  Yep, turns out that President Obama was at the game also.  If you ask me, our seats were better ~ but of course, he needs to be shielded/protected and the suites offer him that.

President Obama is at the game

With Strasburg on the mound, I wanted to sit behind home plate and see what it was like to have him throw "at me", and if you ask me the seats were a deal since each ticket came with $35 to spend at the game.  Plus, since the tickets weren't scanning properly, the lady in the Diamond Club gave us $70 in Nats Bucks!  Together, between the 2 of us, we had $140 to spend on food, drink, and merchandise.  Thanks for the free food and drink Washington Nationals and extra thanks for my new Stephen Strasburg jersey!

Can't make it to the game or need some gear for the next time you see Strasburg pitch?  Here's a link to his jersey so you can buy one also!

Here are some other pictures snapped during the game.

Joe West was the unpire, but Ozzie Guillen got to stay the entire game this time

Stephen Strasburg on the mound

Fireworks after the game

It took extra innings, but the Chicago White Sox defeated the Washington Nationals, 2-1. 

Looks like another great day for some baseball ~ take ME out to the ball game!

THE WIRK

The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Washington Nationals ~ June 5 2010

The Rick was in town on June 5 to finish his baseball stadium tour, so I met him at Nationals Park for the Cincinnati Reds v Washington Nationals game.  Being from Ohio, I was thrilled that the Reds won.  Being The Rick's friend it was good to have him in town and be able to see him.

During the game a large piece of a broken bat flew into the crowd and missed my friend's head by about 5 feet.  He's lucky to have me around.

Joe West was behind the plate, and yes he threw someone out of the game.

The Reds defeated the Nationals 5-1.  Enjoy the pictures from the game!


 

Frank Howard statue

Joe West and his men

With The Rick

After the game, I checked my voicemail and realized I needed to be back in New Jersey on Sunday.  Regardless there was still time to see a movie.  This is a picture with Alvin, Simon,  and Theodore (i.e. The Chipmunks) after watching "Get Him to The Greek".

THE WIRK