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DAY 175
Saturday September 22nd
Bethesda, MD
Phyllis is a busy lady, and had left the apartment to do Jewish holiday things before I even awoke. So I had the day and the apartment to myself.
The morning was taken up with writing, downloading photographs and generally hanging about. I had the good intention of then exploring the neighbourhood, but I discovered that Phyllis' cable TV has the channel that broadcasts Cubs' games. So I made myself a sandwich and settled down to watch a very entertaining 9-5 victory. This puts the Cubs two games ahead in their division pending Milwaukee's game later in the day.
Towards the end of the afternoon I set out for today's game, the Washington Nationals against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Washington Metro proved relatively easy to master, not so the stadium, which had probably the most confusing numbering system I have yet to encounter.
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At this point, I have good news for Oakland fans; their stadium is no longer the worst I have visited. R.F. Kennedy Stadium is named in memory of the politician of that name, but its only other saving grace is that tonight was the last but one baseball game it will host,
Major league baseball returned to Washington at the beginning of last season, following a lengthy absence, when the Montreal Expos were closed down and the franchise moved here. Plans were made for the construction of a new stadium and, hopefully, it will be ready for the beginning of next season.
But tonight, I wandered around forever before finding my seat in somewhere called the mezzanine. The view of the field was like watching the game from a postbox – you couldn't see balls hit to the fielder in front of you, and you couldn't see balls hit high. So I purchased a glass of locally brewed stout; tasty, but $6.50 for a small glass which was half foam, and settled down to enjoy what I could see of the game.
At this point I was joined by Murdo and Christine. These are two Scottish baseball fans who had heard of my journey on Channel 5, and, as they were in Washington, offered to come and share a game with me. The company was more than welcome.
The game still had relevance. Although Washington has long since been consigned to the list of also rans, Philadelphia is still in hot pursuit, both of the Mets in the Eastern division, and of San Diego in the wild card race. Philadelphia goes ahead in the first, and Washington levels in the sixth. This remains the score at the end of the ninth, which makes it sound like a pitching duel, but there were lots of hits, with each team stranding eight runners.
So it's extra innings, but not many. In the top of the tenth, the Phillies piece together three runs, which is enough to secure the win. News comes through that San Diego has lost, so Philadelphia only trails in the wild card race by half a game. The same scoreboard tells me that Milwaukee has been beaten, so the Cubs lead is extended to two and a half. |
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