Fouled-Off Bunts: Worst Day Of The Year Edition

Man, the second day of the season sucks. You get a day game followed by about 48 hours of no baseball. Baseball's such a tease. You smile a little, flirt a little, and then BAM. Nothing. You go home empty for a few nights. Our mistress returns tomorrow though. Have you seen the gams on Redding? Can't wait!

My radio sojourn went well. And welcome to anyone who came here from there! If you didn't listen to it, it's about 30 minutes of talk about the stadium and development in DC, with a big chunk of the time fairly devoted to the Chairman of the DCSEC.

The interesting exchange came towards the end, when a helpful emailer asked about the floating dollar value that the Lerners are claiming. By the stadium agreement, they're obligated to pay the city $20 million. Recent articles have claimed as much as $50 million has gone towards improvements. (My cites for that are all in this post)

So how much has the DCSEC actually received from the Lerners? $11 million. I thought Mr. Cutts' answer about the cost cap and actual cost of the stadium to be... umm... interesting. He's technically right when he says that the cost of the stadium is $400 million or so, but $611 million (or more... much more!) is the real-world cost.

Anyway, I didn't embarrass myself, and I didn't rely on too many ummmmms, and I gave the score as many time as Mr. Slowes, so I'm happy.

Hey, that Kyle Lohse is a bum. We've got no room at the inn!

Cue the tiny violins!

Aside from the parking issue, Ward's biggest fear is that the team and its owners won't interact with the children who will grow up near a baseball stadium. ..

"But I want more than just a game. I want them to have learning opportunities and life opportunities," she said. "The team can do this."

Some of the kids were out playing last night, near empty bottles of Wild Irish Rose and Hennessy just one block from the stadium. [ed: Bowden's empties? Is that really the role model she's looking for?]

Bill James took questions and answers from readers of a NY Times blog.

Want a chance to wait in line for overpriced concessions without that pesky ballgame getting in the way? Then Stan Kasten has a reasonably priced idea for you! (Actually, the Saturday option might be kinda fun, watching the game on the big screen...)

I'm still waiting for my RSVP! :'-(

STANSPEAK!
"The first impression [of the fans] is that it's a very pretty park with ugly garages and I think fans enjoyed sitting there waiting three innings for their friends to come back with a beer and a hotdog," Kasten said. "They enjoyed their view to the field and the garagesfrom any seat in the house and the practically non-existent Capitol view. I'm really proud of this: whether they had a great time or had a problem, the fans felt they were well treated by our ushers, ticket takers and concession workers. That's terribly important."

A day after the opener, Kasten spent most of Monday in meetings to figure how to fix the minor glitches at the stadium before the next six-game homestand, which starts Monday night against the Marlins.

There are still long lines at some of the concessions and some seats that need to be repaired in the stands. The bench in the Nationals' dugout needs to be raised, and there is a reflection on top of the batter's eye in center field, which bothers left-handed hitters.

"They are all too minor to talk about, peasant" Kasten said while waving his hand dismissively.

OMG is worried about the bullpen arms. I think he's got a bit of a point, but at the same time, if I'm the Nats, I have no obligation to Saul Rivera. Run that badboy out there every stinking day, and milk those 100 innings out of him. It's worked for another Jim Bowden fave before.

How hard did we ring Tom Gordon's bell on Monday? So hard that this actually makes sense.

MetsGeek has the must-read of the day, comparing and contrasting the unfair treatment piled on Lastings Milledge and some of his comments with the underreported whining of Ryan Church as he ran out of town. (Oh, and POP goes Pedro, and down went the Mets)

Remember that story Dave Sheinin did on Josh Hamilton that was so terrific? It did well in the APSE awards. Dude can write. (just not often enough!)

Of course

Bill Plaschke won the award

for best

columnist in

the country so that

invalidates the award

in my

eyes

cliched writing

stone-age analysis

one

word

paragraphs

but

he's famous

and he does write

maudlin

human interest stories well

yawn