Two Baseball Games

I'm so bad at creating blog post titles. Anyway, in less than a week, I got to attend two Washington Nationals games. That's not the story though. For the first time since 1999 or 2000, I went to Fenway Park to see the Boston Red Sox. We just happened to see them play the Nationals since tickets were half the price than they were for Boston's previous series against the New York Yankees. Is it okay to write that Fenway Park is magical? A little too much? The stadium opened in 1912, and while there have been renovations over the years, it's a historic venue. While I think that the Pierogi race in Pittsburgh and the Presidents race in Washington is fun, particularly for kids, there aren't those types of gimmicks at Fenway Park. You're there to watch a baseball game. And sure your primary view of the game is the outfield if you sit straight in our seats about 20 rows up from the right field foul pole (meaning that you need to turn your body to the left to see actual at-bats), but that's part of the stadium's charm. 

Okay, one gimmick is great. Singing Sweet Caroline!

I'll admit that I don't watch many Red Sox games on TV, but sports betting advertising on the Green Monster is a bit much.

As for the second Nationals game, I saw Washington host my Pittsburgh Pirates. It was hot. Really hot. 100 degrees at first pitch. While I've seen dozens of Nationals games over the years, a few notes from this one.

The national anthem was sung by DC Washington. Perfect name for an anthem singer for a game in Washington DC and a terrific voice. Not sure if DC Washington would be as successful in Baltimore.

My biggest complaint (besides the heat) is the primary scoreboard. Look at this picture and tell me what inning it is.

Is this any better? I mean, the math doesn't math.

(The answer was the 7th inning.)

I also got to see Pirates phenom Konnor Griffin play for the first time. He seemed to enjoy the post-game fireworks.

Unsure if Griffin met the 1st overall pick of the NBA draft, AJ Dybansta who threw out the opening pitch.

The Nationals defeated the Pirates 9-5, but the Pirates won the last two games of the series. Interesting note. Two Nationals players (Luis Garcia Jr. and Daylen Lile) both hit two home runs. Not sure I've attended a game where teammates hit multiple home runs. Meanwhile, the Red Sox defeated the Nats 6-3 in a game that featured three home runs in the first inning though the Nats won the last two games of the series.