It sure beats what they used to have

Back in 2003, when I was covering the Reds and they moved into the rather bland Great American Ball Park, people would ask me what I thought of the place, and that’s what I would always say, that it sure beats what they used to have. Well, that’s about the way I would sum up Nationals Park, as well. It’s not what I would call beautiful or spectacular, but anything — AND I DO MEAN ANYTHING — would have beaten RFK Stadium, otherwise known as America’s Toilet Bowl. In an era when almost every one of the National League’s parks is new, there isn’t much to set this place apart, other than the view of the capitol dome in the distance beyond left field. The back drop beyond the outfield consists almost entirely of mid-rise office and apartment buildings (for security reasons, you’re only allowed to build to a certain height in Washington). But then, it’s 4 p.m., right now. The real test will come when the sun sets, the place is lit up and filled with paying customers and there is a ballgame going on.

Please don’t feed the sportswriters

They’re bringing a stadium tour group through the press box right now. One of the things that really inspired me to want to become a baseball writer (I actually already wanted to become one when this happened, but this really cemented it) was when I was 16 years old, attending the National High School Press Association convention in St. Louis, and we took a tour of old Busch Stadium that took us into the press box. The tour wasn’t part of the convention, just something for the school newspaper and yearbook staffs from my school in Arkansas to do on an afternoon when nothing else was scheduled. The football Cardinals still played there at the time, and the place was configured for football (this was a Saturday in November). But they took us into the baseball press box, the first time I was ever in a major-league press box. Anyone who was ever in the press box at old Busch Stadium will tell you it was one of the most spartan, uncomfortable and in many ways non-functional boxes in the league, but I was enthralled that day, and I vowed that the next time I set foot in that box, it would be in a working capacity. I made good on that promise when I went to St. Louis with the Rockies in August 1999. Just another one of my boring stories about ME, but hey, I got nothing else to post right now.

Phillies 5, Dodgers 2

If you’re a Dodgers fan, or someone employed by the Dodgers in any way, this one stung. They could have held a 2-1 lead in the ninth, they could have scored after loading the bases with nobody out in the 10th, they could have gained a game in the standings, they could have gotten more than two runs out of their 13 hits, they could have done a lot of things, but they didn’t do any of them. And if this keeps up, in a few weeks, we’ll be saying they could have made the playoffs if they had done this, that or the other. … Joe Torre told the team after the game they don’t have to be at the park until 6 p.m. for a game that starts at 7:05. That means no batting practice. “I told them to just get dressed and play the game,” Torre said. “Hopefully, that will allow us to relax a little bit, because I think we might be putting too much pressure on ourselves.” … Failed to do my job properly tonight. In my haste to make deadline, I had to minimize the time I spent in the clubhouse, and I flat out forgot to ask Torre if he considered walking Pedro Feliz to get to Jimmy Rollins in the 11th inning. I left Joe’s office while several reporters were still in there, checked the clubhouse for available players, found none, then returned to Joe’s office. The question might have been asked while I was gone. But it never dawned on me to ask until after I got back to the press box. Anyway, Feliz had driven in the tying run with an RBI single in the ninth, and here he was at the plate with runners on second and two outs. It was a right-right matchup against Jason Johnson, and Rollins is a switch-hitter and the reigning N.L. MVP. But Rollins also has two hits in his past 25 at-bats. Anyway, Feliz homered, his 13th of the season. … Dodgers fall to 65-65. That is now the NINTH-best record in the bad National League, putting the Dodgers in the lower half of the 16-team loop even as they appear to be within striking distance in the West. They still trail the Snakes by three games. Decent chance to avoid the four-game sweep with Billingsley going tomorrow night against Brett Myers, but the Dodgers already have lost as many games on this 10-game road trip (three) as they lost on the 10-game homestand that preceded it.

Random stuff

Andruw Jones played 1B at Las Vegas last night. Not sure what that means, but I’m guessing it means he’ll be an option to back up there if Joe wants to give James Loney a day off here or there and doesn’t want to go back to that musical chairs thing he did last week with Martin at 3B and Blake at 1B. The 51s committed four errors last night, but none of them were by Andruw. That’s a good sign. … The Dodgers are still somewhat in contention in the N.L. West, but it’s worth noting that they began the day tied with Houston for the eighth-best record in the bad National League, a loop that only has 16 teams. The Astros, by the way, were 14 games out in the Central. … Greg Miller, once the Dodgers’ top left-handed pitching prospect, might be getting close to the end of the line. There was a time earlier this season when he seemed to be coming out of his longstanding control problems, but he seems to have relapsed since his promotion to Las Vegas. He gave up four runs last night after walking three batters (and allowing NO hits) in one inning pitched at Colorado Springs. Since his promotion to Vegas, he has walked 46 batters in 28 2/3 innings, all while allowing just 19 hits. In his past three appearances, he has walked eight batters in 3 2/3 innings.