Day 187/365 - Home, Bittersweet Home

Today was Opening Day for the 2009 baseball season at Nationals Park in DC. The hometown Washington Nationals played host to the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. I wish the hosts had been a little less accommodating to their out of town guests. The Nats lost to the Phillies 9-8. They're now 0-7 on the season and were once again done in by poor pitching and shoddy defense. Ugh.

At least they made it close, though, with a two run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning. Plus I got to leave work early today, sit outside in the occasional sunshine, buy some new swag at the team store, and eat a hot dog and pretzel and drink a beer (followed six innings later by a Coke and an order of chili cheese fries). So in the final accounting I'd still say there were more entries on the plus side of the day's ledger than on the minus side.

Nothing breaks your heart and torments you with renewed hope like love and baseball.

Go Nats!

(Taken with my Nikon D80)

Day 110/365 - The Winter of Our Discontent

Only one more month to go until the Washington Nationals play their first Spring Training game. Even though it won't count for anything, hopefully they'll win it. Anything they can do to help get the bad taste of last year's 102-loss season out of my mouth would be welcome.

This is my collection of Opening Day baseballs dating to 2005, the Nats first season in DC. Last year's model was pretty drab and ugly, not unlike the season. Despite that fact, it was the hardest to get given that Opening Day 2008 was also the inaugural game at Nationals Park. Hopefully this year they'll go back to the cooler style of commemorative baseball for Opening Day. My other hope is that before this display case is full the Nats will win the NL East.

One of these hopes is more likely to come to fruition than the other.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)