St Louis Cardinals @ Washington Nationals (2)

I went along to this game half an hour early, saw President Jefferson on the concourse and got into the air-conditioned club area as soon as I could after picking up my free NATIONALS WONK t-shirt. I went along to the carvery today and had what is, basically, a beefburger but constructed with freshly carved sirloin of beef with lots of fresh vegetables and chutneys. I make it sound like a kebab, but it was actually high quality and really nice and filling, just what I needed.

Some of the inter-inning entertainment here wouldn't have been out of place in the Generation Game, I feel. For example, the Sausage Toss game with two competing teams of two people, where one person has a bucket stuck on their head (open side up) and the other has to toss sausages into the bucket from a distance, with the winner being the team with the most sausages in the bucket in 20 seconds. The saner entertainment included the famous Presidents' Race, which is always a fan favourite.

Thankfully, it had cooled down a bit by game time (7pm). At first pitch, it was only 35C/94F! Now, sitting back in my hotel room at 11pm, it's still 32C/90F outside and everybody seems to be wilting. Luckily, my room is a nice 20C/68F, and the water+ice I put in the fridge is still nice and cold.

The optimists in the media thought that St Louis getting that unearned run last night to break their scoreless inning streak at 28 could be just what they needed to kickstart their offence and that with Wainwright on the mound they had a real chance tonight ... but Washington chased him in the third inning after scoring 6 and Gio Gonzalez pitched a gem of a 5-hit complete game shut-out against them, as the Nationals blanked them with a final score of 10-0.

There was more excellent defence tonight, too. Adam LaRoche took a difficult ball on the half-volley that had been flipped over by pitcher to record a close out. Bryce Harper was involved in many of the runs scored, as last night, and grabbed the final out to finish the game. But he wasn't the player of the game tonight - that honour went to Gio Gonzalez as that was his first career shut-out. The post-game procedure in Washington is for the player of the game to be interviewed on the field for TV, which is also shown on the big scoreboard. The key arrangement here is that the TV host stands on the left looking at the player and past him into the dugout, whilst the player is on the right looking at the interviewer and out to left field with his back to the dugout ... which means he can't see his "friends" coming. Half way through his interview, Gio suddenly found himself wearing a large Gatorade bucket over his head as well as its contents. It's imperative that the TV host and crew doesn't give the game away, as they can see what's coming, and the TV host did a good job of not jumping out of the way until it was too late. This was very funny. The interview continued, and then the surprise custard pie arrived too! The best bit was how the interviewer forged on with more questions whilst Gio was trying to towel himself off and recover some dignity. However, I think he'll take it - after all, these are the things that happen when you put in a special performance, and that's what I saw here tonight.

The Washington Nationals team is highly dangerous with or without Stephen Strasburg and I can see no reason why they shouldn't win the NL East at a canter. Atlanta is going to have to pull off something extraordinary to catch them in the final month of the season.

The Art of Video Games

The weather forecasters were spot on - it was 37C/98F in Washington today. In the shade. After wondering where I could go that would be cool, I decided that a museum would be the ideal place to go, and fortunately, the Smithsonian Institution has a lot of those in Washington DC. I've already visited the Air & Space Museum on a previous trip, so I wanted somewhere different. In the end, I went for the American Art Museum - not just because its entrance is right next to the Gallery Place subway exit, but they had an interesting exhibition on called The Art of Video Games.

This had a series of room exploring some of the key games that pushed boundaries of game development since the 1970s, introducing new game genres and styles. They also had some giant playable games, shown in this picture, but there were large queues to play on those, particularly for Pac-man, so I didn't get to have a go.

The exhibition was more about the development of the genres and the advances that each new generation of technology had enabled, rather than how the artistic look of the games was achieved, although that was part of it too. Some displays showed how various aspects of gameplay had evolved across five generations of consoles, looking at how jumping, climbing, flying, landscapes and cut-scenes amongst other things looked at each generation. There were a number of displays showing interviews with modern game designers, talking about what influenced them and what they thought the most important games of the past were that broke the most barriers and pushed the state-of-the-art forward.

Then there were a series of kiosks with different gaming systems through the ages - starting with this familiar-looking system and going through most of the major consoles all the way up to PlayStation 3 and Xbox360. Each kiosk had 4 videos that you could play on the screen to the left all about the games shown on the right, discussing why they were important games. The Atari one had one all about Combat, with the tanks that fired around the mazes and had the bi-planes in the clouds, and Space Invaders marching down the screen. It was interesting to see that they had an instruction booklet for Missile Command as a prized historical relic on display here too. When state-of-the-art equipment that you have used earlier in your life starts turning up in museums as a monument to the past, it makes you feel a bit older.

One final part of the exhibition shows the names of all the supporters of the exhibit. In return for my small voluntary donation to the SI, my name will now also be on the list! The size of your name in the display depends on how much you donated - so mine will not be the smallest size, but also not a full-screen just to myself!

A substantive expression of appreciation

I claimed my compensation for having a decrepit plane for the transatlantic journey. This turned out to be a choice of an internal one-way flight within the USA to the value of $250, another flight-based opportunity that was no use to me, or 10000 air miles. I took the air miles, which takes my mileage balance over 100,000 miles - a tenth of the way to million miler status which gets you a lifetime premier status, so if I carry on making these trips at the current rate, that's only another 80 or so years (or 90 more substantive expressions of appreciation)

St Louis Cardinals @ Washington Nationals (1)

This evening was the first game in a long homestand for the NL East leading Washington Nationals, with the contending Central division opponents, the St Louis Cardinals coming to town off a beating from Pittsburgh where they were shut out the last two games. The good news for St Louis was that they scored a run in this game ...

This is my third trip to Washington to see the Nationals play. The first was several years ago now in the rust-bucket RFK Stadium, which was truly an appalling experience, but at least I avoided scraping my knees on the rusty bolts. The second was in 2009 in the new ballpark which was so much better, despite the performance of the team. Now, they have a team worth watching - the atmosphere at Nationals games is so much improved over my last visit here. Strasburg is an exciting pitcher, who sadly I won't see this year as he pitched early in the week and is next due to go on Sunday, and Zimmerman the pitcher, due to pitch on Saturday so I won't see him either. However, Bryce Harper is an exciting player who I did see...

This was my first opportunity to see Bryce Harper, Washington's exciting teenage rookie, in person. He hit two home runs yesterday, and today he did not disappoint. Leading off the bottom of the 1st inning, Jayson Werth walked and then Harper hit a line drive homer into the right field bullpen for an instant 2-0 lead. Werth led off the third with a single, and then Harper slammed a ball to deep centre where much to everybody's disappointment, it was caught - up against the wall where the 402ft marker is. However, the cheers he gets every time he comes up to bat are incredible, even when he makes an out. Later in the game he made a great over the shoulder catch as he raced back towards the wall, too.

The Nationals just kept adding on one and two runs at a time, and the Cardinals looked destined to be shut out for the third straight game, until all of a sudden, their 28 inning stretch of offensive futility came to an end on a throwing error by Washington's Ryan Zimmerman who airmailed a throw into the stands, allowing an unearned run to score. The game finished 8-1.

Training

Fortunately, I discovered that the Light Rail service was running between the airport and Camden Yards until after the Orioles-White Sox day game, so in the end, I had no trouble in getting to the airport. Unfortunately, I just missed a train to Washington that cost only $6 and had to get the next one for $27 instead! I had lunch at the station and then made my way to the same hotel I was in before. However, this time, I have a King Suite, which features a bedroom, a decent-sized living room combined with a kitchen (there's a fridge and a microwave), a bathroom area and a toilet/shower room. The room's $50 a night cheaper than the lowly room I had earlier in the week.

Washington is very hot today, with temperatures in the low 90s today and high 90s predicted tomorrow. I don't want to be going outside much in that, so I'm looking at places I can go via metro instead to stay indoors.

Living in a video game

Right now, staying in downtown Baltimore is like living in a video game. You can be walking around, only to go around a corner to find a new wall has appeared in front of you that wasn't there before. On my way home to my hotel after the ballgame tonight - bear in mind my hotel is basically across the road from centre field - there were a host of new walls blocking the way back to the hotel that weren't there when I went to the game 3 hours previously!

This is the result of the construction for the Baltimore Grand Prix, mentioned previously. The grandstands seem to be mostly completed now, and more of the barriers and fences have been put in. It also seems that some locals have taken it upon themselves to "test" the racetrack in the middle of the night, going by the noise!

Unfortunately, a consequence of this ongoing work, which needs to finished off on Thursday, is that the light rail service is being stopped after tonight in the downtown area, which means I have a several block walk to get to the train to get to the railway station for the trip back to Washington. I may need to take a cab instead.

Chicago White Sox @ Baltimore Orioles (2)

If anything, it was hotter this evening and without the occasional cooling breeze, which made it somewhat tiring to watch this one-sided game at times. Joe Saunders, making his first start for Baltimore, got tagged for 4 runs in the top of the first inning as the White Sox nearly batted around and the Orioles never recovered. This game was less than 3 hours long, but it seemed to drag on forever. This wasn't helped by the pitching changes, more frequently mid-inning than last night. But, please, Robin Ventura, the Chicago manager, WHY bother changing pitcher in the bottom of the 9th, two out, with a 7 run lead and the bases empty? Everybody just wanted to go home!

During the 8th and 9th inning, the Oriole bird (pictured) was dancing on top of the O's dugout and posing for pictures with fans whilst play was going on. A sharp foul ball at dugout roof height could have been problematic. I was in the front row of section 228 and although we never had an opportunity to catch a foul ball, they seemed to be whistling either side of our section and above.

Baltimore's Inner Harbour

Today, I spent the day walking and sailing around the Inner Harbour and Patapsco river area. The Water Taxis are an excellent way of getting to the different parts, although you can also walk between many of the taxi points if you prefer. It was hot again today, with temperatures in the high 80s.

I had lunch at the Waterfront Kitchen (at another of the water taxi stops), which was nice - it was almost empty, as it was a late lunch, just before they closed. The food was good, but the view over the harbour is better.

The Fells Point area in the first two photos has lots of shops and restaurants around the square, with cobbled roads and a number of trees to give shade from the sun. It's also the main transfer point for the different water taxi destinations. I decided to take a trip around the harbour by staying on the boat as it went over to Fort McHenry and then onto Captain James' Landing, from where I walked back to Fells Point where I had an ice cream and then waited to catch the water taxi running the inner harbour route back to downtown so I could go back to my hotel to change before going to the ballgame.

Chicago White Sox @ Baltimore Orioles (1)

This evening was the first game of my road trip, and despite it being an evening game, the temperature was still in the high 80s. I was in the club level on the third base side, in the front row, which gives an excellent view with no chance for people to stick their heads in the way! The game was the second of a four game series between the Chicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles. Today was a comprehensive 6-0 win for the Orioles, as Tillman (7IP) and Matusz (2IP) combined to shut the White Sox out on very few hits. Nick Markakis's bases-clearing double in the second inning put Baltimore in front for good, with a few single run innings adding on, including Adam Jones' 100th career homer, which got a large cheer when he hit it and another when he came out to field the next inning. Tillman didn't really seem to be doing anything special - he got into a jam in the middle innings once, but got out of it and kept on racking up the outs, with around 100-105 pitches through 7. The game was over in under 2 and three quarter hours.

The biggest cheer for the White Sox came when their 1st base coach was introduced specially before the top of the 2nd, as it's Harold Baines, the former Oriole DH. I like it when the home team recognises former players who are now with other teams. Of course, it's much easier than they're now coaches rather than opposition players, but this is something that, by and large, baseball does well.

Baltimore arrival

After a nice breakfast at the hotel, I checked out and travelled up to Union Station for my short train journey to Baltimore. I decided to save money ($2!) by only going as far as the airport instead of the central station, because the light rail goes out as far as the airport and costs the same wherever you go. I had an electronic Amtrak ticket, which had a barcode on it which I had to show to the ticket inspector, who scanned it - no need for paper at all - plus, the train offered free wi-fi. Lots of places seem to offer free wi-fi, but without requiring you to register or limiting you to 30 minutes or other such problems like you get in the UK. After getting the Light Rail into the centre of Baltimore, I thought there was a lot of building work going on, as there were tall metal fences along the roads, but there was no sign of any work. As I walked along the three blocks to my hotel, I came across a temporary grandstand that has been constructed for ... this weekend's Baltimore Grand Prix! I'm actually heading back to Washington on Thursday, so won't see the event as that starts on Friday. However, it's quite a shame, because my room is directly across the street from Camden Yards (the Baltimore Orioles' stadium) and the cars will be racing around the road between and there's an excellent view of it from my room.

Statue of Brooks Robinson in the foreground, Oriole Park at Camden Yards in the background, and some grandstands erected for the Baltimore Grand Prix along the road.

Washington arrival

My flight was delayed 25 minutes due to a late incoming flight. Unfortunately, it was an old plane without all the modern facilities, as they had to use a replacement plane at short notice. I had already received an apology from United about the plane, before getting to the airport:

As a substantive expression of appreciation for your patience and understanding, please visit the website http://www.united.com/appreciation to select a gesture of goodwill most meaningful to you.

I shall claim my goodwill later. There was no queue to check-in or for security in the fast track lane so I was able to sit in the lounge for a couple of hours drinking coffee. Once on board, it did push back at the newly appointed time and after 30 minutes of taxiing and queueing, we finally got a take-off slot - maybe our pilot did not have enough bottles of whisky.

There were only a handful of people in business class - I had a whole row all to myself, and nobody in the row in front, either. The salad starter was nice, with croutons, balsamic vinaigrette with bread rolls and garlic bread, followed by a substantial piece of beef in a marsala sauce with carrots, potatoes and sugar snap peas (which were all very well done!) I passed on the cheese course, but did have the ice cream with caramel and chocolate sauce for pudding. It was very nice.

The flight was very smooth apart from a 5 minute patch just off the Irish coast and I was able to sleep for half a hour a couple of times too. We arrived slightly earlier than scheduled and only 10 minutes later than our original scheduled arrival time, and after taking 30 minutes to be transported to the main terminal, went straight through immigration, got my bag, straight through customs too. Fortunately, I was just in time for the next half-hourly Washington Flyer to take me to the metro. I now have a smart card for travelling here and also in Baltimore as they are both run by the same agency, which is handy. The hotel is very close to the Navy Yard metro station, which is convenient. The temperature here is 32C/90F now, which is quite a change from home.

Trip itinerary

This year, my trip itinerary is:

• Baltimore:
  • Chicago White Sox @ Baltimore Orioles (2)
• Washington DC:
  • St Louis Cardinals @ Washington Nationals (2)
• Milwaukee:
  • Pittsburgh Pirates @ Milwaukee Brewers (2)
• Bay Area:
  • Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Oakland Athletics (1);
  • Arizona Diamondbacks @ San Francisco Giants (1);
  • Los Angeles Dodgers @ San Francisco Giants (3)
• Dallas:
  • Cleveland Indians @ Texas Rangers (3)
• New York:
  • Tampa Bay Rays @ New York Yankees (2);
  • Philadelphia Phillies @ New York Mets (2)