The 3 girls with heart are coming to the Da’Burgh!! As K said we are starting our adventure this afternoon and attending games on Saturday and Sunday. I am super excited about this mini-roadtrip. My Dad’s whole family is from this fine city, Troy Hill specifically, and I was actually born there. However, being a military brat, we moved when I was a little tyke, so I haven’t spent much time there. I am excited to head to my offical hometown and explore its many wonders. My Mom always talks about Primanti Bros. sandwiches and how they were the only thing that eased her cravings while she was pregnant with me. So I figure I gotta try at least one. It’s going to be awesome to see a game at PNC Park, as we posted last month, its one of Manny Acta’s favs also!

With hours to go until we head to my home in Pennsylvania, I can’t wait to get on the road.
We’ll be heading to PNC Park early on Saturday for batting practice and then meeting my Dad, Wendy and my brother and his girlfriend. They outnumber us by one, but it sure will be fun to represent the Nats in Pittsburgh, especially since all of their fans are leaving in the 3rd.

Baby, get ready!

Good catch, Steph.

Another great article — this time from the New York Times about Dmitri Young.

was watching the Braves’ most accomplished fan, former President Jimmy Carter, cheer on his team.

AP Photo/Gregory Smith

Oh, and maybe Wired Wednesday.

The rest of the evening was miserable.

I have been reading a lot about the Mid Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) on blogs lately and I must say I am a bit discouraged by what is being said. I just can’t figure out why there is so much negativity circling around the station. I get that it is owned by Peter Angelos and some folks aren’t big fans of him, but is that really a reason for such animosity towards a station that is trying their best to provide us baseball fans with the ability to simply watch baseball?!

I had a long season last year without MASN, as my cable provider didn’t offer it. It was frustrating to know a game was on and not be able to watch it. This year we 3 girls have been dedicated, serious fans, but we are still learning the game; the commentary provided by both Bob and Don has been extremely valuable. I learn something new every game and let’s face it, can you ever know everything there is to know about this game? In addition, I enjoy the Nats Xtra post game show just as much. Both Johnny and Ray are charismatic and positive even after a loss, and compliment each other nicely. They are also two of the nicest men I have ever met, and are very receptive to Nats fans.

As for the commercials on the channel, come people lets realize that these are meant to sell the team to viewers. They are entertaining and send a positive message about our growing team. Also for the inconsistencies during broadcasts and misspellings, those things happen everywhere. I tend to shake those off because MASN offers something greater, the ability for me to watch lots of baseball. I also feel for those folks in North Carolina who don’t have access to baseball. I know it must be frustrating. I dealt with it last season, but at least I had the ability to go to home games. These guys in NC don’t have that luxury. If I can help out by signing a petition or encourage the people in North Carolina to speak up to Time Warner, I’m all for it!

On days when I can’t make it to RFK or the team is away, I thoroughly enjoy kicking back on the sofa and tuning into the game with Bob and Don and our boys. I suggest we relax a bit, let the little things slide and embrace what MASN gives us, a lot of baseball! If this season has taught Nats fans anything it should be that a positive attitude goes a long way. Let’s take a page from the book of Manny Acta and his team and appreciate what we have.

In case you missed it, here’s the video clip of the lost ball in Ryan Zimmerman’s jersey.

AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson

Thanks, Doug, for passing along this great ESPN story on our very own Dmitri Young.

(AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Like Kristen posted after Saturday’s game, she and StephyJames sat in section 120. I sat with our favorite Indians fan Lindsey in section 108 behind the visitor’s dugout (I have to thank Lindsey here for inviting me to sit with her!). It was a nice change of pace because we don’t usually splurge on tickets or sit along the fist baseline. We were blessed again with great weather for baseball and a large than usual crowd at RFK. I was enjoying our 2 run lead for most of the game while my rival, Lindsey was itching for the Indians to rally. I also spent a good bit of the game chatting with a young Nat’s fan. We listened to Ryan Church’s batting song (Crazy Train), and he proceeded to tell me all I ever wanted to know about Ozzy Osborne. As Chief entered the game in the 9th, I was confident that the Nats could take the win, however, with these boys I know the game is never over till it’s over. My young friend couldn’t understand why I wasn’t celebrating the win already. He said hey it’s the 9th inning the Nats are up by 2, it’s in the bag. I just smiled shook my head and said, hey you never know. Chad got off to a rocky start, never really seeming to be “on.” Then Lindsey’s favorite Victor Martinez stepped up the plate. Lindsey was cheering for a big hit and I was cheering for a strike out. How very strange, her favorite facing my favorite! Oh how my heart ached when Martinez knocked one out of the park, the Indians scoring three runs. Lindsey was cheering and I was groaning…poor Chief!! I left the stadium with a bit of a heavy heart on Saturday, we were so close! However as Manny said, “Hey the sun will rise tomorrow.” The win on Sunday definitely helped ease the sting from Saturday night.

Despite the loss I had a great time at the game. Lindsey is a dedicated baseball fan also, so it is fun to exchange stories and knowledge together. She also gave me some great info on the Indians (I rarely get the opposing fan prospective). Last but not least I got some great pictures of our Nationals at work!

It’s not very often that we get to sit in lower level seats at RFK. We have no problem cheering for our guys from Section 445.

However, last night — thanks to the world’s greatest boss, we sat in Section 120.

There are very few ways to describe how different — and unbelievable — a game can be from up close. Four rows behind the dugout, you can quite literally, see everything. It was unbelievable.
Our Indians fan, Lindsey, also was treated by her parents to wonderful seats near first base, so more great pictures and another great story are sure to follow this post.

Steph and Kristen from our seats in 120
The game was wonderful too, until the 9th inning. “The Coach” was there to remind us to watch for balls and bats, and the Nat Pack seemed to always gravitate back to our section to watch the game. Chico did a great job, yet again, and still wasn’t able to get the win.In the ninth, I said to StephyJames…”you know, Lindsey’s favorite player is Victor Martinez. Steph2853’s favorite player is Chad Cordero. That’s gotta be interesting over there.” A few seconds later, Martinez knocked the ball out for a homerun — off of Chief. How devastating for those two to be sitting together!

Section 120 was unphased. The Nat Pack and a young Nats fan had the section on our feet for a rally comeback.

The bases were loaded; there was one out.

You have got to be kidding. Lopez hit the ball right at Joe Borowski, who was able to get Schneider out at home quickly. Shoppach, rather than throwing to first where Lopez would have been safe, threw at third to catch Nook Logan. Unfortunately, Logan was off the bag and out at third. A dramatic but horrible moment ended the game.

But the seats were still amazing.

I meant to have these up prior to this series with the Indians, but baseball games kind of got in the way of getting them scanned.

My grandmother grew up in Cleveland. Recently, I found out that her and her friends used to try to get to Indians’ games early to talk to (and my grandfather adds “smile at”) the players. I had no idea that she had these photographs all of her life…pictures of the 1948 World Series Champions, the Cleveland Indians.

Included in her pictures — the legendary Bill Veeck, Hall of Famer Lou Boudreaux and Ray Boone.