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July 20 Clippers in Richmond at the Diamond RICHMOND IS A GOOD PLACE TO CATCH A GAME, IF YOU CAN STOMACH THE AMBIENCE
Yesterday I drove down to Richmond so I could get a gander at our Triple-A squad from Columbus. Despite the fact that I left Lake Ridge at 2:30pm, I still managed to suffer through the misery that is Washington traffic. I think to myself, "When do these people work? If it's now 3 o'clock in the afternoon, they must have some kind of flex schedule that starts them off at 5 in the morning?!? I mean you get up at three in the morning to start out the door by four? And if you are still stuck in traffic between Springfield and Fredericksburg despite your efforts...then what in the world is the purpose?!?" LOL! Whatever. Traffic in Washington is only going to get worse - one day when we are all extinct, alien archeologists are going to dig up around DC and find a bunch of cars jammed against one another with skeletons inside slumped over steering wheels. The dinosaurs had the ice age - we have traffic. I had never been to The Diamond before. I found it easily accessible off of I-95 at exit 78, it's impossible to miss - you can see it as you're driving the off ramp. Amazingly, it reminded me of a minature version of RFK. It has a large concrete awning that stretches over the upper deck seats from third base to first. As is always the case at RFK, the awning in Richmond was a blessing when the sky opened up in the top of the 7th with heavy rain, lighthing and thunder.
 FANS WAIT IN THE UPPER DECK DURING 7TH INNING RAIN DELAY IN RICHMOND
What's really cool about the Clippers is that just about every face on the team is familiar. I rarely had to check my roster sheet to know who was who. Spring phenom Emiliano Fruto was the starter for Columbus and he was relieved by our old pal Levale Speigner - followed by a name from the past: Hector Carrasco. Unfortunately, Fruto was struggling the entire game. His very first action was to give up a homer to Pete Orr. Immediately after that, he loaded the bases and then gave up a two-run single to Braves third baseman Wes Timmons which put the Clippers in a hole right from the start.
 LARRY BROADWAY AND MICHAEL RESTOVICH
Despite Fruto's struggles on the mound, the Clippers had several opportunities to make a game out of it. However, just like the true Nationals players they are - they consecutively grounded into double plays in the third, fourth and fifth innings. The handful of Nats fans that were present in the stadium could only shake their heads as Braves starter Lance Cormier recorded his third win of the season. The reliever for Cormier was a guy named Will Startup (what a name for a pitcher), he arrived on the mound after the rain delay and he's got this herky-jerky delivery that reminds me of Brendan Donnelly - only he does the Brendan spastic motion not with his arms but with his foot. His motion as he releases the ball looks to me like a 10 year old doing a Bruce Lee karate kick. Hey, but whatever works right?
 PLAYERS WARMING UP AFTER 30 MINUTE RAIN DELAY
Despite the frustration, we Nat fans stuck together behind the Columbus dugout (safety in numbers) and cheered for the guys in blue. All that was missing was you! The Clippers will be in Richmond again August 11 through 14th and box seats are only 10 bucks. I suggest everyone to take a day off in the Old Dominion this summer and cheer on the guys from Ohio. You never know who you might see up-close and personal. Ya might even see a real live Nats blogger! |
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