Second!

My second game of the season was on Friday April 25th against the Cubs. Given the Nat's struggles and the Cub's successes my optimism was coated in a hard candy shell of doubt. I was surprised by Nats who put up a little lead and then watched it fall away. I cringed when the over-worked Rivera took the field late in the game, knowing in the previous games that Rivera spells relief, w-a-l-k. The guy that stole the show however was Will Nieves, the catcher came in the game late after some pinch hitting changed up the order, and nailed the walk-off home run that stunned Cubs fans and lifted Nats fans out of the gutter of defeat, at least for one night. Nieves also scored his first major league home run with that same swing. Nieves is quickly becoming a Cinderella story for the Nationals.

Nieves was brought up due to the injury to Lo Duca. Nieves has been a journey man, and right now is hitting above .300, better than both Lo Duca and Estrada. Nieves has also been on it defensively, despite there being a ton of stealing going down out on the field, lately. Still the question remains, will Will get sent back once Lo Duca is done with his rehab? I sure hope not! He has also managed a make a strong relationship with pitcher Lannan, who was a major part of Sunday's win against the Cubs. Not only is Nieves helping Lannan show that the Nats pitching is not the stuff of soft ball leagues, he is hitting! With all the struggles the Nats are having why take away a good defensive glove and a good bat?! So what if Nieves will not be able to maintain over the season. Who cares!? I say keep him in the lineup, if for nothing else, than for Lannan, and our struggling pitchers. The Nats took two games from the Cubs, and the fans showed up to the games (Cubs fans helped out with that), and now what - you take away one of our heroes? Fine go right ahead, reward Nieves and send him down to the minors, all he did was play a key role in two of the teams better wins all season - and bring that guy who was doin' 'roids back!

On another note, the wife and I decided to hang back outside the park at the center field entrance to catch a fireworks display. The display was awesome, what was not awesome was the wait at the metro. We were help outside the platform while more trains came, after about 10 minutes they let our group in and waited for the next trains. I am sure this happens at other games, but they terminated several green line trains at Mt. Vernon Sq. so the trains could double back and deal with the bottle neck at the Navy Yards. Great for them, but since I live further up the green line it kinda stunk. I was pretty shocked that 20 minutes after the game there was already a 7 minute gap between trains, as reported on the metro board, and caused a large group to wait outside the station. I was also shocked when trains were terminated at Mt. Vernon Sq. and sent back to the station, leaving us waiting for a green line train to take us further. We watched two trains get diverted back, which was probably great for everyone else, except those living on the green line.

I think that metro should be a little cautious about this tactic. The operator said they would only be diverting our train, but in typical metro fashion, diverted the second train too. The problem with diverting the trains is not just that it leaves me stranded, it leaves the people not attending the game stranded. Now what would piss you off more, being stuck at Mt Vernon Sq after a game, or being stuck at Mt Vernon Sq after work with other people that attended the game? Like it or not green liners are going to be stuck with Nats fans and it would be nice if metro could get some more trains now, and not for the next stadium. At the very least it will keep us fans in good with the folks that rely on the green line to get to and from work.