5-4-3

Sundays at our house are quiet, yet usually productive.  While my husband works on some sort of home improvement or woodworking project, I get all the week's laundry done, plus whatever housekeeping chore wasn't done during the week.  Plus we have to fit in a run, since we're training for a Fall marathon.  Today, however, I realized that it's hard to be a productive and responsible adult while watching a 3-hour baseball game.  I made it work though, running to the washing machine between innings and getting the vacuuming done while trying to watch the TV.

The only televised game I could find was between the Nationals and the Tigers.  I was fine with that, since I watch a lot of Nationals games, plus I wanted to see good ol' Magglio Ordoñez.  Well, Mags wasn't in today's lineup, but hard-throwing right-hander Justin Verlander was, and he's always a treat to watch ("Pudge" reference of the day:  Iván Rodriguez caught Verlander's no-hitter back when Iván was with the Tigers back in 2007; the second no-hitter he's caught in his career.  The first was for Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers, obviously not the same Kenny Rogers who was left by Lucille with four hungry children and a crop in the field.  But I digress...).  Anyway, Verlander did not disappoint, pitching 5 very good innings.  "Resident Drunk" Miguel Cabrera went 0-3 with two strike-outs, and I actually feel bad for him because personal problems aside, he's a very good ball player.  I hope he gets some help for his "issues."  Also nice was seeing the Tigers wearing the name "Sparky" on their uniforms, in honor of the late Sparky Anderson, who managed the Tigers for what seemed like 50 years.

One of the best parts of the Nats/Tigers game was the perfect execution of a 5-4-3 double play.  For those of you who read this just to be nice and aren't familiar with this fundamental yet fun-to-watch play, here's another tidbit for you to learn (I hope you're finding these useful!):  The third baseman (in this case the Nationals' Jerry Hairston who is not their every day third baseman), made a diving catch after the ball was hit, caught the ball, threw the ball to second baseman (and Puerto Rican!) Alex Cora, who then threw the ball to first baseman Adam LaRoche (which I think is Italian for "the big ugly insect").  Since there was a runner going from first base to second, he was out at second because Cora caught the ball before the dude could reach the base.  Then the guy who hit the ball to the third baseman is out at first, because LaRoche caught it before the runner got there.  So there you go - a perfect double play!  The most common double play is the 6-4-3 double play, where the shortstop is the one who makes the initial catch instead of the third baseman.  When a double play is perfectly executed, I go "Nice!", and when the second baseman overthrows and the ball goes over the first baseman's head, I say "Aw, man!" (or any four-letter word that comes to mind).

Two other games of interest today included the Yankees beating the Phillies 8 to 1, and the Cardinals beating the Red Sox 10 to 3.  In the Yankees/Phillies game, both A-Rod and Curtis Granderson went 2 for 3, and CC Sabathia pitched 6 and 2/3 innings (too many innings for a spring training game, if you ask me).  This will hopefully be one of the very few times I mention A-Rod in my blog, because I was taught that if I have nothing nice to say, I shouldn't say anything at all.  For the Phillies, Jimmy Rollins went 3 for 3.  Regarding the game between the Cardinals and Red Sox, Boston's second baseman, Daniel Descalso, went 2 for 4.  "Descalso" means "barefoot" in Spanish, but I'm sure he was wearing shoes today.

So there you have it; my wrap-up for today.  In a few more hours it will officially be the first day of Spring, which means Opening Day is just around the corner!  I can't wait!