Wow! Has Hell Frozen Over?

I know it's hard to believe, my friends, but the Washington Nationals just finished a 3-game series with the first-place Phillies, and the Nats took 2 out of the 3 games!  Yesterday they beat them 10-2, and today they won 2-1.  I don't know if it was the good pitching, the decent hitting, the super-hot temperatures, or the fact that Teddy Roosevelt finally won the "Presidents' Race" today; whatever the reason, I am a happy Nats fan.  Now I am a realistic fan too; I know that this upcoming road trip to Arizona, San Francisco, and San Diego will be a tough one.  The Nationals just plain stink when they go out west, so I will just cling to these past 2 victories until they come home for their next homestand.  (Kudos go out to Michael Morse, Laynce Nix, and Danny Espinosa for their good offense, and John Lannan and Jason Marquis for their decent pitching).

In other baseball news, did you see the play this past weekend that put Buster Posey out for the rest of the season?  For those of you who don't know Buster, he was the 2010 Rookie of the Year and was a pivotal player in the Giants' World Series win last year.  He's a decent catcher and an all-around nice guy.  Well he was covering home plate in a game against the Marlins when Scott Cousins came barrelling down the third base line and plowed right into Posey.  Now I'm all about defensive, contact baseball, but I thought Cousins' slide was a little over-the-top.  Instead of slamming into Posey with his shoulder and knocking him down, he should have either slid headfirst or feetfirst to try and tag home that way.  Some people think Posey was "interfering," but I just think he was doing his job by covering the plate.  Posey suffered 3 torn ligaments in his left ankle and a fractured left fibula, and he is definitely out for the rest of the season.  I think the Giants will struggle a little without him, but they will be OK.  This gives Yadier Molina a definite starting position in the All-Star game (I predict), and I'm fine with that.  I do hope Posey has a good recovery and am confident that he will be back in good shape next year.

And how is Derek Jeter's hunt for 3000 hits going?  He is currently at 2983, so he will reach the coveted milestone by the middle of June (I believe).  He is only 5 hits shy of passing Sam Rice, who was a star player with the old Washington Senators.  Keep going, Derek; I'm rooting for you, boyfriend!

So it's ridiculously hot here in Frederick (the temperature reached 102 yesterday), but it's never too hot to catch a game of baseball on TV.  Have fun, stay cool, and keep following your favorite team and players as the summer continues to heat up!