Announcement
Angels Steal Victory from Nationals
Posted by Steve Elliott on
Jul 06 2004
at
05:00PM PDT
in 2019 Season
By Steve Elliott
There are usually warning signs before an earthquake. Scientists have observed entire ant colonies migrate in the weeks preceding major seismic activity. Larger and measurable tremors often happen as well. Those who are wise take precautions. Those who don't risk catastrophe.
Backed by the strong mound work of Joe Kissler, the Nationals entered the bottom of the ninth inning with a 3-0 lead against the division-leading Milwaukee Angels on Tuesday night at Zirkel Field. For the first seven innings the only thing shaking were Angel heads as each batter returned to the bench in frustration. The battery of Kissler and Jared Stengel effectively kept them off balance, mixing a dominant fastball and changeup with a timely curve.
In the eighth, the earth began to move. Kissler began to tire, losing command of the strike zone. Unable to place his change and curve, Kissler walked the bases loaded to bring powerful ex-pro, Bill Posteluk, to the plate. With a 3-2 count, though, Kissler caught him looking at a changeup, negating the rally. The tremor subsided. The Nats retained their hard-fought 3-0 lead. The ants were no where to be found.
After Dave Kosvuta worked around Joe Reisinger's ninth-inning triple, the Angels took one last stand against Kissler. After retiring the first hitter, the tremors started again. Two batters reached and Kissler was done for the night. Nationals management had pinpointed the epicenter (or so they thought) to an area 60 feet 6 inches in front of home plate. Their solution? Super rookie Corey Berndsen. Unfortunately for Corey, the epicenter had been misidentified.
6 feet behind home plate was a monolith, a man of superior experience and wisdom. This impartial arbiter, still struggling to reconcile his admitted blown call on the eighth inning ending 3-2 pitch to Postulek, had become weak-kneed. He was at the epicenter of the quake. Vision blurred by shaking of his legs, Lee Hardee had lost all confidence in his "ability" to differentiate balls and strikes. Patient, resourceful, and talented Angel hitters capitalized. Corey stood no chance against this force of nature. Strikes became balls. Balls hit batters. Sharp-breaking curves found the earth, bouncing away.
The scoreboard survived the quake. Flashing 4-3 in favor of the Angels, it served as a painful lesson to the Nationals. The difference between victory and defeat is small. Opportunities lost by one side is opportunity gained by the other.
Earthquakes can and do happen. Though they cannot be prevented, their impact can be mitigated if the warning signs are recognized and precautions are taken.
The Nationals will recover well. Our structural engineers had ensured that our buildings' foundations were built upon rock, not sand. Though a few windows broke, the infrastructure remained in tact, swaying with the earth.
There are usually warning signs before an earthquake. Scientists have observed entire ant colonies migrate in the weeks preceding major seismic activity. Larger and measurable tremors often happen as well. Those who are wise take precautions. Those who don't risk catastrophe.
Backed by the strong mound work of Joe Kissler, the Nationals entered the bottom of the ninth inning with a 3-0 lead against the division-leading Milwaukee Angels on Tuesday night at Zirkel Field. For the first seven innings the only thing shaking were Angel heads as each batter returned to the bench in frustration. The battery of Kissler and Jared Stengel effectively kept them off balance, mixing a dominant fastball and changeup with a timely curve.
In the eighth, the earth began to move. Kissler began to tire, losing command of the strike zone. Unable to place his change and curve, Kissler walked the bases loaded to bring powerful ex-pro, Bill Posteluk, to the plate. With a 3-2 count, though, Kissler caught him looking at a changeup, negating the rally. The tremor subsided. The Nats retained their hard-fought 3-0 lead. The ants were no where to be found.
After Dave Kosvuta worked around Joe Reisinger's ninth-inning triple, the Angels took one last stand against Kissler. After retiring the first hitter, the tremors started again. Two batters reached and Kissler was done for the night. Nationals management had pinpointed the epicenter (or so they thought) to an area 60 feet 6 inches in front of home plate. Their solution? Super rookie Corey Berndsen. Unfortunately for Corey, the epicenter had been misidentified.
6 feet behind home plate was a monolith, a man of superior experience and wisdom. This impartial arbiter, still struggling to reconcile his admitted blown call on the eighth inning ending 3-2 pitch to Postulek, had become weak-kneed. He was at the epicenter of the quake. Vision blurred by shaking of his legs, Lee Hardee had lost all confidence in his "ability" to differentiate balls and strikes. Patient, resourceful, and talented Angel hitters capitalized. Corey stood no chance against this force of nature. Strikes became balls. Balls hit batters. Sharp-breaking curves found the earth, bouncing away.
The scoreboard survived the quake. Flashing 4-3 in favor of the Angels, it served as a painful lesson to the Nationals. The difference between victory and defeat is small. Opportunities lost by one side is opportunity gained by the other.
Earthquakes can and do happen. Though they cannot be prevented, their impact can be mitigated if the warning signs are recognized and precautions are taken.
The Nationals will recover well. Our structural engineers had ensured that our buildings' foundations were built upon rock, not sand. Though a few windows broke, the infrastructure remained in tact, swaying with the earth.
Comments
There are no comments for this announcement.
