April 11, 2004 - 2:54 PM

Triad: Third-Baseball Is Back

(note: this is the second of 3 entries leading up to #100 [am I really that wordy?])

Baseball season is barely a week old, and already I'm nearly drowning in results and statistics. While Nick is away in Italy, I'm managing his two Fantasy Baseball teams in addition to 3 that are mine and the 1 that I share with Tony. Way too much to worry about. What's even more daunting is the prospect of handling all of Tony's teams for two weeks while he vacations in Paris and London next month.

Two Fridays past, me and the three Travelers-of-Italy took in a game at Dodger Stadium. It was a preseason matchup between the two L.A. area teams, the Dodgers and the Anaheim Angels. I've always had a perference for American League teams, growing up in Aberdeen, Maryland (home to the most famous Baltimore Oriole, Cal Ripken) and then going to school in Massachusetts where the Boston Red Sox are as close to a religion as a secular team can be. So, since I moved out to the West Coast, I've rooted for the American League Angels over the National League Dodgers. This was a good game for me, as the Angels hammered some homers before wrapping things up in the 12th inning with some clutch hitting to win it. And I got me some cotton candy.

Nick and I are pretty excited that the Orioles will not only be doing their usual swing through at Anaheim this summer, but they'll also be rocking the Dodgers' joint too. You better believe that we'll be taking in some of those games. There's also been talk with Tony as well as with Nick and LDBL of possible trips to San Diego to check out the new stadium for the Padres down there, and up to San Francisco to see the Giants at Pac Bell and the A's at the Coliseum.

I hope that we find better nachos at those stadiums than the stale, bland packagesthey sell at both Dodger Stadium and at Edison Field (where the Angels play). I still have fond memories of the nachos we used to get at Orioles games in Baltimore- fresh, crunchy, salty chips with a tangy sauce that had a little kick which you could supplement with the extra jalapeno peppers. None of the food at the stadiums here really matches up with the tasty good eats they serve in Baltimore (crabcakes, Boog's BBQ, cheap(er) beer).

Speaking of crabcakes, while playing the EA Sports MLB 2004 Baseball game, I noticed that, while playing a game at Oriole Park, I could hear amidst the crowd noise, a vendor hawking crabcakes. Talk about attention to detail. It's a pretty nifty game with hitting and pitching mechanisms that are slightly different from other baseball games I've played, and which seem to work pretty well comparatively. I like my games to have some sort of statistical accuracy so that it reflects reality a bit, and this one simulates that fairly well. And while it has a stable system for handling contracts and budgets and is cool enough to utilize actual minor leaguers for added depth, the game falters in its method in allowing players to progress and become regulars or superstars as they mature (yes, you can play consecutive seasons and watch your players get older). This is another facet of a baseball game that I love, the ability to find young players and watch them blossom so that they can take over for the over-the-hill veterans, and the lack of a working system here is a negative.

Now Listening To : Moby-Everything Is Wrong
Random Thought : I must learn to do more "showing" and less "telling" in my writing to give it a little punch.

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