We are now four games through my ultimate personal rivalries homestand. The Nats stunk it up against the Phillies, burying me in a 7-2 hole in the fourth annual Cheesesteak/Half-Smoke Challenge with Cliff/Ombudsman/Matthew. He has yet to cash in on his win last year though.
Tonight brings in the second rival, the Pittsburgh Pirates. While I despise their hockey counterparts, I do not wish the Pirates any specific harm, but they are The Maryland Bureau Chief/Sam’s team. We tend to wager bottles of distilled spirits on the annual matchups. He owes me a bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle 10 years 0ld (90 proof) form last year, while i paid up with a bottle of Gentleman Jack for the year before. A Half-Smoke/Primanti Bros. bet has been suggested as well, but I’m never in Pittsburgh. I’m thinking of taking in a Nats game out there around August 1, but we’ll have to see if the schedule works — if it does we may have to switch the bet.
Lastly, the weekend series is with the hated Baltimore Orioles. I’ve been over this before.
