Two Grand Salamis in One Game

cross posted from my regular blog . . .

"Who are Those Guys?"

First off, name the movie for the above line. Bonus points for actually identifying the names of "those guys."

Last night, Mark Buehrle, not content to have thrown a perfect game in his last outing, decided to break the record of retiring 41 straight batters by getting past 45 (that's 27 from the perfect game and 18 more from last night's game).

Now as to this team that plays here in Washington, DC. What has gotten into them? They seem to have found something and have been cracking their bats over their opponents, now having won four in a row and six of their last eight. So when do playoff tickets go on sale? Yes, well, don't get your hopes up, they are still more than 25 games out of first place in the NL East.

A significant record was notched by Nationals outfielder, Josh Willingham in the game against the Brewers on Monday night. Willingham hit two grand slams in the same game, only the 13th time this has happened in the era of modern baseball. Please note this is five less occasions than the perfect games. Evidently baseball is harder than it looks.

Here's the list, which in of itself is interesting as it does not necessarily feature those marquee names that one might expect (there are only two hall of famers on the list). Further, it is interesting to note (and this was a subject of discussion at the lunch table) that, with only one exception, all of these took place on the road.

• May 24, 1936 - Tony Lazzeri, New York Yankees, away game
• July 4, 1939 - Jim Tabor, Boston Red Sox, away game
• July 27, 1946 - Rudy York, Boston Red Sox, away game
• May 9, 1961 - Jim Gentile, Baltimore Orioles, away game
• July 3, 1966 - Tony Cloninger, Atlanta Braves, away game
• June 24, 1968 - Jim Northrup, Detroit Tigers, away game
• June 26, 1970 - Frank Robinson, Baltimore Orioles, away game
• September 4, 1995 - Robin Ventura, Chicago White Sox, away game
• August 14, 1998 - Chris Hoiles, Baltimore Orioles, away game (active)
  
• April 23, 1999 - Fernando Tatís, St. Louis Cardinals, away game
• May 10, 1999 - Nomar Garciaparra, Boston Red Sox, home game (active)
  
• July 29, 2003 - Bill Mueller, Boston Red Sox, away game
• July 27, 2009 - Josh Willingham, Washington Nationals, away game