Why did Nationals GM Jim Bowden deal Jon Rauch away so cheaply in a hot market for relievers? We may never know.

I saw The Dark Knight on Sunday night in a packed theater, and I must say, without revealing any spoilers for the remaining people who have not seen it, the movie is well worth the hype. Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker is haunting, and his performance is not over-exaggerated because of his untimely death. Aaron Eckhart does a wonderful job as Harvey Dent, and I thought Christian Bale made a solid Batman. The writing is great, the visuals are great, and I would highly highly recommend checking it out, if you have not already done so.

I suppose I should comment on the All-Star Game, since that took place since my last column. Confession time: Despite the fact that the game was 15 innings, and lasted nearly five hours, I did not watch one minute of it. Don't get me wrong, I am obviously a huge baseball fan, but just like the players who get three days off, I use the break to re-charge my batteries for the second half. So, I went to see another stellar concert by the indie rock band Spoon, and then came home and went to sleep. And, I am very proud of myself since I managed to tangentially discuss the All-Star game without railing on how stupid it is that an exhibition game determines something as important as home field advantage in the World Series. I shall refrain, for now.

And in actual baseball news, it is taking every bit of willpower I have to not break my computer, as I watch the Mets bullpen self-destruct in a crucial division battle against the Phillies. As I type, the Phillies are in the process of putting up a six-run ninth inning (still a runner on second and two outs during this pitching change) against three different relievers. I am not entirely sure what Johan Santana has to do to get a win. And New York radio stations had the nerve today to talk about how he was underachieving because he only has 8 wins. Yeah, this one is Johan's fault, guys.

Two strange trades this week in baseball: Randy Wolf from the Padres to the Astros, and Jon Rauch from the Nationals to the Diamondbacks. Wolf was sent in exchange for minor league pitcher Chad Reineke. With Chris Young on his way back from injury, it is understandable why the Padres would want to move Wolf, but it is baffling what the Astros could possibly want with Wolf. One has to assume that they think they can contend, but at 12 games out of first, and 10 games off of the wild card pace, that seems to be a misguided belief at best. Besides, Wolf is terrible, with a 4.74 earned run average thus far this season. I suppose it's not a big deal, as Reineke is not a blue chip prospect, but it just seems a strange deal from where this writer is sitting.

The other strange deal was the Nationals dealing Rauch to the Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league infielder Emilio Bonifacio. Bonifacio has seen a bit of time in the majors, and could form a middle infield tandem for the Nationals with newly re-signed Cristian Guzman, but it does not make any sense for general manager Jim Bowden to deal Rauch for one minor leaguer when virtually every contender needs relief pitching help (see above meltdown over the Mets as a prime example). In any event, Rauch is signed cheaply as well, which makes the deal even more baffling. Then again, it is Jim Bowden, so virtually nothing is baffling...except a smart move.

And finally, courtesy of my brother, who passed this along to me, I present to you one of the more interesting BOX SCORES I can recall seeing. And perhaps most interesting is that amidst all of that, the game took only four hours and three minutes. It goes to show you how much the game has changed, what with commercials/advertising, and the specialization of pitchers that a game like this nowadays, would probably take at least six hours

That will do it for me this week. See you next time.