Straight No Chaser -- Weinberg Center for the Arts (Frederick MD), 4/8/2016

Row L, Seats 2 and 4 (right side, on the aisle)

 

We saw the 10-man a cappella ensemble Straight No Chaser several years ago at Wolf Trap and thought it was a good show, but they outdid themselves last night before a wildly enthusisatic sellout crowd at the Weinberg (with the possible exception of the three folks sitting next to us who left at intermission). As the crowd was settling into their seats, the show started with a video featuring fictional appearances by various members of the group in a variety of reality TV shows, both plausible (The Voice) and less likely (Shark Tank, Naked and Afraid). The initial five songs were all contemporary, winding up with a hilarious take on Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass”. The rest of the first set included material that was a little older, including a moving version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and concluding with a medley of “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay” and “Proud Mary”, with Jerome Collins channeling his inner Tina Turner to hilarious effect. (Collins, the only African-American group member, also drew some chuckles later during the introductions of the guys in the crew by giving a shout-out to “the three black folks who came out to see us tonight”.)

 

The second set featured a number of other medleys and mashups, including the heartfelt “On The Road Again / I Play The Road” and their you-had-to-be-there “The Movie Medley”, finishing with a mashup of “Thriller” and “Uptown Funk” that brought down the house. The encore set started with their classic take on “The 12 Days Of Christmas” (their 1998 YouTube video went viral – now over 19 million views – and led to their record contract) and ended with a heartfelt version of Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love”, done without microphones.

April 7, 2016 – Marlins 6, Nationals 4 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/171094890/nationals-unable-to-cash-in-on-opportunities

 

Attendance: 41,650

Game Time: 3:32 (delayed 1 hour, 25 minutes by rain in the second inning)

Weather: 61 degrees, cloudy (but MUCH colder after the storm hit)

Wind: 11 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Lance Barksdale, First Base - Will Little, Second Base - Ted Barrett, Third Base - Toby Basner

Seventh-inning stretch song: It’s Not Unusual – Tom Jones (a welcome return from 2015)

 

Section 135, Row NN, Seats 10-13

 

Highlights – our seats were under cover … Daniel Murphy smashed a bases-loaded triple in the bottom of the first, matching the three runs Miami scored in the top of the frame … Bryce Harper got his MVP, Silver Slugger, and the keys to the city prior to the game, and later contributed two walks and a seventh-inning homer

 

Other – our seats being under cover didn’t help much when the wind and rain kicked up, as they evacuated the stands … the 100-level concourse was no place for the claustrophobic during the rain delay, as it was almost impossible to move … we were all surprised that Dusty brought starting pitcher Tanner Roark back after the long delay … Roark was hit often although not always hard during his 4-inning, 99-pitch stint, giving up 9 hits and 3 walks … the Nats managed only 6 hits for the game, wasting most of the 9 walks they drew

#115 Sunshine, Lollipops And Rainbows – Lesley Gore (1965)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQmBXEZEYtg

 

Not only did the Nats 2014 season end with a whimper rather than a bang in baseball terms, they were also not making good choices with their seventh-inning stretch songs, at least in my humble opinion. I’m sure “Friends In Low Places”, for instance, appeals to some, but it’s neither sufficiently uptempo nor easy enough to sing along with.

 

Naturally, I came up with a short list of tunes (7, if I remember correctly) that I considered more appropriate, and this was one of those that made it. In addition to meeting the criteria mentioned above and being a nice tribute to Gore, who died early the next year, it’s short enough (just 1:36) that you might be able to squeeze the whole thing in before play resumed.

 

Fortunately for us Nats fans there was a happy ending. I never heard them use this song, but they did go with the Tom Jones classic “It’s Not Unusual” (which was also on my list) during many of the games we attended last season, and I’m certainly not complaining about the times they played “Uptown Funk” instead.

#114 More Today Than Yesterday – Spiral Starecase (1969)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoLRZUgFTy8

 

I can’t say I know much about this band, other than that they were from Sacramento and never had another big hit. I liked this when it came out but it didn’t initially make much of an impression on me. It’s grown on me over the years, though, and is one of the best songs ever for wedding anniversary parties. (And yes, they did spell their name “Starecase”.)

#113 Michael (Row The Boat Ashore) – The Highwaymen (1961)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRv-fgfLFTk

 

When I was very young, my best friend and I (who shared the same first name) had a little club, which if I remember we called the “Searching Party”. It was a very exclusive club, not so much because we wouldn’t allow anyone else to join but because I don’t think anyone else was especially interested in applying for membership. Initially our favorite song we “I’ve Been Working On The Railroad”, which we typically would sing over and over again. (Fortunately for both sets of parents, almost all of this activity was outside in somebody’s back yard, rather than indoors.) At one point, though, the two of us did have a difference of opinion on picking a more contemporary official club song. This one was my choice; my friend wanted to go with “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow-Polka Dot Bikini”. I can’t remember which of us prevailed – most likely we simply moved on to other things. “Michael” has nonetheless remained one of my favorites over the years (although I admit that “Bikini” is also on my iPod).

April 2, 2016 – Nationals 8, Twins 8 – Nationals Park (pre-season exhibition)

Home Run Derby, a little early (story, box)

 

Weather: 53 degrees, partly cloudy

Time: 3:09

Attendance: 24,799

Section 306, Row F, Seats 1-3 (just beyond third base)

 

Once again the weather forecast was dicey, and in fact there was a light rain falling when we exited the Metro station to walk to the ballpark. Fortunately the rain ended before the game started and held off thereafter; the sun even came out, making it a nice day for a game. The official attendance was 24,799, although not nearly that many folks appeared to actually show up. (Presumably not all of the season-ticket holders showed up, although the game was part of all the ticket plans.)

 

The two new Mike Isabella stands on the 300 level weren’t open yet, but I did try an order of beef and onion dumplings from Pinch Dumpling – very good, but as the old joke about Chinese food goes, I was hungry less than an hour later. (A slice of pizza fixed that.)

 

Although it certainly wasn’t hot and the wind didn’t appear to be much of a factor, the balls were flying for the first four innings of the game, with 6 balls leaving the yard and a few others backing outfielders to the warning track. After Brian Dozier (a former member of the Bethesda Big Train) led off the game with a round-tripper, the Nats struck back for 3 runs in the bottom of the frame on homers by Zimmerman and Murphy. Nats starting pitcher Joe Ross had an interesting 5-inning outing; he issued no walks and fanned 8, but gave up 12 hits and 8 runs. With the home team down 8-5 (Taylor and Espinosa having added solo shots), things quieted down considerably for a while. The Nats chipped away at the lead with single runs in the 7^th and 8^th, while their bullpen kept the Twins off the board. Finally Chris Heisey, who had just won the final spot on the regular-season roster, celebrated by leading off the bottom of the 9^th with a blast that tied the game.

April 1, 2016 – Nationals 4, Twins 3 – Nationals Park (pre-season exhibition)

Gee but it's great to be back home (story, box)

Weather: 81 degrees, partly cloudy

Time: 2:42

Attendance: 0 (as no tickets were actually sold, plenty of empty seats and space for the kids to roam)

Section 129, Row H, Seats 11-13

 

For the first time this year, the Nationals had two exhibition games at Nats Park just prior to Opening Day, instead of just one. The 6:00 Friday game was basically for season ticket holders only, with general admission tickets and only the lower level of the stadium open. I took Metro and got there at 3:00 expecting a long line, but was pleasantly surprised to find myself among the first to arrive. While I wasn’t able to outrace all of the younger folks who were also heading for the prized seats behind the Nats’ dugout, we did wind up in that section, just 5 rows back. Even better, we had friends on either side of us, as we wound up occupying 11 of the seats in the row. Although the weather forecast was ominous, we had no rain at all, although there was quite a bit in sections of Montgomery County.

 

The Nats struck quickly in the first, notching two on a leadoff triple by newcomer Ben Revere followed by a Rendon walk, Harper sac fly and Zimmerman double. They added one more in the third on consecutive doubles to start the frame by Revere and Rendon. The Twins came back to tie in the top of the fourth, however, with 4 consecutive hits off Tanner Roark. Both pitching staffs then tossed goose eggs until the bottom of the eighth when the Nats took the lead in unexpected fashion, keyed by a double off the bat of pitcher Blake Treinen.

 

All of this set the stage for the first Nats Park appearance by Jonathan Papelbon since the infamous “Papelchoke” game last September. The reception as he entered the game was decidedly mixed (we estimated a 35% favorability rating), but the controversial closer turned the boos to cheers with a 1-2-3 save featuring two strikeouts.