September 30, 2016 – Marlins 7, Nationals 4 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/204278716/justin-bour-marlins-beat-nationals/

 

Attendance: 30,857

Game Time: 3:08 (start was delayed 1:46 due to rain)

Weather: 63 degrees, drizzle

Wind: 13 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Brian O'Nora, First Base - Jeff Kellogg, Second Base - John Tumpane, Third Base - Alan Porter

 

Section 222, Row P, Seats 12-15 – upper level, about halfway down the right field line between first base and the foul pole

 

Highlights – back-to-back homers by Rendon and Drew kicked off a 4-run fourth inning for the Nats … Trea stole 2 more bases … nice pregame tribute to Jose Fernandez

 

Other – Nats starter A.J. Cole dug an early hole by giving up 4 runs in his 3 innings (although only 2 were earned) … offense was completely shut down by the Miami bullpen, whose members fanned 10 of the 16 batters they faced … Harper struck out in all 4 of his at-bats … due to taking Metro and the delayed start, we headed out in the sixth, after Dee Gordon drove in the decisive run on an infield single … on “Election Night”, they eventually ran out of donkey figurines as expected, while some elephants were still left

#130 Big Yellow Taxi — Joni Mitchell (1970)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94bdMSCdw20

 

“They paved paradise, put up a parking lot.”

 

Joni Mitchell is one of her generation’s finest songwriters, and I doubt that she (or anyone else) has ever packed more of a lyrical punch into such an amazingly short (2:16) song. Still timeless over 40 years later, I’m sure people will continue singing this one for a long, long time.

 

“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”

#129 Girl Come Running — Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (1965)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skto7GZ2A4M

 

The Four Seasons pretty much got lost in the shuffle in 1965, with the continuing dominance of the British Invasion and Motown, not to mention Dylan going electric and James Brown basically inventing funk with “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”. Perhaps that’s why this one peaked at a modest #30 on the national charts.  I’m not entirely sure why this is my all-time favorite song of theirs; it may be because it was the one in rotation when I first started seriously listening to Top 40 radio.

 

Classic YouTube comment: “Anybody know what note Frankie hits at 1:40?  I can't hear that high.”

#128 Songbird — Jesse Colin Young (1975)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nIGz7IivFc

 

Just to prove that Jesse Colin Young was just as mellow in his solo days as he was with the Youngbloods.

#127 Sunlight — The Youngbloods (1969)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYO0d6y2mQI

 

I initially fell in love with the studio version of this song when it was first released in 1969. (They tried again two years later; neither version even reached the Hot 100.) But the live version on the 1971 Ride The Wind LP (one of my all-time favorites) is even better. Just put this on, lie back on the grass on a warm spring afternoon, and gaze at the clouds. Follow with “Groovin’” by the Rascals, War’s “All Day Music”, and the Isley Brothers’ “For The Love Of You”. Repeat ad libitum.

#126 The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore) – The Walker Brothers (1966)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q11ium_-Lv8

 

This vocal trio sure looked British (check the haircuts) and had some big hits on that side of the ocean, but they actually were from California. Only three of their songs (all great) hit the charts over here, including perhaps the best version of the Bacharach-David classic “Make It Easy On Yourself”. Admittedly they sound more like the Righteous Brothers than the Stones or the Kinks, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.