Do-Wah-Diddy
– The Exciters
Heard
3/23/2015 around 7:00, playing in Old Town Kissimmee
Monday, March 23, 2015
Shuffle #52 (March 23, 2015)
Oye Como Va –
Santana
The Harder
They Come – Jimmy Cliff
Raise It Up –
The IMPACT Repertory Theatre & Jamia Simone Nash
Bring Me
Some Water – Melissa Etheridge
Been To
Canaan – Carole King
The Way –
Ariana Grande
Paper Thin –
John Hiatt
Where The
Boys Are – Connie Francis
Your Fire
Your Soul – Dar Williams
Kiss This
Thing Goodbye – Del Amitri
March 22, 2015 – Nats 7, Tigers (SS) 7 – Lakeland FL
Weather: 83,
partly cloudy
Time: 3:10
Attendance:
7,027
Section 301,
Row K, Seat 13 – lower level, shallow left field, bleachers, next to the top
row in the section but not bad overall. No liners or popups into the section,
but Tigers third-base coach Omar Vizquel tossed a ball in our general direction
at one point and the guy sitting in back of me stumbled while trying to catch
it (thought we might need to catch him instead). Quite warm again, but some
clouds and enough of a breeze to keep it from being really miserable. Only one
other member of the Maryland crew made it, understandable given the expected
heat and lack of Nats star power at the game.
These same
two teams played to a scoreless tie last Thursday, but each managed a touchdown
this afternoon. The Nats struck first off Justin Verlander (not at his
sharpest), with two runs in the second, then hit a leadoff home run in each of
the next three innings – Michael Taylor, Ian Stewart (who also had two
singles), and Taylor again. They added a single run in the top of the sixth,
and one more in the eighth.
A. J. Cole,
who was filling in for Strasburg (slightly sprained ankle), looked impressive
on the hill for the Nats. He gave up only one hit (unfortunately it was a
two-run homer by J.D. Martinez) in his 3.2 innings and notched four strikeouts,
including Miguel Cabrera (who was making his spring debut) twice. Following
Cole, Tanner Roark held the Tigers scoreless through the fifth, but he was the
only Nats reliever to escape unscathed. The home team scratched out a run off
Matt Thornton in the sixth, then went back to work with the long ball: two-run
shot by Alex Avila off Blevins in the seventh, then solo shots by third baseman
Wade Gaynor in the eighth (off Xavier Cedeno) and second baseman Joey Pankake
in the ninth (off Manny Delcarmen) to tie things up. No extra innings, as is
typical for spring training.
Joker
Marchant (MARCH-ant) Stadium in Lakeland is celebrating its 50th
anniversary this year, and while it has some charms, it is certainly not one of
the more fan-friendly places in the Grapefruit League. The concourse is
claustrophobically crowded with long lines for concessions even an hour before
game time. The men’s room I visited before the game had 5 sinks, 3 of which had
missing or broken soap dispensers. I stopped into a different rest room after
the game, and 3 of the 7 urinals had plastic garbage bags over them. (Hey, I
understand that the place is old, but at least put a little money into plumbing
maintenance, folks!) However, it was the most pleasant drive so far – some traffic
on I-4 and a brief slowdown at one point on the way there, but NO TOLLS! Joker
Marchant is only a mile or two off the interstate, and since it’s in the middle
of the town there are numerous private parking options (I paid five bucks),
which are not only cheap but are much easier to get out of than the official
lot (based on experience from last year).
I bought a
Coney Island dog for $6.75 (sloppy, but seemed like the best choice among the places
without a long line), along with a $4.50 bottle of Pepsi.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
March 21, 2015 – Nats (SS) 4, Marlins 2 – Viera FL
Weather: 87
degrees, sunny
Time: 2:27
Attendance:
4,622
Section 116,
Row 6, Seat 16 – just beyond first base, lower level, 6 rows back from the
field. Definitely needed to be paying attention to the game, although no balls
came close to us. Out in the sun, but there were some clouds and a breeze, so
it was much more comfortable than the temperature suggested.
Note that I
actually wound up in seat 12 – as I was walking to the car to make the drive to
Viera, I got a text from my Maryland friends who are also down for some
ballgames. They were originally going to catch the other Nats game (against the
Braves), but decided to make the trek to Viera instead due to cheaper ticket
prices and the prospect of J-Zimm starting. (They were rewarded by getting a
couple autographs and a nice chat with Denard Span.) They got tickets on
StubHub in my row, so the 4 folks in the intervening seats were nice enough to
slide down one so we could sit together.
Parking was
a little cheaper than Kissimmee ($9.00). I had a decent Cuban sandwich (with
chips and a pickle), also for 9 bucks, and a $6 souvenir-cup Coke. I was a
little disappointed by the combination of not having cupholders in our seats,
and also not having a plastic cup for the drink. Fortunately there were no
spills.
The Nats
scoring was limited to the bottom of the third, when the first 5 batters
combined for 4 runs: Desmond single and steal, Harper walk, Zimmerman fly out
to advance both runners, two-run single by Wilson Ramos, and a two-run homer by
Dan Uggla. Miami scored a first-inning run off Jordan Zimmermann on a leadoff
triple by Dee Gordon and an RBI single by Adeiny Hechavarria, but J-Zimm kept
them off the board for the remainder of his 5 innings despite giving up 8 hits.
The Marlins also touched up Rafael Martin for a tally in the top of the ninth.
“Shake It
Off” was the seventh-inning stretch song. Oh well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)