October 13, 2016 (NLDS Game 5) – Dodgers 4, Nationals 3 – Nationals Park

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/206007428/dodgers-beat-nationals-in-nlds-to-go-to-nlcs/

 

Attendance: 43,936

Game Time: 4:32 (!)

Weather: 67 degrees, clear

Wind: 11 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Jeff Kellogg, First Base - Manny Gonzalez, Second Base - Dan Bellino, Third Base - Chris Guccione, Left Field - Ron Kulpa, Right Field - Tom Hallion

Seventh-inning stretch song: We’re Not Gonna Take It – Twisted Sister

 

Highlights – Nats took a quick lead in the bottom of the second, when Murphy singled, stole second, and scored on an Espinosa single … Max held LA scoreless until the seventh, pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth … after the Dodgers took the lead with 4 in the top of the seventh, the Nats rallied after the stretch, cutting the lead to one on a leadoff walk by Espinosa and a pinch-HR by Chris Heisey

 

Lowlights – in the bottom of the sixth with two outs, Nats 3^rd-base coach Bob Henley attempted to score Jayson Werth from first on a Zimmerman double (He was out. By a lot.) … Scherzer’s only pitch in the seventh was hit out of the park by Joc Pederson … 5 Nats relievers (!) allowed 3 more runs before the inning was over, keyed by a pinch RBI single by Carlos Ruiz and a two-run triple by Justin Turner … LA put closer Kenley Jansen in the game with one on and none out in the bottom of the seventh … after Jansen walked two in the bottom of the ninth, Clayton Kershaw came in after pitching into the seventh inning two days earlier to retire Murphy and last-man-standing Wilmer Difo to end Washington’s season, losing yet another first-round series despite having home-field advantage

 

Other – Livan Hernandez got a nice round of applause for throwing out the first pitch … in typical Nats fashion, they ran out of paper towels in one of the men’s rooms before the game even started, and ran out of pizza on the upper level in the fifth inning … we all booed the “last call” announcement for Metro in protest of WMATA’s decision not to extend the midnight closing time … game lasted 45 minutes longer than September’s Springsteen concert … getting out of DC seemed to take forever; it was past 2am when we finally got back to Westat

 

 

The GOP’s venomous charlatan

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trumps-vile-candidacy-is-chemotherapy-for-the-gop/2016/10/10/73e40f30-8f05-11e6-9c85-ac42097b8cc0_story.html?utm_term=.18774f9ead40

 

Very seldom am I a fan of George Will’s political columns (as opposed to his baseball columns, which are fantastic), but I did enjoy this one.

 

Question: Is DJT on his way to taking down more people along with him than anyone since Samson? (Please forgive me for mixing Trump and a Biblical reference in the same sentence.)

#131 Home Is Where The Hatred Is – Gil Scott-Heron (1971)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtzlFO19m3k

 

Although I’d heard a few Gil Scott-Heron cuts (“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, “Johannesburg”) back when they came out, I didn’t become aware of this one until Kanye sampled it for “My Way Home” on his Late Registration album. (In case you’re wondering, I bought that album because another one of its tracks, “Hey Mama”, sampled “Today Won’t Come Again,” by folk singer-songwriter and WAMA Hall-of-Famer Donal Leace.)

Shuffle #93 (October 11, 2016)

Rocket Love – Stevie Wonder

Black And Blue – The Secret Sisters

Dreams – Fleetwood Mac

America – Simon & Garfunkel

Tobacco Road – Lou Rawls

I’m The One Who Loves You – The Impressions

When My Time Comes – Dawes

Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things) – Martha & The Vandellas

October 9, 2016 (NLDS Game 2) – Nationals 5, Dodgers 2 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/205513796/nationals-even-nlds-after-game-2-victory/

 

Attendance: 43,826

Game Time: 3:55

Weather: 62 degrees, sunny

Wind: 8 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Chris Guccione, First Base - Ron Kulpa, Second Base - Tom Hallion, Third Base - Jeff Kellogg, Left Field - Manny Gonzalez, Right Field - Dan Bellino

Seventh-inning stretch song: Jump – Van Halen

 

Highlights – Nats catcher Jose Lobaton turned the game and series around with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the fourth (after ending an earlier bases-loaded threat with an inning-ending double play and dropping a throw at the plate as LA scored its second run) … Daniel Murphy had 3 hits and a walk, driving in insurance runs in the fifth and seventh … Trea had two singles, a stolen base, and a run scored … Roark was not at his best but limited the damage to 2 runs in 4.1 innings … 5 Nats relievers blanked the Dodgers on 1 hit the rest of the way

 

Other – first inning was déjà vu all over again, as Seager hit a solo homer for LA and all 3 Nats batters fanned in the bottom of the frame … enjoyed an early lunch at the “Budweiser Brew House” (fish tacos, pizza, wings, hot cider, and hot chocolate) … the sun made it surprisingly comfortable during the game in the upper level, despite windy conditions on the field … not sure whether official crowd figure counted the many pigeons that decided to attend … our chauffeur won the Designated Driver of the Game drawing; we all chuckled when his prize turned out to be a Nationals beer stein … game was originally scheduled for Saturday, but they decided to postpone it about 5 minutes after we arrived (we had expected a delayed start but not a postponement)