This column by Dana Milbank is the funniest piece I’ve read all year.
(The photo at the top is pretty great as well.)
Thursday, March 21, 2019
March 18, 2019 – Cardinals 4, Phillies 1 – Jupiter FL
Attendance: 7,666
Game Time: 2:50
Weather: 75 degrees, Partly Cloudy. (dodged yet another bullet
weather-wise)
Wind: 16 mph, L To R.
Section
204, Row 5, Seat 14 – about a third of the way down the first-base line, four
rows from the top, middle of the row (even single tickets were hard to come by)
Although the Phillies crew that traveled across Florida for this 2-game
East Coast series featured far more Triple-A depth guys than regulars, they
nevertheless had chances to score against St. Louis starter Dakota Hudson. They
loaded the bases in the top of the 3rd on two singles and an error,
but Aaron Altherr and Nick Williams struck out swinging to end the threat. Two
innings later, Drew Butera reached third with one out, but Hudson fanned Cesar
Hernandez and Odubel Herrera to end his impressive outing. The visitors finally
pushed across a run in the 9th against Cardinals flame-thrower
Jordan Hicks, when Gift Ngoepe drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on
Trevor Plouffe’s single, and scored when the next two batters grounded out.
Like Hudson, Phillies starter Zach Eflin went 5 innings. He got quite a
few swings and misses, but the Cardinals did hit several fly balls hard,
including a solo homer by Tyler O’Neill to lead off the 2nd and a
2-run shot by Paul Goldschmidt with 2 out in the 5th. Three
relievers finished things up, with Yacksel Rios giving up the final St. Louis
run in the 7th.
It was close to a full house; the first thing I encountered after
entering the stadium was a long line of people waiting to get into the team
store. The trio of mahi tacos was somewhat messy, but well worth the $11.00
price. Getting out of the parking lot was easier than I had expected, with
drivers politely taking turns despite the absence of anyone directing traffic.
Monday, March 18, 2019
March 17, 2019 – Nationals 10, Mets 5 – West Palm Beach FL
Attendance: 6,345
Game Time: 3:12
Weather: 81 degrees, Partly Cloudy. (Sun was actually out for most of
the game, despite the ominous forecast.)
Wind: 7 mph, Out To RF.
Section
111, Row U, Seat 2 – just to the right of home plate (although I spent most of
the game in section 120 with the Gowen crew)
Once again, the Nats got off to a fast start against the Mets, batting
around and knocking out starting pitcher Hector Santiago before he could finish
the frame. With one out, the carnage proceeded as follows: Suzuki single, Soto
homer, Adams single, Jake Noll single, Stevenson bunt single, Difo
bases-clearing double, Adrian Sanchez RBI single. Santiago did fan Strasburg,
but then hit Robles with a pitch to end his afternoon.
While Soto added two doubles later, his first-inning round-tripper made
one fan especially happy, as prior to the game he had picked Juan to hit the “Dinger
of the Day”. After four quiet innings, the Washington offense added a run in
the 6th on Adams’ RBI double, and 3 more in the 8th, with
journeyman outfielder Tyler Goeddel hitting a 2-run pinch-homer in his first
(and perhaps only?) major-league plate appearance of the spring.
Strasburg held the visitors hitless through the first three innings,
but gave up a 2-run homer to Michael Conforto in the 4th, and three
consecutive singles in the 5th. He was lifted after Robinson Cano
doubled and Conforto walked to start the 6th. Power-hitting rookie
1B Pete Alonso, whose arrival in New York is eagerly anticipated by Mets fans,
hit a 2-run shot off Henderson Alvarez in the top of the 7th for the
final New York tallies.
March 16, 2019 – Cardinals 8, Nationals 5 – West Palm Beach FL
Attendance: 6,377
Game Time: 3:08
Weather: 78 degrees, overcast. (Had a little sun in the middle innings,
a few drops of rain in the 8th)
Wind: 5 mph, In From RF.
Section 107, Row T, Seat 1 – just to the left of home plate, several
rows from the back
Perhaps it was an omen that the whiteboard at the entrance to the
ballpark where the lineups are posted was blank for 45 minutes or so after the
gates opened. Although their spring base in Jupiter is only about 15 minutes
from West Palm Beach, the Cardinals brought no regulars whatsoever to the game.
No Yadi Molina, Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Carpenter, or Marcell Ozuna. Not even
Kolten Wong or Paul DeJong. (Maybe none of them were eager to face Scherzer?)
Instead, their lineup featured the likes of Randy Arozarena, Tommy Edman, and
Evan Mendoza. Meanwhile, the Nats rolled out what could very well be their full
Opening Day lineup, with the exception of Wilmer Difo getting the start in center.
So it was somewhat surprising when the visitors jumped on Max for a
quick run, when Edman led off the game with a triple and Jose Martinez
immediately singled him home. Perhaps a bit annoyed, Scherzer allowed only 2
singles in the remainder of his 6 innings of work, fanning 9 and earning a
standing ovation from the crowd when he exited.
Yan Gomes, who homered twice on Friday, added a solo shot in the bottom
of the 2nd to tie the score. (He settled for singles in his
remaining two plate appearances.) Washington completed its scoring for the day
with a four-run 4th, featuring a two-run double by Trea Turner.
The home team’s 5-1 lead, unfortunately, didn’t survive the departure of
Scherzer (and the rest of the Nats’ starters) at the end of the 6th.
Nolan Gorman and Arozarena went back-to-back off Barraclough in the 7th
to cut the lead in half. Trevor Rosenthal survived the 8th despite
allowing a couple of baserunners. Doolittle got 2 outs in the 9th
after a leadoff single, but then allowed a double, walk, and single to tie the
score. Davey decided to let him pitch to one more batter, and Andrew Knizner
hit one out of the park to plate the Cardinals’ final 3 runs.
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