March 25, 2019 – Nats 5, Yankees 3 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/yankees-vs-nationals/2019/03/25/568441#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=568441

 

Attendance: 22,735

Game Time: 2:50

Weather: 59 degrees, Cloudy.

Wind: 11 mph, In From RF.

 

Section 306, Row D, Seats 3-4 – out just beyond 3B

 

In their annual final exhibition at Nationals Park before the real season starts, the Nationals fielded a reasonable approximation of their regular lineup and came away with a 5-3 victory. They never trailed in the game, starting off quickly in the bottom of the first on a one-out Turner single and a two-out Rendon homer, his 5^th of the spring. They loaded the bases with none out in the 4^th, scoring runs on a Suzuki sac fly and a Dozier single. Matt Adams homered two innings later to complete the Washington scoring, just before Martinez gave most of his starters the rest of the day off.

 

Anibal Sanchez turned in a relatively uneventful outing for the Nats, giving up a Troy Tulowitzki homer in the 3^rd and walking the leadoff hitter in the 6^th. Comeback kid Aaron Barrett relieved Sanchez with one out and allowed the inherited runner to score on a Greg Bird double. Barraclough, Rosenthal, Grace, and Doolittle finished up, with the visitors notching one more run in the 8^th.

 

As usual, the non-baseball side of the operation had numerous kinks to work out prior to Opening Day. Most of the concession stands were open, but numerous menu items were not available. At least one stand experienced a computer systems outage, and my eCash couldn’t be read off my phone when I went to get pizza. The scoreboard operator had quite a bit of difficulty keeping up with New York’s defensive substitutions. On the brighter side, my Nats Park Lanyard Radio worked like a champ to bring in the play-by-play from 106.7.

 

Perhaps as many as half of the 22,000 fans came disguised as empty seats. The good news weather-wise was that the “light intermittent rain” held off entirely until midway through the game, and never became much of a problem. On the other hand, the combination of temperature and wind made it feel much colder than the listed 59 degrees, so much so that I finally pulled out my gloves, and we left the building entirely after the 6^th inning.

March 18, 2019 – Cardinals 4, Phillies 1 – Jupiter FL

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/phillies-vs-cardinals/2019/03/18/566563#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=566563

 

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 3^rd 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 9^th 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 2^nd and a 2-run shot by Paul Goldschmidt with 2 out in the 5^th. Three relievers finished things up, with Yacksel Rios giving up the final St. Louis run in the 7^th.

 

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.

March 17, 2019 – Nationals 10, Mets 5 – West Palm Beach FL

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/mets-vs-nationals/2019/03/17/565891#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=565891

 

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 6^th on Adams’ RBI double, and 3 more in the 8^th, 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 4^th, and three consecutive singles in the 5^th. He was lifted after Robinson Cano doubled and Conforto walked to start the 6^th. 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 7^th for the final New York tallies.

March 16, 2019 – Cardinals 8, Nationals 5 – West Palm Beach FL

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cardinals-vs-nationals/2019/03/16/565890#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=565890

 

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 8^th)

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 2^nd 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 4^th, 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 6^th. Nolan Gorman and Arozarena went back-to-back off Barraclough in the 7^th to cut the lead in half. Trevor Rosenthal survived the 8^th despite allowing a couple of baserunners. Doolittle got 2 outs in the 9^th 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.

March 15, 2019 – Nationals 11, Mets 3 – Port St. Lucie FL

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/nationals-vs-mets/2019/03/15/565985#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=565985

 

Attendance: 6,599

Game Time: 2:40

Weather: 81 degrees, cloudy (had some rain driving up, but it was dry and comfortable for the game)

Wind: 13 mph, R To L.

 

Section 205, Row U, Seat 1 – just to the right of home plate, 3 rows from the top of the stadium

 

Washington’s offense started out in high gear and continued slugging through the 4^th, with 7 home runs in their first 23 plate appearances. Adam Eaton led off the game with the first dinger, and the Nats added 4 more tallies in the frame, climaxed by a 3-run shot by Yan Gomes. They piled on with 3 more runs in the 2^nd off Steven Matz, with Rendon and Zimmerman going back-to-back. The explosion continued even after Matz’s departure, as Gomes hit his second of the day in the 3^rd, while Rendon (again) and Matt Adams went deep in the 4^th off New York closer Edwin Diaz to finish the Nats’ scoring for the afternoon.

 

Meanwhile, Jeremy Hellickson pitched his usual efficient 5 innings, allowing just 2 runs. (An error by Victor Robles, who also looked shaky on an earlier fly ball, made one of the two unearned.) Matt Grace, Jimmy Cordero, Henderson Alvarez, and Justin Miller went an inning each to close things out.

 

It was a little sad to see Danny Espinosa, who played with the Nats from 2010-2016, lead off the bottom of the 9^th for the New Yorkers. (He grounded out to second.) Now 32 years old, Espinosa is in the Mets minor league camp and has just 2 hits in 29 at-bats this spring.

 

Best points about First Data Field – lots of covered seats (so you’re unlikely to be sitting out in the bright sun or rain), good pizza, friendly staff

 

Worst points about First Data Field – narrow concourse, long concession lines (so get your lunch early), hard-to-read scoreboard (dim red lights for most of the critical items)

 

Traffic exiting the field winds up in two lines, which are forced to turn either left (the way most people come in, with lots of slow traffic) or right. I wound up in the “turn right” line, which did feature periodic directional signs for I-95. I finally realized that these were sending me to a different interchange, north of the usual one (and thus farther away from West Palm Beach). Naturally I wound up getting behind a school bus, stopping for a train at a grade crossing, and enduring a mile or two of slow traffic when a lane was closed for road work (on the section of I-95 that I normally wouldn’t have even been on). Other than that, traffic was smooth until I got to West Palm Beach, where it crawled for the last 4-5 miles (normal Friday rush hour?).

March 27, 2018 – Phillies 5, Pirates 5 – Clearwater FL

https://www.mlb.com/phillies/news/phillies-jake-arrieta-pleased-with-progress/c-269804712

 

Attendance: 7,958

Game Time: 2:55

Weather: 79 degrees, sunny

Wind: 16 mph, R to L

Umpires: Home Plate – Vic Carapazza, First Base – Mark Wegner, Second Base – James Hoye, Third Base – Javerro January

Seventh-inning stretch song: Bird Dance – The Emeralds

Section 112, Row 13, Seat 9 – just to the left of home plate, and only two seats away from the aisle. Did need the sunscreen and cap for the first three innings or so, at which point we got shade.

 

The Phanatic’s final appearance of Spring Training 2018 came at the end of the 7^th inning, performing atop the home dugout to the strains of Donna Summer’s “Last Dance”. Quite appropriate.

 

The action during the game itself was sporadic. The Bucs scored 4 in the top of the first inning off Jake Arrieta, with the big blow being a 3-run homer to left by Josh Bell. Philadelphia’s offense couldn’t do much against Jameson Taillon in his 3 innings of work, or Pittsburgh closer Felipe Rivero in the fourth, but battered Chad Kuhl in the fifth to tie things up, as Altherr led off with a home run and Zack Coppola got a two-out, two-run single to finish things off.

 

With both lineups consisting mainly of players borrowed from the minor league camps, things remained quiet until the bottom of the 8^th, when Coppola led off with a walk, stole second, and scored on a single by Simon Muzziotti. The win was not to be, however, as Adrian Valerio hit a no-doubt-about-it shot to left off Edgar Garcia in the top of the 9^th to produce the final tie.

March 26, 2018 – Phillies 6, Pirates 3 – Bradenton FL

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/phillies-vs-pirates/2018/03/26/534252#game_state=final,game_tab=,game=534252

 

Attendance: 6,529

Game Time: 3:11

Weather: 79 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 10 mph, In from CF

Umpires: Home Plate – Alex Zeigler, First Base – Sean Barber, Second Base – Javerro January, Third Base – James Hoye

Seventh-inning stretch song: Black Betty – Ram Jam

 

Section IBX3, Row 22, Seat 12 – same section (infield box) as on Thursday, but the very top row this time. This was the breeziest and hottest day so far, so being in the shade again was a definite plus.

 

The traffic down to Bradenton was pretty smooth, and I think I finally figured out how to exit reasonably quickly: park in a $5 lot on the right side of 9^th St W (and before 13^th Ave W) coming in, head west on 13^th a couple blocks to 14^th St W, turn right there and head north to 6^th Ave W (route 64), turn right there, and then left once you get back to 9^th St W.

 

I tried the “First Mate Sandwich” from Duck Deli, which was a prepackaged 6” hoagie roll well-stuffed with roast beef, lettuce, tomato, and cheddar. The $10 price would have been a little steep just for the sandwich, but fortunately it came with a bag of chips that served as my mid-game snack.

 

The game resembled both the Thursday matchup in Bradenton (Phils jumped out to a big lead in the early innings) and Sunday’s home game with the O’s, where things started going off the rails later. Fortunately they hung on to win this one.

 

Philadelphia opened the scoring in the first when J. P. Crawford drew a walk to lead off the game, stole second, and scored on a Nick Williams single. They added two more in the second, both of which scored on a two-out infield single by Crawford, and finished their scoring for the day with 3 in the third, on a leadoff homer by newly-minted millionaire Scott Kingery, a bunt single by Pedro Florimon, and another HR by Andrew Knapp. Kingery got 3 more ABs, beating out an infield single in the 4^th, doubling in the 7^th, and drawing a walk in the 9^th.

 

Vince Velasquez got through his 4 innings of work, giving up 3 hits and one walk, and Victor Arano kept the shutout going in the 5^th. Edubray Ramos came in with one out in the 6^th and left after facing 3 batters in the 7^th. He allowed 3 runs to cross the plate on his watch, the first of which came on a two-out steal of home when he tossed the ball several feet over the catcher’s head. Lefty Jeff Singer (from Holy Cross HS in Delran NJ) came in to put out the fire, retiring all 6 batters he faced in the 7^th and 8^th.

March 25, 2018 – Orioles 6, Phillies 5 – Clearwater FL

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/orioles-vs-phillies/2018/03/25/534237#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=534237

 

Attendance: 8,538 (sellout)

Game Time: 2:38

Weather: 78 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 10 mph, Out to LF

Umpires: Home Plate – Brian Peterson, First Base – Phil Cuzzi, Second Base – James Hoye, Third Base – Clay Park

Seventh-inning stretch song: YMCA – The Village People

Section 108, Row 15, Seat 3 -- About 10 feet down the 1^st base line. Not actually close to the aisle, as there’s not one between 108 and 109. Unlike Bradenton and Lakeland, Spectrum (formerly Brighthouse) Field is basically one-level, with all of the non-suite seats below the concourse. Still wound up in the shade, however, which was handy on a warmish afternoon.

 

Despite recent improvements to some of the older Gulf Coast stadiums, Spectrum Field in Clearwater remains the place to beat. That would be the case even if it were not for the Phillie Phanatic, who was in top-notch form Sunday. 2016’s “grouper bites” have been replaced by “grouper nuggets”, but the latter (four good-sized chunks) are still great, if not quite as suitable for others to sample. You can also get a variety of local craft brews for a mere $6.00.

 

The game itself moved quickly through the first 7 innings, as there was relatively little offense on either side. (There was actually more action away from the field, as the team announced the signing of Scott Kingery to a long-term, $24M contract.) Baltimore Rule 5 draft pick Nestor Cortes Jr. kept the Phils pretty well in check for his 3 innings. Rhys Hoskins hit one out to start the second, and they threatened in the third when Roman Quinn led off with a single and got as far as 3B with one out (stole second, got to third on a ball that got a few feet away from the catcher), but they weren’t able to get him in. They were completely helpless during the next 3 innings against Miguel Castro, who fanned 6 while allowing just one man to reach base. The offense finally got untracked after the stretch, when Altherr and Franco started the inning with a single and homer, respectively.

 

Phillies starter Nick Pivetta was impressive in his 3 innings of work, giving up just 2 hits and walking none while striking out 5. Ben Lively pitched the next 4, giving up 2 runs in the top of the fifth.

 

With the Phils leading 3-2 after 7, things got weird, with almost all of the regulars on both sides out of the game, and a lot of their replacements wearing uniforms with no names and numbers in the 90s. Kapler made 3 mid-inning pitching changes in the eighth, apparently in an effort to see both Hoby Milner and Zac Curtis in action as they battle for a spot in the bullpen. Milner came in with no outs and runners on first and third and promptly yielded singles to Baltimore minor-leaguers Jaycob Brugman and Jake Ring. After Pedro Beato got the first out, Curtis came in and got off to a great start by fanning Pedro Alvarez. He followed that success by walking Jomar Reyes to force in one run, and then uncorking a wild pitch to let in another. He did retire Chance Sisco to finally retire the side, as the visitors took a 5-3 lead. Each team scored a single run in the remaining 3 half-innings to account for the final score, with RBI going to Simon Muzziotti, Brugman, and Malquin Canelo. Most of the fans remained until the end, exiting the park to the strains of “Sweet Caroline”.

March 24, 2018 – Phillies 4, Tigers 1 – Lakeland FL

https://www.mlb.com/phillies/news/drew-hutchison-making-case-to-be-on-phillies/c-269571198

 

Attendance: 6,922

Game Time: 2:53

Weather: 75 degrees, sunny

Wind: 7 mph, R to L

Umpires: Home Plate – Sean Barber, First Base – Mark Wegner, Third Base – Jeremie Rehak

Seventh-inning stretch song: Thank God I’m A Country Boy – John Denver

Section 207, Row Q, Seat 14 – top row today (not a problem in these small stadiums), almost directly behind home plate, in the shade again (pleasant, since it wasn’t as chilly as yesterday)

 

The ballpark now known as “Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium” has also been greatly improved since my last trip there 3 years ago. As in Bradenton, you can now walk all the way around the outfield, and the concessions have been expanded – a welcome touch, since long lines had always been an unwelcome feature of the park previously. Even the new electronic menu signs are actually readable. They didn’t offer anything particularly exotic or regional, but the cheese dogs weren’t bad.

 

Getting to Lakeland, and in and out of town, wasn’t bad at all, although getting through Tampa on the way back was extremely slow due to an incident on I-275. I heartily concur with the recommendation at http://www.springtrainingconnection.com/lakeland.html to park at Christ Lutheran Church just north of the field. It’s close, cheap ($5.00), paved, and the volunteers are friendly. At some point the lot probably fills up, but there were still some spots available at 11:30.

 

The Phillies pitching staff shut out the Tigers until the bottom of the ninth. Drew Hutchison bolstered his case for making the team by nibbling his way through the first 4 innings, allowing only one hit. He did walk 3 batters, but distinguished himself in the third by fanning Miguel Cabrera with one out and runners on second and third.

 

Former Nat Jordan Zimmermann tuned up for Opening Day by going five innings. He was particularly impressive in the first inning, when he fanned 3 Phils (with a Scott Kingery single thrown in). He did wind up giving up 4 runs on 9 hits, although his stuff generally looked good.

 

The Phillies have 2 openings on their 4-man bench, and the main contenders were all in the lineup. Veteran Pedro Florimon, playing 3B, kicked off the offense with a leadoff triple in the second. Jesse Valentin made a nice quick-reaction play at 1B (his 7^th position of the spring), and added a single and double. CF Roman Quinn did Roman Quinn things: beating out a double play and then stealing second (2^nd inning); singling in Valentin, going to second on the throw and then stealing third (4^th); almost beating out a grounder to second (6^th); hitting a soft grounder to third, getting to second on the ensuing throwing error, and then stealing third (8^th). Quinn seems like the key to the decision. Does the team want to go with Florimon and Valentin for more defensive versatility, while giving Quinn more playing time (and chances to get hurt) in AAA, or keep him in the majors, where he can be a late-inning weapon but would probably get only sporadic at-bats?

March 23, 2018 – Phillies 8, Pirates 2 – Bradenton FL

https://www.mlb.com/phillies/news/maikel-franco-hits-grand-slam-in-2-homer-game/c-269477106

 

Attendance: 5,794

Game Time: 3:34

Weather: 70 degrees, sunny

Wind: 10 mph, in from CF

Umpires: Home Plate – Chad Whitson, First Base – Bill Welke, Third Base – Sean Barber

Seventh-inning stretch song: YMCA – The Village People

Section IBX3, Row 21, Seat 5 – just on the 3^rd base side of home plate, one row from the top (but still plenty close), totally in the shade, so I was glad I decided to wear a long sleeve shirt

 

LECOM Park (formerly McKechnie Field) was a lot nicer than I remembered it from past visits. You can now walk completely around the park, with some recently-added concessions stands beyond the outfield. (I can now stay I’ve tried Gator Bites, which are relatively mild and taste at least a little like chicken.) There’s also plenty of space behind the stands down the first base line. The downside to Bradenton has always been the traffic. This year I was pleasantly surprised with my trip down; I think that Google Navigation helped me get a route through the town to the ballpark with relatively light traffic. Even when much of the crowd left the game before the end, however, getting out of the town after the game was still a painfully slow process.

 

This turned out to be a great game for the Phils, as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the 5^th and never looked back. Maikel Franco was the #1 star, with a 2-run homer in the 4^th and a grand slam an inning later. Jorge Alfaro doubled in the first two runs in the 2^nd. Hernandez, Santana, Hoskins, and Altherr also had two hits each.

 

Aaron Nola blanked the Bucs over his 4 innings, giving up just 4 hits and 1 walk while fanning 5. (Batting 8^th, he also beat out an infield grounder in the second inning to get one of the team’s 15 hits for the day.) After Nola’s departure, the Phils seemingly staged a competition between Hoby Milner and Zac Curtis for the lefty-specialist role in the bullpen, having them pitch in the 5^th and the 7^th innings respectively to the same Pirates batters. Each fanned lefty-hitting prospect Kevin Kramer and veteran Cody Dickerson, around hits by the righty-swinging Kevin Newman, who doubled against Milner and singled off Curtis. Milner finished his outing by retiring Starling Marte; Curtis gave up a single to Marte before getting a popup from Gregory Polanco.

 

New Phillies manager Gabe Kapler has made news this spring by occasionally flip-flopping his left and right fielders in the middle of an inning, to protect novice left-fielder Rhys Hoskins when a batter comes up with a pronounced tendency to hit many more balls to left than right. I did get to see the switch in action, as Hoskins moved to right and Altherr took over LF whenever Pittsburgh first-baseman Josh Bell came to the plate. Oddly, Bell was hitting left-handed, and the infield was in a standard shift for left-handed hitters, meaning the Phils data showed that Bell would hit grounders to the right side and fly balls to the left. He singled to right in the 1^st, walked in the 4^th, and fanned in the 6^th.

 

The Phillies brought along several young guys from their minor-league camp as late-inning replacements. (They made 4 defensive substitions during the seventh-inning stretch, which both MLB At Bat and the stadium scoreboard got in the wrong positions in the batting order.) If you’ve ever heard of Luke Williams, Jiandido Tromp, or Jesus Alastre, you either work for the team or need to find some other activities to occupy your time. The Pirates, on the other hand, kept their starting nine (except for pitchers) in for the entire game. This yielded a great if largely unseen bottom of the ninth, when the Phils brought in 26-year-old, 5-10 lefty Joey DeNato to finish the game. According to baseball-reference.com, DeNato pitched in AA and AAA for the Phillies last year and was “drafted by the Phillies in the 19th round of the 2014 MLB June Amateur Draft from Indiana University-Bloomington.” At any rate, the unsung DeNato worked a 1-2-3 final frame, retiring in order each member of Pittsburgh’s regular starting outfield (Dickerson, Marte, Polanco).

 

March 27, 2017 – Nationals 6, Mets 0 – Port St. Lucie FL

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/221109958/nationals-harper-turner-homer-behind-scherzer/

 

Attendance: 4,510

Game Time: 2:43

Weather: 78 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 8 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Chris Conroy, First Base - John Libka, Second Base - Ryan Additon, Third Base - Nick Mahrley

Seventh-inning stretch song: Lazy Mary [Luna Mezza Mare] – Lou Monte

Section 203, Row V, Seat 20 – a bit down the first-base line, on the aisle, two rows from the top (but still with a good view), in the shade all afternoon

 

I went through the first 4 of my 5 games this spring without seeing the Nats hit a single ball out of the park, but they made up for it this afternoon. Trea followed his single leading off the game with solo shots to left off Mets starter Seth Lugo in the third and fifth, the latter a no-doubt-about-it blast. Harper, who ended the first by grounding into a double play, hit two long ones to the grassy area beyond the right field wall: a solo shot to lead off the fourth and a two-run blast in the eighth. Doubles by Drew and Zim added another 4^th-inning run, a frame that ended with an excellent at-bat by Scherzer with runners on 2^nd and 3^rd, as he fouled off several pitches and worked the count full before finally grounding out sharply to Lugo. (The final 6 Washington batters of the afternoon fanned against Mets minor leaguers, but by that point no one really cared.)

 

Max didn’t do badly on the mound in just his second official spring start, throwing 85 pitches over 5 innings and holding the New Yorkers to 2 hits while striking out 7, although he did issue 3 walks. Enny Romero, Vance Worley, and Koda Glover, all competing for the final two spots in the bullpen, held the Mets to one hit and one walk the rest of the way.

 

The Mets regular outfielders and shortstop were playing a split-squad game down the road in Jupiter, so New York started some guy named Tim Tebow in left field. (You may have heard of him.) Appearing to make a statement, Max brought the heat in the second, fanning him on 3 pitches that registered 97, 96, and 97 on the scoreboard. He struck him out again to start the fifth. Tebow did get a nice round of applause when he ended his 3^rd AB (against Romero) by grounding the ball back to the pitcher, but Glover fanned him one more time to end the game.

 

I have to say that I really liked First Data Field (“Tradition Field” until a month or so ago). It’s not the newest or fanciest place, but the sightlines are good, there’s plenty of shade, the lines for food and restrooms were short-to-nonexistent (at least when I went), and they did a nice job of getting the cars out of the parking lot after the game. (Allow 10-15 minutes after exiting the lot to get back onto I-95, however.) The concession prices were also reasonable; I got the largest slice of pizza I’ve ever had in my life for a mere $6.

March 26, 2017 – Astros 5, Nationals 1 – West Palm Beach FL

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/220962032/astros-go-yard-twice-musgrove-sharp-vs-nats/

 

Attendance: 5,135

Game Time: 2:47

Weather: 76 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 13 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Brennan Miller, First Base - Mike Estabrook, Second Base - David Rackley, Third Base - Shane Livensparger

Seventh-inning stretch song: It’s Not Unusual – Tom Jones

Section 110, Row M, Seat 6 – same section and row as Friday

 

After yesterday’s 4-run outburst, the Nats’ offense continued its struggles on Sunday. Things started off well with a leadoff double by Turner in the bottom of the first, followed by long fly outs by Murphy and Harper to bring him home. The Nats managed only 2 hits over the final 7 innings, however, and fanned 9 times over the course of the game. (Hitters from both teams were frequently frustrated with Brennan Miller’s strike zone.)

 

Meanwhile, the Astros tied the score on a solo homer by Jake Marisnick in the top of the third (the first round-tripper I’ve seen this spring), and teed off on Gio the next frame, with an infield single by Altuve and a double by Gurriel plating the go-ahead run, followed by a two-out single by Josh Reddick and a homer by Marwin Gonzalez to complete the day’s scoring.

 

There were no actual games going on in the complex when I arrived around 11:15, although I did get to see Strasburg and Joe Ross throwing on the side. Went with the grouper tacos again for lunch.

March 25, 2017 – Nationals 4, Astros 1 – West Palm Beach FL

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/220907504/daniel-murphy-tanner-roark-help-nats-in-win/

 

Attendance: 4,354

Game Time: 3:07

Weather: 76 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 17 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - John Libka, First Base - CB Bucknor, Second Base - Greg Gibson, Third Base - Mike Estabrook

Seventh-inning stretch song – Deep in the Heart of Texas

Section 109, Row R, Seat 7 (same seat as Thursday)

 

Tanner Roark and Daniel Murphy made their first game appearances since returning from the World Baseball Classic, so the Nats had what looked like a regular season lineup on the field. (Although Houston used Carlos Beltran as their DH, Washington elected to let Roark hit for himself.) Tanner was in fine form, allowing only one run before exiting with one out in the sixth after 73 pitches to a standing ovation. Solis, Kelley, Romero, and Treinen blanked the Astros the rest of the way.

 

The batter’s box wasn’t an especially safe place in the first few innings. Roark plunked Bregman in the first and Gurriel in the second. In the top of the third, after Murphy beat the shift with a one-out single to left, Houston starter Lance McCullers got Harper and Rendon (although Bryce wanted to decline the base and take his swings). Werth then put the Nats on the board with a long sac fly.

 

Washington broke things open and chased McCullers the following inning. With one out, following a Zimmerman double and a Wieters single (and a wild pitch advancing Matt), Turner grounded to second – Zim looked like an easy out, but somehow managed to avoid the tag at the plate. Murph then doubled into the right-field corner to easily score Wieters and Trea.

 

This was a home game for Astros in their shared ballpark, which meant Astros programs on sale and plenty of appearances by quirky-but-cute green mascot Orbit. No Racing Presidents, and the Washington player photos didn’t appear on the scoreboard when they batted, although there seemed to be more Nats than Astros fans in the stands.

 

Splurged on a “Diablo Burger” (lettuce, tomato, pepper jack cheese and jalapenos) – large and tasty, but definitely not a bargain at 12 bucks.

 

I arrived at the complex around 11:15 and got to see the last several innings of a pitchers’ BP contest – starters (Max, Stras, Gio, Ross) vs. relievers (Guthrie, Albers, Worley, Nathan). No infielders or baserunning (except for ghost runners), with the two teams taking turns batting and playing the outfield. Coach-pitch until the last two innings, when they used the machine. Quite competitive, as the final score was 20-19, with Gio making a game-saving catch in right to end it.

March 24, 2017 – Cardinals 3, Nationals 1 – West Palm Beach FL

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/220715242/dexter-fowler-triples-in-cards-win-vs-nats/

 

Attendance: 5,078

Game Time: 2:42

Weather: 74 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 19 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Ryan Additon, First Base - Mike Estabrook, Second Base - John Bostwick

Section 110, Row M, Seat 1 – next section to where I was yesterday, just a bit down the first base line. “Dugout Box”, so somewhat closer, and more in the sun.

 

No weather issues today, but the Washington offense continued to struggle. They did load the bases with two out in the first against Cards starter Michael Wacha, but failed to score, and went down in order in each of the next 4 frames. They finally broke through in the sixth on singles by Turner, Harper, and Werth off Trevor Rosenthal, but Eaton fanned with the bases loaded and two out to end the threat.

 

Jeremy Guthrie started for the Nats and held the Cards hitless through his 4.1 innings. They finally broke through off closer candidate Koda Glover, plating two in the 6^th keyed by a Dexter Fowler triple, and adding another in the 7^th. Glover, who’s typically more of a one-inning guy, wound up facing 9 batters, retiring 5 and allowing 4 hits.

 

For lunch, I decided to try a “PB half smoke”, which it turns out is topped by pulled pork, BBQ sauce, and cole slaw. Actually good, not quite as messy as expected, and a relative bargain at $7.00.

March 23, 2017 – Nationals 1, Mets 0 – West Palm Beach FL

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/220541248/nats-erick-fedde-outduels-robert-gsellman/

 

Attendance: 6,086

Game Time: 2:26 (start delayed by 42 minutes due to rain)

Weather: 73 degrees, cloudy (but it got significantly cooler later in the game)

Wind: 12 mph (and up)

Umpires: Home Plate - Angel Hernandez, First Base - Chris Conroy, Second Base - Nick Mahrley, Third Base - Shane Livensparger

Seventh-inning stretch song: I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown

Section 109, Row R, Seat 7 (“Infield Box”) – Lower level (as are virtually all the seats at The Ballpark of The Palm Beaches), almost exactly behind home plate. I purchased “Dugout Box” tickets, which are $3-5 more expensive, for a couple other games, but only got a few rows closer to the action)

 

It was nice and sunny up until about 12:30, when a thunderstorm arrived. Fortunately it didn’t last too long, but the game started closer to 2:00 than the scheduled 1:05. Rain event #2 came an hour or so later, in the middle of the 5^th inning; it wasn’t hard enough to stop play, but the wind whipped up to such an extent that most of us cleared out of the stands until it stopped. We had a little more in the final couple innings, by which point quite a few of the fans had already left the building.

 

After Hall of Famer Tim Raines threw out the first ball, Erick Fedde and 5 Nats relievers combined to hold the visitors to 4 hits, without walking a single batter. Fedde was particularly good, throwing a ton of ground balls during his 5-inning stint. The only baserunners he allowed were on two one-out singles in the 4^th, but he retired Curtis Granderson and Neil Walker to end the threat. Closer candidate Blake Treinen handled the ninth, retiring Michael Conforto and Juan Lagares with the tying run in scoring position.

 

The Nats didn’t do much better against the Mets pitchers, but did manage to scratch out an unearned run in the 3^rd, as Trea reached on an error by shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and scored on a two-out double by Tony Two-Bags.

 

Cabrera provided a little more excitement a half-inning later, as he managed to get tossed after his one-out single. Apparently he complained a little too much about being denied a timeout prior to the previous pitch. He got a little bit of revenge with his exit, strolling slowly from the third-base dugout across the middle of the field to the visitors’ clubhouse beyond right field.

 

My first glance at the concession selection and prices at the Nats’ new spring home left me less than overwhelmed. The $8.00 pair of grouper tacos was pretty good, however.

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.

March 29, 2016 – Phillies vs. Yankees (split squad, rainout) – Clearwater FL

Rain, rain, go away

 

Section 105, Row 15, Seats 14-18 – same section as Friday night, but several rows closer (and unfortunately no longer under cover)

 

Although the sun was out for a while in the morning, the weather forecasts for the afternoon’s game were fairly ominous, and they turned out to be pretty correct. We arrived early in search of autographs (Larry Bowa and Charlie Manuel, among others, were collected). We were somewhat encouraged because the tarp was not on the field, although it was rolled-up between first and second bases, ready for action. Although a moderate rain started falling shortly before game time, they proceeded with most of the pregame festivities, although close to the scheduled start they put on the tarp and announced that the game would be delayed. Around 1:45, to our surprise, they removed the tarp and started the game, although the rain had not let up at all. They continued to play through the bottom of the fourth inning despite deteriorating field conditions, when they halted play and announced a lightning delay. Again to our surprise, they didn’t put the tarp back on, although it was still raining as hard as before – maybe there’s no point in covering an already-wet field? We continued to wait around for a while, with the infield getting wetter and wetter, until they finally did cancel the game.

 

Our Phillies did not exactly distinguish themselves during the portion of the game that did take place. The Yanks rocked Brett Oberholtzer for 7 runs in his 4 innings, with a 3-run Dustin Ackley homer keying a 4-run top of the first and a subsequent 2-run blast by Miguel Andujar (no, I don’t know who he is either) in the 4^th. This despite the fact that Brian McCann was the only regular in the New York lineup, with almost all of the big names across the bay for a home game with the Pirates, where they did manage to finish 5 innings before calling it a day. The Phils, meanwhile, scored only once off Tanaka.

March 28, 2016 – Blue Jays 2, Phillies 1 – Dunedin FL

Another late loss (story, box)

 

Weather: 77 degrees, overcast (brief periods of ominous darkness early on and sunshine a bit later, with the lights on for for most of the afternoon. Light rain started just a few minutes before the game ended.)

Time: 2:22

Attendance: 4,975

Section 110, Row 7, Seats 13-17 – Almost the same relative location as Saturday’s game, so again we had to stay alert, although no balls came particularly close to us.

 

Food item of the day: salmon sandwich, about the size of a burger, and a bargain at $7.75.

 

Florida Auto Exchange Stadium is quite a different experience from Bright House and Champions Stadium – older and much smaller (actually the smallest total capacity of any spring training site in Florida, since there’s no berm or any other general-admission area). That does give the place a certain throwback charm, although fans have to put up with certain limitations in the amenities (only one men’s room and women’s room). For the most part, the Canadian hospitality was great; I met one usher originally from Hershey PA, so we reminisced for a bit about high school basketball and the Hershey Bears. There were a couple of exceptions; I wound up having to check my small folding umbrella outside the gate (after a VERY thorough bag search). And after the game, one of the staff took the “no re-entry” policy to a ridiculous extreme, as one member of our party who wandered outside the gate for a minute or two was almost prevented from coming back in to join the rest of us. On the good side, it wound up being a great place for the youngest member of our crew to get a number of autographs.

 

This one turned out to be a pitchers’ duel, as well as the best-played game of the trip to date. Marcus Stroman tuned up for his Opening Day start on Sunday by tossing four scoreless innings. Vince Velasquez did a masterful job of blanking the powerful Blue Jays lineup for six, giving up just two hits and three walks while fanning eight. The Phils struck first when Darin Ruf led off the top of the seventh by homering off lefty specialist Randy Choate, who somewhat oddly entered the game to face two right-handed hitters, followed by a right-handed pinch-hitter and a switch-hitter. Mujica pitched a perfect seventh, but in the bottom of the eighth, Dalier Hinojosa grooved a 3-0 pitch to Darrell Ceciliani, which he took out of the park for a two-run shot that gave the Jays the lead and the victory.

March 26, 2016 – Tigers 5, Phillies 4 – Clearwater FL

So close and yet so far (story, box)

 

Weather: 83 degrees, cloudy (significantly warmer where we were sitting!)

Time: 3:10

Attendance: 8,382

Section 118, Row 7, Seats 11-15 – just beyond third base, and close enough that eternal vigilance could be seen as the price of survival. While there was an occasional breeze going, the temperature display above the scoreboard was in the 89-91 degree range all afternoon with a bright sun, so sunscreen and copious beverage consumption were also essential. We weren’t complaining one bit, however.

 

Food item of the day: rice bowl with chicken (new this year) from Tijuana Flats. Quite good.

 

The game was pretty close throughout, tied 3-3 after 6 featuring a solo homer by Freddy Galvis and two by Detroit’s Justin Upton.  Verlander went 5-plus for the Tigers, giving up the first 3 Philadelphia runs. The Phils used 9 relievers for one inning each as they attempt to clarify their muddled bullpen situation. (This led to the oddity of James Russell being the starting pitcher after appearing in relief the night before.)

 

The Phils took the lead with two in the bottom of the seventh, on singles by Galvis, Blanco, and Herrera, with the second run scoring on a Ryan Howard fielder’s choice. The Tigers, however, cut the lead to one in the top of the 8^th, and won it with two more in the 9^th.