What Buzz Band at the Lab School, 4/5/2014

The pride and joy of Westat and Ijamsville, What Buzz Band, came out of winter hibernation recently to play their annual benefit for the Lab School of Washington. There was a nice crowd, and apparently a good time was had by all. For some reason the atmosphere and setup, with the dance area directly in front of the stage, reminded me of summer evening shows at Rockville Town Square (minus the need to bring your own chairs).

The band’s two sets featured a few Tim Kirkner originals (“Paris Portal”, “Save Me Too”), plus a lot of well-chosen covers. Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” got things off on the right foot, followed by versions of classics by such luminaries as Al Green (“Take Me to the River”), Aretha Franklin (“Chain of Fools”), Bob Dylan (“Things Have Changed”), and Bill Withers (“Use Me”). Other highlights included Steely Dan’s “Black Friday”, which filled the dance floor, “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” (which ended the first set on a high note), “Congo Square”, and the penultimate “Fever”.

WBB has promised another appearance sometime this summer – keep an eye on their site (or better yet join their mailing list) for details.

Keb’ Mo’ at Strathmore, 4/3/2014

Along with Casey Wasner on percussion and Tom Shinness on various string things (including a harp guitar), Keb’ Mo’ brought his acoustic tour to the Music Center at Strathmore this past Thursday evening. Another great show for Keb’ (we had seen him at the same venue a few years earlier), featuring such classics as “Rita”, “Soon As I Get Paid”, “Suitcase”, and “Shave Yo’ Legs”, as well as cuts from his upcoming BLUESAmericana album, including “The Worst Is Yet to Come” and the instant classic “The Old Me Better”. We had excellent aisle seats (115-116 in Row K), with the added bonus of no inordinately tall people right in front of us.

April 6, 2014 – Nationals 2, Braves 1 – Nationals Park

Nats get desperately-needed win

Weather: 50 degrees, sunny.

Wind: 7 mph, Out to LF.

T: 2:44.

Att: 34,327.

Umpires: HP: Doug Eddings. 1B: Marvin Hudson. 2B: Cory Blaser. 3B: Jim Joyce.

Section 416, Row C, Seat 1 (in our regular seats for the first time)

First “normal” trip to Nats Park, following the rained-out exhibition game vs. the Tigers and the home opener on Friday the 4^th. The drive down was uneventful and took the predictable 35 minutes, with the former “HH” lot off South Capitol St. under the freeway still in operation and still $10. (The lot was originally operated by the Nationals, but taken over by a different operator starting last year.) Walked down to Subway and, instead of my usual roast beef, picked up the “$5 Footlong of the Month” (Turkey Breast and Black Forest Ham). Sunny, but colder than I had expected – really wished I had brought gloves (for warmth, not for catching foul balls).

Our friend Jeff was back, heckling the umpires and leading a couple of Charges. Don’t think he made his traditional announcement of the elapsed time of the National Anthem, however.

No line for the men’s room today, but there was a fairly long line for pretzel bites – naturally, there is no eCash express line at the Pretzel stand. Was happy that the Nats featured a video montage to Pharrell Williams’s “Happy” in the middle of the sixth and again in the middle of the eighth. (Would make a great postgame victory song as well …)

By Sunday, the euphoria generated by the season-opening sweep of the Mets had pretty much vanished. The two losses to the Braves featured almost no Nats offense, a shaky Strasburg start on Saturday, and a “lost at the plate” Bryce Harper. Worse, Zim’s sore shoulder and throwing woes had resurfaced, contributing to the Saturday loss and keeping him out of the Sunday game. Topping things off, Hairston went on the DL with a strained oblique.

Sunday turned out to be another pitcher’s duel, mirroring the Friday game. Nats scratched out a run in the top of first on a Rendon bunt single, a single by Kevin Frandsen (starting in LF for the first time in seven years), and a Dan Uggla throwing error, but their offense was silent against Alex Wood for the next 5 innings. Meanwhile, Taylor Jordan pitched an excellent game against the Braves, throwing groundballs all over the place, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the 4^th and allowing only one run in the 6^th after the inning started with Braves on second and third with no outs. First base ump Marvin Hudson was in the middle of close calls all day – Williams challenged his out call on Desmond in the bottom of the first, but Hudson’s ruling was upheld on replay.

The Nats took the lead for good leading off the bottom of the seventh, when Wood served up a hittable first-pitch fastball to exactly the wrong guy, and Desmond deposited it deep into the left-field stands. Blevins and Clippard took care of the Braves in the eighth. Things got a little uncomfortable in the bottom of the ninth with consecutive two-out infield singles, but Soriano finally fanned Heyward to send most of the crowd home happy.

Favorite 3 Baseball Songs

Legendary Washington area radio DJ Weasel, formerly of WHFS, now does a weekly three-hour program (Weasel’s Wild Weekend) on Towson University’s AAA station WTMD (Friday nights at 7, repeated Saturday at noon). His program always focuses on one or more themes, and last night he devoted the entire show to songs that were more or less about baseball. (The Beatles’ “I’m A Loser” fits into the “less” category, but close enough.)

This wound up being a nice way to take some of the sting out of the Nationals’ disappointing loss to the reviled Braves in their home opener in the afternoon. Although the world doesn’t contain three hours of truly great songs about baseball, it does possess enough that are at least interesting and fun.

At any rate, the show inspired me to come up with a very short list of favorite baseball songs, all of which were included in Weasel’s show.

#3  Take Me Out to the Ball Game -- Bruce Springstone (1982)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D3PqhHx5eM

I had heard this song back in the day (almost certainly on Weasel’s WHFS show), but until checking Google last night I hadn’t realized that it was a Baltimore/Washington area product. Featured musicians include Washington power-pop legend Tommy Keane on guitar and the renowned Ron Holloway on saxophone. Baltimore’s Tom Chalkley does a great Springsteen impersonation, and to top things off, it was engineered at Hit & Run Studios (how appropriate) right here in Rockville.

 

#2  A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request -- Steve Goodman (1984)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xBxZGQ1dJk  

To the extent that Steve Goodman is known at all, it’s as the writer of “City of New Orleans”, which was popularized by Arlo Guthrie and recorded by many others. Goodman wrote and recorded quite a few other great songs during his short lifetime, but this one is definitely a must-hear for any baseball fan, of the Cubbies or otherwise.

Trivia note: among Goodman’s high-school classmates in Chicago was one Hillary Rodham.

 

#1  When My Buckner Moment Comes -- Dan Bern (2012)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef5mlTzlErE
http://danbern.bandcamp.com/track/when-my-buckner-moment-comes (lyrics, audio only)

I heard this one for the first time last night, promptly added it to my iTunes collection, and have played it half a dozen times or so since. Calling it a great baseball song wouldn’t be quite accurate – it’s a great song about life, with baseball as a reference point. (Apologies to Katie and other Red Sox fans for dredging up any painful memories.)

April 4, 2014 – Braves 2, Nationals 1 – Nationals Park (home opener)

Some excitement, same old result

Weather: 55 degrees, overcast.

Wind: 5 mph, R to L.

T: 3:03.

Att: 42,834.

Umpires: HP: Cory Blaser. 1B: Jim Joyce. 2B: Doug Eddings. 3B: Marvin Hudson.

Section 129, Row TT, Seat 17 (decided to splurge on lower-level seats for the home opener – 4 seats on the aisle in the next-to-last row of Section 129, on the first-base side behind the Nats dugout) 

In what was becoming a theme, the weather forecast for Friday’s home opener was unsettled at best for most of the past week. By Thursday, it seemed that there might at least be a window of dryness in the afternoon that would allow the game to be played. Things actually turned out for the best, as there was no rain until much later in the day. It wasn’t exactly warm, but the lack of wind in our seats made for a reasonably comfortable experience, although it felt chillier in the more-exposed lower concourse.

Since we were planning to meet at Nando’s Peri-Peri at 11:00 for an early lunch, I headed down early on Metro, beating the big rush. The Weekend section of the Washington Post featured a nice write-up (and map, although unfortunately the latter didn’t appear in my browser) of area dining options, so I strolled around for a bit checking out the neighborhood to the east of the Park.

Tanner Roark was originally scheduled to start the home opener, but he was moved up to start (and win) the Thursday game with the Mets, as Jordan Zimmermann was scratched with flu-like symptoms. (Hopefully I will get to see Tanner pitch sometime this year.) Fortunately Jordan felt much better on Friday, turning in 5 strong innings highlighted by 9 strikeouts, with the only damage being an Evan Gattis homer leading off the 5^th.

Things got more interesting in the bottom of the inning, when Ian Desmond led off by hitting a shot that got stuck under the padding on the left-field wall. The play was initially ruled an inside-the-park home run, but on replay was changed to a ground-rule double. Desmond didn’t improve the situation by getting tossed out attempting to steal third base with no one out, one of three Nats baserunners erased on plays that were not particularly close. (While smart aggression is a good thing, cavalierly giving away precious outs is not.)

Tyler Clippard joined Desmond in violating a fundamental baseball maxim by walking the leadoff batter in the 8^th inning, who naturally came around to score, giving the Braves (and their outstanding bullpen) a 2-1 lead. (The Nats had tied the game in the sixth on a Ryan Zimmerman sac fly, after Atlanta second baseman Dan Uggla misplayed what was likely a double-play ball off the bat of Adam LaRoche.)

Given the near-unhittability of Braves closer Craig Kimbrel, it behooved the Nats to get at least one run in the bottom of the 8^th before he came into the game. They started off well against David Carpenter with a Rendon single and a four-pitch walk to Jayson Werth, with the heart of the batting order coming up. Things deteriorated quickly after that, as Carpenter fanned LaRoche, Zimmerman, and Harper. Against Kimbrel in the 9^th, Desmond and Lobaton extended the string of consecutive Ks to 5 before pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen popped out to end it.

A big part of the Nats underachievement in 2013 was their inability to beat division rival Atlanta (13 losses in 19 games). One game does not a season make, but the loss in the home opener certainly magnifies the importance of Stephen Strasburg’s start on Saturday. Despite Washington’s apparent improvements and Atlanta’s currently-crippled starting rotation, the Braves are still the kings of the NL East hill until the Nats prove otherwise.

Hoping to beat the worst of the crowd, I headed straight for Metro the second that Frandsen’s foul pop settled into Freddie Freeman’s glove – being near the back of a section in the lower level helped considerably. As I had hoped, the crowd waiting to get into the station was quite manageable (actually better than at many night games with much smaller crowds). The trip back was relatively pleasant – I didn’t have to wait more than a couple minutes for either train, and had a seat for the entire trip on the Red Line. I got back to Shady Grove around 5:20, which certainly beats the toxic traffic mix of a normal Washington rush hour with a sold-out Nats crowd.

Although forewarned, I was still surprised that in the top of the seventh I had to wait in a 5-minute line for the men’s room, which represents a personal Nats Park record for me. I was also surprised that the much-promoted “G at Nationals Park” sandwich shop was closed up at that point – not sure whether it may have been open earlier, although it was at the canceled March 29^th exhibition game.

And there was a foul ball into our section (although nowhere near us) very early in the game, which is something that we don’t get in our usual Section 416.

 

 

 

 

 

Serendipity #11

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out – Bruce Springsteen (1975)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUjivw_-W0Y

Heard 4/3/2014 around 9:30am, Wegman’s in Germantown

March 29, 2014 – Nationals vs. Tigers (exhibition) rained out – Nationals Park

Goofy optimism or cynical exploitation? 

Section 416, Row G, Seat 2 – four rows in back of our usual location (more below) 

I’m obviously not supposed to see the Nats play Detroit this year – the Nats-Tigers exhibition game I was supposed to see earlier in March in Lakeland, Florida was also canceled due to rain. Even the scheduled starting pitchers were the same – Anibal Sanchez for the Tigers and Tanner Roark for the Nats.

The weather forecast for Saturday’s preseason exhibition at Nationals Park had been pretty bleak for the preceding several days, and it had not improved by Saturday morning: rain, sometimes heavy, expected pretty much all day. Given the forecast, and the fact that it was only an exhibition game, I really expected the team to announce by 10 or 11 Saturday morning that the game was canceled, in order to save everyone from a wasted trip. No such announcement came, however, and according to the WTOP 12:15 sports segment, the Nats had indicated that they were still going to try to get the game in. So, grumbling to myself, I headed for the Shady Grove Metro station. I normally drive to weekend games, but the Navy Yard Metro station is much closer to Nats Park than is my normal parking location (thus minimizing my walk in the expected rain), and there was no aggravating “weekend track work” (suspended due to cherry blossom season) to mess up the commute.

Metro was much less busy than usual; very few people were waiting to transfer to the Green Line at Gallery Place, and I had no trouble getting a seat on either the Red Line or Green Line section of the trip. A light rain was falling as I arrived, the tarp was on the field, and it didn’t look like there were more than several thousand people on hand at most. I took a lap around the lower level of the park before heading to our seats around 1:45 for the scheduled 2:05 start. Since each of the 4 20-game ticket plans included the March 29^th game, we were not in our usual locations (416/C/1-4), but instead had seats 2-5 in Row G. I had expected that since we were 4 rows further back that we would at least be able to stay dry, but the wind was blowing the rain in our direction, so after a couple of minutes I announced that I was going to find a dry spot and headed for the enclosed elevator lobby, where the Pierce clan found me 5 or 10 minutes later. Right around 2:00, someone else who was waiting there told everyone the Nats had just tweeted that the game had been canceled. The nearby video monitor posted the announcement a couple minutes later.

The non-cynical side of me would like to think that the Nats management genuinely thought there was a reasonable shot at getting the game in, as opposed to delaying the announcement of the cancellation just to get some of us fools to come down and buy concessions and souvenirs. Unfortunately, I don’t have any evidence whatsoever to support this theory. (The weather forecast, by the way, turned out to be completely correct.)

Serendipity #10

Alison – Elvis Costello (1977)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9GlC9GyF4Y

Heard 3/26/2014 around 6:15, Potbelly (downtown Rockville location)

Second career?

Rice University just hired Mike Rhoades as their head men’s basketball coach. Rhoades was most recently the associate head coach to Shaka Smart at VCU.

http://wtvr.com/2014/03/27/mike-rhoades-introduced-at-rice-university/

The story doesn’t mention that Rhoades graduated from my alma mater, Lebanon Valley College, and in 1994 led the Flying Dutchmen to the NCAA Division III national championship.

http://www.godutchmen.com/news/2014/3/19/MBB_0319142142.aspx

So, Mike Rhoades, we salute you, despite not spelling your last name correctly.   ;-)

Notable Quotes #4

Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter, on the decision to put Nolan Reimold on the disabled list to start the 2014 season:

“You probably got to be able to look up to play the outfield …”

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/article/bal/the-orioles-will-place-outfielder-nolan-reimond-on-the-disabled-list?ymd=20140326&content_id=70178034&vkey=news_bal