October 4-5, 2014 – Giants 2, Nationals 1 (18 innings, NLDS Game 2) – Nationals Park

Bummer of a decision, Matt (with apologies to Gary Larson)

Ejections: Washington Nationals second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera ejected by HP umpire Vic Carapazza (10th); Washington Nationals Manager Matt Williams ejected by HP umpire Vic Carapazza (10th)

Umpires: HP: Vic Carapazza. 1B: Tom Hallion. 2B: Hunter Wendelstedt. 3B: Mike Winters. LF: Brian Knight. RF: Laz Diaz.

Weather: 61 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 7 mph, Varies.

T: 6:23.

Att: 44,035.

It’s impossible to beat the first paragraph of Adam Kilgore’s game story in this morning’s Washington Post, so I will repeat it here:

“Saturday night was about heroes and ghosts and everything in between. The marathon at Nationals Park included mastery and meltdowns, players warming their hands by a heater in the dugout and little-known relievers pitching their guts out. The Washington Nationals and the San Francisco Giants engaged in the kind of game that makes you love baseball and curse its existence and pace around the living room and ask the person next to you, what inning is it again? They played the kind of game that makes you feel alive until it makes you sick to your stomach.”

Incidentally, I have been hard on the Post in the past, but I was astonished to retrieve my newspaper around 8:00 this morning and find full coverage of the game, which went a couple of minutes past midnight – front page photo, box score, game story, columns, complete play-by-play, the works. Way to go guys! I hereby forgive them for running the same page of comics on two consecutive days earlier in the week.

For those of you living either on another planet or in a sterile sports-free environment, the Nats and Giants yesterday (and early today) played the longest postseason game in recorded history (breaking the previous record by more than a half hour), tying for the most innings at 18. We should have all been home at a decent hour, enjoying a 1-0 Washington victory, but Nats manager Matt Williams lifted starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann in the ninth inning, one out away from victory. After the game, Williams justified his ill-fated decision as follows:

“Hindsight is a great thing. You know, if our starting pitcher goes out there, and he’s at 100 pitches, third time, fourth time through the lineup, he gets in trouble in the ninth, we’ll go to the guy who was perfect for us since he has been in that role.”

Well, Matt, here goes:

·        In the first place, it’s not “hindsight” for the many of us who questioned his call even before Drew Storen reached the mound. And that’s not a knock on Storen – I wouldn’t have taken JZim out at that point even if I had Mariano Rivera warmed up in the pen.

·        “100 pitches” is hardly an evening-ending load for a veteran stud starting pitcher (with an extra day of rest, no less).

·        They weren’t even particularly stressful pitches. The Giants never had more than one baserunner in an inning against Zimmermann, and the only runner to even reach second base was back in the third inning.

·        He wasn’t exactly struggling. Prior to walking Joe Panik with two out in the ninth, Zimmermann had retired 20 (!) consecutive batters. Giants starter Tim Hudson was quoted as saying the Nats “probably could’ve brought in Sandy Koufax and we would’ve had a smile on our face.”

·        You want “perfect”? Zimmermann entered the ninth on a streak of 19 consecutive scoreless innings, during which he allowed a total of 4 hits – all singles.

·        Today’s closers much prefer to come in to start an inning, rather than in the middle with someone on base. I haven’t checked, but I’m sure that most if not all of Storen’s regular-season saves were of this variety.

Williams also took another risk. If he leaves Zimmermann in the game, he gives up the lead and the Nats lose, JZim gets credit for a valiant effort, and the Nats have their backs up against the wall needing three straight wins. As things unfolded, not only are their backs up against the wall, but they once again have a potential problem at the back of the bullpen, since it’s hard to imagine that Storen could be completely unaffected by being one out away from victory in his last two postseason appearances and unable to close things out either time.

Tom Boswell put it much better than I have in his column in this morning’s Post.

To add injustice to injury, Williams got ejected in the bottom of the tenth inning. So, rather than freezing like us innocent victims, he had a presumably warm and comfortable seat in the clubhouse for the final eight innings.

If Williams is goat #1 in the defeat, the Nats “offense” comes in a close second. Their only run came in the third inning on a leadoff double by Asdrubal Cabrera and a two-out RBI single by Anthony Rendon. Rendon wound up setting a franchise playoff record with a total of 4 hits in the game. Everyone not named Anthony Rendon managed just 5 singles in 55 at-bats, with 19 strikeouts. They were particularly feckless (fecklesser?) in extra innings, with only two hits over the final 9 frames.

There were a few moments of one kind or another, other than the second consecutive transcendent performance by Zimmermann. DC Washington did his usual superb job with the National Anthem and God Bless America. The Nats ditched Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift in favor of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” for the 7^th and 14^th inning stretches – great song, albeit one whose lyrics rival “Take On Me” in terms of being difficult to sing along to. The oddest sight was when at some point in extra innings I left my seat (right after the Nats finished “hitting”) for the men’s room, only to see about a dozen other men literally sprinting across the concourse in that direction. I had the same luck getting in the slow line as I usually have at the grocery store, with the guy at the very front resembling the Dice-K of urination. By the time I finished, it was completely SRO, with a five-yard line out the door.

Given our loss in Game 1, I decided to change things up for Game 2 – drove down myself instead of catching a ride with the Pierce clan, walked down to Subway to pick up a sandwich, bought a bottle of Coke instead of bringing in water. I did forget to pick up a new rally towel on the way in, so maybe that was the problem.

The drive home actually wound up being quite an adventure. Washington Ave. was completely messed up -- the section leading up to where I get onto 395 South seemed to be closed, so I wound up getting routed in the wrong direction, eventually getting into the 3rd Street Tunnel, going north under the Mall, winding up on Second St NW not too far from the Capitol. Pulled over to get my bearings, decided that trying to get back on the Freeway was too dicey, so I headed west and south, eventually finding my way to Constitution Ave. and then to 14th. Even with that, I got home around 1:20 after leaving the lot at 12:30, which I guess isn't too bad all things considered.

Now we just have to hope that the Nats can pull off what would be a miracle comeback, beginning against the formidable Madison Bumgarner. Otherwise, they may be well on their way to joining the Caps in the local pantheon of perennial postseason underachievers.

Serendipity #21

Never Wanted Your Love – She & Him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdJbqGeYM6E

Heard 10/2/2014 around 11:45, at Zoe’s Kitchen (Rockville)

October 3, 2014 – Giants 3, Nationals 2 (NLDS Game 1) – Nationals Park

Opening act falls flat (borrowed from front page of today’s Post)

 

Umpires: HP: Laz Diaz. 1B: Vic Carapazza. 2B: Tom Hallion. 3B: Hunter Wendelstedt. LF: Mike Winters. RF: Brian Knight.

Weather: 70 degrees, overcast.

Wind: 2 mph, In from LF.

T: 3:55.

Att: 44,035.

 

In their 2012 playoff debut, the Nats won Game 1 in St. Louis, only to drop the NLDS 3 games to 2. (But enough about that.) We’ll have to hope that they reverse the script in 2014.

We left Westat at 11:00 for the 3:07 start, encountered less traffic than usual, and walked up to Nando’s to eat after finding a working parking meter. The pregame introductions brought the usual sense of anticipation to the ballpark. Only two members of the Giants drew much notice – nice applause for former Nat Michael Morse (who’s recovering from a strained oblique and is inactive for the series), and a much less warm reception for Game 2 starter Tim Hudson.

The game certainly didn’t go Washington’s way, although they had their chances. Strasburg threw hard in his postseason debut, but managed only two strikeouts in 5-plus innings of work, as the Giants hit 8 singles off him but nothing for extra bases. Strasburg did allow the leadoff man to reach base in each of his final four innings (3 hits, plus his only walk). They notched their first run in the fourth, aided by LaRoche’s questionable decision to go after the lead runner on a sacrifice bunt and a later passed ball by Ramos. They struck again in the fifth on two hits and a Hunter Pence stolen base. Matt Williams took Strasburg out after the Giants led off the sixth with two base hits. Jerry Blevins came in to pitch out of that jam, but Giants put up a crucial third run in the seventh after second baseman Joe Panik led off against Craig Stammen with a triple that Denard Span couldn’t quite haul in.

Meanwhile, the Nats battled Giants starter Jake Peavy, running up his pitch count but getting only a pair of two-out walks through the first four innings. Bryce Harper finally managed an infield single to lead off the fifth and bring the sellout crowd back to life, but he was immediately erased when Ramos grounded into a double play. They finally mounted a mild threat an inning later when Nate Schierholz led off with a pinch-hit double. Two fly outs later saw him still on second, but Peavy walked Jayson Werth for the second time to conclude his outing, and lefty specialist Javier Lopez walked LaRoche to load the bases. Giants skipper Bruce Bochy then brought in hard-throwing rookie Hunter Strickland, who fanned Ian Desmond to end the inning.

Down 3-0 in the middle of the seventh, we decided it was time to pull out the rally minions. Sure enough, Harper led off with a tape-measure blast to right off Strickland, and two batters later Asdrubal Cabrera put one into the Nats bullpen to cut the lead to one. They managed one more threat in the eighth on singles by Rendon and LaRoche, but another Desmond strikeout and a fielder’s choice by Harper ended the threat, and the Nats offense for the day.

Remembering Dick Cerri, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (College Park MD), 9/27/2014

Dick Cerri, who hosted the Music Americana program on Washington radio stations for more than 30 years, died in October of 2013. The World Folk Music Association, which Cerri co-founded with Tom Paxton, put together a concert featuring many of Dick’s favorite performers – Paxton, Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul & Mary), Jonathan Edwards (“Sunshine”), Bill Danoff (best known for co-writing “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Afternoon Delight”), and many others. In addition to the musical performances, the show also featured spoken tributes by Dick’s daughter and granddaughter and several local radio personalities (including Robert Aubry Davis and Mary Cliff). The show started shortly after 7:00 and went well past 11:00, not surprising given the large roster of performers.

Folk-comedy trio Modern Man started things off on the right foot with “Folk Music in the Nude” (yes, there really is an annual clothing-optional folk festival in Paw Paw WV) and “Like a River”. Maine folk duos Schooner Fare and Squid Jiggers did nice back-to-back sets to start off the post-intermission portion of the show. For me, however, the clear show-stopper was a great vocal rendition of “Brother Can You Spare a Dime” by Chad Mitchell of the Chad Mitchell Trio.

September 28, 2014 – Nationals 1, Marlins 0 – Nationals Park

A no-hit wonder (borrowed from this morning’s Washington Post)

Umpires: HP: Alan Porter. 1B: Gary Cederstrom. 2B: Mark Ripperger. 3B: Lance Barksdale.

Weather: 79 degrees, sunny.

Wind: 3 mph, Out to CF.

T: 2:01.

Att: 35,085. [Nats were actually outdrawn by the woeful Phillies, at 38,082, on their respective Fan Appreciation Days.]

It didn’t start out as a great day for me. Traffic on the GW Parkway slowed much more than usual, so I arrived late enough that I decided to skip the originally-planned walk down to Subway. (Went with the Miami Cuban Sandwich instead.) Then, once I got to the park, I realized that I had left my cellphone at home. So I was a little out of sorts, despite the wonderful weather.

My initial wish list for the final game of the season was (1) everybody staying healthy, (2) Jordan Zimmermann pitching well, (3) one more hit from Denard Span to break the Nats’ single-season record, and (4) winning the game. Ian Desmond did his part towards #4 by homering off Henderson Alvarez in the bottom of the second, for what would turn out to be the only run of the game. One inning later, Span took care of #3, as he lined a double to right field and got a standing ovation as he left the game for a pinch-runner. Matt Williams’ plan for the regulars soon became obvious; get them out of game after 2 trips to the plate and give the reserves some playing time. (The only exceptions were Ryan Zimmerman, still in need of at-bats against major league pitching following his return from the DL, and catcher Wilson Ramos, who went the whole way.)

I remember remarking to Terry that I expected that Zimmermann would only pitch 6 innings (the same as Strasburg the previous day), so that a couple of the relief pitchers could get some action prior to the four-day break until the first playoff game. I was actually so preoccupied with Williams’ lineup maneuvers that I didn’t realize J-Zim had a no-hitter going until after the sixth inning, when I was out on the concourse and heard Bob Carpenter on the radio broadcast saying that there were 11 hits in the game, “all by the Nats.”

Naturally the anticipation mounted from there. Zimmermann got a standing ovation after retiring the Marlins 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth, but since he was still under 100 pitches I think we all expected that he would come out for the ninth. As we predicted, Williams took Ryan Zimmerman out after his final at-bat in the bottom of the eighth, replacing him with Steven Souza Jr. in the ninth. The rest, as they say, is history.

September 26, 2014 (Game 1) – Nationals 4, Marlins 0 – Nationals Park

Fister fantastic

Umpires: HP: Gary Cederstrom. 1B: Lance Barksdale. 2B: Toby Basner. 3B: Alan Porter.

Weather: 71 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 1 mph, In from LF.

T: 2:31.

Att: 27,920. [with a lot fewer actually in the stands]

Complete-game shutouts are an increasingly endangered species in baseball, dominated as it is by bullpens and pitch counts. Through Saturday, there were only 33 by National League pitchers during 2014, so I feel fortunate to have seen two of the three produced this season by Nats pitchers – Tanner Roark’s gem in April and Doug Fister’s effort this afternoon.

Fister yielded harmless singles to Miami second baseman Donovan Solano in the first and fourth, and hit catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia to lead off the eighth, with none of the runners making it as far as second base. We gave Fister a standing ovation when he finished the 8^th just in case, although since he hadn’t hit the 100-pitch mark yet we hoped that he would be back for the 9^th. Things got interesting in the final frame, when with two outs Solano sliced a ball just inside the foul line into right field for a triple. Casey McGehee then lined a shot that looked destined to be an RBI single to right, but Asdrubal Cabrera made a leaping grab to snag the ball and preserve the shutout.

The Nats gave Fister all the runs he would need in the first inning, starting with a one-out homer by Anthony Rendon. They added a second run later that inning on a LaRoche single, Desmond double, and a passed ball. They wasted chances in the second and third against Marlins starter Jarred Cosart, getting five walks but not being able to manage even a single hit. They finally nicked Cosart for another run in the fifth, when walks to Zimmerman and Desmond were followed by a Cabrera RBI single. Fister helped himself in the bottom of the sixth, lining a leadoff double off hard-throwing Miami reliever Sam Dyson and eventually scoring on a two-out Zimmerman single.

The Nats played flawless ball, despite this being the third game in a set of back-to-back day-night doubleheaders. Needing one win to clinch home-field advantage through the National League playoffs, Matt Williams went with his A team in the afternoon game, sitting only Jayson Werth (Zimmerman was in left with Harper in right) and Wilson Ramos.

Section 130, Row M, Seat 1 – A couple of weeks ago, I decided to trade in my ticket for the Wednesday night game with the Mets, and to upgrade to a lower-level seat. Starting earlier this month, you can now pick a particular location when getting single-game seats, so I found an aisle seat in Section 130 just beyond first base, about a dozen rows back from the field. (Oddly enough, this was only one section away from where we were sitting for Roark’s shutout.) In hindsight, the exchange  was a great choice, as the Wednesday night game wound up being rained out, and there was still some rain during Thursday afternoon’s makeup. Friday’s weather, on the other hand, was fantastic. I got to the Shady Grove Metro station in plenty of time to get a parking space, and ate lunch at Nando’s prior to walking over to the park, where I later took advantage of junk-food specials – $1 for a Cyclone popsicle and $2 for a bag of Cracker Jack. (Ironically, my Cracker Jack prize was a Phillies sticker.)

#23 Georgia On My Mind -- Ray Charles (1960)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZceOIAh1i0

Timeless song, great vocals by the incomparable Ray Charles, excellent arrangement – what more could you ask for? Note that this is the only song on the list that’s an official song for any of the states.

#24 It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday -- Boyz II Men (1991)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtkbfkmW808

This one is one of the best – and most successful – a cappella songs of all time. It never fails to bring a lump to my throat.

Shuffle #30 (September 22, 2014)

Hard Times – John Legend & The Roots

Love Will Lead You Back – Taylor Dayne

Party Doll – Mary Chapin Carpenter

Personal Jesus – Depeche Mode

Giving Him Something He Can Feel – En Vogue

Blow On, Chilly Wind – Jesse Winchester

New York’s A Lonely Town – The Tradewinds

Titanium – David Guetta feat. Sia

Coming Up – Paul McCartney

My City Of Ruins – Bruce Springsteen

Shuffle #29 (September 21, 2014)

The Tracks Of My Tears – The Miracles

The Only Flame In Town – Elvis Costello

All Is Mine – The Association

What’s New Pussycat – Tom Jones

Them That Got – Maceo Parker

Love On A Farmboy’s Wages – XTC

Paper Thin – John Hiatt

My Way Home – Kanye West

Radio Nowhere – Bruce Springsteen

Feel It All – KT Tunstall