Robert Samuelson, on declining confidence in government, soaring
political polarization, and the “messy middle”.
Monday, July 3, 2017
Thursday, June 29, 2017
June 27, 2017 – Nats 6, Cubs 1 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 31,202 (below the team’s season average)
Game Time: 3:09
Weather: 79 degrees, partly cloudy
Wind: 3 mph
Umpires: Home Plate - Larry Vanover, First Base - Tim Timmons, Second
Base - Chad Fairchild, Third Base - David Rackley
Highlights – Nats scored in 4 of the first 5 innings, chasing Jake
Arrieta in the fifth … Trea Turner tied his career best with 4 steals, and the
Nats set a team record with 7 stolen bases off Arrieta and soon-to-be-ex-Cub
Miguel Montero … Taylor finished off the scoring with a 2-run double … after
giving up a first-inning run, Scherzer blanked the Cubs through the end of the
6th, allowing only one more baserunner … Nats bullpen held the
visitors scoreless over the final 3 innings
Other – left Rockville around 4:45 and didn’t get into the park until
shortly after 7:00, as traffic crawled both on Falls Road and much of the way
down the GW Parkway
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Shuffle #97 (June 27, 2017)
Joy To The
World – Three Dog Night
That’s All Right
– Elvis Presley
Ain’t Even
Done With The Night – John Mellancamp
Rock Skippin’
– Jim Hall
Signed,
Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours – Stevie Wonder
Wheels –
Emmylou Harris
Right And
Wrong – Joe Jackson
Sweet Thing –
Rufus & Chaka Khan
Louisiana
1927 – Randy Newman
Monday, June 26, 2017
June 25, 2017 – Reds 6, Nats 2 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 35,387
Game Time: 3:07
Weather: 84 degrees, partly cloudy
Wind: 13 mph
Umpires: Home Plate - Brian O'Nora, First Base - Quinn Wolcott, Second
Base - Ramon DeJesus, Third Base - Paul Emmel
Seventh-inning stretch song: I Can’t Help Myself – The Four Tops
Highlights – Michael A. Taylor hit a 2-run homer in the 4th,
his third tater in two days … Roark held the Reds to one run in his final 5
innings of work … Nats bullpen held Cincinnati scoreless over the final 3
innings … great James Brown medley during the Reds’ 8th-inning
pitching change … a little hot in the sun for the first hour or so, but perfect
weather otherwise
Other – Reds got more runs than they needed in a 5-run top of the first
… Bryce contributed to the damage by misplaying a ball to deep right that
allowed the final 2 runs to score … Nats offense blew some opportunities, going
0-5 with runners in scoring position … in the bottom of the 5th,
Henley unwisely tried to score Brian Goodwin from first with no one out on
Harper’s double … ice cream stand had no chocolate
Friday, June 23, 2017
#151 Don't Dream It's Over – Crowded House (1987)
Ariana
Grande and Miley Cyrus knew what they were doing when they performed this one
together at the recent One Love Manchester concert; it’s one of the most
beautiful and well-crafted songs of all time, with the unforgettable chorus,
the great lyrics in the verses, and that organ at the beginning of the bridge.
Listening again to the second part of the chorus, you have to wonder whether
Neil Finn had a premonition of what the state of the world would be like 30
years later:
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win.
#150 Morse Code Of Love – The Capris (1982)
New York
doo-woppers The Capris had a huge hit in 1961 with “There’s A Moon Out Tonight”,
so I could never figure out why their “Morse Code Of Love”, which is also
widely recognized as one of the classic doo-wop songs of all time and still
gets plenty of airplay on the few remaining radio stations to cover that era, never
charted back in the day. (The Manhattan Transfer did get to #83 with a cover
version in 1985.) It turns out that timing is everything; although “Morse Code
Of Love” sounds exactly like something from the late 50s or early 60s, it wasn’t
written or recorded (by a re-formed version of the group) until 20 years later.
1982 wound up being a great year hit-wise for the likes of Joan Jett (“I Love
Rock ‘N Roll”), The J. Geils Band (“Centerfold”), and Survivor (“Eye Of The
Tiger”). For aging doo-wop groups, not so much.
#149 Hazy Shade Of Winter – The Bangles (1987)
I’m pretty
sure that the original version of this song is the only Simon & Garfunkel
single I ever bought, and it remains one of my favorite songs by the duo. The
Bangles, however, made it their own 21 years later with a version that, after a
slow teaser intro, rocks several orders of magnitude harder than its
predecessor. I can even forgive them for dropping half of the lines from the
bridge.
Friday, June 16, 2017
June 14, 2017 – Braves 13, Nats 2 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 36,227
Game Time: 3:17
Weather: 86 degrees, overcast
Wind: 4 mph
Umpires: Home Plate - Andy Fletcher, First Base - Alan Porter, Second
Base - Joe West, Third Base - Hunter Wendelstedt
Section 118, Row V, Seat 1 – mirror image on the third-base side of
Section 127, where we sat Saturday. Great view, but unfortunately Seat 1 in
this section does NOT have an aisle next to it.
Highlights – Brian Goodwin got the Nats on the board with a 2-run homer
in the bottom of the second … weather was much better than expected, as there
was no rain or storms during the game (just a bit shortly after I arrived
around 3:00), and it wasn’t uncomfortably hot where I was sitting (the breeze
helped), although they did open up a cooling center … patriotic tank-tops were
obviously a popular giveaway item
Other – Tanner Roark was even worse than on his bobblehead day Friday,
giving up 3 in the top of first and 3 more in the third (punctuated by a 2-run
HR by light-hitting former Nat Kurt Suzuki), failing to shut down the Braves
after Goodwin’s blast … Trevor Gott (taking one for the team) and Blake Treinen
combined to give up 6 more Atlanta runs in the seventh … Nats offense offered
little against Julio Teheran and 2 Braves relievers over the final 7 innings …
Nats have now lost the past 4 games I’ve attended, 3 of which came on this home
stand
Monday, June 12, 2017
June 10, 2017 – Rangers 6, Nats 3 (11 innings) – Nationals Park
Attendance: 32,157
Game Time: 4:14
Weather: 79 degrees, sunny
Wind: 2 mph
Umpires: Home Plate - Kerwin Danley, First Base - Todd Tichenor, Second
Base - Adam Hamari, Third Base - Brian O'Nora
Seventh-inning stretch song: What I Like About You
Section 127, Row BB, Seats 3-4 – 2 of the 4 seats in this row of the
narrow, pie-shaped section just to the first-base side of the premium seats.
Great view, but unfortunately no shade.
Highlights – Gio was outstanding, giving up 3 hits and a single run in
6 innings, walking just 1 and fanning 9 … Albers followed with 2 scoreless
frames … the quiet Washington offense woke up in the bottom of the sixth, on a
Harper double, Murphy single, Rendon sac fly, and a two-run HR by Adam Lind …
Bryce nailed Nats nemesis Pete Kozma at the plate in the top of the ninth to
keep the score tied
Other – Nats loaded the bases with none out in the 5th
(albeit with the bottom of the order up) and failed to score … Koda Glover,
suffering silently with a sore back, failed to hold the 3-1 lead in the bottom
of the 9th … Washington had the winning run on third with one out in
the 9th following a pinch-double by Drew and a Wieters groundout,
but Goodwin fanned after a long AB and pinch-runner Wilmer Difo inexplicably
froze halfway down the line after a Turner bunt … Kelley came in with one out
and nobody on in the top of the 11th and promptly yielded a loud
double, an intentional walk, and then a homer to light-hitting backup catcher
Robinson Chirinos
June 9, 2017 – Rangers 5, Nats 2 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 38,332
Game Time: 3:00
Weather: 81 degrees, partly cloudy
Wind: 4 mph
Umpires: Home Plate - Brian O'Nora, First Base - Kerwin Danley, Second
Base - Todd Tichenor, Third Base - Adam Hamari
Seventh-inning stretch song: What I Like About You
Section 416, Row F, Seats 3-5
Highlights – bobblehead honoree Tanner Roark gave up 7 hits through the
first 3 innings but only 1 run … Nats bullpen blanked the Rangers for the final
3 frames … offense scored single runs in the sixth and ninth … good luck with
Metro both down and back
Other – sluggish effort overall, perhaps a delayed reaction to their
trip back from L.A. the previous day … Roark yielded a 2-run homer in the 5th,
a bases-loaded walk in the 6th, and a leadoff HR in the 7th
… 3 Nats errors, so 3 of the 5 runs Tanner gave up were unearned
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