In majors, there’s plenty of plunk

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/06/14/with-highest-velocity-most-hbps-mlb-history-its-never-been-more-painful-be-hitter/?utm_term=.78b8c966521b

 

If you’ve been getting the idea that more batters have been getting hit by pitches in recent years, you’re absolutely right. Dave Sheinen explores some of the possible reasons.

Campaign 2020: Walk-up music

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2019/06/11/daily-202-here-s-the-soundtrack-of-2020-what-presidential-candidates-walk-up-songs-say-about-them/5cfe8c641ad2e5122b87c57e/?utm_term=.7420d652118a&wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1

 

Dolly Parton? Springsteen? Lil Nas X? Find out what tunes your favorite candidates are using. Or, which candidates are using music you like (or hate).

The Wood Brothers, Lake Street Dive – Wolf Trap, 6/8/2019

Row F, Seat 41 (about 1/3 of the way from the aisle at the right side of the Filene Center)

 

As the 7:30 starting time suggested, both acts had time for relatively lengthy sets, starting with the Wood Brothers for 75 minutes and then Lake Street Dive for about 90. I enjoyed the former, although I wasn’t at all familiar with them prior to an afternoon-of-the-show crash course on YouTube. The trio was more amplified than I had expected at the beginning of their set, even with Chris Wood using his upright bass for most of the first half of the set; their more straight-ahead rockers wound up reminding me of The Record Company. Rachael Price and Bridget Kearney from Lake Street Dive joined them briefly 30 minutes or so into the set. The last several songs were mainly tracks I had previewed, with especially impressive keyboard work from non-brother Jano Rix on “Luckiest Man”. They started and ended strong with covers: Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man” at the beginning, and The Band’s “Ophelia” to end their part of the evening. Other highlights included “Postcards From Hell” and a heartfelt extended tribute to the late Dr. John on “One More Day”.Setlist

From the start of their set, Lake Street Dive made it clear that they would be diving deep into their back catalog, opening with “Neighbor Song” (from their self-titled 2010 album) and “Rabid Animal”, a relatively obscure track from 2014’s Bad Self Portraits. As their set proceeded, they wound up doing 5 of the 11 tracks from the latter (which happens to be my favorite CD of theirs), and 5 of the 10 from last year’s Free Yourself Up. Most of their originals were uptempo, with the notable exception of Rachael’s stunning vocals on the slow ballad “Just Ask”. The high point of the show for me, however, was a 4-song mini-set of covers about halfway through, starting with Shania Twain’s “Still The One”, spotlighting the vocal talents of keyboardist (and newest member) Akie Bermiss. All 5 of them then moved in front of a single mic for a great version of The Kinks’ yearning “Strangers”. They then brought The Wood Brothers back for a fun rendition of “Everyday People” (with Kearney and Chris Wood dueling on their respective upright basses) and a rousing performance of The Staple Singers’ “I’m Just Another Soldier”. The final part of the show rewarded the crowd with some of the band’s better-known material (“Call Off Your Dogs”, “You Go Down Smooth”, and “Good Kisser”), with the title track from Bad Self Portraits as the first of two encores, just before most of the audience sang along to Hall and Oates’ “Rich Girl”.
Setlist

Trump is counting on impeachment

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-is-counting-on-impeachment/2019/05/30/b434f3c2-8301-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html?utm_term=.297bf1dacdb2

 

The crux of the matter, in four paragraphs:

 

Proponents of impeachment come from three blocs: progressive pundits who have no idea what it takes to win office; occupants of safe seats in gerrymandered Democratic districts; and the Justin Amash wing of the Republican Party, population: one.

 

They make a very reasonable moral argument that people who transgress the law should be held accountable. However, Congress is not a seminar in moral philosophy, nor has Donald Trump ever shown any interest in the subject. Congress is a political institution, and the political argument in favor of impeachment boils down to a scene from the classic film “Animal House.”

 

“This situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part,” says the suave and cynical Otter. To which earnest Bluto replies: “And we’re just the guys to do it!”

 

Morality is much too important to be left to the righteous. They have a tendency to turn it into crusades, jihads, purges and cults. Instead, society’s moral tenor is best maintained by pragmatists who know enough not to let the perfect become the enemy of the good.

Favorite Musical Artists: Richard Thompson

Mark Deming begins his excellent biography of Richard Thompson at allmusic.com with the following sentence: “An iconic figure in British folk-rock, Richard Thompson is arguably the genre's greatest triple threat: a dazzling guitarist, an outstanding songwriter, and a strong and evocative vocalist.” I’d certainly agree, but would add “compelling live performer” to the list. One of the advantages of following a non-superstar act (speaking commercially, rather than in terms of talent) is that you get plenty of opportunities to see them in small, intimate venues (Rams Head, Barns at Wolf Trap, the Birchmere) at a reasonable price: since I started this blog, I’ve seen Thompson on 5 separate occasions, not counting his brief opening set for Bonnie Raitt at Wolf Trap.

 

Favorite songs:

 

Al Bowlly's In Heaven

Keep Your Distance

1952 Vincent Black Lightning

Tear-Stained Letter

Wall Of Death*

 

Valerie

I Misunderstood

King Of Bohemia

Dimming Of The Day

I Feel So Good

 

Don't Renege On Our Love*

Hots For The Smarts

Uninhabited Man

Beeswing

Crawl Back (Under My Stone)

 

Walking The Long Mile Home

Waltzing's For Dreamers

When The Spell Is Broken

How Will I Ever Be Simple Again

Crocodile Tears

 

* - Richard and Linda Thompson

“Joe Biden has no public events scheduled.”

This has been a frequent statement from the Biden campaign. Can he maintain his early lead while minimizing on-the-ground campaigning? Time will tell.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/joe-bidens-campaign-of-limited-exposure-how-long-can-he-keep-it-up/2019/05/26/dcc045e4-7e2e-11e9-8bb7-0fc796cf2ec0_story.html?utm_term=.9aee62fd59bb

May 26, 2019 – Nats 9, Marlins 6 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/erick-fedde-solid-as-nationals-beat-marlins

 

Weather: 87 degrees, Cloudy.

Wind: 8 mph, Out To CF.

Umpires: HP--Whitson, 1B--Muchlinski, 2B--Winters, 3B--Timmons.

Time: 3:06 (Delayed 0:24)

Attendance: 26,365

 

Howie Kendrick led the Washington offense, which put up two 4-run innings, winding up with enough runs to withstand a late Miami rally.

 

Kendrick started things off with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the second against Marlins’ ace Caleb Smith. An inning later, with 2 out and no one on, Smith allowed an Adam Eaton double and then walked the next two batters. Kendrick then singled in two runs, and Brian Dozier doubled in two more. The Nats got to reliever Wei-Yin Chen in the bottom of the 6^th, plating one run on back-to-back doubles by Yan Gomes and pinch-hitter Michael A. Taylor, followed by an infield single by Eaton. Rendon then tripled in two runs and scored on a Juan Soto sac fly.

 

Erick Fedde turned in his second consecutive strong start, blanking the visitors over his five innings of work. The Nats’ bullpen started off well, as Tanner Rainey and Javy Guerra kept the Marlins off the scoreboard in the 6^th and 7^th. Cracks began to show when Guerra allowed a two-run HR to Neil Walker in the always-troublesome 8^th. With a 7-run lead, Davey took the opportunity to let James Bourque make his major-league debut in the top of the 9^th. He promptly walked Austin Dean on 4 pitches and fell behind Miguel Rojas 3-1 before inducing a double-play grounder. Unfortunately the final out eluded him, as he allowed a double, walk, single, and another double before he was replaced by Wander Suero. Suero allowed one more run on a Walker single, but fanned Starlin Castro to finally seal the win.

 

We had a short period of scattered large raindrops in the second inning, but it ended relatively quickly. Several innings later, however, a similar period led to a brief but torrential downpour, making this our first rain delay or postponement of the season.

May 24, 2019 – Nats 12, Marlins 10 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/nationals-bats-rally-in-win-over-marlins

 

Weather: 82 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 14 mph, In From LF.

Umpires: HP--Winters, 1B--Timmons, 2B--Whitson, 3B--Muchlinski.

Time: 3:59

Attendance: 29,173

 

Section 312, Row C, Seat 19

 

You shouldn’t win a game when your starting pitcher gives up 5 runs in 4 innings. You definitely shouldn’t win when your bullpen gives up another 5 runs, somehow increasing its already dreadful 7+ ERA. And you certainly have no business coming out on top when you commit 4 errors (which would have been 5 if not for a questionable scoring decision).

 

The Nats fell behind by 3 early, came back to tie, fell behind by 4, came back to tie, and once again gave up the lead in the top of the 8^th. Nevertheless, they persisted.

 

Give credit to Anthony Rendon for his game-tying 3-run blast in the 3^rd. Give some to Victor Robles, whose 2-run double tied it again 3 innings later. And give a ton to Juan Soto, once again doing Juan Soto things, for finally putting the home team in front with a 3-run homer off a 101-mph pitch.

 

On the pitching side, Matt Grace and Tanner Rainey kept the visitors off the board in the 6^th and 7^th innings, respectively. With a 3-run lead to protect in the top of the 9^th, Doolittle allowed a homer on his first pitch, followed by 2 more hits later in the inning, but finally recorded the final out, allowing the crowd to exhale at last. We were also glad that they chose to play this marathon on a night that Metro kept going past 11:30.)

 

Musical footnote – kudos to Matt Adams for his use of Gary Clark Jr.’s “Bright Lights, Big City” to lead into his ABs, and to Brian Dozier for choosing the ubiquitous “Old Town Road” for some of his.

May 23, 2019 – Frederick Keys 8, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 7 (11 innings) – Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium

https://www.milb.com/frederick/news/reyes-walks-it-off-for-frederick/c-307398486

 

Umpires: HP: Reed Basner. 1B: John Budka.

Weather: 71 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 5 mph, Calm.

First pitch: 11:00 AM.

Time: 3:38.

Attendance: 6,232.

 

Section 204, Row K, Seat 17 – second section from the middle on the third-base side, second row below the concourse, on the aisle

 

It was a good news / bad news / good news kind of day at Frederick. It was all good for the first 5 innings, as Baltimore’s 2017 first-round draft pick, southpaw DL Hall, blanked the visitors in dominant fashion, allowing just 2 hits and 1 walk while fanning 10. Meanwhile, the Keys turned 4 straight singles into 2 runs in the bottom of the 2^nd, and added one more in the 5^th on a Trevor Craport RBI double.

 

Things quickly broke bad from there, when Travis Seabrooke relieved Hall to start the 6^th and allowed a pair of 2-run homers. The Pelicans then added single tallies in each of the next 3 innings, countered only by a single Keys run in the 8^th.

 

Trailing 7-4 in the bottom of the 9^th, however, Zach Jarrett (son of NASCAR legend Dale) hit a 3-run homer with one out to tie the game.

 

This was the first extra-inning minor-league game I had seen since the recent rules change that starts each half-inning after the 9^th with a runner on second base, to increase the chances of scoring (and thus ending the game more quickly). This didn’t particularly bother Frederick reliever Steven Klimek in the top of the 10^th, as he struck out the first two batters and retired the third on a grounder.

 

Frederick went for the jugular in the bottom of the frame, pinch-running Jake Ring at second base for Ryan Ripken (son of Cal Jr.). After Sean Miller failed to bunt him over, he got to third on a wild pitch, but was stranded there as the next two batters grounded out.

 

Klimek didn’t have it as easy the next inning, walking two batters with one out to load the bases, but escaped on a nicely-turned double play. Third-baseman Jomar Reyes, spending his 4^th consecutive season with the Keys, hit a ground-rule double with one out in the bottom of the frame to end it, sending the remnants of the STEM Day crowd home happy, at least until the torrential rains hit shortly thereafter.

May 19, 2019 – Cubs 6, Nats 5 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/cubs-vs-nationals/2019/05/19/565918#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=wrap,game=565918

 

Weather: 87 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 7 mph, R To L.

Umpires: HP--Wolf, 1B--Lentz, 2B--Iassogna, 3B--Holbrook.

Time: 3:15

Attendance: 23,244

 

Things did not begin well.

 

Veteran Nats starter Jeremy Hellickson, who depends on command to make up for the lack of an imposing fastball, walked the first 3 Chicago batters he faced, throwing only 2 strikes in the process and generating early action in the home team bullpen. He hit Willson Contreras with a pitch later in the frame, but after a double play managed to escape with only a single run on the board.

 

Hellickson then stopped walking people and started allowing extra-base hits, allowing single runs in the 2^nd and 3^rd. Kyle McGowin made his season debut for the Nats in the 4^th and continued the trend. Meanwhile, Washington didn’t get a runner on base against Kyle Hendricks until Rendon drew a four-pitch walk with 2 outs in the bottom of the 4^th.

 

Things started to look up an inning later, as McGowin retired the visitors in order and the Nats ended the no-hitter and shutout on singles by Suzuki and Parra followed by a Dozier groundout. Unfortunately there would be no shutdown inning, as the Cubs responded with 2 runs in an ugly top of the 6^th, during which McGowin uncorked two wild pitches and was charged with an error on Hendricks’ bunt. This was especially painful since Washington finally figured out the Cubs’ starter in the bottom of the inning, but they still trailed by 2 runs after Rendon’s 3-run blast.

 

Howie Kendrick cut the deficit to one with a leadoff HR after the seventh-inning stretch, and the Washington bullpen blanked the Cubs over the final 3 innings, but they were matched by Chicago’s Steve Cishek, who notched a rare 7-out save, allowing only one hit in the process.

 

While we were not happy earlier in the week to hear that the game had been chosen by ESPN for its Sunday night broadcast, the decision worked out well, given how hot it was in the afternoon. Things were much more comfortable for the 7:05 start, especially in the shade.