As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)
Starting with 1957’s “Bye Bye Love”
and continuing for five more years, the Everlys ruled the pop and country
charts with 15 Top 10 hits, including “Wake Up Little Susie,” “All I Have to Do
Is Dream,” and “When Will I Be Loved.” … [Their vocal] blend, steeped in
country music, Appalachia, and early rock & roll, impacted on nearly every
harmony-based band that followed, including the Beatles, the Mamas and the
Papas, the Hollies and Simon & Garfunkel.
Seats – Section 215, Row A, Seats 3-4. I decided to splurge
a bit on the ticket exchange, getting second level seats just to the right of
home plate, with access to the indoor “Champions Club”. Things worked out quite
nicely, although I plan to avoid the front row in the future due to the
plexiglass that somewhat hinders the view.
On Tuesday night, the weather forecast for Wednesday
afternoon was so ominous that we thought the game might be postponed until
Thursday. Fortunately no one jumped to a hasty conclusion, as the skies turned
out to be sunny; we didn’t encounter a single drop of rain. Given our
reasonably timely arrival via Metro, two of us took the opportunity to stop by
Subway and purchase sandwiches to bring into the game.
#3 – Starting pitcher Josiah Gray, who continued to win the
hearts of Nats fans with an effective 6-inning performance, allowing one solo
homer in the 2nd and another in the 3rd but pitching out
of minor trouble otherwise. He also notched his first major-league hit and started
a nifty double play on a sacrifice bunt by Toronto starter Jose Berrios.
#2 – Josh Bell. Although he did ground into a double play
and misplayed a grounder on what should have been the final out of the game, he
provided the decisive three-run homer in the bottom of the 7th,
after the visitors had taken the lead in the top of the inning.
#1 – Juan Soto. After the first two Nats batters reached
base, Berrios unwisely gave him something to hit, and he crushed a ball to left
to give Washington a quick 3-0 lead. Having learned the hard way, Blue Jays
pitchers walked him in his next three plate appearances, including right before
Bell’s HR.
Former closer Brad Hand’s return to Washington was not
exactly auspicious. Entering the game in the fateful bottom of the seventh, he
allowed a single to Alcides Escobar and walked Soto before serving up Bell’s
blast. After Yadiel Hernandez was retired, Carter Kieboom sent Hand’s next
pitch over the left field wall. One out later, Blue Jays manager Charlie
Montoyo lifted Hand (who got a sarcastic/appreciative round of applause from
the hometown fans) before he could face Nats catcher Riley Adams, for whom he
had been traded a few weeks earlier. Adams, on the other hand, justified his end
of the trade with two more hits against his former team, after notching a
single, double, and homer the previous night.
