August 4, 2024 – Nats 4, Brewers 3

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WAS/WAS202408040.shtml

 

Time: 2:19

Attendance: 18,748

Start Time Weather: 83° F, Wind 0mph, Cloudy, No Precipitation.

 

After initially failing to win a game following the recent trade deadline, the hometown team captured their second in a row on a steamy (although not super-hot) Sunday afternoon, winning both of the season’s series from the NL Central-leading Brewers. The game was a fast-moving pitchers’ duel for the first 5½ innings, as Mitchell Parker blanked the visitors over his six-inning start, while Washington’s only run came on a 1st-inning homer by the red-hot Luis García Jr. In the bottom of the 6th, however, three singles off sidearming lefty reliever Hoby Milner loaded the bases with one out for James Wood, whose opposite-field liner eluded the diving Jackson Chourio and went into the left field corner, scoring all three runners for a 4-0 Nats lead.

 

The game was far from over, however, as the Nationals’ bullpen has been a shell of its former self after the team traded two of its best relievers. Derek Law, who’s taken to riding in on the bullpen cart to the delight of the crowd, got things off to a good start by providing a 1-2-3 7th inning. As was the case Saturday, the 8th inning (which formerly belonged to the now-departed Hunter Harvey) was the problem. This time, Robert Garcia served up a 3-run, 444-foot shot to Milwaukee catcher Gary Sánchez, cutting the lead to a single run. Fortunately, Jacob Barnes retired the final batter in the inning, and Kyle Finnegan retired the Brewers on 11 pitches in the 9th for his 30th save of the season.

 

The Kids Shoe Charms promotion was less than a resounding success, as there were literally more empty seats than fans (regardless of age) in the stands. Probably that’s the reason why the four of us who came in together all managed to snag charms (not for us to wear, of course), despite our more advanced ages.

Abdul “Duke” Fakir (Four Tops)

https://variety.com/2024/music/news/duke-fakir-four-tops-dead-1236080421/

 

The Four Tops couldn’t match the Supremes or the Temptations in terms of hit records, but they wound up topping both in terms of stability, as the original members first joined forces in 1953 and continued recording and performing together until the death of Lawrence Payton in 1997.

 

While they became known for their “tough, soulful voices” and a sound that “had a sense of urgency and even danger,” they started out singing jazz standards before arriving at Motown, and even recorded a jazz album when they first joined the label, although it wasn’t released until nearly 30 years later. The vocal arrangements are wonderful, but it’s completely different from their later recordings, sounding more like the Four Freshmen or the Manhattan Transfer.

 

Favorite tracks (all from their Motown days):

Ask The Lonely

Baby I Need Your Loving

It's The Same Old Song

I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)

7-Rooms of Gloom

Walk Away Renee

Standing In The Shadows Of Love

Reach Out I'll Be There

Bernadette

Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)

 

Bonus non-Motown track: When She Was My Girl – 1981 record that hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart and just missed the top 10 on the Hot 100

The outré entrée

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/of-interest/2024/07/26/paris-olympics-opening-ceremony-arson-attack-mascot/

 

This is a brief excerpt from a Dan Zak column that’s well worth reading in its entirety.

 

Pass the torch to a new generation? Or just pass the torch to Snoop Dogg (in French: “Snuup Doug”), who carried the flame Friday morning through the streets of Saint-Denis. He wore white athletic gear and gold-colored sneakers.

 

On a press call this week, a journalist from Billboard asked Snoop how he would field a team to win a gold medal for rapping. (Why not have a gold medal for rapping? NBC needs a new generation of viewers to pay attention. Only 56 percent of Americans are even aware that the games are being held in France, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday [emphasis mine]; over the past 24 Olympiads, there’s been a 27 percent drop in interest among Americans younger than 50. Maybe the Sixth Republic can’t be built out of TikToks.)

 

Anyway. “So this is rap Olympics you’re talking about?” Snoop replied. “I definitely would take Eminem. … Definitely would take Rakim. Then I would go grab a female … Queen Latifah. And naturally I gotta take Snoop Dogg. … I mean, dream team.”