Shuffle #3 (May 24, 2014)

The Little Things – Colbie Caillat

Get On The Good Foot – James Brown

Traces – Classics IV

Remember The Time – Michael Jackson

Don’t Let The Green Grass Fool You – Wilson Pickett

Stoned Soul Picnic – Laura Nyro

There She Goes Again – Marshall Crenshaw

The Gentle Rain – George Benson

#57 New York's A Lonely Town -- The Tradewinds (1965)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRSe9fbzbFc

The ultimate surfing song for East Coasters (in the lyrics, the song title is followed by “… when you’re the only surfer boy around”), and the best surfing-related song ever not done by the Beach Boys. Feel free to search for deeper meanings about dislocation if you must.

#58 Levi Stubbs' Tears -- Billy Bragg (1986)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbdJ8OGYtzM

Another WHFS favorite from the 1980s, this one from British punk/folk singer/songwriter/activist Billy Bragg (who, unlike many UK performers, definitely does NOT lose his accent when singing). I suppose the redemptive part of this song is the power of music to get people through tough times, but be warned that it’s considerably bleaker than, say, “Rock And Roll Lullabye”.

May 22, 2014 – Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4, Frederick Keys 3 – Harry Grove Stadium (Frederick)

2 + 2 > 3

Umpires: HP: Adam Beck. 1B: Drew Freed.

Weather: 75 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 14 mph, L to R.

T: 2:38.

Att: 4,308. (Most appeared to be disguised as empty seats, although a lot of kids were there for “History Day”.)

Section 203, Row I, Seat 1 – The early forecasts for the day were iffy in terms of possible thunderstorms, so I held off on getting a ticket until Thursday morning, when the outlook had improved. The highest aisle seat I could get in my favorite section was four rows from the top, which unlike the top couple rows is not in the shade. It was a warmish morning/afternoon out in the sun, but very comfortable in the shaded part of the concourse. Fortunately, the threatened showers didn’t materialize, at least during the game. Considering that almost everyone in the section was either in the back row or the front couple rows, I thought I might have an excellent opportunity to get a baseball, but no luck; one of the two balls that found its way into the section bounced quickly to the front of the section, while the other went to an usher in the opposite aisle.

Grilled chicken sandwiches were cheap at $5.50 – I’m on the fence whether having them on pretzel rolls is a good idea or not. Bottles (20 oz.) of Orange Crush and other soda were $3.75.

The game itself was pretty uneventful. The Keys are largely bereft of actual major league prospects this year, and slugging third baseman Joey Gallo didn’t play for Myrtle Beach after being lifted early the night before. (Never found any explanation, but I suspect a minor tweak.) Top catching prospect Jorge Alfaro did play, but at first base. Only three half-innings saw any scoring. The Pelicans took a 2-run lead in the top of the third (single, triple, single), but the Keys fought back in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out, three-run homer by second baseman Sammie Starr. Former top prospect Matt Hobgood, who was the fifth pick overall in the 2009 draft, came on in relief of starter Mark Blackmar and retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh, but Lex Rutledge entered in the eighth to walk the leadoff batter and then surrender a two-run homer by designated hitter Preston Beck.

The Keys lineup also featured another familiar name in former Nationals minor league outfielder Michael Burgess, who the Nats drafted in the supplemental first round of the 2007 draft and traded to the Cubs in the January 2011 Tom Gorzelanny deal. The Pelicans pitching staff included former Phillies prospect Jason Knapp, went to the Indians 7/29/2009 as part of the Cliff Lee trade.

Proofreaders Needed note – the “How to Keep Score” instructions in the Frederick game program indicate that 3B stands for “Tripple”.

May 18, 2014 – Nationals 6, Mets 3 – Nationals Park

Buffalo dreams

Umpires: HP: Jon Byrne. 1B: Lance Barrett. 2B: Dana DeMuth. 3B: Ed Hickox.

Weather: 64 degrees, sunny.

Wind: 5 mph, In from LF.

T: 2:45.

Att: 36,965.

When Wilson Ramos (aka “Buffalo” by some) was announced in the Nats starting lineup after catching Saturday’s 4:05 game, I was joking with Terry that the team was making sure they got their money’s worth from him after his previous DL stint. Turns out that that he had talked himself into the lineup – fortunately for the home team, since he sparked the Nats offense with a two-run double in the third and a two-run double in the fifth.

Pitching-wise, Jordan Zimmermann wasn’t as sharp as usual, but had a decent outing, yielding a run in the second (which was matched by a Desmond HR in the bottom half), and in the top of the sixth giving back the two runs the Nats had just scored to extend their lead. Fortunately, the Nats bullpen (Storen, Clippard, Soriano) retired all 9 batters they faced in the final three innings to nail down the victory.

Bolstered by a swarm of little leaguers, there was a nice crowd for the third straight game of the series. Interestingly enough, the Friday night Wilson Ramos bobblehead giveaway had the smallest paid attendance of the three games, although I’m sure the team isn’t complaining about any of the 34,000+ crowds.

Nice day weather-wise as well, although chilly in our shady upper-deck wind tunnel, and traffic was pretty smooth despite the crowd. Made a detour to Subway after arriving at The Lot Formerly Known As HH for a Black Forest Ham sub.

May 16, 2014 – Nationals 5, Mets 2 – Nationals Park

Reversing the first-inning curse

Umpires: HP: Dana DeMuth. 1B: Ed Hickox. 2B: Jon Byrne. 3B: Lance Barrett.

Weather: 67 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 6 mph, In from LF.

T: 3:08.

Att: 34,413.

Section 107, Row FF, Seats 11-12 – our “home away from home” for several bobblehead games (same row as the April 27 Padres game)

One of the Nats’ biggest problems so far this season has been falling behind early, especially in the first inning. (Comeback victories are nice, but it’s even nicer not to have so many early deficits to overcome.) Friday night was a welcome exception, as Tanner Roark retired the visitors with relative ease in the top of the first, while the Nats combined some timely hitting with Mets defensive miscues to put up three runs in the bottom of the frame. They added to their lead two innings later, with three hits (Ramos, Hairston, and Moore) and two more runs.

Roark pitched effectively through the first 4 innings, never allowing a runner to advance beyond first base. However, his pitch count was climbing rapidly, as the Mets seemed determined to wait him out. (The first time through the order, not a single New York batter swung at the first pitch, although 8 of the 9 were strikes.) The visitors finally caught up with him in the fifth, scoring two runs and waking up the bullpen before Roark retired David Wright with two out and two on to end it.

Ross Detweiler replaced Roark in the sixth and retired the 3 (lefthanded) hitters he faced, and Storen turned in an efficient seventh. Clippard allowed a single to the first batter he faced and a two-out walk to Bobby Abreu, but escaped without damage. There was a little more excitement in the ninth, as Soriano began by allowing a deep fly ball from the light-hitting Anthony Recker that Span turned into an out. With Tejada at the plate, a fan ran onto the field (first one I can remember at Nats Park) and made it almost all the way around the bases before being corralled by security. Soriano got Tejada out, but then proceeded to walk two more weak hitters, Juan Lagares (on 4 pitches) and Eric Young Jr., bringing one of the Mets best hitters (Daniel Murphy) to the plate as the tying run. Murphy drilled Soriano’s first pitch deep to right, but Jayson Werth made a leaping catch to end the game.

Traffic on the way there was the usual rush-hour mess, but we made it down in about an hour. Decided to go with the Cincinnati chili bowl from Hard Times, a relative bargain at $7.00. Weather was relatively comfortable, although much to everyone’s surprise we started to get some light rain in the 8^th inning.

In a minor highlight, former Phil Greg Dobbs got a pinch single in his first Nats’ at-bat.

The Fan of the Game contest produced a mild upset (since a kid almost always wins), with the loudest applause going to a guy sitting near us sporting a cap with buffalo horns (presumably to match the Wilson Ramos bobblehead giveaway).

#59 Stray Cat Strut -- Stray Cats (1983)

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

The Stray Cats were one of my favorites of the early 1980s – actually saw them live up in Baltimore back in the day, with local power popster Tommy Keane opening.

#60 4th Of July – X (1987)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_tyWt_9Bfs

Dave Alvin, formerly of The Blasters, was only with X for a year or so, but this song of his is one of the band’s best ever, featuring much more of a roots-rock sound that was typical for the group. I try to listen to this one every Independence Day.

#61 The Carnival Is Over -- The Seekers (1965)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1-Y68FNF9Y

Like “Substitute”, I heard this one for the first time on WKBO’s Sunday night British Invasion show – not surprising, since it hit #1 in the UK but missed the Top 100 entirely over here. It’s a slow, stately ballad, unlike such Seekers hits as “I’ll Never Find Another You” and “Georgy Girl”, but hauntingly beautiful. There’s a great blog post in The Guardian talking about the impact of the song in the group’s native Australia.

May 13, 2014 – Hagerstown Suns 3, Kannapolis Intimidators 1 – Municipal Stadium (Hagerstown)

Rare daygame, not-so-rare victory

Umpires: HP: Randy Rosenberg. 1B: Brad Polk.

Weather: 71 degrees, sunny.

Wind: 4 mph, R to L.

T: 2:21.

Att: 1,280.

Section 3, Row K, Seat 1 – It was Eats 4 Seats Tuesday, so by bringing a nonperishable food item (2 cans of corn in my case, which seemed fitting for a baseball game), I was able to get a general admission ticket for the bargain price of $4.00. Since it promised to be a hot day (it topped 90 in DC), I joined almost everybody else in sitting in the covered grandstand behind home plate. Grabbed an aisle seat in the section directly behind home plate, with a great view despite being one row from the top.

Hagerstown schedules very few day games – even their Sunday games don’t start until 5:05 – so it was good to get to this one which started at 10:35 am, probably the earliest professional baseball game I have ever attended. Quite a few cars in the parking lot when I arrived (plus school buses, since it was also “Education Day”). The ticket purchase line was short but extremely slow. No free programs (unlike Bowie and Frederick), but the programs did come with printed sheets that included up-to-date stats, rosters, and lineups. Eats were pretty cheap as well – wound up getting a $3 bottle of Pepsi (20 oz.) and a decent $6 pulled pork sandwich.

The game itself was a briskly-moving pitchers duel between Kannapolis’s Jake Sanchez and Nats #8 prospect Jake Johansen. Kannapolis plated a run in the top of the first, but Hagerstown tied it in the fourth on a homer by aptly-named catcher Spencer Kieboom, and went ahead two innings later when Sanchez threw past first base on an infield single by Suns first baseman Jimmy Yezzo, allowing DH John Wooten to score from second. The Suns added an insurance run in the eighth on doubles by Wooten and Yezzo.

The win pushed Hagerstown’s record to 29-8 (eat your heart out Nats). Many of the players (as well as the manager) moved up from last year’s Gulf Coast League team, which finished with a ridiculous 49-9 record.

Tall pitchers department -- the Suns have 3 right-handed pitchers listed at 6-6: Johansen, Ryan Ullman (who pitched innings 6-8 and got the win on Tuesday), and top prospect Lucas Giolito.

Managerial trivia – Suns manager Patrick Anderson grew up in Silver Spring and attended Paint Branch High School. The Intimidators are managed by Pete Rose Jr.