Shuffle #121 (November 9, 2019)

I Have Nothing – Whitney Houston

Fireball – Pitbull

The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) – U2

Burning House Of Love – X

Words Get In The Way – Miami Sound Machine

Lost And Lookin’ – Sam Cooke

Penguins – Lyle Lovett

Blue Christmas – Elvis Presley

Summertime – Eva Cassidy

Sitting On The Fence – GrooveLily

More on Medicare-for-all

Two recent Washington Post columns:

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/warrens-climb-in-the-polls-should-horrify-democrats/2019/11/04/429f4032-ff4d-11e9-9518-1e76abc088b6_story.html (Michael Gerson)

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/elizabeth-warren-tried-to-do-bernie-sanderss-homework-for-him-she-failed/2019/11/04/bddfb0b0-ff48-11e9-8bab-0fc209e065a8_story.html (Catherine Rampell)

Paul Barrere

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/paul-barrere-guitarist-and-singer-songwriter-for-little-feat-dies-at-71/2019/10/30/8ff7b290-fb21-11e9-ac8c-8eced29ca6ef_story.html

 

I like Harrison Smith’s quick summary of Little Feat in his obituary above: “… mixed California rock with New Orleans funk over a half-century of extended jams and fiery performances.”

 

Favorite Little Feat songs:

 

Red Streamliner

Dixie Chicken

Let It Roll

Oh, Atlanta

Fat Man In The Bathtub

Hate To Lose Your Lovin’

All That You Dream

Time Loves A Hero

Sailin’ Shoes

Willin’

Why did those World Series games last so long?

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27977973/why-did-world-series-games-last-long

 

Great analysis by Sam Miller.

Favorite Musical Artists: Eva Cassidy

I’ve expressed my feelings about Eva in an earlier post (“With the possible exception of Sinatra, I’ve never heard anyone approach Eva Cassidy as a singer, in terms of voice quality, phrasing, and the overall ability to interpret a song”), but Jefferson Morley provided an even better summary in his superb 1998 Washington Post article, “When Chuck Met Eva”:

 

“She had a voice that could silence a barroom and get the pool players to lay down their cues. A voice that could prompt casual listeners to round up their co-workers for a night out dancing. A voice that could invest all kinds of American popular music with a true portion of herself.”

 

RIP Eva. Your legend lives on.

 

Favorite Songs:

 

Over The Rainbow 

Blue Skies

You've Changed*

Dark End Of The Street

Wayfaring Stranger

 

You Don't Know Me*

Stormy Monday

American Tune

Cheek To Cheek

People Get Ready

 

Oh, Had I A Golden Thread

I Could Have Told You So*

Penny To My Name

Autumn Leaves

Won't Be Long

 

A Bold Young Farmer

Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You*

God Bless The Child

Honeysuckle Rose

Fields Of Gold

 

* -- with Chuck Brown

October 27, 2019 – Astros 7, Nats 1 (World Series Game 5) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/astros-win-world-series-game-5-three-straight-in-dc

 

Weather: 72 degrees, Clear.

Wind: 8 mph, In From LF.

Umpires: HP--Barksdale, 1B--Holbrook, 2B--Wolf, 3B--Eddings, LF--Cederstrom, RF--Hoye.

Time: 3:19

Attendance: 43,910

 

The search for the Washington Nationals’ offense, gone missing this past Friday, proved fruitless for the third straight day, with only a single ray of hope in each of them. Even the presence of POTUS didn’t help to unravel the mystery.

 

The situation required something close to perfection from the team’s pitching. Joe Ross, starting only due to the injury-related late scratch of ace Max Scherzer, did pitch efficiently, needing only 78 pitches to get through his five innings of work. Unfortunately, he served up a two-run homer to Yordan Alvarez in the 2^nd inning, putting the home team in a quick hole, and allowed another two-run shot (this one to Carlos Correa) in the 4^th. Rainey and Doolittle blanked the visitors for two innings after Ross left, but Hudson allowed a run in the 8^th and yet another two-run dinger (this time to George Springer) in the top of the 9^th, greatly accelerating the flow of fans toward the exits.

 

Houston starter Gerrit Cole, after being treated rudely by the Nats in Game 1, got his revenge Sunday night, giving up just three hits, with the only one that hurt a bit being Soto’s solo HR following the 7^th-inning stretch. Washington’s only real scoring chance came in the top of the 2^nd, when singles by Soto and Kendrick put runners on the corners with no one out. In keeping with the script for the previous two games, however, Zim struck out and Robles grounded into an inning-ending double play.

 

Since our previous two World Series trips to Nando’s had been followed by deflating Washington defeats, we altered our pregame routine, taking advantage of the unusually warm weather to dine outside at Wiseguy Pizza. (Obviously it didn’t help, but the pizza was good enough to justify a repeat visit.)

October 26, 2019 – Astros 8, Nats 1 (World Series Game 4) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-win-game-4-tie-world-series-at-2?game_pk=599374

 

Weather: 63 degrees, Overcast.

Wind: 10 mph, R To L.

Umpires: HP--Hoye, 1B--Barksdale, 2B--Holbrook, 3B--Wolf, LF--Eddings, RF--Cederstrom.

Time: 3:48

Attendance: 43,889

 

The recipe for Game 4 turned out to be almost identical to that of Game 3. The Nats added some sterling defense, but also mixed in an atrocious bullpen meltdown. The main ingredients – excellent Houston pitching blended with Washington’s failure to take advantage of their scoring opportunities – remained the same, as did the final result.

 

The conventional wisdom going into the contest was that the Astros, lacking a fourth starter and therefore needing to make this a “bullpen game”, would be at a decided disadvantage, with the Nats countering with a well-regarded (and well-compensated) veteran like Patrick Corbin. The conventional wisdom turned out to be wrong.

 

Corbin, who had been up and down during the postseason, did get through six innings for the Nats. However, he dug the team into another early 2-0 hole by yielding four consecutive singles with one out in the 1^st inning. He settled down and allowed only one baserunner the next two frames, but faltered again in the 4^th, as Robinson Chirinos homered for the second straight game, this time with a man on base.

 

Meanwhile, rookie Jose Urquidy, with just 41 regular-season MLB innings to his credit, shut down the hosts for five strong innings on only two hits, as the Nats wasted Gomes’ leadoff double in the 3^rd (thanks in part to Corbin’s inability to bunt him over to third). Washington missed its best opportunity to get back in the game in the 6^th after Josh James replaced Urquidy and walked two of the three batters he faced, with the heart of the order coming up. Will Harris took over for the Astros, and Rendon managed an infield single to load the bases (and give the Nats credit for a hit with a runner in scoring position, albeit one that did not actually result in a run). Harris then induced another grounder from Soto that did score Parra as Houston recorded the second out, and then fanned Kendrick to minimize the damage.

 

Any hopes for completing the comeback died a quick death just a half-inning later. Rainey couldn’t find the plate, walking two of the three batters he faced. Rodney then entered with the proverbial can of kerosene, allowing a Michael Brantley single to load the bases, followed by an Alex Bregman grand slam. One out and three walks later, Davey was merciful enough to yank him in favor of Wander Suero, who kept the score at 8-1 by fanning Kyle Tucker. The Nats did manage to produce (and strand) a few more runners, but the meaningful part of the evening was over. The Series was now tied at 2-2, with only one more chance for the Nats to win a game at home before the action returned to Texas.

October 25, 2019 – Astros 4, Nats 1 (World Series Game 3) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/astros-beat-nationals-in-world-series-game-3

 

Weather: 64 degrees, Partly Cloudy.

Wind: 2 mph, Out To RF.

Umpires: HP--Cederstrom, 1B--Hoye, 2B--Barksdale, 3B--Holbrook, LF--Wolf, RF--Eddings.

Time: 4:03

Attendance: 43,867

 

Section 416, Row J, Seats 27-28 (back in our old section, but on the opposite aisle and higher up – under shelter in case of rain)

 

It was, in a sense, a game of opposites. Washington starter Anibal Sanchez, when last seen starting Game 1 of the NLCS two weeks ago, went 7.2 innings in that affair before giving up his one and only hit. Friday night, he gave up a hit to the leadoff hitter, and 10 in all, without getting out of the 6^th inning. The Astros, who had been struggling mightily with runners in scoring postion, went 4 for 8 in such situations, while the Nats were 0 for 10. Houston was sloppy in their Game 2 defeat; now, the Nats yielded 4 stolen bases (including one where an errant Suzuki throw allowed the runner to get all the way to third), while birthday boy (and Gold Glove nominee) Juan Soto misplayed one ball in left field and airmailed a throw on a second, giving up an extra base each time.

 

For the first time in the Series, Washington’s starter kept the Astros off the board in the first inning, although they scored in each of the next two to put the home team in an early 2-0 hole. The strategic turning point came in the bottom of the 4^th, after a leadoff Zimmerman walk and a one-out Robles triple. Although Tanner Rainey was warming in the bullpen, Davey allowed the light-hitting Sanchez to bat. He struck out, and Turner hit a soft ground ball to pitcher Zack Greinke, leaving Robles on third.

 

The decision was certainly defensible, given Sanchez’s low pitch count and the shortage of reliable options in the Washington bullpen, but it did not work out well. Sanchez recorded only 4 more outs, giving up one more run in the 5^th and a homer to Robinson Chirinos in the 6^th before leaving with one out. Meanwhile, Fernando Rodney prevented any further damage that inning, and Joe Ross combined with Wander Suero to blank the visitors over the final three frames.

 

The Nats didn’t lack for baserunners, getting at least one man in scoring position in each of the first six innings and getting Greinke out of the game with 2 outs in the 5^th. They just couldn’t get hits when they needed them, either against Greinke or the Houston relief crew.

 

Things seemed much more crowded than at the two NLCS games, despite almost identical attendance figures. You could barely move on the lower level when we came in around 6:45, and getting out of the park after the game seemed to take forever. Metro did a great job getting us back, but I didn’t actually get home until 2:15.

 

And I was extremely happy that DC Washington got the honor of performing the National Anthem before the game.

Shuffle #120 (October 19, 2019)

We Let The Stars Go – Prefab Sprout

I’ve Been Loving You Too Long – Otis Redding

Right Here (Departed) – Brandy

Pictures Of Lily – The Who

Lollipop – The Chordettes

Nashville Cats – The Lovin’ Spoonful

Behind The Wall Of Sleep – The Smithereens

A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You – The Monkees

Midnite Cruiser – Steely Dan

Run Joe – Louis Jordan

Wide River To Cross – Diana Krall

Elizabeth Warren and her recent gay-marriage “zinger”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/warren-had-a-good-zinger-on-gay-marriage-it-was-bad-politics/2019/10/15/6736ea1a-ef50-11e9-8693-f487e46784aa_story.html

 

Another great column from the Post’s Ruth Marcus. A couple of key passages:

 

“[Her response] reflects an attitude of intolerance and disrespect toward people of faith. Those who reasonably expect tolerance and respect should think about — well, they should think about the importance of practicing what they preach.”

 

“Most immediately, this dismissive attitude is politically dangerous. In the short term, Warren’s seeming intolerance toward those whose faith rejects same-sex marriage could hurt her with African American voters. In the general election, her comments carried unsettling echoes of Democratic missteps past: Barack Obama on dispirited working-class voters who “cling to guns or religion”; Hillary Clinton lumping Trump supporters into a “basket of deplorables.” Intolerant condescension is rarely a winning political strategy.”