All posts filed under: Baseball

I Want to Live in a Real Sports Town

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I’m sitting in the bar of Michael Jordan’s SteakHouse (in our Historic Hotel of America, the Intercontinental) watching Chicago vs. the LA Dodgers with dozens of passionate Cubs fans. Stores and offices throughout the cities are hanging the iconic “W” flag in their windows.  Hell, even the University Club has a decorated bear in Cubs attire. I am texting with my Dodger daughter Claire in Southern California. Life is good. Except…this isn’t my normal life. I want to live in a real sports town. After spending portions of my life in Atlanta and Washington (neither of which is a real sports town), I am tired of the wimpy sports culture that comes from people who think that policy debates tell you more about life than arguments over baseball. I’ve been in Chicago, Boston, New York, and Philly in the past two weeks.  All great sports towns. Cleveland – another passionate sports town – is in the World Series and has suddenly become the city of champions. D.C. needs some of that passion. But people leave …

Loss, rebirth, baseball, and why old places matter

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You may have heard that my team – the Washington Nationals – lost last Friday, a loss which ended their season.  You may be surprised to know that while disappointed, I can live with that outcome. After 50+ years of watching sports, I find that low expectations are the key to happiness. In my mind, baseball – with its timeless, cyclical rhythms and its “symbolic and literal journey ‘home’” – contains values and appeal that overshadow mere winning and losing and match the values and appeal we espouse in discussing why old places matter.  What touches many in both fields is a sense of the familiar, the building upon the past while adding new meaning today, and a reality that recognizes difficult as well as celebratory history. A. Bartlett Giamatti – PhD professor in comparative literature, president of Yale University, commissioner of baseball, and a lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox until his untimely death in 1989 – understood both accomplishment and loss. In A Great and Glorious Game, Giamatti said of baseball, “It …

Oh Well…

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Sigh. I came into this season and this series with the same low expectations.  So 2016 wasn’t as gut-wrenching as 2012.  And since Dusty didn’t make any obvious mistakes (expect for keeping Danny in the lineup), it wasn’t as infuriating as 2014 (when Matt went brain dead). Still, the Nats should have won this series.  Even with season-ending injuries to Stras and Ramos.  Even playing a shortstop in center field.  Even with Bryce having the worst follow-up season of any MVP in history.  They still had this series won…until they didn’t. At critical times – and especially in the last three innings last evening – their big guns didn’t come through.  They didn’t score enough runs to give Max any cushion on a night he was pitching well. They didn’t… Oh, well.  Baseball is meant to break your heart. More to come… DJB

Live Blogging Game 1 of the NLDS (#5)

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I’m live blogging game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Washington Nationals and (Claire’s) Los Angeles Dodgers. 8:29 p.m. – And Murphy works a walk.  And we have yet another pitching change.  We’re now 3 hours in and only in the 7th.  Playoff baseball takes soooo…. long. 8:33 p.m. – Harold gets it wrong…again.  Just after saying that Murphy won’t run, he does. Bummer though – Murphy is thrown out. And no, Tom, the aggressiveness didn’t blow up on Dusty.  It just didn’t work out this time. 8:39 p.m. – “Official payment partner” of the NFL.  What the devil is a “payment partner?”  I guess for Visa, it sounds better than “blood sucking, high hidden interest rate, debt machine.” 8:42 p.m. – Jayson still has a little bit of speed.  Great catch!  And we’re on to the bottom of the 8th.  Let’s get a couple of runs, Nats! 8:50 p.m. – No one is complaining about the Dodger closer coming in during the 8th inning to get 5 outs, but in typical …

Live Blogging Game 1 of the NLDS (#4)

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I’m live blogging game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Washington Nationals and (Claire’s) Los Angeles Dodgers. Top of the 6th.  Taking a bit of a break to eat my hot dogs.  Thank you, Candice and Andrew for joining me in the man cave for dinner! 7:53 p.m. – And we’re through 6th, as Max leaves a runner stranded on 3rd.  At 90 pitches.  Does Dusty pinch hit for him in the bottom of the inning?  (Depends on the situation, I assume.) 7:55 p.m. – My God.  Who would take Eliquis after all the bleeding, bleeding, bleeding warnings in their ad?! 7:58 p.m. – And both starters are now gone.  Difo in to pinch hit for Max.  Not great, but kept ’em in the game. 8:01 p.m. – Turner walks.  Let’s see if he can turn it into a double.  And the call to the bullpen comes. Now for the sloooooow part of the game. 8:05 p.m. – And it takes one batter for Puig to show off and almost screw up …

Live Blogging Game 1 of the NLDS (#3)

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I’m live blogging game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Washington Nationals and (Claire’s) Los Angeles Dodgers. My God…are we really going to have to look at Donald Trump ads throughout this series?  Yes, Hillary is coming after your guns!  Spare me. Bottom of the 3rd. 6:38 p.m. – BRYCE!  Double!  Good start for Harper. 6:42 p.m. – Werth grinds out a walk.  Kershaw over 50 pitches with one out in the 3rd.  If you can’t beat him, wear him out.  Nice double steal.  Gets two R.I.S.P. 6:49 p.m. – ANTHONY!  N-A-T-S, Nats, Nats, Nats, Woo! X2.  That man can hit.  4-2 Dodgers and Kershaw is up to 60 pitches in the 3rd.  Get in that bullpen. 6:51 p.m. – Zimmerman is 2-2!  Keep the line moving. 6:55 p.m. – And I have the same question I had at 6:14 p.m…why is Espinosa still playing?  The guy is the ultimate rally killer.  Seldom makes contact.  Jeez. 7:00 p.m. – I want to say that I’ve always loved Dusty.  No matter what happens …

Live Blogging Game 1 of the NLDS (#2)

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I’m live blogging game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Washington Nationals and (Claire’s) Los Angeles Dodgers. Top of the second… 5:59 p.m. – Max is stalking! 6:03 p.m. – 10 pitches…that’s the way to bounce back, Max! 6:06 p.m. – These announcers on FOX never shut up.  Leave a little “space” in the conversation, guys. 6:07 p.m. – And I’ll say it for F.P. “There goes the no hitter.”  What’s a little 3-week layoff.  Nothing for Murphy! 6:09 p.m. – Less than 10 minutes after talking about what a key Harper is for the Nationals, Harold Reynolds says Rendon and Zimmerman are the keys tonight.  How many keys can one game have? 6:12 p.m. – Okay…let’s wear out Kershaw and get him to throw a lot of pitches.  We’re going to be over 30 by the end of the second…assuming it takes Danny at least three to strike out.  Prove me wrong, K-Street. 6:14 p.m. – But he doesn’t.  Why, oh why, is Espinosa still playing? 6:15 p.m. – The Dodgers …

Live Blogging Game 1 of the NLDS (#1)

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Okay.  I’ve been much too serious in recent posts here on More to Come…  So, to remedy that problem, let’s live blog Game 1 of the National League Division Series between our Washington Nationals and (Claire’s) Los Angeles Dodgers! Go Nats! I’ll be at tomorrow’s game in person, so it seemed appropriate to carry on a running conversation with readers online, just as if I were at the ballpark. I’ll post several times during the game. Thank God I missed 99% of FOX Sports 1 pre-game.  The basket of deplorables on that show (Pete Rose! A-Rod!) is just too much to bear.  But so FOX. 5:39 p.m. – First pitch strike from Max!  And we quickly have a strikeout! 5:41 p.m. – Well giving up that home run to Corey Seager didn’t take long.  (Only player who can give Trea Turner a run for his money on the “looks like he is 12 years old” scale.) Maybe Max got it out of his system early.  The gopher ball has been his problem all year long.  …

Meanwhile, Back at the Ballpark

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With travel and vacation, it has been a month since I was at Nationals Park for a baseball game.  Last night I made it back and realized how much I’d missed. When I left, the Nationals were pulling away to about an 8-game lead in the division over the Marlins and Mets.  Last evening, the Nats went into the opener of a series against the Colorado Rockies leading the Marlins by 8 games and the Mets by 10.  Even though they didn’t play outstanding ball in August, they played well enough to keep the margin in the division race. But when we left in early August, Anthony Rendon was just showing signs of coming out of a year-long slump and Bryce was still scuffling, with no real sign of playing like BRYCE!  And there was this youngster – Trea Turner – who was not playing everyday, but who was taking advantage of what playing time he got to make an impact. Well, four weeks is a long time to take your eye off the game, …

Rainbows, Moon Shots, and Wild Walk-Offs

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In the past eight days I’ve been to Nats Park three times.  And each game has been wacky and wonderful, in its own way. I wrote about the “Rainbow” game in the title last Sunday, when my friend Dolores McDonagh and I watched Tanner Roark (our #4 starter) pitch masterfully for eight shutout innings, and Stephen Drew (remember that name) come in and smash three doubles to contribute to the win.  So what does Drew do for an encore?  Immediately catches some sort of flu and is out of action for six straight days.  (But keep remembering that name.) I also took one of my older score books to the game last Saturday.  In looking through that book at the clinching game in 2012 (for the division title), and some other 2014 games, it brought back good memories of even-numbered years for this ball club.  A nice start to the week. On Wednesday, Andrew and I met at Nats Park after work to catch the Nats vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Since our Claire has …