Losing two home games against the Chicago Cubs is disheartening and after the excellent game Friday night it was as if a switch just flipped and the progress of the prior week vanished in the flash of a Strasburg meltdown. There wasn’t much to like on Saturday and Sunday unless you are a ticket rep [...]
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Watching the River Flow
There was plenty of adversity to the Pittsburgh series: too much Sterling Marte and A.J. Burnett, too little Bryce Harper. Yet still the Nationals looked like the better team when all was said and done, even without their best players on the field. The Pirates are capable of beating anyone and making life in the [...]
The Case for Denard Span
Denard Span is no Michael Morse. Morse had the Kung-fu warm up cut–immortalized in his bobble-head doll—and there was his A-Ha walk-up music. Denard Span had large shoes to fill on many levels. It did not get easier when Morse ripped up the Cactus League for 9 home runs and a .357 batting average in [...]
The Bull Moose Juju
As the first month of the baseball season drew to a close in 2012, the Gio Gonzalez trade looked like an inspiration. Stephen Strasburg was back and the Nationals had the best pitching in the National League. Davey Johnson was looking for offense and summoned Bryce Harper. Everything Mike Rizzo touched in 2012 turned to [...]
Too Late to Circle the Wagons Now
It wasn’t the newly arrived Upton brothers that crushed the spirits of 120,000 fans that flocked to Nationals Park this weekend. No, it was a team effort. The Atlanta Braves beat the Nationals in every aspect of the game. They outscored Washington 18-5 for the three game series. After Friday night it never really seemed [...]
Setting Up the Long Season
The Washington Nationals home opener in 2012 was against the Cincinnati Reds. They won three of the first four at Nationals Park to set up a truly successful first month and got the season rolling toward 98 wins. The Reds did not like that movie and let Washington know they will be playing a very [...]
The Strasburg and Harper Show, Just the Opening Act
Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg made a compelling case on Opening Day to be considered the two best talents ever to play Major League Baseball in Washington, DC. Facing a depleted Miami Marlins roster, Stephen Strasburg seemed to hardly work up a sweat as he breezed through seven innings on eighty pitches without allowing a run. [...]
American Jews and America’s Game, A Review
The book, American Jews and America’s Game, published by the University of Nebraska Press, will appear next Monday, April 1. It will be Opening Day, and though the Passover season will just be ending, it is a perfect time to consider this book and the depth of history it conveys. Although my wife was surprised at [...]
Getting It Done in Florida
Watching Anthony Rendon play third base for the Nationals last week in Kissimmee, Florida reminded me of so many past Spring Training games. Osceola Stadium, where the Astros train in March each year, is one of my favorite places to watch major league baseball. It is the closest ballpark to Viera, FL where the Washington [...]
Feel It! The Heart of a Good Baseball Town Is Beating Once Again
Baseball is part of the historic and cultural mosaic. You cannot unwind it from the larger picture and in Washington, DC, the rebirth of baseball’s winning tradition here is intertwined with a larger transformation taking place all across the length and breadth of this city, our nation’s capital. There have always been tourists tramping around [...]
