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May 21, 2012: Texas Rangers at Seattle Mariners

By Maggie on May 30, 2012

So, last week I was in Seattle for a conference for work. It was a good conference, and Seattle is a nice town. Too bad the humidity, wind and rain do not agree with my headaches. Fortunately, I was there for just long enough to experience a beautiful clear night, and even more luckily, that night coincided with the evening I’d chosen to attend a Mariners game.

First off – Safeco field is close to downtown. If the weather had been nice, I might have considered walking since it’s only about a mile away. Since it was initially a little wet out, I decided instead to take the light rail, which was super convenient. The stadium station is fairly close, and it’s easy enough to follow the crowds towards the field, which looms over you along with CenturyLink Field (the football stadium).

I walked up to a ticket counter (fact: I’m not great at negotiating, and thus avoided the scalpers), and had a nice chat with the lady at the ticket counter about where to sit for how much money I was interested in spending. I was trying to decide between the 1B/RF side, or the 3B/LF side, and the ticket lady recommended 1B/RF because I would get to see Ichiro closer up, and the first baseman (Justin Smoak) was younger and cuter than the third baseman. Little did she know that I was very interested in seeing Dustin Ackley (the second baseman) because he is a product of the UNC baseball system (and I’m a UNC grad!).

Anyways, on the recommendation of Cheryl Nichols (of District Sports Page) who is a Mariners fan alum, I decided to visit the Mariners Hall of Fame (history museum). It was really interesting to see the development of baseball in the Northwest, and to see the arrival of the Mariners in 1977 – especially since it’s the 35th anniversary season for the team! Even funnier – the team was doing a 1950s throwback night the next Saturday where they would wear jerseys for the former Seattle Rainiers.

I grabbed some sushi (on Cheryl’s recommendation) – a Seattle Roll which included some really tasty smoked salmon on top. I made my way to my seat and was quite pleased with myself. I had a whole bunch of seats empty in front of me (ideal for photography), and was close enough to the action where everything wasn’t in super-zoom-mode.

I got to enjoy a fun pre-game – the Mariners moose was very energetic and ran around the field with great enthusiasm. A pre-game contest challenged a family to collect 30 jerseys in 5 minutes that were scattered across the outfield and to put them on the youngest family member a boy of about 7. They managed to collect…18 (I think?), which meant they all won free t-shirts. If all 30 jerseys had been worn, everyone in the stadium would have been entitled to 10% off jerseys in the team store. This is a promotion I could get behind! On the downside, since the Mariners are playing in a stadium that opened in 1999, they are dealing with late 90s display technology, and their video screen is quite small. It makes me appreciate the abilities of NatsHD and the video and graphics it can display.

As for the game – I got lucky again (not just with the weather!). Considering the fact that the Rangers had the best record in baseball, and that they had the highly coveted Yu Darvish pitching, things were remarkably lopsided in Seattle’s favor. Ichiro really started things off by cracking out a triple. It would not be his only appearance on base, and I got the feeling that Ichiro really wanted to prove that he was the star from Japan to all his visiting fans, and not the recently imported pitcher.

And Ichiro wasn’t the only one playing well. Pitching for the Mariners was “King” Felix Hernandez was pitching and he was SPECTACULAR in 8 innings of play. 7 strikeouts with just 2 walks. He was well deserving of the enthusiastic fan base that cheered loudly for him from the left field corner. They were perfectly matched in bright yellow. They had the requisite large cardboard heads of players/people that appear at every sports game in recent history. Every time he got to 2 strikes, they pulled out their K-cards and called for the K.

I really wish I could share more pictures. Mariners baseball was a lot of fun, and being a National League fan, it was neat to not have a dog in the fight. I rooted for the home team because it seemed more polite. I chatted with the local fans who sat next to me about their team and what I should know, and since I was wearing my DC hat, they asked about the Nationals, who are a very hot topic, even on the West Coast.

Kids – get out to ball parks across the country. The Nats may be our team, but this is our game, and it’s fun to see how it’s played in different regions and to experience all the flavors that our national past-time can produce.

Full album here.

May 18, 2012: Nationals vs Orioles

By Maggie on May 26, 2012

Ah, the Battle of the Beltway. There is nothing like a manufactured rivalry between regional teams to get your hackles up. At least, that’s how things were in the past. Both teams were abysmal on a continual basis, which made any kind of rivalry merely a sad competition between who would be the most pathetic that week. But this year, things were different. Both the Os and the Nats were sitting at the tops of their respective divisions (and near the tops of their leagues) when they met this year. A stunning occurrence. What had once been an opportunity for MASN to show the baseball game on two networks was actually meaningful!

Things did not start out well for the Nats. Edwin Jackson pitched a great game, but in the first inning, he walked Xavier Avery, allowed Nick Markakis to double (sending Avery to third), and when Adam Jones singled the Orioles scored, putting them up by 1.

Things stayed pretty quiet for a while – the score was 0-1 until the bottom of the sixth when Ian Desmond sent a homer over the left field wall to cheer up the Nats fans. This run gave us all a chance to breathe and hope that the game would turn out well for the Nationals.

But by the time we reached the bottom of the 9th, nothing more had happened. And this is not to blame the pitching. Jake Arrietta lasted 7 innings for the Orioles, and Edwin Jackson went 8 for the Nationals. Since I haven’t followed the Orioles other than seeing final scores, I can only assume that they have the same occasional droughts in offense that the Nationals do. Because it wasn’t until the 11th inning that Nick Markakis hit a homer to break the stalemate.

Since it was getting late at that point, I started moving towards the exit, watching the game as I moved towards the exit. It was at that point that I encountered either the most digusting or most obnoxious Orioles fan I have ever encountered. At the top of the 11th, with his team in the lead, he yelled loudly, “Don’t **** this up idiots!” Now, that’s not so bad, but when the Orioles got two outs on a double play, he decided that was the moment to grind against the railing with such force that people at the far ends could feel it shaking. I continued to cheer on the team as they put two men on base (yay Bernadina and Zimmerman), but then choked with LaRoche at the bat.

And that’s where we see the theme – there weren’t a lot of innings where players got on base, but when they did, they were usually stranded at the end of the inning. This is a problem. The Nationals need to work on their offense like you wouldn’t believe. Occasionally they get outbursts like they showed on the Sunday night game against the Orioles (their only win of this Beltway series), the May 5 game against the Phillies and the May 14 game against the Padres, but more often than not it’s heart attack time until the 8th or 9th inning. If the Nats want to be the team to watch for the rest of the season, they need to break out on a more regular basis.

While the Nats are out of town, I’m going to share a special American League Baseball experience that I had later in the week, and then we’ll close out the month with an evaluation of the May Predictions, and with any luck, I can convince Drew to do a June prediction post too!

Full album here.

May 16, 2012: Nationals vs Pirates

By Maggie on May 22, 2012

We’ll start off this post with an apology: there are posts to be posted, and we haven’t posted them. Life gets in the way. In this case, I have been the one who should have been posting, and I’m currently out of town (and yet, writing this), but the hope is that being out of town may also give you some interesting stuff to read. Curious? Look for a post later in the week that will explain things. For now, we’ll go back 5 days to the Nats’ first game against the Pirates on Wednesday. As a note – I was at the game with my brother and due to a decision to keep score – all photos are taken by him (using my camera).

And there’s nothing like watching the offense work together when things are going well. We got to witness Bryce Harper hustle out his first MLB triple, and then watch as Ryan Zimmerman sacrificed to bring him home and give the Nats the early lead (spoiler alert: they never lost it). It’s good to see the Face of the Franchise working with the Young Gun to make big things happen.

We got to see home runs. LOTS of home runs. There was Ian Desmond leading off the third with a solo shot. And then in the sixth, we got to watch Adam LaRoche and Xavier Nady hit back-to-back bombs.

Later in the game, with the bases loaded, LaRoche would hit a 3-RBI double to earn his 1000th major league hit. Great stuff.

And while the Pirates kept up and were within 1 run for most of the game, everyone on the team played their part to close things out for a curly-W.

On a personal note – the fact that it was Military Appreciation night was special for me. In addition to my brother, my younger sister joined us for the game. She’s been in the Navy for 5 years now, and loved being able to come see her hometown Nats for free (and having an excuse to wear the camo Nats cap)! Spending a perfect night for baseball with my siblings is about as nice a thing as anyone could ask for.

Full photo set from this game can be found here.
And thanks to my bro for playing Jimmy Olsen to my Lois Lane.

May 5, 2012: Nats vs Phillies (Natitude Weekend)

By Maggie on May 22, 2012

This past weekend was about Natitude. What is Natitude? Well, let’s do a photo essay as a demonstration of what it is based on who has it. Before the game started, warming up in right field, Jayson Werth was confronted with a crowd of Phillies fans who had bought tickets near him with the sole intent of taunting him during the game. What was his response? A tip of the cap. That’s Natitude. Follow that up with a three-run bomb in the bottom of the fifth. Extra Natitude.

Who else? Let’s go with the player of the player of the game – Gio Gonzalez. Not only did he pitch seven solid innings, he had a double in the fifth and scored on Jayson Werth’s home run. The best part is seeing Gio smile at his offensive success. Good stuff.

Natitude also means an offensive bonanza. Not only did we get the Werth homer, but we got one from Desmond…

And another from Chad Tracy. The long ball executed multiple times against a hated division rival is SERIOUS Natitude. So much so that it meant that it got the Nats a 7-1 win. Well done!

And it wasn’t just the players. This game was on Cinco de Mayo. In Section 135, this fan in the custom sombrero (a party-store spray-paint job) showed some serious Natitude in leading the crowd with their cheers.

Full face paint means you’re full of Natitude.

And even the kids have the spirit. And just because the official Natitude Weekend is over, that doesn’t mean we can’t keep packing the park as fans and showing our support for this team. We’ll see you back at the park next week!

Full album here.

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May 4, 2012 – Nats vs Phillies

By Maggie on May 22, 2012

On Friday, Drew and I headed down to Natitude Park to watch the baseball game. Yup, Natitude Park. Every reference inside the stadium, from the scoreboard to the directional signs, had been changed for the weekend. Totally cheesy? Absolutely. Useful? Well, as of right now, the Nats are up 2-0 in the series.

Although I definitely saw Phillies fans, there certainly weren’t as many of them as there have been in years past. They also weren’t able to dominate the stands. We had a rowdy group sitting in our section, and although they tried, they couldn’t get any cheers to catch on. There were just too many Nats fans!

But how was the baseball you ask?

Well, it turned out to be a perfect night. There were scattered showers around DC all day, but they stayed away for all 11(!) inning of play. Oh, and the moon was out too.

Things were heated from the start – the first three Phillies batters were quickly dispatched, and the Nats took a turn at bat. Bryce Harper was walked, and the Phillies manager came out to argue the call. With no umpire at third to check the call at the plate, Charlie Manuel was quickly tossed (there were only three umps for the whole game – one called in sick).

After that, the umps did a decent job until they robbed us of a run in the 8th! (My untrained eyes clearly saw Ankiel safe at home).

In addition to pitching, we saw Strasburg hit a double in the 3rd. He made it all the way to third with the bases loaded before Werth struck out to end the inning. The Nats got lots of players on base, but had trouble actually get them home. Hence, it took 11 inning to get the job done.

I sincerely hope that the Nats continue to do well and can get people to come to games. It’s a different ballpark with the stands full. The high school girls behind us were especially amusing, going from “Look, it’s Harper! He’s so dreamy!” to explaining things like bunts and balks to a friend who tagged along.

Go Nats!

More pictures here.

May Predictions: Part 2!

By Maggie on May 1, 2012

So, yesterday we left off in mid-May with the Nats facing the Reds. Fortunately for all of us, there are four more teams that the DC boys of summer will face before we actually head into summer months. And since this May prediction is a co-post with Crunching Through My Day, we’ll let Drew pick up in the middle of the month and let us know how things should turn out for the Nats.

See that post HERE!

Joint May Prediction Post: First Ladies of Baseball and Crunching Through My Day

By Maggie on April 30, 2012

The Nats have been off to an awesome start in the month of April. To end the month at 14-8 is somewhat unexpected. Fans were optimistic before opening day, but I’m not sure that anyone would have predicted how many ways our boys on the field would find ways to win (despite the frustrating road trip to California).

And now we leave the first month, and we start to have some real data to work with instead of merely making guesses based on limited opportunities. But because I’m not REALLY a baseball math person, I called up someone who is – Drew, husband of First Lady Ashley, who also writes a stats blog called Crunching Through My Day. We’re going to try something new this month, and depending on how things go…this could be a semi-regular thing. Let us know what you think, and we’ll see what happens.

The next month is going to be the Nats first real challenge. Everyone said that their opening schedule was one where they had a chance to dominate, and clearly they did since they sit tied for first at the top of the NL leaderboard. What we’re going to do is go series-by-series and using Maggie’s guts and Drew’s computer programs, try to predict how things will look by the end of the month. We’ll address the first four teams the Nats will face in today’s post on FLoB, and the back half’s opponents tomorrow on Crunching Through My Day.

Arizona Diamondbacks – 5/1-3

Maggie:

Currently, the DBacks sit in the middle of the NL West with a record of 12-11. After this series, the next time they’ll see the Nats is the middle of August, once things get interesting. Last year the Nats were 2-5 against the D-backs who finished 1st in the NL West with a record of 94-68. With that history and the back end of our rotation facing Arizona, I predict 1-2.

Drew:

The Dbacks are an enigma to me since I hear so little about them. Looking at the #s this will be an interesting series for the Nats. Arizona’s pitching looks awful, allowing 1.09 HR/9 and a 4.01 FIP. 290 BABIP. The Pirates aren’t that bad. However, their offense seems better than most. This should be a real series with the Nats pitching strength pitted against their offense and their poor pitching against our abysmal offense. After the series with the Dodgers, I’m going to say that our offense won’t get it done here. One upping Maggie and saying a sweep.

Philadelphia Phillies – 5/4-6, 21-23

Maggie:

The Nationals will take on the Phillies twice in the month of May – during the first weekend of May for the highly touted “Our Park” initiative, followed by a trip to Citizens Bank Park towards the end of the month. They’ll face the fury of Strasburg during the first series, and will see the middle of the rotation up in Philly. I predict 2-1 for the first meeting, and 1-2 for the second (we’ll blame the Philthies for that) for an even 3-3 for the month of May.

Drew:

The Philthies suffered a huge set back this spring with Howard and Utley going on the DL. While questions swirled about whether or not their pitching would be enough to carry them through the NL. Through April, the results aren’t pretty. The Phillies pitching staff has pitched pretty middling, with middle of the NL stats in K/9, BB/9 and BABIP (oddly enough, their FIP is 2^nd in the NL behind the Nats). Their offense has been fairly nondescript which probably explains their record. While April results don’t have much bearing on post season outcomes, particularly for the Philthies, I’m not counting them out yet. Playing the Nats brings out the best in both teams (and the worst in Philthies fans). For the two series, I’m going to say that there’s a split, with the Philthies taking 2 of the first 3 and the Nats taking the 2 of the last 3.

Pittsburgh Pirates – 5/8-10, 16-17

Maggie:

The Pirates are a team that I always feel bad for. They haven’t had a winning season since 1992, and they’ve been dumped on for so long in a way that the Nationals only had to endure for a few seasons. They’ll face off for a three game series in Pittsburgh, followed by a 2 game series a week later in DC. I say 2-1 for the first series, and 1-1 for the second, leaving a prediction of 3-2 for the month.

Drew:

I agree with you Maggie. Despite the fact that Sid Bream sliding into home is still the most exciting baseball moment of my life (Braves win! Braves win!), I feel bad for the Pirates. Even for a bad team, they’re underperforming. The Pirates pitching is ok but their offense atrocious, falling near the bottom in BABP, H, HR, and K%. Pair that against the Nationals pitching and I’m calling for a sweep in the first series and a split in the second. Assuming the Nats actually hit, that is.

Cincinnati Reds – 5/11-13

Maggie:

The Nats played the Reds as their first home stand of the year and took 3 of 4. If the Nats stay on top of their game, I bet we’ll see another win…even if they are playing this series in Ohio. I predict: 2-1.

Drew:

While the Nats took 3 of 4 from the Reds at home, they got lucky. Going into the 8^th inning of each game, the Nats’ win probability was 94.8, 21.6, 94.2, and 50.0. Games 1, 2, and 4 went into extra innings and the Nats lost the last one. The Nats could have easily lost the first two of those games and we’d be looking at a very different season right now. While the Reds haven’t been outstanding, they’ve got a core that’s as good as the Nats. I’m afraid the ball is going to bounce their way in the series. I’m going to be a downer here and say the baseball gods will smile on the Reds with a sweep.

We’ll finish up the rest of our thoughts tomorrow on Crunching Through My Day. Be sure to check back for the thrilling finale (haha) where we reveal how we think the Nats will finish out the month.

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May 30, 2011: Washington Nationals vs Philadelphia Phillies

By Maggie on May 30, 2011

Pitchers

Winning pitcher – Roy Halladay (7-3)
No Decision- Livan Hernandez (3-6) / L- Sean Burnett (0-2)

Final Score- 4-5

Before actually getting into the game, Ashley and I are both immensely disappointed with the Nats PR department. Building up everyone’s hopes that Teddy would win today’s Presidents race and then having Abe win like always. For shame! Now that that’s out of the way, on to the game.

In what is the “official” start of summer for most Americans, the weather couldn’t have been more appropriate: clear, sunny, and hotter than an outhouse roof. Our Nationals played fairly well all things considered. The defense played well although a couple of mistakes would cost the. The pitching held Philadelphia to about their average of 4 runs a game, which considering the firepower that Philly brings is more encouraging than holding the lowly Padres to 2 or so runs. There were a couple of times we felt that Riggleman was crazy for leaving Hernandez on the on the mound, especially as his pitch total began climb near the temperature.

What was most impressive about the Nats’ play was their offense. Even if Halladay was shaky (which he was), putting up 4 runs on 10 hits was a solid outing. Homeruns from Morse, Espinosa, and Nix were a welcome sight. More importantly, the Nats continued hitting well after San Diego left. They could certainly use the continued offense. Hopefully the bats will stay alive through the west coast road trip. If they do and things go well, the Nats might actually pass the Mets in the NL East. Still too far back to hope for October but hey, small victories are what count.

Other notes:

Ankiel stealing second in the first inningand the suicide squeeze in the second suggested that Riggleman and the Nats were going to aggressively try and manufacture runs. Once balls started leaving the park, it appears the game plan shifted.

This was the first game of the season that it hasn’t rained on Ashley while the withering heat made the uniform choices for some players a bit odd.

Despite both Ashley and my opposition to the Nats’ alternate blue unis, they looked ok from the stands. Still too busy up close but decent at 200 yards.

We got mentioned in Dave Nichols’ piece for MASN on the Natosphere! We’re the blog written from a female perspective (despite the occasional male guest-writer).

More photos from the game can be found at: FLOB and my picasa pages

I appreciate the Ladies letting me write the Post. If they’re feeling charitable they might let me do some more. Hope to see folks around the ball park

Drew (First Dude)

(a note from Maggie: I was completely remiss in posting this guest bit in a timely manner, Drew, husband of Ashley, deserves better, and I hope you enjoy his photos and thoughts. We’re going to try and get him to guest post more often now that he’s back in town on a permanent basis, and will OBVIOUSLY get sucked into being a full-time Nats fan)

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May 27, 2011: Washington Nationals vs San Diego Padres

By Ashley on May 29, 2011

Game: #050 – Nationals vs. Padres
Starting Pitchers: John Lannan (2-5, 5.03) vs. Clayton Richard (2-5, 4.85)
Final Score: Nationals: 2, Padres: 1

It’s been weeks since either of the First Ladies went to a game – two weeks in fact, because the Nats have been on an unsuccessful road trip. They tried to make up for it with Friday night’s game though.

The game started out with a nice tribute to Harmon Killebrew, a former Senator’s player. Later, Abe came out with a tribute of his own – to Macho Man Randy Savage.

Ashley’s husband, Drew, has been in school and living in another state for the past two years, so he got to experience his first game in a while. Ashley tried to warn him that all games won’t be like this…

Michael Morse warmed up in the outfield with some high steps. This shot makes it look like he’s doing a little jig, appropriate considering how the rest of the game went for him.

John Lannan pitched for almost 8 innings and did a great job holding the Padres scoreless.

Werth didn’t have many balls come his way, so he just hung out in right field.

As you might have guessed from the first picture, there was a huge storm that rolled through the stadium at the top of the 4th. The rain was fast and fierce, but it blew through in about fifteen minutes. Ashley used the time to punch out ballots, although she did not get nearly enough to earn one of the better rewards (watch batting practice from the field for 5,000 and hold the finish line of the President’s Race for 10,000).

Bernadina is called out after sliding into 2nd.

Morse makes an out at 1st. My favorite part of this picture is Storen casually standing in the background watching the play.

The game was tied at 1-1 going into the bottom of the 9th. Drew turned to Ashley and tiredly asked, “how much longer do you want to stay.” Ashley optimistically stated that the game would be over in the 9th, and she was quickly rewarded by Morse hitting a walk off home run.

Sometimes it seems like the players are merely on the field to earn a paycheck, so it’s nice to see so much enthusiasm when a great play happens. The dugout emptied as everyone ran out to greet Morse after he ran the bases. He was grinning from ear to ear, and we were too.

(full album from this game can be seen here)

May 13, 2011: Washington Nationals vs Florida Marlins

By Ashley on May 14, 2011

Game: #038 – Nationals vs. Marlins
Starting Pitchers: Tom Gorzelanny (0-2, 3.97) vs. Chris Volstad (2-2, 5.73)
Final Score: Nationals: 5, Marlins: 6

In addition to being another great night at the ballpark, Friday was Stitch & Pitch. This annual event is celebrated at many MLB parks and is put together for needlecraft enthusiasts (knitters, crocheters, etc.) to get together and socialize, shop, and knit while watching the a ballgame. You may not know this about your First Ladies, but both of them enjoy knitting. Maggie and Ashley sat in Section 202 for most of the game and were surrounded by lots of folks with yarn on needles.

What we ate: Maggie had a pretzel dog that was tasty, but not filling enough. She went back for some cheese fries to round out her meal. Ashley tried the Hard Times Chili Mac and was overall disappointed. It was the same toppings as the amazing Hard Times Nachos, but the extra water clinging to the spaghetti made the whole thing drippy and very, very messy. The pasta didn’t really absorb any of the chili flavor either. Next time, Ashley will go back to chips with her chili.

From our Stitch & Pitch seats, we had a great view of the outfield. It was fun to watch Nix and Bernadina were warming up together, especially because it helped limber up Bernadina for his amazing catch later in the game.

Things got a little heated after the umps made a controversial call about a Marlins bunt. Riggleman came out of the dugout and Hairston started waving his finger around. Ultimately, the call stood and the game kept going.

Werth used the break as an opportunity to take a knee in the outfield.

Did we mention that all of that happened before the 4th inning? As is tradition, the President’s wore their Jason masks to race on Friday the 13th. 13 wasn’t a lucky number for Teddy, but Abe pulled out a win.

In the 5th, Coffey was called in to replace Gorzelanny. Coffey’s fun to watch because he’s so enthusiastic. He didn’t just jog in from the bullpen, he dashed!

The 5th inning was also when Bernadina made an amazing flying catch to get the last out of the inning. The ball went back over his head and he jumped up to grab it. He managed to snag the ball in the webbing of his glove, then tumbled head over heels. After landing, he thrust his glove in the air so we could all see that he managed to hang onto the ball. You can see the confirmation of the catch at the top of this post, more of Ashley’s pictures starting here, and the Nat’s provided video here.

After the 6th inning, Maggie moved up to the Upper Gallery to sit with friends and family who were also at the game. It gave a different perspective – both in that there was more of a social focus, and not as much concern for baseball. She even got razzed by her brother for cheering [over]enthusiastically for Drew Storen when he came in to the game. We stayed to the bitter end (11 innings) which had its benefits: Ashley appeared on the big screen during a Random Act of Red, and Maggie got to wander around the desolate nosebleed section and see what the very high views looked like all around the park. And we all sort of felt like this picture of manager Jim Riggleman – there’s only so much you can do in a game. However, even though the Nats lost, it was a great evening full of amazing plays.

(full album from this game can be seen here)

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