Interested in hearing your impressions of the ballpark and the area.Quote:
Originally Posted by left_hook_lacey
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Interested in hearing your impressions of the ballpark and the area.Quote:
Originally Posted by left_hook_lacey
We stayed about a mile away near the capitol, enjoyed our stay. Was a little taken back by all the homeless people, but that happens Everytime I go to a big city. I just want to talk to them and ask them how they got like this, and what can I do to help.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reilly
Anyway, the game was awesome, we picked a good one to go to. 14 innings, multiple homers, double digit hits for both teams.
Met a group of great group people from Philly, hung out with them for a late night dinner after the game. Good times.
When the national anthem played, everyone stopped, even on the hustle and bustle of the concourse where we were. That was nice to see.
Did I enjoy it? Yes. Very much. Would I live here, not in a million years.
My aunt retired from the CIA and she has lived here since her early twenties. They love it, and I'm happy for her and we enjoying visiting them. But I don't think I could do it.
Also, the people we met kept asking me to repeat things because of my southern drawl, and they roared with laughter.
I said, at least we don't throw batteries at Santa Clause.
Sounds very enjoyable. What'd you think of the ballpark itself? The couple times I went shortly after it opened, it seemed sorta plastic-y and souless (as did the fanbase). Maybe there's more soulfulness to the experience now, as the franchise and fans have won a lot and suffered heartbreak and what have you.Quote:
Originally Posted by left_hook_lacey
The atmosphere in the stadium was actually pretty good. I was surprised. But you're right, it felt like it was missing something, and I never could quite put my finger on it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reilly
I did run into quite a few very rude people, especially the concession workers. I swear they acted like they were being held against their will. I was yelled at twice by vendors trying to get by me. Like, literally yelled in my ear.
My wife ordered $12 chicken nachos at a vendor, paid, and when the worker started making them she was told they were out of chicken. We told her that was fine, we'd take beef. The worker said we're out of chips too.
So the girl, didn't say another word, walked away to get more chips but we didn't know that. Came back like 10 minutes later with chips. Poured them in a bowl and said "what you want on them?"
My wife said, "everything, sour cream, jalepenos, the works."
"We're out of everything but salsa and cheese". She proceeded to slap a big dollop on the chips and yelled "NEXT!"
My wife said "can I have one of those limes?"
The girl said, They don't come with nachos". 😂
But the game was cool 👌
Sign of the times? The Nationals beat the Phillies on Sunday 16-8. All but two runs were scored as a result of home runs... and those two were scored on a triple by Eaton.
Juiced ball? Juiced players? Or, just strategy -- every player swinging hard and trying to get the ball in the air -- never mind the strike outs? Yesterday's game was notable, I suppose, in that there were only nine strike outs -- three by the Phils, six by the Nats.
In the Nats-Phils game Left Hook Lacey attended on Saturday, 20 of the 29 runs were scored on homers.
Let's see... that's a total of 53 runs in two games with 42 scored on home runs.
As much as I like to see the Phillies lose, didn't the Nats play the Brewers?Quote:
Originally Posted by sagegrouse
It was the Brewers. And for at least 2 of the homers there was a strong wind blowing out to left - Rendon hit what he thought was a fly ball out, threw his bat down in disgust, and then watched the ball land in the visitors bullpen (and he apologized to the first baseman and catcher as he rounded the bases). Then the next batter Soto hit an opposite field HR helped by the same wind. And on top of that it was a super hot and humid day in DC.Quote:
Originally Posted by BeachBlueDevil
But in general you are right. This year I've seen a lot of swings that looked like fly outs end up as homers. Not sure if it's juiced balls, more aerodynamic balls, higher average pitcher velocity, all-or-nothing launch angle maximization approach, improved player strength, or a combination of all of the above. During the ball controversy during All Star weekend it seemed that the analysis showed that the balls were more aerodynamic with lower seams so they traveled farther due to less spin and less wind resistance. If this is true, I would assume this would have an effect on pitchers as well - while the aerodynamics might get them more velocity (and I feel like pitchers I've been watching for years are throwing 2-3 mph harder this year), it has to hurt natural movement on fastballs and break on off-speed pitchers, which would also benefit the batters. Definitely something that needs further investigation, but I feel like MLB likes the homers and probably won't do much.
For the ultimate in Wind Blowing Out games, the following is pretty entertaining, also has some extended history on some stuff of interest...
https://www.amazon.com/Ten-Innings-W.../dp/B07HF294MD
Yes, you're right of course. I don't know why I said "Phillies" -- I even watched much of the Saturday game on TV.Quote:
Originally Posted by BeachBlueDevil
A's sweep the Yankees. Won the last 8 of 10. Moved into, by a hair, the first WC spot. Still 7 games behind Houston.
Hard to believe that after all these years, Billy Beane is still the smartest GM in baseball... and it ain't even close.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim3k
Ummm, ending the two longest running curses tops anything Beane has done.Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonEvans
To be fair, Epstein has been working with about 5 times the payroll that Beane has, in both places. He is using Beane’s playbook but with access to way more talent.Quote:
Originally Posted by YmoBeThere
No disagreement that he had more cash at his disposal, but he was facing a division rival that had a payroll 50% larger than his for the first two World Series wins. Certainly not the 3-4 times he had to compared to Oakland during that time. While winning the 2106 WS, the Cubs were definitley middle of the pack.Quote:
Originally Posted by CDu
If salaries here are correct, the 5X characterization is incorrect.
http://www.stevetheump.com/Payrolls.htm
I do agree that the playbook is similar, but with WS titiles as your metric, the competition isn't close.
Well, the soulless, plastic Nats just went into Wrigley and swept the Cubs, owners of the second best home record in the NL. Washington has won 12 of their last 14. But the Braves have won 11 of their last 13, including the last 8, so the Nats are still 6 back in the NL East. Scherzer is back and the offense is clicking. If the bullpen can hold it together, we'll see if the Nats can continue to put pressure on Atlanta.
Why/
Did anyone like them?
SoCal
Agreed. Those were horrible.It was impossible to read the names and numbers. MLB needs to stop trying to be so cutesy.Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalDukeFan
Starting next Thursday 9/5, the Braves and Nats will play each other 7 times in 11 days. There is most certainly room for the Nats to make a run... they will likely need to win at least 5 of those 7 games, but the East is far from wrapped up at this point.
I agree that the Nats will need to win at least 5 of those games which is not an easy task. A lot is made about these head to head matchups and the chance to make up ground but it's not easy. Win 4 out of 7 and you only gain a game in the standings and you have whittled off 7 of your final 30 or so games and begin to run out of time rather quickly.Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonEvans
I agree that the Nationals must be frustrating to be on such a tear themselves and have not been able to make up any ground but they should be confident that the wildcard is theirs and we all know that the team that gets hot at the right time can be very dangerous come playoff time. I would have to think that no one would want to face a Braves or Nationals team in the playoffs right now.
Epstein and Hoyer have also done a lot more wrong than right since 2016. The acquisitions of Kimbrel and Castellanos were good moves, but not enough to cover all of the flaws in the current roster and payroll.Quote:
Originally Posted by CDu