When Andrew Stevenson’s fly ball got past the Mets leftfielder in the first game of the Sept. 26, 2020, double-header, the result was an inside-the-park home run, the least common hit in modern baseball. What made Stevenson’s race around the bases even more unusual was what had happened in his previous at-bat: He had hit … Continue reading Stevenson’s outside- and inside-the-park homers
Four homers in a row? Nats have done it twice
Sept. 3, 2020: After it happened for the first three times ever between 1961 and 1964, no team would hit four consecutive home runs again for 42 years. Then in 2006, the Dodgers began what has become part of an overall homer barrage that has included back-to-back-to-back-to-back clouts six times. Until Aug. 16, 2020, the … Continue reading Four homers in a row? Nats have done it twice
Soto’s Citi Field blasts and a look at long homers
Aug. 13, 2020: Two days after Juan Soto hit a 463-foot homer to dead center at New York's Citi Field, the Nationals young slugger topped that with 466-foot blast to right against the Mets, one of two he hit in an 11-6 loss on Aug. 12. Soto's blast, the third longest hit at Citi Field … Continue reading Soto’s Citi Field blasts and a look at long homers
TV’s ‘Home Run Derby’ was heavy on the Senators
July 1, 2020: Home Run Derby, which I watched in reruns in the early 1960s, was a syndicated TV show originally broadcast from January to July in 1960, with half-hour segments filmed in 1959 at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. The show gave MLB's top slugger's three outs each for nine innings to see which … Continue reading TV’s ‘Home Run Derby’ was heavy on the Senators
15 years in, here’s where the Nationals stand
June 13, 2020 (updated, Oct 9, 2020): The 2019 World Series victory was the triumphant culmination of the Nationals’ 15th season since Major League Baseball returned to the Nation’s Capital in 2005. In eight of those full seasons, all of them in a row since 2012, the Nats finished with a winning record, but it … Continue reading 15 years in, here’s where the Nationals stand
May 11, 1919: The Big Train’s 12-inning, 2-hit, shutout ends in a tie
June 5, 2020: The Yankees were expecting a huge crowd at the Polo Grounds on May 11, 1919, for the first American League game to be played on a Sunday in New York. After all, the Giants had played to a full house in the same stadium the week before for the first Sunday game … Continue reading May 11, 1919: The Big Train’s 12-inning, 2-hit, shutout ends in a tie
Sept. 7, 2005: Zim’s first start turns into milestone for Dontrelle Willis
June 1, 2020: The Washington Nationals had seen their 2005 season go south after a 50-31 start kept them in first place in the N.L. East as late as July 25. About to send John Halama, a reclamation project, to face 23-year-old Dontrelle Willis on the Wednesday night after Labor Day, the Nats were five … Continue reading Sept. 7, 2005: Zim’s first start turns into milestone for Dontrelle Willis
The unlikely story of a baseball fan from Scotland
A guy born in Glasgow, Scotland, hit a home run often called “the shot heard 'round the world.” It sent the New York Giants to the 1951 World Series. As a Scot by birth, I would like to say that Bobby Thomson (no “p” by the way), known as the “Flying Scot,” inspired me to … Continue reading The unlikely story of a baseball fan from Scotland
The aging Nats and the effect of playing time lost to crises
May 9, 2020 (updated in October): As this was written, every major leaguer healthy enough to be on the field was awaiting that opportunity. How would the layoff affect a team with several key players well into their 30s? (Well, they missed the ridiculously expanded playoffs.) Ryan Zimmerman turns 37 in September. (On June 29, … Continue reading The aging Nats and the effect of playing time lost to crises
Ray Morgan, Nats’ Deadball-era second baseman
May 1, 2020: Getting caught stealing forever links Ray Morgan to Babe Ruth and Ernie Shore. Getting out of jail—a month into a year’s sentence—when Clark Griffith showed up in court with a scouting job offer—is another reason Morgan has a place in the game’s lore. Morgan played second base for the Washington Senators in … Continue reading Ray Morgan, Nats’ Deadball-era second baseman
