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: 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 seasons, all of them in a row since 2012, the Nats have finished with a winning record, but the Washington version of the … 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 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 tie →

Sept. 7, 2005: Zim’s first start a 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 a 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): As this is written, every major leaguer healthy enough to be on the field is still awaiting that opportunity. Even if some semblance of a season ever begins, for the Nationals -- a team with several key players well into their 30s --how will this layoff affect them? Ryan Zimmerman turns … 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 →