Neal Pomea

Hope you have a good one!

Thanks! I don't think I even logged on yesterday!

Papelbon would drive away fans. Don't think the owners would like that. If there's friction between the GM and the owners, I wouldn't be surprised if Papelbon were a part of that equation.

Game halted in '33 Series to clear pigeons out of park! Love it!

I gotta wonder what's in it for Baker. It's a two year contract but I haven't heard the terms. Anyway, I doubt he'll stay more than two years. This team is more than a couple of years away from it all, IMO. I think Black was offered 1.6 million for a year, which sounded like a starting point for discussions of two+ years, but that didn't come to fruition. I think Metheny makes 600,000 or thereabouts per year. Don't quite understand Black's feeling deeply insulted. Offered less than Mattingly, but more than all but a few managers, if what I read is correct. Hoping Trea Turner and Lucas Giolito come up faster than scheduled, and the GM can make some miracle free agent signings. When you see how the KC team came up together through AA and AAA, DC seems to be a lot more on the mercenary side of the game. Lots of different models and approaches, that's for sure. Not pulling for a Giants-Royals rematch in 2016!!

Nationals signed Dusty Baker? Good move, I hope! Some Wash Post writers apparently felt they got burned on the story because they reported it would be Bud Black, and now they are taking it out on the team owner in columns and blogs. It's hard to read even the Post sometimes! And sports radio here is just impossible. How about a move for Justin Upton to DC? Put him in left, Harper in center, and Werth in right? Although it appears that Harper was high in the voting on Gold Glove for right field this year, so maybe he should stay there.

Series BEGINS Oct. 27. At this rate the hero may be Mr. November!

Yes, the Grays shared Griffith Stadium with the American League team. The American League team was officially named the Nationals until the mid-50s but you would never know it. People insisted on calling them the Senators, the name of an older franchise. For some reason I still think Senators should be the nickname of our current franchise. We should be the Washington Senators! That's it. I am spreading the rumor that this is a curse on us until we change the name! And change the curly W logo from the franchise that moved to Texas. Nothing against Texas, but the curly W was the logo only for 10 dreadful years in the 60s. Even the block W means more to the city's history. Iconic as the Cubs' C. If they could change it to DC, I am sure many locals would applaud. That is how many of us think of ourselves. DC. A Columbian District.

It's time for the Rangers to win. They were the expansion Senators, even older than Astros and Mets. It's time for DC to win. Not since 1924. I don't care that this is the third franchise in the city. The original Nationals with Walter Johnson. The expansion Senators with Frank Howard. And the migrated Expos. We don't root for franchises here. We root for the city. (Too many people here forget we had a dynasty when we shared the Homestead Grays and they were the Yankees of the Negro Leagues for 10 years. They played half or more of their home games in DC for a spell.)

Good match up tonight! KC must feel confident.

Strike zone issues factored big time in Game 2, 2014, between DC and SF. Panik got the umpire's benefit of the doubt over Zimmermann and the mind boggled, as I recall. Maybe it's time for pitch track. Just saying.

I guess I am spoiled! No game tonight and I am in withdrawal! The strange strike zone in Toronto in Game 5 seemed to have done in Volquez. I imean, he sort of created it by consistently getting calls outside, then he got too far outside or low for it to work for him in the big Blue Jay inning.

The Cubs would do well to get Jordan Zimmermann from the Nationals. He's a free agent. The Cubs are on more of an upswing than the Nationals. But he might be hoping to sign with Milwaukee. You're probably right about Arietta running out of gas. But it could have just as easily been the Mets' pitchers!

That IS strange! No, I had never heard of the "man in white" story until just now. Thanks for the tip!

Royals seem to think the signs between pitcher and catcher are being stolen and relayed to the Blue Jays, per Fox announcers. Can't get in synch and establish a rhythm. Very strange.

Amazing comeback by the Royals! Death by paper cut! One single after another.That's the way one of those commentators described the game 4 comeback against Houston, and it's happening again! For what it's worth, Pete Rose predicts KC in 5. WS symmetry/karma this year? How about Chicago - KC (the jazz series!) How about NY - KC (the 1950s oddity of the Kansas City Athletics being almost a farm team for the Yankees!) There's the great story of Casey Stengel going to sit down next to a struggling Yankee player in the dugout in the middle of a game and telling him "Not too many people know this but ONE of us has been traded to Kansas City." The man had a way with the language!

Even seeing "meltdowns" by other teams HURTS this Columbian District fan! Ay ye yaille!

Pioneers of the Blues Revival, 2014, by Steven Cushing. Interviews with Pete Whelan, Sam Charters, Dick Waterman, Phil Spiro, Bob Koester, Dick Spottswood, Dave Evans, Gayle Wardlow, Chris Strachwitz etc. Really good chapters with Spiro, Spottswood, and Evans, in particular.

I heard they can make more challenges per game in the playoffs than in the regular season. I believe they can now have 2 challenges overruled before losing the chance for another one.

It's also the case that some teams have a national following outside their region and are just more popular. Think of the 2004 playoffs between the Yankees and Red Sox. Held interest way beyond the northeast. Then think of the historic 2005 World Series with Chicago White Sox (out to break their own curse) and Houston in its first and only World Series appearance. There was not much national interest at all. TV ratings were way down! They couldn't make a compelling narrative out of it, which I thought was amazing! Chicago Cubs hold more national interest than the White Sox. You can't really compare national interest in the Cubs with interest in the Astros, no matter the population or size of the regional market. When I was listening to the Toronto-Rangers game Friday the announcer said Toronto is the 4th largest city in North America. Mexico City, NY, LA, then Toronto. I had no idea! I also heard that Houston has surpassed Chicago for the 5th spot. Chicago is the Sixth City now.

Thanks Brad. I bet you are right, but somebody at MLB has some 'splainin' to do. Sounds like "You weren't out, therefore you are SAFE!" How would this have worked if Utley had simply stopped running halfway between 1st and 2nd, then Tejada missed touching 2nd base but Utley was called out, then the Dodgers appealed, then the umpires in NY reviewed it and agreed he was not out. Would Utley have been awarded 2nd base? Is so, that makes NO SENSE to me and I am sure to many other baseball fans. You have to run out the play and tag the base in order to be safe. That is rule number one in baseball. Since Utley never even tried to tag 2nd base. I can't see him being awarded the base. And all that is outside the discussion of whether or not it was a dirty slide. It's baseball 101. Nice win in Houston!!! Dallas "House of David" Keuchel!!

Utley never touched second base. How could he be safe? Tejada never put out Utley, but Utley also never got to second safely either. To me the play never came to a conclusion. The thing to do was to call Utley out for interference.

Harold Reynolds mentioned that the artificial turf may have been a factor. When he was with Seattle he used to do special exercises to avoid injury, especially to the back. Long time ago National Lampoon called it Astro-Concrete or Astro-Broken Glass!

Now you're chunking in there! (I repeat myself whenever someone mentions Loel Passe) Away with inter-league play so long as they don't even play by the same rules.