May 13, 2008
There I was standing outside my office building chatting with the building maintenance guy and enjoying some sun after a waterlogged week, when what to my wondering eyes does appear but a man walking by in a black track suit (with white stripes if you must know). Blond hair. Familiar face. My brain did that funny thing brains do as recognition combined with non-belief due to context crashed together. I raised my sunglasses as if adding more light would confirm what I was already seeing, instead causing me to squint in the sunlight and blurt out, “Jim Bowden?!”
The blond man halted in his tracks and turned, smiling quizzically and asked, “Yes? And who are you?”
Sputter sputter!! Why had I said anything? I could have just stood there and watched him go by silently, wondering if it was really him or not for the rest of eternity!
“Oh, just a Nationals fan,” I replied, hoping that would suffice.
“What’s your name?” He wants to know my name?
“Um, Cathy - sometimes known as MissChatter.” I grinned, thinking that probably sounded ridiculous as I’m sure he has no idea who I am, thus making me sound like a crazy lady.
“Nice to meet you, Cathy!” he smiled, turned, and continued his stroll down the hill.
So there was my intelligent conversation with Jim Bowden this morning. To say I was flustered would be an understatement! I should’ve asked him what his favorite color is or something.
I returned to my desk just yelling, OMG! OMG! I’m just bummed I didn’t get to see the tricked out Segway. I’m sure he’s seen a million people, but it occurred to me later that he probably could have recognized me as I’ve had a camera aimed at him on several occasions, most recently when he willingly posed at the Dream Gala and even insisted I take more than one photo just to be safe. (I’m still so bummed that photo didn’t turn out very well - I didn’t have the flash attached and ready).
I so totally should have asked him if I could interview him someday on video for a “That’s Chat’s Nats” episode. I bet that would be pretty entertaining!
Posted in Front Office, MLB, Washington Nationals 
No Comments »
May 12, 2008
Some cool stuff happened at the game. As mentioned, since it wasn’t our turn in the season ticket pool, we bought a Sunday family four-pack, with our seats being in section 226. We considered dugout box seats, but for a family of 4, that would have been $300 + convenience fees. You think the Lerners are cheap? Meet Mr. Chatter! (if you’re reading this, love ya, honey!) I thought that was pretty cool that the cheap seats would be in the second level, until I realized it’s a little misleading. The even numbered 200s are up from the second level, effectively making them the third level. The odd numbers are the true 2nd level. Anyway, we hoped that whoever’s turn it was in our pool wouldn’t show up and given the forecast, we thought odds were in our favor. So while Mr. C and the kiddos stayed in the seats, I ran down to take some pictures of the Mother’s Day pre-game festivities, running into and saying hello to “Coach” Ron on the way, patrolling his usual section. [Photoset]
Last year the player’s moms were honored on the field with a pre-game ceremony. This year, a group of pink-clad breast cancer survivors frolicked on the field and received VIP treatment. They “pinked out” the PNC diamond club seats behind home plate for the game. Debbi Taylor interviewed Susan Sonley, a survivor and supporter of the Susan G. Komen For The Cure, on the field for Nats X-Tra prior to the game. Turns out the Race for the Cure is on my birthday, June 7th! After the interview, I was able to chat briefly with Debbi about her daughter being nearly a year old, remembering she was quite pregnant on Mother’s Day last year. Because that’s what us moms do - chat about kids and pregnancy!
While standing down by the dugout shooting photos, I was stunned when a guy in the camera well below me asked how my lighthouse was doing! Wow! Apparently he works sound (I’m guessing for TV?) and a friend of his had pointed him to my photos taken at RFK last year because he was often in the shots, being next to the Nats dugout on the other side of the field. He also comes from a line of lighthouse servicemen in the Chesapeake, so had been following that side of my life. Too cool! I would love to hear his family stories, but I didn’t even get his name. What a pleasant surprise! We also chatted cameras, of course. Nothing gets me going like chatting about my two passions. So “Hi!” if you’re still reading!
John Lannan, Austin Kearns, and Cristian Guzman (look, you can see the scar on his thumb) enthusiastically autographed the white with pink Curly W hats given out to fans upon entering the stadium. Meanwhile, I noticed the seats I was standing in front of were padded, despite being outside the Presidents Club area. I wasn’t sure why and didn’t believe my eyes, so to test that they really were padded, I bounced up and down on one a few times. Yep, really padded! Another fan told me those are the owners’ seats - which made me feel really silly because earlier while chatting with the PR woman, I jokingly responded, “Can I stay in these seats for the game?” when she asked if I needed anything. Ha! (But wow, it’s fun to dream about the photos I could get from there!!)
The colors were solemnly marched out and the National Anthem sung, so I returned to my family and learned whoever had the day’s tickets had turned them in, and new people with dot-matrix printed stubby tickets showed up in our seats. We dutifully made our way to the third deck, settled in and began feeling confident in the win that was brewing. I put the camera away — as good as it is, distance is not something it can overcome magically. Kind of a bummer - I have no photos of the players using the pink bats this year, which is kind of heartbreaking!
I guess I never should have trooped us all down to Hard Times for cheese fries in the 7th inning. Immediately after was the turning point in the game.
The good thing about being up high was that I was nearly on level with the press box. So meet Chico Harlan, the new beat writer covering the Nationals at the Washington Post. Here’s his introduction.
Posted in Gameday, MLB, Washington Nationals 2 Comments »
May 12, 2008
That was me screaming in the 8th inning yesterday when Luis Ayala gave up the tying home run to Jeremy Hermida. The scream’s echo reverberated a few batters later when Dan Uggla hit the go-ahead home run, again off Ayala. The game had been humming along so smoothly up until that point with the Nats leading 4-2, only to snatch what appeared to be a happy Mother’s Day ending away. I apologize to the ears of the people sitting in front of me.
So looking back again at least year when we swept them, the roles have certainly reversed between the two teams. In fact, last year the Nats came in ahead of the Marlins in standings by the end of the season. What changed so drastically from one season to the next to cause such a magnificent turnaround on their team? Can we replicate that? They lost Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, yet are playing far better. Is it “The Plan” coming to fruition? Or something else?
I don’t have the answers - I’m just thinking out loud while wondering why the Nats, who appeared so improved on paper heading into the season, are performing so far below their abilities while other teams are thriving.
Posted in Gameday, MLB, Washington Nationals No Comments »
May 11, 2008
Today’s the day I get breakfast in bed and a singing card, and also the day MLB players honor their mothers and support the Susan G. Komen For The Cure by swinging pink bats. Wow, for the second year in a row, we’re playing the Marlins on Mother’s day. Of course, last year we swept them out of town. No such luck this year, but I can hope for one little win for “My Day”, right? All players, coaches, and umpires will wear pink wristbands and ribbon decals. Ten Nats will use the pink bats - Ronnie Belliard, Aaron Boone, Cristian Guzman, Willie Harris, Nick Johnson, Lastings Milledge, Wily Mo Pena, and Ryan Zimmerman. Dmitri Young and Johnny Estrada also planned to use pink bats, but are on the disabled list.
The bats and commemorative home plate will be auctioned off following the game - I believe online - to raise additional funds for breast cancer research. 200 breast cancer survivors will take place on the “Starting 9″ and sit behind home plate.
Here’s hoping for a win! I wasn’t originally going to the game because other responsibilities called. Since it’s going to rain (supposedly), Mr. Chatter decided we should go to the game instead since cutting down trees and gardening doesn’t look possible. We bought a family four-pack and will be in the 2nd level, so I’m not sure if I’ll get any decent photos. (Sorry, Brick!! He just decided this yesterday!)
Posted in MLB, Washington Nationals 4 Comments »
May 11, 2008
[Photoset] And apparently so are changeups! So if Barry Svrluga thought Friday night’s game was the most boring, I wonder what he’d say about last night’s 11-0 pounding by the Marlins? Oops, I forgot he’s not writing about Nats anymore! Today’s gamer, brought to you by the new Post beat writer, Chico Harlan, focuses on pitching pitching pitching. I’m a Mike O’Connor supporter and was surprised by such an ineffective outing, starting out with a first pitch meatball to Cody Ross for a homer into the left field stands. I don’t understand what happened? O’Connor had a 1.96 ERA in the minors and appeared to be well on his way to a comeback. I excused his outings out of the bullpen, figuring the routine was just something he wasn’t accustomed to. I don’t have any explanation for last night’s performance. The Marlins scored every which way on their way to 11 runs, including one on a wild pitch on the night O’Connor and Jesus Flores returned to the team. The “Duck and Cover!” slide was a bit much, though.
The most interesting event of the night, occurring coincidentally immediately after I pointed out Jeff Passan’s article on maple bats, was a Marlins runner nearly getting speared by the spear of a bat and doing a little dance on his way to second to avoid it. The facial expressions in the early shots are priceless, although I was pretty far out in the outfield to capture them.
‘Stache Watch: Looks like Nick Johnson shaved off his mustache.
Good Arm! In the late innings, a fan threw the ball from yet another home run back onto the field. It rolled all the way past an unsuspecting Cristian Guzman on the infield before being picked up by an ump and drew huge cheers from the crowd! Then a loud chorus of boos erupted and I couldn’t tell what was going on from across the park. What happened? Was the fan removed?
Posted in Gameday, MLB, Washington Nationals 1 Comment »
content rss
