Nationals vs Reds, Game 4

[Natsinpwc]

can we order him a "no hard feelings" white wine for his flight out of DC?

No flight today!  They are taking the train to NYC!! Maybe someone could meet him at Union Station?

[Greg_SRT]

Looks like the Braves will win--up 5-4 in the 10th.  Phillies blew a 3-0 lead.  Tied with Miami in the 7th.  Basically the teams doing what is expected against lower echelon opponents including the Nats.

We just got to keep winning

[Natsinpwc]

We just got to keep winning

Winning does better the odds--as compared to losing.

[nfotiu]

Mets have someone on third with one out.  If they can't beat them, I'll take them dragging it out for 18 innings!

[Natsinpwc]

Mets have someone on third with one out.  If they can't beat them, I'll take them dragging it out for 18 innings!

Those Amazin' Mets.

[NatNasty]

No flight today!  They are taking the train to NYC!! Maybe someone could meet him at Union Station?

Not me.  I spent a month there this morning.

[Natsinpwc]

Mets have someone on third with one out.  If they can't beat them, I'll take them dragging it out for 18 innings!

Mets lost--go figure.

[nfotiu]

Those Amazin' Mets.

Boo, can't count on the Mets for anything.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Mets lost--go figure.

joey bats and Toddzilla Frazier ground out to the left side to fail to plate Conforto.  The gamecast had the first out as a grounder to center.  Did they go with a 5 man infield after the leadoff double?

[welch]

This is the sort of game the Nats need. Tanner pitching well, even with that one inning, a 2 - 1 win -- that's classy.

[mitlen]

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[GburgNatsFan]

As hot as it was, it was a fun day. Not a lot of visiting team fans to make things miserable, and Tanner pitched really well.

[trangert418]

I had them all, as well. Had the entire Topps 1959 set until my parents' basement flooded, maybe Hurricane Agnes, 1972. There was nothing like collecting the cards, memorizing the stats. Not that we saw players outside the AL except for the All Star game and World Series.

I collected cards as a kid and younger adult but have not seen the back of a baseball card beyond the 1980s. I can't imagine "memorizing the stats" on the back of a baseball card today. Do they use a microscopic font to fit all the stats on the card? Or are the cards now 10 times bigger?

[captkirk42]

I collected cards as a kid and younger adult but have not seen the back of a baseball card beyond the 1980s. I can't imagine "memorizing the stats" on the back of a baseball card today. Do they use a microscopic font to fit all the stats on the card? Or are the cards now 10 times bigger?

The current cards are the same standard 2.5 x 3.5 size that was set in 1957 or so. Some years/sets they only have one year of stats (ala some of the old 50s and 60s sets) but no cartoons anymore, except on retro sets that give an homage to older sets. That is a different subject though. The trading card hobby is a whole lot different than it was. First there was the very overproduced years from the mid 1980s to about mid 1990s that is affectionately called "The Junk Wax" years. As the hobby had a big boom in the early 1980s when a lot of collectors started "investing" in trading cards (thinking if they bought a few dozen of some new kid's rookie card it would be worth a ton of money some 20, 30 years later) so the card companies went overboard producing cards and sets. At one point there were several dozen card companies each making several dozen sets of cards per year and making millions of copies of the cards, not just a few 100,000 cards but by the millions. And coming up with all sorts of new gimmicks to help sell the cards. Now days there are only a few card companies but they are making dozens of sets per year, and making "parallels" of cards (same card but with a different color border, or gold foiled lettering or a different picture on the front) and making fewer of some of these special cards called "short prints". I could go on more but that is the iceberg of some of the differences in the hobby now.

[OldChelsea]

THE RACING PRECEDENTS: Comparative dates on which the Nationals notched their 57th win, each season:

2017 - 18th July (93rd match of season)
2016 - 20th July (95th match)
2012 - 24th July (96th match)
2014 - 27th July (102nd match)
2005 - 3rd August (107th match)
2018 - 5th August (111th match)
2015 - 8th August (109th match)
2013 - 11th August (117th match)
2011 - 12th August (118th match)
2007 - 21st August (126th match)
2010 - 30th August (132nd match)
2006 - 2nd September (134th match)
2008 - 15th September (150th match)
2009 - 2nd October (160th match)

[JCA-CrystalCity]

IT looks like the 2015 season was on its way to falling apart by this point.  my quick and dirty scan of the archived 2015 GDTs looks like we went 10-20 after the ASB.  Our 59th win wasn't until 8/19, so there's a decent chance we move well ahead of that pace soon, leaving only the 4 playoff years with better records (2005 was also coming back down to earth). 

[imref]

IT looks like the 2015 season was on its way to falling apart by this point.  my quick and dirty scan of the archived 2015 GDTs looks like we went 10-20 after the ASB.  Our 59th win wasn't until 8/19, so there's a decent chance we move well ahead of that pace soon, leaving only the 4 playoff years with better records (2005 was also coming back down to earth). 

was it 2014 when we made a late run but fell short by a few games of making the playoffs?

[varoadking]

was it 2014 when we made a late run but fell short by a few games of making the playoffs?

No...we went to the playoffs in 2014...and the Big Intern was Manager of the Year...

[imref]

No...we went to the playoffs in 2014...and the Big Intern was Manager of the Year...

Thanks, I looked it up, it was 2013 when wee started the month 15 GB, got within 8, and then fell apart again.  We ended July 11GB, so we're in a bit better shape now.