It will be the 1st time since August 16, 1925 that the Yankees have played a Washington team that had won the World Series the year before. They beat the Washington Senators 3-2 at Griffith Stadium. That was a little short of 95 years ago.
More to the point, this game, and today's slate of games, will be the 1st regular-season Major League Baseball games that count since the Nationals won Game 7 of last year's World Series, beating the Houston Astros, 6-2 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
That was on October 30, 2019. That was 266 days ago. Almost 9 full months. Three-quarters of a year. A full-term pregnancy. How long has that been?
Surely, the world hasn't changed that much in 266 days, has it?
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With the COVID-19 epidemic having killed over 144,000 Americans -- equivalent to the 9/11 attacks 48 times over -- one of the jokes going around is that 2020 is only half-over, and, already, we've added several new verses to Billy Joel's song "We Didn't Start the Fire."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the lead man on our response to the virus, has gone from someone who name was known by very few Americans to perhaps the most trusted person in the country. The Nationals invited him to throw out the ceremonial first ball on Opening Night.
Although born and raised in Brooklyn,
he has worked in the D.C. area since 1968,
and is an avowed Nationals fan.
This is a direct slap in the face to Donald Trump. Historically, when the Washington Senators were the team of the Nation's Capital, they invited the President of the United States to throw out the first ball on Opening Day.
It started in 1910, because they knew that, unlike his predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt, who preferred other sports, William Howard Taft loved baseball. From then until the Senators left after the 1971 season, it was usually the President who did it, though sometimes a substitute (the Vice President or some other official) was sent in his place. In 1984, with Baltimore as the closest MLB city to Washington, Ronald Reagan revived the tradition, and he, both George Bushes, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama did it.
But Trump has never been invited to do it. He attended Game 5 of last year's World Series, on what was, to this day, his best day as President, with the news of U.S. Special Forces having killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS.
He had not been asked to throw out the ceremonial first ball. It was Washington-based celebrity chef Jose Andres. Trump took his wife Melania. He did not take Barron, his 13-year-old son who is a known sports fan. The World Series was 2 miles from his house, and he had tickets, and he didn't take his 13-year-old son.
Yeah, sure, it's a school night. I think a note from the President of the United States would carry some weight. Well, it would, if it were any other President.
When a group of veterans was shown on the scoreboard, the sellout crowd of 43,910 cheered them. When the image shifted to Trump, it was about 60-40 boos, and the boos were louder than the cheers. Fans chanted, "Lock him up!" The scoreboard operator had to switch back to the camera on the veterans, and the crowd went back to cheering.
Washington Nationals fans, for this, you, and your team, for beating the cheating Astros in that World Series, you have my thanks forever.
A whopping 10 out of the 30 MLB teams have changed managers. However, 2 did not do so by choice, and 1 did, and then had to do so again, not by choice. The Astros' cheating scandal meant that the Astros had to fire manager A.J. Hinch, and they replaced him with Dusty Baker. The Boston Red Sox had to fire Alex Cora, who was an Astro coach during their 2017 World Championship season, and replaced him with Ron Roenicke.
For merely competitive reasons, the Mets fired Mickey Callaway, and hired Carlos Beltran, who had finished his career with the 2017 Astros. With the scandal growing, Beltran agreed to step aside, and was replaced with Luis Rojas.
Also for competitive reasons, the Philadelphia Phillies fired Gabe Kapler, and replaced him with former Yankee manager Joe Girardi. Bruce Bochy retired as manager of the San Francisco Giants, and they hired Kapler. Joe Maddon left the Chicago Cubs at the end of his contract, and they hired former Cub player David Ross. The Los Angeles Angels fired Brad Ausmus, and hired Maddon.
Ned Yost retired as manager of the Kansas City Royals, and they hired former St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. The San Diego Padres fired Andy Green, and hired Rangers coach Jayce Tingler. And the Pittsburgh Pirates fired Clint Hurdle, and hired Minnesota Twins coach Derek Shelton.
The only new arena that has opened since is the Chase Center in San Francisco, the new home of the NBA's Golden State Warriors. The Texas Rangers were supposed to open Globe Life Field in Arlington, their replacement for a 26-year-old ballpark that had replaced a 29-year-old ballpark. That opening, as far as fans are concerned, will likely have to wait until April 2021 -- if then.
Major League Soccer debuted Inter Miami CF, owned by David Beckham, but they only played 3 games before the shutdown. With the "MLS Is Back Tournament" underway, they've now played 5 games, and lost them all. Beckham had played for Manchester United, Real Madrid and the Los Angeles Galaxy. Not so easy when you have to pay the referees out of your own pocket, is it, Becks?
The Yankees signed Gerrit Cole, a big reason why the Astros won 2 Pennants in 3 years. The Red Sox refused to sign Mookie Betts to a contract extension, and traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who, yesterday, extended his contract. For a while, it looked like Dodger fans' dream of seeing Betts play for them would never happen, as his contract would end at the end of 2020 whether there was a season or not. Now, it is Sox fans' dream of getting Betts back for 2021 that appear to be dashed.
In the New York Tri-State Area, the Giants, the Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets and the New Jersey Devils have all changed head coaches. Except for the Nets, each of those has also changed general managers.
The Kansas City Chiefs won their 1st Super Bowl in 50 years, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers won their 1st Grey Cup in 29 years, the Seattle Sounders won their 2nd MLS Cup, the Raleigh-area-based North Carolina Courage won the NWSL title. Liverpool FC won their 1st title in the top flight of English soccer in 30 years, while Arsenal and Chelsea advanced to the FA Cup Final.
The NCAA awarded its football National Championship to Louisiana State University (LSU), but, with the COVID-19 shutdown happening as Conference Tournaments got underway, canceled its Tournaments for both men's and women's basketball.
Anthony Joshua took the IBF Heavyweight Championship of the World back from Andy Ruiz Jr., and Tyson Fury took the WBC edition from Deontay Wilder. The WBA version is currently held by Mahmoud Charr, but he hasn't fought in 3 years. He should have been stripped of it by now, for failing to defend it.
The Washington Redskins agreed to change their name, effective with the 2021 season. The Edmonton Eskimos changed their name immediately, taking the interim name of Edmonton Football Team. Neither team has selected a permanent new name yet. The Cleveland Indians are also considering changing their name.
Abiy Ahmed has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for his efforts in settling the border dispute between his native Ethopia and Eritrea. Boris Johnson increased his majority and remained Prime Minister of Britain, while Justin Trudeau saw his reduced, but kept enough to remain Prime Minster of Canada. Benjamin Netanyahu faced 2 inconclusive elections, and forged a coalition government that will allow him to remain in power until November 17, 2021, when he hands the office over to Opposition Leader Benny Gantz. But Netanyahu was also indicted on corruption charges, and may be gone sooner than that, anyway.
Major films in theaters when we last had baseball included some reboots of classic stories: Joker, Dolemite Is My Name, The Addams Family, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and The King, starring Timothee Chalamet as King Henry V of England. There was also a sequel to the TV show Breaking Bad, titled El Camino; the sequel Zombieland: Double Tap; and Jojo Rabbit, which a boy in World War II Germany has Adolf Hitler -- as Germans then perceived him to be -- as an "imaginary friend."
Two days after that World Series ended saw the releases of Terminator: Dark Fate, Motherless Brooklyn, and The Irishman, described by one reviewer as "Martin Scorcese has made The Avengers of Mob movies."
Since we last had baseball, The CW Network brought its superhero shows together for the 5-part crossover epic Crisis On Infinite Earths, saw Ruby Rose leave as the title character of Batwoman after just 1 season, and debuted the "Earth-2" superhero show Stargirl.
We've also seen the debuts of the Star Wars series The Mandalorian, the sequel series Star Trek: Picard and The L Word: Generation Q, the companion series FBI: Most Wanted, a series version of High Fidelity, a show based on the video game The Witcher, and a reboot of Perry Mason, set at the beginning of the original novels, in 1932, with Mason, played by Matthew Rhys, then a private investigator, not yet a crusading lawyer.
The Number 1 song in America when we last had baseball was "Truth Hurts" by Melissa Viviane Jefferson, a.k.a. Lizzo. In between, "All I Want for Christmas" by Mariah Carey set a record, reaching Number 1 25 years after it was first released.
And, since Game 7 of the 2019 World Series, we have seen, from COVID-19 and other causes, the deaths of many people we cared about, including, but not limited to, the following:
* From Sports: Harrison Dillard, Peter Snell, Martin Peters, David Stern, Hans Tilkowski, Rob Rensenbrink, Kobe Bryant, Harry Gregg, Éva Székely, Henri Richard, Dana Zátopková, Peter Bonetti, Stirling Moss, Norman Hunter, Trevor Cherry, Jerry Sloan, Bobby Morrow, Wes Unseld, Pete Rademacher, Tony Dunne, Mario Corso, Jack Charlton and Wim Surrbier.
* From Acting: Michael J. Pollard, Shelley Morrison, D.C. Fontana, René Auberjonois, Caroll Spinney, Danny Aiello, Claudine Auger, Sue Lyon, Edd Byrnes, Buck Henry, Terry Jones, Kirk Douglas, Orson Bean, Robert Conrad, Zoe Caldwell, Diana "Baby Peggy" Cary, James Lipton, Max von Sydow, Stuart Whitman, Honor Blackman, Shirley Douglas, Brian Dennehy, Jerry Stiller, Fred Willard, Ian Holm, Carl Reiner, Naya Rivera and Kelly Preston; and directors Lynn Shelton and Joel Schumacher.
* From Music: Allee Willis, Jerry Herman, Marie Fredriksson, Neal Peart, Andy Gill, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Rogers, Bill Withers, John Prine, Millie Small, Little Richard, Betty Wright, Jimmy Cobb, Vera Lynn, Johnny Mandel, Charlie Daniels and Ennio Morricone.
* From Politics and Public Service: Paul Volcker, Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, Hosni Mubarak, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Betty Williams, Jean Kennedy Smith and John Lewis.
* From Other Fields: Ram Dass, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Jim Lehrer, Mary Higgins Clark, Clive Cussler, Katharine Johnson, Freeman Dyson, Jack Welch, Alfred Worden, Terrence McNally, Margaret Burbidge, Michael McClure, Roy Horn, Astrid Kirchherr, Larry Kramer, Dennis O'Neil, Hugh Downs and Grant Imahara.
October 30, 2019. A Major League Baseball game that counted was played.
July 23, 2020. 266 days later. They count again.
You may not be able to Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and you can't put me in, Coach, I am by no means ready to play today. But it's still A Beautiful Day for a Ballgame.
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