Community member Hiram Hover brought up the song Help! by the Beatles in what the Nats need for next season. The Nats need help, and as fans, we need help also. The 7th inning buried the Nats once again. As Yogi Berra said it was like déjà vu all over again. We’ve seen this before as a Nats starting pitcher has a great game and the bullpen swiftly blows the game although in fairness this was a tied game at 1-1 with very little Nats offense. The go-ahead runs have all come at the hands of the relievers as the undoing for 4 straight games now.
For those who are old enough to know where the term “broken record” came from it was the repeating of one full or partial revolution on one musical groove on the record that played over and over and over again when the record was “scratched” and that is what the late innings have felt like for the Nats, an insufferable “broken record” with no opportunity for a do-over.
The Nats went back to Casey Janssen again in a tie game facing the Marlins bottom of the order. This was on top of a very good start from Gio Gonzalez who departed in a 1-1 tie game. Janssen’s job here was to have a 1-2-3 inning against Realmuto, Ichiro, and Miguel Rojas. Easy, right?
Let’s call it the way it is. Pitch #1 was quality to the lead-off man Realmuto and he fouled it off. Pitches 2-4 were not even close by Janssen to put himself in a HELP! hole for the 3-1 count. Realmuto ripped the mistake pitch in the 3-1 count down the leftfield line for a leadoff double to the 7th inning. Realmuto would later score the winning run in a bizarre turn of events when Janssen didn’t get an Ichiro pop-up bunt and threw the ball late to 3rd. You’d have to see it to believe it.
Compare this chart below on a 3-1 pitch on 9/8/15 to the one above. Pitch locations were almost identical in the same 3-1 count. Yes, that was Pitch #5 you pull down the line for a double like Realmuto did last night or over the fence for a HR if you barrel it up. The chart below belongs to Rendon who was bunting though. That’s the tale of 2 seasons.
Here is the first 3 stanzas of the song Help with the lyrics,
“Help, I need somebody
Help, not just anybody
Help, you know I need someone, helpWhen I was younger so much younger than today
I never needed anybody’s help in any way
But now these days are gone, I’m not so self assured
Now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors,Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please help me”
As you understand the lyrics, this is about someone calling out for help who used to never allow it, and now looking for that person to come to their side and just keeping him/her company. That is what we do here as a community. It is sad what has happened to this season, and it is good that we are here for each other. Sure, we can debate whether or not Trea Turner was greenlighted to steal at will as JCCfromDC (TheRealJohnC) thought or whether Trea should have been told to steal on the 1st pitch. We can politely agree to disagree, and learn from each other. Last night’s game wasn’t lost on that play, it was lost on the Nats offense scoring 1 run offensively and giving up 2 runs.
Today is a new day and Help someone today even if it’s a random act of kindness to a complete stranger. Bet you were doing that exactly 14 years ago today on 9-12-01. There was no baseball on that day and we all needed Help. This isn’t life or death. The Nats will be fine even though they have a tall task tonight facing José Fernandez. Help, you know I need someone, Help!
All lyrics to the song Help are © to the respective parties granted by the Beatles.
