You never know when you will return to southern California so you must make the most of every chance. The Nationals are playing with few regulars but finally have their 2009 chosen one back in a dominating Stephen Strasburg.
In time, the Nationals expect to get every key player back from the disabled list except for Joe Ross and nobody will throw in the white towel or white wristband on Adam Eaton who is working earnestly to return to play for his Washington Nationals in 2017.
The Nationals have taken hits to their roster on almost a weekly basis it seems with health issues, and yet they have battled back to overcome and show their collective strength like a bridge over troubled water.
“I’m on your side, oh, when times get rough; Your time has come to shine; All your dreams are on their way;”
No neck pain, impingement, tug, strain, bump, bruise, or hyper-extension can keep these young men down. They are not fighting for their lives like Mark Lerner; rather, playing a kid’s game that they grew up loving on sand lots, backstreets, and grassy fields. Among the long-shot players, one of their own was a Little League World Series participant from Lafayette, Louisiana. Andrew Stevenson has been a long-shot his entire life.
This part of August every year we celebrate those young players. As Little Leaguers from all over the globe gather near the Susquehanna River that flows near Cooperstown then past Williamsport through Maryland as it empties into the Chesapeake Bay where it meets the same waters from the Anacostia and Potomac River near Nationals Park. The water is magical, and each of those young men dream to be the next Andrew Stevenson who can make their impact as a Major Leaguer. There seems to be a destiny sometimes — a divine line that seems so improbable as an eleven-year-old who dreams of playing on the same fields as the legends before them.
Sometimes you are just there to fill a hole for an injured player as a placeholder, but to also show others the way from a place you were at a dozen years ago and sharing that magic from the back fields of Williamsport that has now reached Nationals Park.
Today, it will be the Little Leaguer from Hialeah, Florida who will lead his team in their last regular season game in state of California for 2017. You never know if they will return again in October. While many believe the fate of the National League representative to the Fall Classic will be decided in the ravine in SoCal, there are no guarantees.
The San Diego Padres will pitch the 25-year-old righty Dinelson Lamet. No Nationals player has faced him in the Major Leagues before.
Washington Nationals at San Diego Padres
Stadium: Petco Park
1st Pitch: 4:40 pm EDT
TV: MASN2, FOX Sports – San Diego, MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® (Internet 869)
Line-ups (subject to change without notice):
Here's how we're lining up for the series finale in San Diego. pic.twitter.com/QlP5RuLd5j
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 20, 2017
