K. Dana Morris

Back to Nats Park!

Ah, Spring in the USA.  This time last year we were in Sydney, Australia paying more attention to rugby, Tim Tams and sausage rolls than to baseball.  Alas, we are back and Nats Park is better than ever.

Last year they introduced a new runner for the President’s Race.  William Howard Taft, or Bill, is now racing in the 4th and seems to be a good competitor.

With Bill and Teddy April 18, 2014

Sunday Funday, April 20, 2014 was a great one!  We went straight up to our favorite spot on the Miller Lite Party Deck to relax with some cold beers and peanuts.  Along the way we got some shots with the larger than life wall paintings.

Margy Loves Ian Desmond

Margy and Jane with Stras

Cold Beers and Peanuts!

Our Annual Pic at the Park

Jordan Zimmermann BobbleHead

We really got a treat for the National Anthem.  Glenn Donnellan has made a violin from a Louisville Slugger!  Very original and the sound was amazing.  We overheard him say that he’d love to visit all of the MLB parks and play.  I don’t know how anyone could turn him down.  He’s a true original!  Visit his Facebook page.

Happy Easter!

Easter Sunday Funday!

Margy joined the Junior Nationals Kids Club this year.  She got a special baseball cap, a satchel to hold her game day supplies, a lanyard, and gets VIP access to run the bases on Sunday afternoon games.  It sure is a treat to be right down on the field watching her fly around the bases.

She’s VIP

It was such a fun weekend of baseball.  I can’t wait to get back to DC for my birthday to do it all again.  In the meantime, I’ll have to make due with the Daytona Cubs.  The Jack is a great little ballpark and with Thirsty Thursday and All You Can Eat Monday it is hard to pass up.  Yay, Baseball!

Spring Training 2014

The Boys are Back in Town!

I’m so lucky to live in Central Florida where I have access to so many Spring Training baseball parks.  This year I didn’t go on a special trip but I was able to attend 8 games.  And I hit all 4 local parks – Astros in Kissimmee, Braves at Disney, Tigers in Lakeland, and of course the Nats in Viera.  Word on the street is the Nats and possibly the Braves are leaving town and I’m going to be very sad if that happens.  I definitely want to go to Arizona one year but I don’t know if I can go every year.  OR maybe I can and just go for a week or 10 days and do some other left coast sight seeing.  I’ll be on the edge of my seat to find out what happens.

Nats Park in Viera – I’ll be really sad if they leave

Gotta keep the MLs cold!

Adam LaRoche is back!

Yummy!

Beer and Baseball forever!!

Keeping the book.

Scouts with guns

Nats in Lakeland – my other favorite park.

I want one of these

The berm in Lakeland is where it’s at

Heisman Trophy Pitcher??

Each year Florida Citrus Sports hosts a night at a University of Central Florida baseball game.  And each year my baseball buddy, Suzanne, meets me there for a fun night of college ball.  This year was, however, more interesting than most.  This year Florida State University came to town ranked No. 2 in the country.  AND traveling with them was Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston.  Yes, an award winning football player can throw a mean fastball, too!

We had the pleasure of sitting next to one of the UCF pitcher’s mother.  Poor thing was a mess with nervous anxiety as she watched “her boys” leave a lot of runners on base.  She told us that 6 of the last 7 games they had lost due to just that – they can get a ton of hits and get guys on base but they can’t close the deal.  It was a hit-fest with FSU having 12 hits and 11 runs beating the UCF nights with 15 hits and 10 runs.  Very exciting NCAA baseball.  Especially when Winston took the mound to close the inning and save the game.  Boy, can he throw heat!!

THE MAN!

In to close the inning

Bringing the HEAT!

Spring Training 2013

I did 15 games this season!

Here’s the lowdown:

Sunday, February 24, 2013  – Marlins at Nats

Friday, March 1, 2013 – Nats at Braves
Saturday, March 2, 2013 – Braves at Astros

Thursday, March 7, 2013 – Nats at Astros
Friday, March 8, 2013 – Orioles at Pirates
Saturday, March 9, 2013 – Tigers at Blue Jays
Sunday, March 10, 2013 – Nats at Tigers

Friday, March 15, 2013 – Mets at Braves
Saturday, March 16, 2013 – Astros at Nats
Sunday, March 17, 2013 – Nats at Tigers

Thursday, March 21, 2013 – Nats at Braves
Friday, March 22, 2013 – Tigers at Nats
Saturday, March 23, 2013 – Astros at Braves
Sunday, March 24, 2013 – Braves at Nats
Monday, March 25, 2013 – Nats at Astros

Just for fun I kept some of the parking passes.

And since it was still March when the regular season began I hit up the Rays in Tampa.  But I don’t count this one as part of my Spring Training Marathon of 2013.

Cool Books

	Calico Joe by John Grisham
	One Pitch Away: The Players’ Stories of the 1986 League Championships and World Series by Mike Sowell

It might be over…

…but this play by play will never get old.

I remember it now. It was Game 4 of the 2012 NLDS. I was at my favorite Mexican joint in Winter Park, PR’s Taco Palace.  Nats jersey is on, beer is cold, and I some how charmed the bartender into putting the Nats vs. Cards game on every TV in the place. I was in heaven!  Mostly because when you are at a bar they don’t stop serving beer after the 7th inning. The game seems to drag on forever with the score tied at 1-1. All I can think of is this might be it. This might be the last Nats game of the season! Ugh. How can this be?  I’m not ready for baseball to be over!! Especially after the spectacular season the Nats have had.

I called my brother who lives in Arlington, VA, and he was listening to this very broadcast.  For this game he decided to mix it up a little bit and listen rather than watch on TV.  You know. He was trying to change up his routine in order to spark a Nats win. Together we usually go to about a dozen Nats games per season, if not more, and I had vowed to fly to DC if we made it to the NLCS. So, in my mind I was never going to make it.

And then.  BOOM!  Werth’s walk-off home run blasted all over the world! I flew out of my chair and squealed inappropriately loud and jumped for joy! The other bar partons were high-fiving me and made me feel as if I’d hit that game winning home run. My phone rings and my brother is on the line feeling the exact same way. Although his house wasn’t full of people, his family was up out of their chairs cheering, and their smiles were as big as the moon.  We did it! We are going to Game 5 of the NLDS!!!  We still have a chance!!

I’d better get home and book my ticket…

Tribute to Veterans

Baseball has everything: hot dogs, beer, fastballs, long balls, and heart. The tribute to our veterans before Game 2 of the 2012 World Series (Thursday October 25) was incredibly memorable and moving. No mistakes in the star spangled banner, the flag unfolded flawlessly, and the fly over brought the crowd to its feet! Then to put the icing on the cake, the video narrated by Tom Brokaw might be one of the most special pieces of baseball history I’ve seen. It really took me inside the heart of the best sport ever.

If you missed it, please take a moment and watch this to get an idea of what this tribute was all about.

If that didn’t get your star-spangled blood moving then check out the first pitch thrown by triple amputee Marine Nicholas Kimmel.  Right down the middle!  Every time I think I’m having a bad day I stop and think about what I’m complaining about.  My “omg-I-broke-a-nail” bad day isn’t even in the same universe as a “our-squadron-just-got-shot-at” bad day experienced by our Soldiers and Marines.  God Bless Our Troops!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of The United States Army Golden Knights.  I got to meet the Gold Team in Cocoa Beach, FL on October 4, 2009.

Perfect Strike

If you didn’t see the first pitch of Game 2 of the 2012 World Series then you missed a perfect strike!! The catcher didn’t even have to move his glove. Which is a good thing considering how moving the tribute to our Veterans was.

The first pitch at AT&T Park was thrown by Marine corporal Nicholas Kimmel, who lost both legs and his left arm while on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. He was accompanied by Willie Mays.

See the full tribute here:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121024&content_id=40017630&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

Glossary of Baseball

Learn it, live it, love it…The Glossary of Baseball.