Washington, DC: World Series Game 5 was quite a spectacle. The Astros won the game, but there was something for everyone in this one.
Bail for the Chief
Don the Con was booed loudly and greeted with chants of “lock him up.” RIP, respect for the office of the President. In a weak and transparent attempt to avoid having the President booed, Trump was put on the stadium jumbo-tron immediately after a group of soldiers. Nice try. The Nationals crowd was in playoff mode and locked in. They seamlessly switched from cheers to boos and then back to cheers when soldiers were shown again.
Despite being in astonishingly excellent health, the stable genius opted not to throw out the first pitch. Like my Mom always said, if you can’t take the heat, hide in a luxury box. Hey, bone spurs are nothing to joke about people.
However you felt about George W, you had to have felt at least some pride when he calmly stepped up and threw a heater on the black like a boss in the Bronx in 2001.
DD-istractions
The highlight of the game came in the seventh inning when two ladies flashed Gerrit Cole in an apparent attempt to distract him. Now, the average age of a baseball fan is 53 and rising. I’m no statistician, but that can’t bode well for the future of the game. And here are two young fans performing this selfless act to raise breast cancer awareness. Sometimes heroes lift their capes.
So what does MLB do? Ban them for life, of course. From every stadium. Is baseball trying to die? They should have given them season tickets for life at any stadium they want with unlimited hot dogs. Who’s in charge of marketing for MLB, Mike Pence?
Ace in the Cole
Between the booing and the flashing, I might become a Nats fan. I think there was a baseball game too. Cole was slightly flapped by the ripe melons at the fruit stand and immediately walked Ryan Zimmerman. But he got it together, with the help of generous make up strike call, and got out of the inning.
Yankees fans will be chanting “lock him up” with a 7-year deal as soon as the season’s over. Hell, they only have to pay Jacoby Ellsbury for one more year. I wonder if Brian Cashman still thinks it was a good idea not to include Miguel Andujar in a deal for Cole.
Hope for the Nats?
The Nationals scored a whopping three runs in getting annihilated in their own building on three straight nights. But Justin Verlander is 0-5 with an ERA up near 6 in World Series starts. He is the only pitcher in World Series history to lose his first five starts. He’s been vulnerable in the first inning. Have they considered an opener?
But momentum in baseball is as good as the next game’s starter. Stephen Strasburg is going to need to be nearly perfect for this team to get it to Game 7, because the Nats sure look like a dead team walking. To increase his chances of getting his first World Series win, Verlander should send wife Kate Upton down to the seats behind home plate tonight to distract Strasburg. The Astros need to pull out all the stops because anything can happen in a 7th game. And if he can shoot enough cortisone into his neck to go, Max Scherzer has the advantage in a pitching match-up versus Zack Greinke.
Feel free to boo or flash me in the comments below. And come back tomorrow for a guy whose flashing days are over, but can boo with the best of ’em, Angry Ward. Follow us on Twitter at @BenWhit8, @MeetTheMatts, @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
