Jeffrey Stuart
Author's posts
Apr 17
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
By Jeff Stuart In their inaugural 2005 season the Washington Nationals played exceptionally well for the first half of the season. At the mid-season point, after winning 9 of 10 and sweeping the Pirates at home and the Cubs in Chicago, their record stood at 51-30. They were in first place on July 4. Then …
Mar 19
The Physics of a Curveball
By Jeff Stuart “[The curveball is very difficult to throw, very difficult to control,” said Dick Bosman, former Senators’ pitcher and Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ minor league pitching coordinator. “On an average 12-man staff, you might have two guys who throw curveballs.”For a long time, physicists argued that a baseball couldn’t curve, that it was …
Mar 11
After the Fall of 1971
By Jeff Stuart “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.” After the Senators final game on Sept 30, 1971, there was no home team. But there were 17 exhibition professional baseball games played at RFK Stadium between then and April 2005, when the former Montreal Expos …
Mar 07
Papa Joe – Griffith’s Loyal Scout
By Jeff Stuart At the time of Joe Cambria’s passing on September 24, 1962 at the age of 72, Washington Post Sports columnist Bob Addie called him. “the best baseball scout that ever lived.” At a birthday party for the late Clark Griffith some years earlier, Cambria told Addie, “I’ve been with this club so …
Oct 28
At the Ballpark, Nixon was Unimpeachable
By Jeff Stuart Far from the highs and lows of a tumultuous life in politics, Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, found refuge at the ballpark. As a kid I saw the then Vice President several times walking in what passed for a concourse at Griffith Stadium. To me, his smile seemed …
Oct 15
Mikey, We Hardly Knew You
By Jeff Stuart “I can’t develop personal relationships with these guys. I gotta be able to trade ’em, send ’em down, sometimes cut them. Which is something you should learn to do, by the way. They’re professional ball players. Just be straight with them. No fluff, just facts. ‘Pete, I gotta let you go. Jack’s …
Oct 15
Livan Hernandez and the Fine Art of Bunting
By Jeff Stuart It was the 10th inning of a 4-4 game on very hot Sunday afternoon, August 28, 2011 in Cincinnati. Chris Marrero had singled to start the inning and Jesus Flores, the catcher, also singled. Runners on first and second with nobody out. Manager Davey Johnson decided it was time for a bunt, …
Aug 30
Gil Hodges in Washington
By Jeff Stuart It was fifty odd years ago today Gil Hodges taught the gang to play. The legendary Dodger great Gil Hodges, acquired from the New York Mets in return for outfielder Jim Piersall, took over the helm of the Senators just 40 games into the 1963 Season. While the club lost a franchise …
Aug 09
Don Zimmer-66 Years-Just Baseball
By Jeff StuartDon Zimmer was there to witness so much baseball history and is indelibly linked to it. He was one of the last two players alive to have played with Jackie Robinson. He was on the 1955 Dodgers World Series Championship team. “When Yogi hit the ball down the left-field line,” said Zimmer with …
Aug 09
Pearson and Allison, Back to Back Rookies of the Year
By Jeff Stuart When Albie Pearson won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1958 and Bob Allison followed suit in 1959, Washington became the first American League team to have players win the award in back to back years. It was not until 30 years later that another AL team accomplished the feat. Jose …
