The Michael Jackson concerts that never will be were going to be produced by AEG, owned by Philip Anschutz, the former DC United owner who back when he controlled the local soccer team had a level of visibility in DC similar to what the Wizard had in Oz.
‘Course, fellow former multi-billionaire and United investor George Soros wasn’t exactly Ted Leonsis, either.
And fellow former owner (but non-billionaire) Vic MacFarlane was in the news all the time. How’d that work out?
This story says Jackson’s desire to get out of working with Anschutz is what killed him.
AFTER THE JUMP: More bad Nats news, R2D2 updates, DC Grays promo, Doris Day was a Maury Wills groupie? Who knew?
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Ryan Zimmerman made three errors in last night’s loss to Florida, all run producers for the Marlins. He’s not only the Face of the Franchise™. He’s also the Glove of the Franchise™.
The Arms of the Franchise™ stuck to their roles, too. Starter Craig Stammen handed over a lead, and the bullpen blew it.
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R2D2™ Update: With last night’s rain-shortened loss, the Washington Nationals have now been outscored by their opponents by 102 runs. That gives the Nats a minus-185-run run differential differential (R2D2™) with the Los Angeles Dodgers. That’s not only the largest negative R2D2™ in the majors, it’s also the LARGEST NEGATIVE R2D2 EVER RECORDED IN HISTORY SINCE R2D2™ RECORDS HAVE BEEN KEPT!
Which is only a few weeks. But, still.
BTW: The minus-102 run differential is the biggest imbalance in the NL East by 78 runs and the worst in the majors by a far sight.
‘Course, that stat is skewed for one reason: Everybody in the NL East gets TO PLAY THE NATS A LOT!
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I’m planning on heading to see the DC Grays play tonight at home against the Fairfax Nationals of the Clark Griffith League, the wood-bat confederation for college age kids.
The Grays play at Maury Wills Field on Georgia Avenue NW, next to Banneker Rec Center. The field is named for the former Cardozo all-around superstar, who went on to break all sorts of base-stealing records with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Better yet: Maury Wills was rumored to have had an affair with Doris Day during his Dodger days. She was a Dodger hanger-on in the 1960s, when Wills was a star there. Apparently, Wills says yes to the rumors in his autobiography; Day says no in hers. The tiebreaker: Author David Kaufman, in his book, “Doris Day: The Untold Story of the Girl Next Door,” says….YES! THERE WAS A WILLS/DAY AFFAIR!
Must be true!
Anyway, neither Wills nor Day nor Kaufman will be at tonight’s Grays/Nats game. But come anyway. The level of play in the CGL is fabulous; the league can claim both Jonathan Papelbon and Mark Teixeira. The DC Department of Parks and Rec did a fabulous overhaul of the Maury Wills Field complex before this season, sprucing up the diamond and adding grandstands closer to the field, though the old majestic cement stands still stand. It’s baseball, downtown, and basically across the street from the former site of Griffith Stadium, where the Washington Senators and the Homestead Grays played all those years ago.
Best yet, the games are FREE.
(Coincidence? The Nationals are in last place in the Clark Griffith League standings, too.)
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