You probably don’t remember this, but the Nationals had a pretty successful spring training, but I pointed out something odd. Their hitting statistics were just awful, but their pitching statistics were excellent; this was unexpected and the opposite of what had happened over the preceding two or more years. They started the season strongly, winning three of their first four games, but now have lost five in a row, ending with a three game series loss to the world champion Dodgers.

But while this might have been expected, the way this happened has been odd, compared with the way the Nationals played during spring training. Today, with a 3-6 record, after nine games, the Nationals have the third highest batting average of any team in the National League (just behind the Dodgers and the Marlins), and have scored more runs than any other team. But, they have the poorest pitching statistics. They have averaged over 6 runs per game (the typical major league team scores just under 4.5 runs per game), but their pitching has allowed the opposing teams 6.5 runs per game.

Today begins a three game series with the Cardinals. We have tickets for the Wednesday 4 p.m. game.

Yesterday, we had brunch at friends’ house; there were a fair number of people there, largely people we knew slightly or not at all, and that was refreshing, because we do tend to see the same people over and over (and that is refreshing, too). Our host cooked six Indian dishes, suitable for Passover. He cooking is always good, and this was no exception.

We left the brunch early because we had tickets at the Shakespeare Theatre for Hamnet, a play based on the same book as the award winning film (which we have not seen), and which played for quite a while in London, and now is in the middle of a three city tour in the United States. The production is that of the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was raining fairly hard, and I was concerned that we couldn’t find street parking near the theater and would have to resort to the expensive garage, but there it was: an just opened parking space, right on F Street, maybe 25 or 30 steps from the door. We parked. It was Sunday, so it was free. What could be better?

The theater is right across the street from the arena where the hockey Capitals and basketball Wizards play, and there is a sign where you park that prohibits parking when there are events taking place there. They normally then close off the street, which can be filled with fans coming and going, etc. It turns out there was a Capitals/Rangers game scheduled for last night. We did not know that, and there was nothing to tell you that. But as we were leaving our seats after the play, there was an announcement over the Shakespeare loud speaker that said (I paraphrase): “If you parked your car on the street in front of the theater, please be aware that the police are now clearing the street, and if your car is not there, that means it has been towed to another location. Just ask any policeman outside and they will direct you to where it has been towed.”

Well, that was a surprise.

We left the building, the rain had stopped, and our car was still where we parked it. But there were four police tow trucks working on cars, one at a time, and if we had been five or ten minutes later, I think that we would have been moved. So it was sort of an adventure that wasn’t.

Passover is now half over, ending at sundown on Thursday, and on Friday, A packing (really packing, it seems) the car and driving to St. Louis. This is not unusual for the two of us, but this time…..it will be the four of us. Daughter Michelle is coming with us (driving there, staying a short while, and flying home), and 10, almost 11, year old Joan is now coming along. It’s her spring break, and she has never been to St. Louis, and is very excited. She wants to see some relatives she hasn’t seen since she was very young, she wants to see where I grew up, she wants to see the Arch, the City Museum, the Zoo and more. And to meet some of our friends.

Oh, and Hamnet? It’s an interesting play, based on a novel by Maggie O’Farrell. The general story line is that Shakespeare and his wife had three children, a boy and two girls, and the boy died at age 11 of “the pestilence”, while his father was play making in London. That much is almost true (no one knows how Hamnet died), but the rest of the story line is imaginative or make believe and the staging is highly choreographed (which for this story works well). Because we are dealing with an English cast, the accents for those of us who were born in the U.S.A. are sometimes hard to understand. But even though Shakespeare himself was, to put it mildly, quite a wordsmith, the dialogue in the play seems less important that the careful staging and choreography (not formal dancing, but movement in general). In the DC area, there is a mime/dance theater company called the Synetic Theater, and I think Hamnet is made to order for them.

We will see if they pick up on it.

Of course, I should add that yesterday was Easter Sunday, and that I saw nothing at all that was Easterish. That’s not quite true. I saw a lot of three and four year old girls dressed in fancy pink dresses. That I did see.