The Year the Nationals Won
All night, I could not help but think about “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant,” which was one of my favorite books when I was a kid.*
*Interestingly, I never liked the musical that it inspired Damn Yankees. I only say “interestingly” because I’m a Broadway musical nerd, something that I would not have said about myself until I found myself the other day singing the entire “Gee, Officer Krupke” song from West Side Story. I can also do all of Shipoopi from The Music Man, and The Farmer and the Cowman from Oklahoma.**
**In retrospect, I am not sure we know each other well enough for me to share this with you.
In any case, I wrote at some length about Washington baseball, the Nationals’ breakthrough season, how the author Douglass Wallop might have felt about it, and yes, I take a shot at Fox for continuously telling us how old Gleyber Torres is. Enough already!
“Shipoopi”? Really? I mean, I’ll sing “76 Trombones” and “Wells Fargo Wagon” in the shower or in the car, but . . . “Shipoopi”?
Great article. You also inspired me to order a copy of the book to read to my Katie.