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”It’s something I’ve wanted from the moment we got the team [url=http://www.neworleanssaintsteamonline.com/rick-leonard-jersey]Authentic Rick Leonard Jersey[/url] ,” Lerner said.
Thirteen years after Major League Baseball returned to Washington and almost that long since Mark and father Ted Lerner were chosen as owners of their new hometown team, they finally get to throw their party. The fourth All-Star Game in the nation’s capital and first since 1969 is a celebration of a new generation of Washington residents rediscovering the connection to baseball that for so long wasn’t a part of the town’s sporting identity.
”When we first came here, baseball had been gone for so long – basically an entire generation,” longtime Nationals infielder Ryan Zimmerman said. ”You almost had to re-learn how to be baseball fans. In the 13 years or so now, it’s been fun for me to be here from the beginning because the organization, the team has kind of grown along with the fan base. I think it’s been fun for both of us kind of starting out. The organization and the team lost a lot. The fans were better than we were as a team at the beginning, but we kind of grew up together.”
When the relocated Montreal Expos moved in 2005, Washington had gone 33 seasons without baseball, save for the Baltimore Orioles 40 miles away. Three incarnations of the Senators – 1891-1899, 1901-1960 before becoming the Minnesota Twins and 1961-71 before becoming the Texas Rangers – came and went, leaving a gap in Washington that almost seems inexplicable in retrospect.
”It’s just the business of baseball,” Nationals All-Star pitcher Max Scherzer said.
Even though Mark Lerner doesn’t profess to be among the 14,460 at the final game in 1971 at RFK Stadium, he went to plenty of other games as a kid and as an adult dreamt of bringing baseball back.
”I sat in the upper deck and tried to get foul balls because nobody was sitting up there,” Lerner said. ”I really believed that there would be another team within 10 years, and it just never happened. We tried a number of times.”
The Expos’ woes in Montreal made it happen in 2005 [url=http://www.philadelphiaphilliesteamshop.com/authentic-rhys-hoskins-jersey]Authentic Rhys Hoskins Jersey[/url] , and the Lerners bought the renamed Nationals from MLB in 2006. After three seasons at antiquated RFK that was home to the NFL’s Redskins, the final step was the opening of Nationals Park in 2008. It gave the team a modern home and revitalized an area in southeast Washington that was on the way up but needed a boost.
”Nationals Park has had a catalytic effect on the capital waterfront,” said John Falcicchio, chief of staff for D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. ”It creates a vibrancy to a neighborhood that is thriving.”
The mayor’s office hopes the All-Star Game showcases just how much Washington has changed over the past 50 years. It’s certainly a much different sports town with the Wizards of the NBA and the now-champion Capitals of the NHL playing downtown and the Redskins in suburban Maryland.
After four playoff appearances in the past six seasons, Lerner sees Nationals hats all over town and is proud of the progress made cultivating fans in and around D.C. Phillies and Mets fans are still around, but they aren’t quite the invading forces they used to be.
”Those 8- and 9-year-olds that we were courting when we got the team are now driving and some of them have families, and that’s how we build a long-term fan base,” Lerner said. ”If you sat in the audience in the 2008 season versus now, it’s totally different, and I think we’ve built that loyalty and people rediscovered the love of the game and built the love of the game.”
After an injury sidelined reliever Sean Doolittle, the Nationals have two All-Stars: Scherzer, who could start in his sixth appearance, and outfielder Bryce Harper, the 2010 No. 1 pick and 2015 NL MVP in the final year of his contract. Zimmerman wants to stay in the background and let the All-Stars have the spotlight, but the team’s longest-tenured player now owns a bar and restaurant next to the stadium and will be part of the festivities given his strong ties to the city.
”It’s still a celebration, I think [url=http://www.billscheapstore.com/josh-allen-jersey-cheap]Cheap Josh Allen Jersey[/url] , of baseball in the city,” Zimmerman said. ”I think more the community and people that I’ve met that have kind of loved baseball in this area for so long, this is also for them, as well.”
Harper got to Washington in 2012 as a 19-year-old and even in that time has developed an appreciation for it as a baseball town and will be front and center for the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game.
”D.C.’s a great town to have it in,” Harper said. ”A lot of good places to eat, a lot of good places to relax and a lot of good places to go and see really cool things. We’re right down the street from the monuments, right down the street from the White House. Just an amazing place to have a game.”
In his fourth season as the Nationals’ ace, Scherzer learned quickly how intense the rivalry is with the Orioles, a battleground of some fans who changed allegiances and others who stuck with Baltimore. He would welcome the honor of taking the ball in his home stadium in a town that delivered exactly what he hoped for when signing in Washington.
”This is a good baseball town – a good sports town in general,’ Scherzer said. ”It lived up to expectations. We’ve had great support throughout the season and especially in the postseason. That’s what I expected, and that’s what the fans have done.”
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It wasn’t even clear until an hour before the game if Utah rookie Donovan Mitchell was going to play in Game 2 against Oklahoma City.
The Thunder probably wish he hadn’t.
Mitchell, who played with a bruised left foot, scored 13 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter to help the Jazz defeat Oklahoma City 102-95 and tie their Western Conference playoff series at one win apiece.
”I think if he was feeling something, he didn’t show it and he played through it,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.
Derrick Favors had career playoff bests of 20 points and 16 rebounds for the Jazz, and Ricky Rubio had 22 points [url=http://www.49erscheapstore.com/mike-mcglinchey-jersey-cheap]Mike McGlinchey Youth Jersey[/url] , nine assists and seven rebounds in the first playoff win of his seven-year career.
Mitchell did his damage attacking the basket. He missed all seven of his 3-pointers, but made 10 of 18 from inside the arc and eight of nine free throws. Mitchell said center Rudy Gobert told him to quit settling for jumpers.
”He let me know I went 0 of 7 from 3 and I’m letting guys off the hook,” Mitchell said. ”We’ve got to keep applying pressure and getting to the rim.”
Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds for the Thunder. Paul George, who scored 36 points in Game 1, finished with 18 on 6-for-21 shooting. Carmelo Anthony scored 17 points, but made just six of 18 shots.
”We just have to be aggressive,” Westbrook said. ”We miss and make shots. Shots are going to fall. Those guys (George and Anthony) are unbelievable scorers, and we have trusted those guys all season long, and we will continue to do that.”
Gobert added 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Jazz, who outrebounded Oklahoma City 56-46 to seize home-court advantage from the Thunder. Game 3 will be Saturday in Utah.
Oklahoma City had two chances in the final minute to trim Utah’s lead with the Jazz leading 99-95, but Anthony missed 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions.
”I thought we had some good shots,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. ”I think the entire game, we could have executed better.”
Utah led 53-46 at halftime behind 12 points from Rubio and 10 points and eight rebounds from Favors. Oklahoma City made just nine of 25 shots inside the 3-point line in the first half. George led the Thunder with 11 points at the break.
Thunder center Steven Adams picked up his fourth foul with 6:46 left in the third quarter and the Thunder down 65-58, yet Oklahoma City responded with a run. George’s 3-pointer put the Thunder up 69-67. Oklahoma City closed the quarter on a 21-9 run to take a 79-74 lead. The Thunder held the Jazz to 7 for 23 shooting in the third quarter before Mitchell took over in the fourth.
”Miscommunication down on the defensive end at times led to (Utah’s) offensive rebounds,” Anthony said. ”Things that we can correct [url=http://www.cincinnatibengalsteamonline.com/billy-price-jersey]Billy Price Bengals Jersey[/url] , things that we need to correct, things that we will correct on the next game. We threw the first punch. They punched us back tonight, and now, we’ve got to go on the road and get a win at their place, and that’s the mindset.”
TIP-INS
Thunder: George played through a bruised right hip. He was limited in practice Tuesday. … Japanese artist and Thunder fan Nanae Yamano attended the game. She is known for her illustrations of Thunder players. … Adams fouled out with 2:48 to play. He finished with nine points and seven rebounds. … F Jerami Grant scored 13 points.
Jazz: Utah opened the game with a 9-0 lead. … Favors had nine points and seven rebounds in the first quarter. … Jonas Jerebko scored 10 points in 12:46 as a reserve.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
Westbrook, George and Anthony combined to miss all 14 field goals in the fourth quarter and score just two points.
”I don’t know,” Anthony said. ”We missed. We all missed. I don’t really have an answer to what happened or an excuse to why we didn’t make shots. We just didn’t make shots in that fourth quarter.”
CONDOLENCES FOR POPOVICH
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich’s wife, Erin, died Wednesday. Snyder coached the Spurs’ G-League team, the Austin Toros, from 2007-2010.
”We know what coach Pop has meant to us, and we just want to offer our condolences for his loss,” Snyder said.
UP NEXT
Game 3 is Saturday at Utah.
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