Dugout Diary by Joe Boesch

The Mets losing ways continue, as they have lost 12 out of the last 15 games. Their latest loss came at the cost of the Pirates. The Mets need to turn it around quick if they want to seriously contend in the playoffs. They look just downright bad, and losing to the Pirates makes it look even worse. They signed the big star Juan Soto and have the talent to play, but it doesn't seem like anything is going right for the Mets.  As Pop Fisher said in the movie The Natural, "Don't you know how much I hate losing to the Pirates!" Same for the Mets. — Joe Boesch 

Baseball An Appreciation of America's Game Singing of the anthem, roasting of peanuts. America's game is known to many. Consisting of bats, balls, and bases. Swinging of the bat, grounding of the ball. Nine innings of play with the most runs prevailed. Known by the names Babe and Catfish, the Judge too.  America's pastime is known as the game of baseball. — Joe Boesch 

Sitting in the street corner saloon, two men argued about the best baseball team in New York. "You know the Yankees are the best," the one man replied. "No way, the Mets are...remember Tom Seaver?" The other man lashed back. "Why don't you jump on the Red Sox bandwagon while you're at it?" "I resent that!" An older man heard what the two men were arguing about. He replied, "You're both wrong. The Brooklyn Dodgers were the best baseball team in New York. Case closed." — Joe Boesch 

David Peterson threw a gem of a game last night with a complete game shutout, earning his fifth consecutive win. The Nationals were able to scatter six hits off of him, but his pitching was lights out as the Mets continue to steam roll to a 44-24 record and 1st in the NL East. Winning 5-0 last night, the Mets hold the best record in baseball. Here's a snippet of last night's box score, courtesy of MLB:

What a catch by A's rookie outfielder Denzel Clarke — looks great on the Topps Now card. — Joe Boesch

*Note: This story was first published in The Sports Column. Support the Big Train! The Bethesda Big Train of the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League has been around since 1999 and has seen 23 of their players making it to the Major Leagues. In celebration of their 26th season and looking to grow the fan base, they are offering Big Train fan membership (adults $50 or more and youths under 18 years old $25) into the Bethesda Community Base Ball Club, which is community owned and founded in 1998. The goal is to grow the base of donors from 427 to 1,000 in 2025. In a story on the Big Train website by Bruce Adams, he wrote, "Do you know who owns the Big Train? YOU DO! When founders John Ourisman and Bruce Adams launched the Big Train more than a quarter-century ago, they consciously named the organization the Bethesda Community Base Ball Club." The field that they play on is also named after famed Washington Post sportswriter Shirley Povich, where a bronze statue of him and ...