It’s always fun when you’re winning. It seems like everything is going your way. If you’re Nationals ace Max Scherzer going against the local rival Orioles, you get a groundball hit back at you on the mound and you field it between your legs. With your back facing the hitter. Here he is pulling off what’s essentially a magic trick Thursday night at Nationals Park. After the play, Scherzer is obviously caught in an emotional struggle—should he really pretend that it’s not a big deal, that in fact he’s done it before, or let himself smile at the ridiculousness of it.
Scherzer seems like one of the really good guys in the game, a favorite of even fans of opposing clubs, like this young Mets fanatic who played catch with the N.L. strikeout leader in May at Citi Field. Another of baseball’s really good guys announced his retirement a couple weeks ago. It’s hard to watch Prince Fielder in a neck brace and explain that his doctors say he can’t play major league baseball anymore and not get almost as emotional as he is here.
