It's the day of the week when I pass along a quotation intended to be enlightening.
Twenty-four hours before President Biden spoke in Philadelphia last week, the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets squared off in Citi Field. It was a classic pitchers' duel featuring the two best teams in the National League.
The Dodgers sent to the mound left-hander Tyler Anderson, who is quietly having a spectacular year on baseball's best pitching staff. Except for giving up a two-run homer in the third inning, Anderson mowed through the Mets' lineup. But those two runs were too many.
For their part, the Dodgers had to contend with Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who, when healthy, is the most dominant pitcher in baseball. He was certainly dominant Wednesday night, taking a no-hitter into the fifth, limiting the Dodgers to three hits in seven innings while striking out nine. One of those hits was a Mookie Betts home run, however, which cut the lead to 2-1, and in the seventh inning, Dodgers third-baseman Justin Turner appeared to tie the game with another dinger -- except that Mets centerfielder Brandon Nimmo raced to the warning track, leapt high in the air, and snagged Turner's rocket before it cleared the fence. ("Let's Go, Brandon!")
Nimmo's sensational catch ended the last scoring threat of the night, but not the drama. In the ninth inning, Mets manager Buck Showalter summoned his lights-out closer Edwin Díaz. As the sold-out crowd rocked to its feet, Timmy Trumpet's iconic "Narco" blared throughout the stadium.
That happens every time Díaz pitches at home -- it's the tune he's chosen to accompany his walk from the bullpen to the mound. This time, however, Timmy Trumpet was in the stadium. It didn't happen by accident. The musician, whose real name is Timothy Jude Smith, is Australian and had never seen a baseball game in person until the day before. The Mets' brass thought it would be cool to have him there in person. They couldn't have been more right. Even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was smiling as Díaz took the mound.
Roberts' mood wasn't as jovial after Díaz mowed down the heart of the Dodgers' lineup to end the game, but afterward, his counterpart said something insightful: Nearly three years into a global pandemic that emptied baseball stadiums, Showalter acknowledged how much having fans in the stadiums helps the game -- and that baseball teams ought to make sure that the fans' overall experience is a positive one.
"When we have a full house, I want the hot dogs to be hot. I want the beer to be cold," he said. "I want the parking not to be a problem. I want them to leave here and go, ‘Boy, that was worth it, and I want to come again.'"
I'm not saying Buck Showalter should be president of the United States. I am saying that, for me, he delivered the quote of the week.
Carl M. Cannon is the Washington bureau chief for RealClearPolitics. Reach him on Twitter @CarlCannon.