Wood and Abrams put the Nationals in rare company, even if the standings don't show it
James Wood's 20th stolen base Saturday against the Angels completed a historic 30-20 season, making him and CJ Abrams only the second pair of teammates age 25 or younger ever to both hit 30 home runs and steal 20 bases in the same year. The game ended in a 10-inning walk-off. The rebuild is real.
In brief
Wood and Abrams put the Nationals in rare company, even if the standings don't show it
Saturday afternoon at Nationals Park, in a game that went 10 innings and ended 6-5 on a walk-off, James Wood stole second base in the second inning. Routine play. Except it was his 20th stolen base of the season, and he already had 30 home runs. With that slide, Wood joined CJ Abrams in a club so small it has only had 11 pairs of members in all of Major League Baseball history.
Wood reached the 30-homer, 20-steal milestone in the Nationals' 6-5, 10-inning walk-off win, and Abrams had already crossed that threshold the previous weekend against the Dodgers, making the two the 11th pair of teammates in MLB history to each record 30 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season.
This is not a minor footnote. The list of duos who pulled this off is short enough to memorize. Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto most recently accomplished it last year with the Mets. Before that? Of the pairs to ever do it, Abrams, 25, and Wood, 23, are only the second to achieve the feat at age 25 or younger, along with Jose Ramirez, 25, and Francisco Lindor, 24, in 2018.
It had been two decades since a Nationals player recorded a 30-20 season. Abrams and Wood joined Alfonso Soriano, in 2006, as the only players in team history going back to 2005 to do so. And now two of them did it in the same year.
Wood came into Saturday's game sitting at 30 home runs and 19 steals. He stole his 20th base, then added his 21st in the same game. He finished with 30 home runs and 21 stolen bases on the day. Abrams stood at 30 home runs and 28 steals.
The broader context for the Nationals' offense is even more striking. The Nationals are second in all of MLB in total runs scored, third in home runs, and first in stolen bases. A team that finished fifth in the NL East in 2025 at 66 and 96 has, in one calendar year, turned its lineup into one of the most dynamic offensive units in baseball. The pitching has been a problem. The bullpen has blown leads all season. But the position player core has done something real.
Wood, who grew up in Rockville, Maryland, and signed out of IMG Academy, made his MLB debut on July 1, 2024, and was named an All-Star in both 2025 and 2026. He is 23 years old. His OPS sits at .924, third in the NL. Abrams, the other piece of the Juan Soto trade, has been a two-time All-Star. The front office gave up Soto in August 2022 and got roasted for it. The math is starting to look different now.
None of this fixes the rotation. Top pitching prospects Jarlin Susana and Travis Sykora both went down with major injuries, and, as Federal Baseball noted this week, there is not much left for Nationals fans to be excited about at this late stage of the season. That is a fair read on a team that will miss the playoffs for the sixth straight year. But Wood and Abrams are not part of the problem. They are the reason to watch through the end of September.
President of Baseball Operations Mike DeBartolo has not ruled out a promotion for top prospect Seaver King before the season ends. Eli Willits, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft, was promoted from High-A Wilmington to Double-A Harrisburg this week. He has slashed .262/.404/.457 with 13 home runs and 60 stolen bases in 111 games between Single-A and High-A, and he will not turn 19 until December. The pipeline keeps filling.
For the record, the walk-off Saturday was Wood's third game back from an oblique injury that had put him behind schedule on his rehab and raised questions about whether the Nationals might shut him down entirely. They did not. He stole two bases instead.
Washington hosts Philadelphia on Monday, September 15, at Nationals Park. Wood's birthday is September 17. He turns 24.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
