AS GAME 1 of the National League Championship Series nears its conclusion Friday, the man who is supposed to be pitching in it lounges on a row of wooden cabinets covered by an inch-thick brown cushion. The Washington Nationals are on the verge of sealing a 2-0 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals, and Daniel Hudson, their closer, is watching on a 20-inch flat-screen in a hospital room more than 800 miles away in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is wearing a zip-up pullover, sweatpants and a grin of satisfaction. Regardless of what is happening on the TV, this feels like a perfect ninth inning.
First comes the NLDS, then comes ... a baby? Inside Daniel Hudson's life-altering weekend
