Nasty Nats

Baaaaabies...

2007-11-09T11:06:00.000-05:00

I think it's about time to stick a fork in this thing, don't you?

The clearest sign of my lack of motivation and opportunity to blog is the fact I've been meaning to write this sine die post for over a month now!

There's another reason too. For those of you who don't know, and I'd imagine that's most if not all of you, Little Rockette is going to welcome a little brother or sister to the family a few weeks after Opening Day 2008. We probably should be scared out of our minds, but we're also very excited that she'll have sibling that close in age.

Another baby, especially one arriving right at the beginning of the season, is going to cut into baseball time for sure. I left the blog active after Little Rockette's arrival, and was able to post a little bit in 2007, but that was mostly because she was sleeping through the night 90% of time when the beginning of the season rolled around. I don't imagine we'll have any such luck until at least the All Star break.

Plus, as those of you who have been around since the team moved in 2005 could attest, this blog hasn't been what it once was since the end of the Inaugural Season. I was hoping to get back into it over time, which is why I've held off on officially killing this thing. I'd still love to blog about the Nationals again some day, but it's best to let Nasty Nats stand alone as what it is, and what it once was.

This is probably the part where I should wax poetic about my dead blog in a Basil-esque manner, but I have neither the time nor the creative energy to pull that off properly.

I'll say this, though: The Nationals could not have entered my life at a better time. In 2005, I was living alone, two years removed from college, with my fiancée living in another state until our October wedding. I needed something other than cheap beer and microwave pizza to occupy my time. The Nationals, the Natosphere and the jockjaws at Yuda's filled that void nicely. I'll remember everything about that year fondly.

Except Paul Schrieber. I hate that rat bastard.

%$*#ing Schrieber

2007-09-13T05:00:00.000-04:00

Before anyone asks: No, I was not in Miami yesterday.

But if I was, I would have been thrown out too. Bastard probably deserved it. I would have thrown peanuts at him.

And yes, it warms my cold little heart to see that my 2005 rants are the #2 result on a Google search of the bastard's name.

And so it is...

2007-08-08T09:44:00.000-04:00

I didn't want it to happen. And I certainly didn't want it to happen against my favorite team.

But as CNN.com loaded when I opened my internet browser at a quarter till the ass crack of dawn this morning, my eyes jumped immediately to the blank stare of Brian Schneider and my heart sank.

And so it is. Mike Bacsik of the Washington Nationals joins the infamous club already populated by the likes of Al Downing, Tracy Stallard, Steve Traschel, and Chan Ho Park.

To Bacsik's credit, he seems to be handling it in a classy manner: "Me and Al Downing I guess will be linked for a long time," Bacsik said. "Hopefully, I can win 20 games and be an All-Star like him someday."

After reading Game of Shadows, there's little doubt in my mind that Barry Bonds is both a cheater and an asshole. Either one is reason enough to dislike the guy and be sad that he now holds both home run records, though the cheating thing is certainly the more compelling reason. Put the two together, though, and it's easy to see why most wish to hold him up as a poster boy for all that's wrong with Major League Baseball.

That would be a mistake. Though the evidence certainly suggests Bonds deserves our vile, he was not the first nor the last player to cheat by using steroids. There is also compelling evidence that previous home run heroes McGwire and Sosa were using, while Clay Hensley, the pitcher who gave up 755 to Bonds, was also busted for a positive test.

As many have already said, the suggestion of an asterisk for either of Bonds records is silly. Baseball, unfortunately, is a game of cheaters and scandals. The rules change from era to era, and different facets of the game become stronger or weaker. We'll always qualify certain events by remembering they occurred in the dead-ball era or the era of the dominant pitchers of the 1960's. Now we have the Steroid Era, and Bonds' achievements, remarkable as they are, will always be linked to suspicions of cheating, unless proof to the contrary emerges.

There's an excellent post from Chris on the subject, and he makes an important point. Much as we'd like the baseball record books to be a roster of American heroes, they're just numbers, not morality. Barry holds the records, for now at least. That's a fact, and we can't ignore. As for me, I plan to save my respect for the likes of Hank Aaron and Roger Maris.

Oh yeah, we won the game. Suck on that.

John Lannan: American Hero - Part Deux

2007-08-07T09:02:00.000-04:00

Second video in a continuing series:

(View the first video.)

Too bad his teammates blew it.

Memo to Bob Carpenter

2007-08-03T09:39:00.000-04:00

Robert:

While on occasion Nats fans might secretly smile at your unabashed homerism or grin when you actually get off a good line (see the 6:24 mark on this video), this Nats fan would like to put you on notice as to the following:

* When the Nationals score a run to cut the deficit from two runs to one, that run did not put them "back in the game." Believe it or not, the Nats are still "in the game" when trailing 3-1 in the third inning. As a shameless homer, you should believe that more than anyone.

* When runners are on first and second with less than two outs, and the Nationals get a force out at second, they did not "get the lead runner." The lead runner is now standing on third.

* It's East Capitol Street, not East Capitol Drive, ya hayseed!

* Any home run call that asks a question ("How far's it gonna goooooo?!") is most decidedly not cool, hip, clever, witty -- or any other adjective that might be construed as positive.

* We get it - you used to work for the Cardinals. We know they managed to win the World Series last year. We know Bob Gibson was an intimidating pitcher. We know Albert Pujols is a great hitter. (Speaking of Albert, try a "Poo holes" joke. That's still funny sometimes.)

* Oh, and Nationals fans don't give a rat's ass about what "our friends in Baltimore" are doing on the other MASN channel. In fact, we're trying to forget that our team is linked to the craphole up the parkway by the sweetheart deal Selig gave Darth Angelos.

Believe it or not, that's all I have. I can't pay attention to the TV all night, since Little Rockette usually starts crying for a bottle around the fifth inning. But I'm sure other Nationals fans could add to this memo.

Bang! Zoom!

2007-07-26T16:41:00.000-04:00

Nats 7, Phils 6

43 wins, pendejos! Eat our dust, 1962 Mets!

And shove it up your tailpipe, Wendelstedt! (video link) It sounds like Tubby Wendelstedt will make a worthy inductee to the Paul Schrieber Umpire Hall of Shame. Looking forward to catching at least part of the MASN replay tonight.

(UPDATED: I captured and put up the MASN video. I think I love Don Sutton.)

On to 63!

(And by the way, I don't care if he is in the mix for the batting title, why are we signing a 34 year old DH with a glove to a 2 year deal? Doesn't make a lot of sense. The Nats farm system has made nice strides in the pitching department, but there's literally almost no one down there, save one or two guys, who can hit. Dmitri is "found money," and you've got to turn him into long-term assets if you can.)

Welcome, young ones.

2007-06-07T17:33:00.000-04:00

Washington Nationals Draft List

Ross Detwiler

Josh Smoker

Michael Burgess

Jordan Zimmermann

Jake Smolinski

Steven Souza (yes, he plays baseball too)

Derek Norris

Brad Meyers

Jack McGeary

Philip "P.J." Dean

Adrian Alaniz

Mark Gildea

Pat McCoy

Bill Rhinehart

Craig Stinson

Steve Shepard

Dan Lyons

Patrick Arnold

Chris Blackwood

Luke Pisker

Sawyer Carroll

Jeff Mandel

Daniel Cook

Anthony Benner

Jake Rogers

David Duncan

Ricky Nolan

Chris Berroa

Kelvin Clark

Aaron Seuss

Boomer Whiting

Justin Phillabaum

Zack Pitts

Dave Stewart

Dan Killian

Jeffrey McCollum

Kenn Kasparek

Alex Floyd

Martin Beno

Devin Drag

Shane Erb

Caleb Staudt

Kai Tuomi

Iden Nazario

Garrett Bass

Mike Martinez

Clint Pridmore

Travis Reagan

Ryan Cisterna

Jeffrey Walters

Kyle Gunderson

Jake Dugger

Lindon Bond

Five year plans and new deals, wrapped in golden chains

2007-06-04T14:18:00.000-04:00

One thing about having children I've always looked forward to is the joy of taking them to ballgame. And although she's too young to have appreciated it, Little Rockette made her debut at yesterday's rain-soaked slopfest of a ballgame at RFK.

We planned this trip probably as far back as a month ago, as it was the first non-premium weekend game when we were available. (I'm pro-"teh plan", but I'm not paying premium prices for this team.) Plus, bringing the little one to a day game was bound to be a little easier.

But, of course the rain made this one interesting. We were planning to leave for the 45-60 minute drive to RFK around 12 pm or, giving us plenty of time to leisurely make our way to our seats in Section 506. However, we waited it out at home until 12:30, hoping to hear news about the status of the game. Without any definitive news, Mrs. Rocket and I decided to go for it - it wasn't raining that hard and we weren't going to risk letting the tickets go to waste.

After meeting Little Rockette's godfather outside the main gate, the four of us made our way inside just in time to see Josh Bard's first inning home run on the TV monitor. Damn.

We settled into the seats right around when Guzman led off the bottom of the first inning, immediately bypassing our assigned seats for a row farther back under the overhang. But the swirling winds were bringing some light rain back into our faces, so it wasn't long before we moved even father back, maybe a half dozen rows in front of the old football pressbox.

Little Rockette was content to stay in the baby carrier backpack on her mom's lap for the first few innings, looking around and absorbing the sights and sounds in front of her. But it was still a little wet and colder than we expected in the upper deck, so I decided to go hunt for a blanket at the team store.

While I was off being a dutiful father, I missed the best part of this otherwise crappy game - Zimmerman's Hondo-esque blast into Section 533. I stopped and watched the replays on a TV monitor near a concession stand. Poking around the team store for a blanket, I saw the other interesting occurance of the game - the home plate umpire refusing to award Kevin Kouzmanoff first base because he leaned too far into the pitch.

When I returned to our seats without a blanket, (45 bucks?! Yeah right! I'll wrap her in my jacket instead) Little Rockette was out of the baby carrier and acting pretty fussy. Apparently the fireworks for Zimmerman's home run had spooked her a bit. Plus it was also about time for her to eat.

After she had most of a bottle, Little Rockette was calmer. I parked her on my lap and draped my jacket across her while we watched the Nats squander scoring opportunities and play horrible defense. Perfect way to introduce a young fan to Nats baseball.

After a late inning trip to the ladies room with mom, we put her back in the baby carrier on my chest for the last few innings, where she soon fell asleep. (Frankly, I don't blame her!) I put my jacket on over the baby carrier and zipped it up as much as possible to try to keep her warmer. She stayed asleep as we made our way through the exiting horde to our car in Lot 8.

All in all, it was an uneventful game made a little more adventurous by the weather and the challenges of bring a five month old to the ballpark. Little Rockette handled the experience just about as well as anyone could expect. I'll save the ticket stubs for her and perhaps try to get Zimmerman or Manny Acta to sign one for her. Hopefully someday that's something she'll enjoy. I can't wait to take her again, especially when she's old enough to appreciate the experience.

Grrrr.

2007-05-19T22:39:00.001-04:00

So tonight, the graphic scoreboard on the Nationals broadcast read "O's/WSH."

I really loathe the arrogance of refusing to refer to your own team by the city. But it's infuriating when it extends to the Nationals broadcast. And again, it's just a reminder that the Nationals are still influenced by the mafioso in the Warehouse on West Camden Street.

(Yes, it's much easier to bitch about MASN than write about the Nats' anemic hitting or Manny Acta's penchant for crazy late game pinch hitting and double switches.)

Mister Angelos Screws the Nats

2007-05-18T20:18:00.000-04:00

More MASN bullcrap, and another reminder that the Nationals still have the ugly hand of the ogre up north in their affairs.

This is the Baltimore MASN broadcast...

O's" and "WSH" are on the graphic scoreboard. Typical Baltimore "we're-a-regional-team" baloney. Nothing new here.

Now look at the Nationals MASN2/DCA 20 broadcast...

"O's" and "Nats." I mean, that's either insulting or patronizing. I can't decide which.

Both "O's/Nats" and "O's/WSH" are silly on their own. Referring to one team but not another by their city is presumptuous and snobby. That's nothing new for the Baltimore team. Changing the nomenclature of the Nationals on the graphics just for the Baltimore series is even more silly.

But having one on each broadcast is demeaning.

It's minor aesthetic thing. But it's a prime example of why I and other Nationals fans hate the Baltimore franchise, their management, ownership and their sham TV network. (And at the same time, a lot of us don't mind the team and a majority of their fans.)

Yet another reason that while the Baltimore franchise control the Nationals TV rights, Washington does not have a truly independent baseball team.

It is imperative that we crush the crush the O's before the start of the rainy season

2007-05-18T11:05:00.000-04:00

It's bad enough that we have to witness the abomination that is interleague play, this weekend the Baltimore Orioles and their fans come to RFK. If you're going to the stadium this weekend, be sure you're up to date on your shots.

And I hope the Nats aren't letting the enemy mascot in the park this weekend, but I'm prepared to be disappointed.

So let's just say ... a shiny new donkey for whoever brings me the head of the Oriole bird.

Frustration

2007-04-21T12:13:00.000-04:00

(My stupid computer froze and ate an almost finished post. You'd think with my infrequent blogging, the blogger gods would make it easy for me to get a post up. But noooooooooo...)

Last night the Rocket family spent much of the evening taking in the ballgame on the tube, taking advantage of the fact that Dad didn't have to get up at an ungodly hour for work. Little Rockette conked out pretty early, and we finally put her in bed with her pjs on around 10:30, sometime after a few extra innings.

Like Wednesday night, I had to decide how long to stay up and see if the Nats could save Cordero's bacon. After all, with the baby fast asleep, I needed to take advantage of my window to get some sleep of my own.

At the beginning of the 13th, I decided that this would be my last inning. Well next thing I knew, I was waking up on the couch around 11:45 pm with Ray Knight's ugly mug staring at me. I missed Snelling's heroics, as the Nats bailed out the Chief again.

There are a lot of things you could probably say about this one. Shawn Hill - yay. Nats hitters - yay (mostly). Chad Cordero - boo. Manny double-switching Cordero into the eighth spot - huh? (Even if there was a good reason, it sure would have been nice to have someone other than the pitcher up there with men on base.)

But the thing I'll remember is how Friday was the first time I've seen Zimmerman outwardly frustrated, at least this year. Maybe I haven't watched as many games as usual, but he really has seemed fairly unflappable about his slow start. (Even the state-run media has picked up on it.)

So it came as a surprise to me when after Zimm struck out looking in the third inning on an admittedly borderline call, he turned to the ump and jawed at him a little. Then, walking back to the dugout, he appeared to say to himself, "That was a f#$%ing ball. F#$%ing horse$#*&!!" Then, after Joe Borchard hauled in a well struck ball in right field in the top of the eighth, you could see Zimm scream "G*ddammit!" as he rounded first.

(Then there's Cordero, a normally level-headed kid, who screamed "F#$% me!" to himself after Ross's game tying homer in the ninth.)

Is the frustration catching up with Zimm (and Chief)? It'd be totally understandable, but these are guys who are say the right things and are normally pretty level-headed.

I'm just grateful everyone else is doing a pretty good job of picking up their slack.

The Nationals win a game! The Nationals win a game!

2007-04-12T22:25:00.000-04:00

Who would have imagined? The Nats two-hit the Braves and beat John Smoltz behind Jason Bergmann. (And of course, the Chief gives us all a heart attack nailing down the save in the ninth.)

It's good to know the Nats can still make me smile.

Growing Pains

2007-04-04T11:50:00.000-04:00

Time to dust off the ol' blog and post some thoughts that have been rattling around my head the last 24 hours.

In the wake of Monday's Opening Day drubbing at the hands of the Marlins, a prominent storyline emerging from the media, the Natosphere and the message boards was the horrible fan experience at RFK on Monday. The complaints ranged from the truly disturbing (Raw hotdogs?!) to the comical (WHERE THE F%$# WAS THE KETTLE CORN?????????).

For some reason, the focus on the fan experience and not the debacle of a baseball game really bothered me. I expressed that in the comments at Capital Punishment and at YudaChat, which more or less caused people to vigorously defend their complaints.

Well, I've thought about why these complaints bother me so much, and I have a few theories.

First, let me say right off that some of the more egregious complaints, such as raw hotdogs or a 90 minute traffic jam in the parking lot, are fully understandable. Whoever is responsible for such issues -- whether it be the Nationals, Aramark or DCSEC -- need to be held accountable.

But I believe the overwhelming number of complaints and dominance of this storyline across several forms of media -- newspapers, blogs, message boards (and not just the notoriously nitpicky BPG), and radio shows -- speak to a larger issue. As the third year of baseball in DC begins, I still believe that Washington is an immature (or "rusty," if you prefer) baseball town. This cuts two ways, against both the fans at large and the franchise.

The Fans: Admittedly, I'm going on hearsay, but apparently after Monday's game, nearly every caller on Sportstalk 980 complained about concession lines and poor service at RFK. And the comment sections of St. Barry's National Journal were full of the same.

Not that some of the complaints aren't fully understandable, but not being able to get a hotdog is what bothered fans about Monday? Really? They didn't notice Patterson's stinktastic performance on the mound? They didn't notice the tape measure dingers by the Marlins that landed well into the upper deck? They didn't notice two of our starting players limping off the field with injuries?

Maybe I'm the strange one, but when I go to a ballgame, I'm most concerned by what happens on the field. (EDIT: I've ranted about this before. The first time was the third to last paragraph of my Opening Night 2005 post.)

Again, if a lot of what people say happened actually occurred, then that's bad and it should be rectified. (Even though RFK is a nearly 50 year old facility with a single freight elevator and antiquated infrastructure.) But I'd hope there'd be more outcry over the fact that the Nats stunk up the field Monday (and Tuesday too).

Perhaps the fans have already come to terms with the very real possibility of the Nationals being historically bad in 2007. (I haven't.) But I'm not so sure that's it. The service and the fan experience at RFK has been a common complaint of Nationals fans, even in the midst of the joy of the 2005 season.

Look, the Nationals fanbase is still relatively young. What I'm worried about it is Washington developing a "Chavez Ravine" -- arrive in the third, leave in the seventh inning, Blackberry in one hand, premium cocktail in the other -- attitude about baseball.

Maybe I'm expecting too much out of today's baseball fan, but the rampant complaints about service when the state of the team is so alarming don't give me a lot confidence about the future of our fanbase.

The Franchise: Stanley, Stanley, Stanley. You swept into town last summer preaching the wonders of the fan experience, touting your brisket, knockwurst, bockwurst, bratwurst, sausages, chili, barbecue, crabcakes and more. You've preached the wonders of "Teh Plan!" (which most of us have bought) and slashed payroll 41 percent. You've promised us the future is brighter, and asked us to "Pledge Our Allegiance!" You've told us how awesome the fan experience is going to be once the new stadium opens.

A majority of fans seem to be willing to fall in line with "Teh Plan" and believe things are going to get better. But although I personally care most about the baseball, it's awfully hard for a lot of fans to feel confident about the future when the present experience seems so crappy. Although some things may be the fault of Aramark or DCSEC, their performance reflects directly on the Nationals. The fans need something to help them feel good about the future, other than just a wink and a smile. The little things matter.

***

I realize it may seem like I'm trying to have it both ways by ranting against both the fans and the franchise. I truly do wish that Nationals fans could be less focused on the amenities of the ballpark and more concerned with the product on the field.

However, perception does matter, and the lack of the attention to detail from the Nationals could be a symptom of taking the fans goodwill and trust for granted. That's equally as disturbing.

Either way, it's clear to me the Nationals and the fans each have some growing to do before Washington becomes a fully thriving baseball town.

Though perhaps I'll revisit this post in three or four years when Little Rockette -- sitting in the nosebleed seats at Geico Park dressed up in a Esmailyn Gonzalez t-shirt and pink cap -- demands some F%$#ING KETTLE CORN, and Dad has to walk halfway around the park to find it.

Through the wickets

2007-02-20T17:25:00.000-05:00

Our old friend Jose Vidro reports to Mariners Spring Training...

First day of workouts, and it looks like at least a dozen grounders have already gone through his legs.

Amen, brother.

2007-02-15T09:59:00.000-05:00

...from today's Post:

"Reliever Jon Rauch had his first child -- Aubree Elizabeth -- in December, and he arrived at spring training with a tattoo of his daughter's feet on his right calf. 'We were all ready and prepared,' Rauch said, 'and then she came, and you're not prepared for any of it.'"

Pitchers and Catchers Report Today

2007-02-13T06:42:00.000-05:00

With apologies to the great Ernie Harwell...

For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come;
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.

~Song of Solomon 2:11-12 (KJV)

I believe the children are our future, unless we stop them now!

2006-12-22T23:58:00.000-05:00

Well, the newest Nats fan has entered the world. Little Rockette was born at 2:22 am Friday morning, weighing in at 6 pounds, 2 ounces.

Mrs. Rocket and I are very thrilled. We're excited to teach our little one all sorts of new things, like why "The Plan" is our ticket to the promised land, why Cristian Guzman sucks, and why Screech may be the devil incarnate.

With the addition of the little one, more big changes are underway in our lives, and it seems as good a time as any to reflect on where this blog fits in my life.

When the Nats came to town in 2005, I was excited about the newest addition to the Washington sports scene. I started this blog to help enhance my enjoyment of the new team, which I initially intended to follow as an objective observer. However, I quickly became a fan, which is easy to tell from my early posts in April 2005.

I know we all remember how great (most of) the maiden voyage of the 2005 season was for us. Some of my best memories of that summer were the late nights watching the games on the computer while chatting away with the jockjaws at Yuda.org. I honestly don't know if I would stayed sane the summer before my wedding without the Nationals to keep me occupied. I blogged nearly every day during the height of Nationals fever in 2005, even though the frequency died off as the Nationals went into a tailspin and the wedding drew near.

My blogging dropped off in 2006 due to a confluence of major events. I was newly married, we were expecting a child, and I had started a new job with crazy hours. I often didn't get home from work until 8 pm. Under all those circumstances, it's hard to justify spending a lot of time paying attention to the Nats on a daily basis. And if I'm not significantly immersed in the Nats, it's hard for me to have a lot of value to blog about.

Though there were some encouraging signs at the end of the past season. Once Comcast picked up MASN, Mrs. Rocket had the game on the television almost every night when I got home from work. We went to two games in September, and Mrs. Rocket discovered an appreciation for Ryan Zimmerman, which may or may not have something to do with his boyish good looks.

Put that all together, and I'm still not sure where I am in regards to the future of this blog. I've loved writing, and I still want to be able to do it. But I'm not going to write unless I have something of value to say - which won't happen unless I can pay attention to the Nats on a fairly regular basis.

So, like the indecisive wuss that I can be sometimes, I'm going to leave the fate of this blog somewhat open-ended for now. Chances are probably not great that I'll have enough time to pay attention to the Nats on a level great enough to give me stuff to write about. But I will definitely resume frequent blogging if I can, especially if Nats baseball on TV is how Mrs. Rocket and I choose to relax in between diaper changes and colic.

...in with the new

2006-11-14T17:48:00.000-05:00

What, you expect me to actually write something?!

Seriously, good for the Nats. It sounds like a great hire. A young guy eager to prove himself, but also someone who already commands some respect - both in the Nats clubhouse and throughout baseball.

I already can't wait for spring training.

True Grit

2006-09-25T12:02:00.000-04:00

We're thinking about you, NJ.

Everybody needs a nemesis

2006-09-20T11:55:00.000-04:00

Well, Mrs. Rocket and I finally made it to a game together during the 2006 season. We bought a pair of $5 rollback tickets in Section 506 for Saturday's game and piled in the car to make the drive into DC from the hinterlands of Prince William County. I had gone to two previous games this year -- Opening Day by myself and a game in July with my brother -- but Mrs. Rocket wanted to go to a game too, a request I was more than happy to accommodate.

When you go to only one game out of a 81 home game schedule, you stand a good chance of seeing a pretty unremarkable game. Lord knows we've all sat through boring, poorly played games featuring quadruple-A lineups and retread pitchers. While the Nats have certainly been throwing on the field a fair share of such players in the waning weeks of 2006, Saturday's game was pleasantly remarkable for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, it was a quite a joy to see Soriano finally reach the 40 homer, 40 stolen base mark. After Alfonso led off the bottom of the first with a single, it was plainly obvious to everyone in the park that he would be off toward second once the hitter worked a favorable count. Sure enough, he took off on a 2-0 pitch and slid into second without a throw.

As we all stood up to applaud, I reflexively looked toward the scoreboard fearing that it would be scored defensive indifference. However, there was nothing to worry about, since it was clear on the replay that the catcher stopped his throwing motion because he didn't have a good grip on the ball.

Although the Nationals' season has been rather anticlimatic, there was something special about being in the ballpark for a milestone that has been achieved only four times in history.

And I'm glad Mrs. Rocket witnessed it as well. She's shown an increased interest in the Nats this season. During most of season when the WDCA Friday night games were all most of us had on TV, there was many a Friday afternoon where she called me at work and asked me to remind her what channel the game was going to be on that evening. In addition, the TV has been tuned to MASN when I have gotten home from work the past few evenings. So I'm thankful she got to see an historic moment like Soriano's milestone.

Almost as significant as witnessing Soriano's 40th steal was the opportunity to FINALLY boo that rat bastard Paul Schrieber. If you need a refresher on the origins of my hatred of this sorry excuse for an umpire, click here, here and here. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly easy to explain to Mrs. Rocket why I consider a silly umpire my baseball nemesis, especially for a call that he made over a year ago.

If only I really could squash him like the little bug that he is.

And no one's surprise, including my own, I bellowed at him over a few strike calls from my lofty perch in Section 506. I wonder if that schmuck ever did get his peanuts.

So we saw Soriano get his 40-40, and I finally got to boo my nemesis. A pretty fulfilling experience for a game that attended because it was one of only ones that could fit in our busy schedule. Now if only I had had the presence of mind to put down my $8.75 plate of nachos to go after the t-shirt the NatPack shot into our section. I chose to protect my food and watch as the t-shirt bounced off the railing in front of the row before me and down to the walkway below. Oh well. The nachos were worth it.

And yes, I'm fully aware that not only has it been eight weeks since my last post, this post is about a game that happened four days ago.

If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts...

2006-08-01T11:56:00.000-04:00

Subtitle: "Short answer yes with an if, long answer no with a but."

Jim Bowden took seven hours of my life yesterday, and I want them back! Seriously, it was a bit anti-climatic to get all worked up in anticipation of the 4 p.m. trade deadline yesterday and then have nothing happen.

My desire before the trade deadline was to see Soriano traded if Bowden and company could get a return that was significantly better than the two compensatory draft picks we would receive if Soriano signed somewhere else as a free agent at the end of the season. (The Nationals have a farm system almost completely bereft of talent. Since the best way to infuse talent into a major league team is to have young talent waiting in the wings, the Nationals needed to restock the farm, even if it means sacrificing someone as popular as Soriano.)

Now that Soriano is here to stay for the rest of 2006, here -- in my typical milquetoast manner -- is my opinion presented in the form of "ifs" and "buts".

If Jim Bowden only received offers for Soriano that were not a significant upgrade over the compensatory draft picks the Nats would receive if he signs with another team, then a hearty bravo to Jim Bowden for sticking to his guns.

But if Cap'n Leatherpants put himself in an impossible negotiating position with his blowhard huckster antics, then I personally want to punch the bag of douche in the face. Nobody really know for sure what Bowden was offered, but if he turned down a B+ package of prospects because he wanted to make out like a bandit and make himself look good, then Bowden truly failed.

If the Lerners and Kasten are willing to sign Soriano without diverting resources from the extremely crucial task of rebuilding the farm system and without shortchanging the rest of the payroll, then by all means, re-sign the man and make a ton of Nationals fans very happy.

But if signing Soriano to a market contract means we eat up a ton of our budget and don't have the necessary resources to get other things we need, (pitching, pitching, pitching) then it's time to let Fonzie go to the highest bidder and see what we can do with the draft picks.

If the Nationals are ready to get some more pieces to complement Soriano, then they should sign him and see if they can make a brief run at contending while the rest of the franchise is rebuilt.

But if Bowden still thinks that signing one superstar will solve everything (see: Griffey, Ken Jr.) then it's a very dangerous proposition to resign Soriano and ignore the other glaring holes on the roster.

If Soriano truly does love Washington and the Nationals, he will realize the franchise will have a hard time meeting his open-market value because there are so many other holes to fill. He'll realize he may have to settle for less than what the Yankees, Angels or Dodgers might be able to pay him. He'll realize the Nationals need flexibility in personnel to build for a long-term future, and he'll give up his desire to have a no-trade clause in his next contract. There are already some promising signs on that front.

But Soriano tends to change his mind a lot, yet be stubborn about things at the same time. Remember he was never going to play left field, until the prospect of losing paychecks changed his mind. Then he was going back to the American League to play second base, until he made the All-Star team and became a hero to many DC fans. I do believe he's sincere right now when he says he loves DC and craves stability and comfort. But an offer of $100 million from an elite team has a good shot at changing even the most stubborn of minds.

Bottom line: Since Soriano was not traded, the team has an obligation to make a reasonable attempt to sign him to a longer-term deal. However, they cannot do this at the expense of pouring resources into solving the myriad of other issues facing the franchise. Overpaying Soriano and giving him a no-trade clause could be disastrous for the Nationals. Soriano needs to realize this and be willing to sacrifice some pride if he truly loves the Nationals. The ball is in his court.

Moreover, they need to try to get it done before the end of the year so Soriano won't be tempted by other offers. He is having a career year, and chances are good there will be some elite team out there willing to make him a completely ridiculous offer.

I'm inclined to think that either a ridiculous offer from another franchise or the quibble over a no-trade clause will be enough for Soriano not to re-sign with the Nats. We'll have to hope that Bowden didn't completely screw us by not making a trade and see what we can do with the draft picks.

Most of all, I want to know that Lerner/Kasten/Bowden has some sort of plan. Are they serious about making a run at contention while they rebuild the farm? If they pour the resources into doing both, then I can get behind that wholeheartedly.

But if they failed to trade Soriano and plan to sign him as a PR stunt at the expense of improving the rest of the franchise, then heaven help us. I know some Washington baseball fans still remember when Denny McLain was brought in to boost interest in the Senators franchise.

OK, he can stay

2006-07-13T17:16:00.000-04:00

...for now. (You may have noticed I took down the "Fire Me" banner.)

I'm going to reserve final judgement under the assumption that more deals are coming -- which is almost undoubtedly going to be the case.

But on the surface, it looks like Bowden just fleeced his old team.

Basically, we got Kearns and Lopez and change (Wagner) for Majewski and Bray and change (Harris, Clayton, Thompson). Kearns and Lopez are both young and have proven talent. And although we'll miss Bray and Majewski, the trade sure looks like a steal. (I pity the poor Reds fans who think they're getting something worthwhile in Clayton.)

But the trade also confuses me about the direction of the franchise. Aren't we the franchise that should be hoarding young pitchers? If we're building for the future, shouldn't we keep guys like Majewski and Bray? Even Daryl Thompson, although he's recovering from injuries, could be someone to watch in a few years. It's not like we have a lot of these guys to be dealing. Then again, many subscribe to the school of thought that "There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect," due to the fact that a pitcher's development is so complex and hard to predict.

But, like Chris says, relievers are replaceable. And it's not like we're trying to win this year. Lopez and Kearns can be a big part of a contending team in the next few years, and we have plenty of time between now and then to round the relief pitching corps.

I know the Reds made this deal because they view themselves as contenders who "buyers", needing to shore up their bullpen. But this doesn't come across as a "selling" move by the Nationals. We received quite a bit and didn't give up all that much. Pitchers can implode and self-destruct - while Kearns and Lopez are young, talented and under club control through 2008.

We know one thing for an almost certainty: There are more trades coming, and things should make more sense after that. Soriano, Guillen, Livan, Vidro could all still be flipped for propects, hopefully including a few high-end ones.

But if things don't make sense after the trades are done, and JimBo has been wheeling and dealing without some semblance of strategy -- then the "Fire Me" banner goes back up.

Why God, Why?

2006-07-01T14:00:00.000-04:00

Why the hell should I care about a team that's going to be run by this crazy-ass douchebag?

We all know Bowden is a Grade A brown-noser. I guess our only hope is that his lips are glued so firmly to Kasten's ass that he follows Kasten's vision to the letter.

It could happen; sucking up to the Lerners is how he got the job in the first place.

I'm still $#!*-ing pissed.

Them wild-eyed boys that had been away

2006-06-09T15:51:00.000-04:00

Well, winning is fun, isn't it?

Honestly, I can't say I've been watching very much or even listening. Life is so busy right now. I have a new job with weird hours and a commute that leaves me literally with only one hour of non-work time at home per weekday. With a newlywed wife and a baby on the way, it's awful hard to justify spending much of that hour on baseball.

But I do read Svrluga's game stories and the message boards on most days. I watch as much as I can of the Nats rare appearances on DCA 20, FOX and ESPN.

So I'm not completely ignorant of what's going on. And I do have stuff to say from time to time, but I rarely have time to post it here on the blog. When do I have the chance, sometimes my thoughts are old news.

There's a lot going on with the Nats, and here's some of what I think about Alfonso Soriano:

Soriano is having an unreal year. He's making all of us who decried the trade look a little foolish. I think it was a questionable trade when it was made, but sometimes these things work out.

It would be great to keep Soriano, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking it's simply a matter of the Lerners making a huge offer. Soriano has to want to stay here.

Soriano would be stupid to give up his free agency and sign before the end of the year. He's likely going to test the market.

If it becomes clear he won't sign before the trade deadline, the Nats would be irresponsible not to explore every possibility for a trade. There are plenty of teams who could use his bat and could offer us a nice package of mid- to top-line prospects. As much as we like the guy, we have to think about the long-term future of the franchise.

If we test our luck in the free agency market with him, we could lose him for only draft picks. And since the teams who would be most likely to sign him are good teams, it would be a lower pick in the first round.

If Soriano is indeed traded, Nationals fans CANNOT take this as evidence that the Lerners are going to be cheap and that Washington is doomed to lousy teams like the Senators. Franchises that are CONSISTENTLY competitive build good young players in the franchise. Trading Soriano is a rare chance to get 2, 3 or 4 good young players to be part of a consistent winning tradition. It would NOT mean the Lerners are giving up and planning to make this team another Kansas City or Tampa Bay type franchise.

Sure, we all want to win right now. And there's a small chance we could stay really hot and get into the mix this year. But if we lose Soriano after the year with only a low first round pick to show for it, we will have missed a huge chance to add a handful of players who can be part of a consistent winning tradition. I'm certainly willing to suffer through the rest of 2006 and 2007 in order to build a franchise that can win consistently over many years starting when the new stadium opens.

It usually takes around 90 wins to make the playoffs. With a record of 28-33 before Friday night's game, the Nats would have to go 62-39 over the rest of the season. That's not easy. Hanging on to Soriano in order to try to win in 2006 (with the risk of losing him in the off-season) would be pinning much of our hopes on 2006. That would be irresponsible.

I think he wants to go back to ACC basketball...

2006-05-23T06:52:00.000-04:00

Barry gets it...

"Escobar, called up from the minors Saturday, has a history of injuries, and some in the clubhouse looked at this as a sign that he couldn't handle pain. Escobar had three hits in his first eight at-bats back in the majors, but the team did not recall an outfielder because, as Bowden said, they need 'pitching, pitching, pitching.'"

See Chris's for a more detailed rant.

Last year I was pissed if I missed a game. This year, I'm almost glad I'm too busy to follow this joke of a team from day to day.

Bring Your Muskets And Your Courage

2006-05-19T13:04:00.000-04:00

* with apologies to Ball-Wonk's post of 3/24/06

I'm out of town all weekend. I can't take advantage of Lord Angelos's magnanimous decree that Washington can watch on TV all three games vs. his hated Orioles. So...

Calling all Son and Daughters of Washington: Bring your muskets and courage to RFK this weekend. And give the bayonet to any Baltimoron who insists on disrespecting our anthem with that stupid "O".

This isn't funny anymore

2006-05-13T22:35:00.000-04:00

First Griffey's dinger in Thursday's chokejob, and now this?

This team is making it very, very difficult for their fans to still care.

I would not argue if Kasten and Lerners wanted to completely remake this team, from the front office to the last man on the bench. (Especially the front office.)

Changes

2006-05-05T15:08:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure who actually reads my blog, if anyone, outside of the little circle of freaks in the Natosphere. But truth be told, I consider the Nationals fans online to be another circle of friends in my life, despite the fact I have met practically none of them in person. So I feel like it's more than appropriate to update my friends on the major changes that are developing in my life.

As some of you may know, my sleepy little job at a publisher in Fairfax was downsized early in 2006. In early April I accepted a conditional offer for a political position back in the crazy world of Washington, DC. I began the job this past Monday, and I'm still getting used to my new schedule. I do know, however, that the job will be much more hectic than my previous job which allowed me to post online quite often. In addition, commuting in from the hinterlands of Prince William County will add at least a couple of hours to my professional workday.

During the 2005 season, the big impending personal milestone was my October wedding. Well, there will be another big personal milestone in 2006. In mid-December, another Nationals fan will be brought into the world. We learned about a month ago that Mrs. Rocket is pregnant.

Given the state of the Nationals on-the-field right now, I'm not sure it's fair to a child to indoctrinate him/her to be a Nationals fan. But, like most of us, I'm optimistic the new owners will get things shaped up, hopefully in time for Little Rocket(te)'s first game.

Anyways, I'm sure it's fairly apparent my plate just got really full for the foreseeable future. I'm not going to shut down the blog; I just may not post very often. I'll be around, just not as often as before. My appearances online will probably be similar in frequency to other parent members of the Natosphere like DM or Brandon.

So, that's it. Life throws you major changes all the time; I just happened to get two of them in the span of about three weeks!

Fire Bowden.

I LOVE THE LEADER!

2006-05-03T12:23:00.000-04:00

It's about damn time!

And the DC racebaiters can shut the hell up. What makes Rodney Slater and James Brown "rent-a-blacks" and Eric Holder (Smulyan) and Colin Powell (Malek) legitimate partners? The District of Columbia and its politics are ridiculous, and politicians like Barry and Orange know that blustery rhetoric like this will keep them in office. It's a damn shame.

But we have an owner, and they're going to have to live with Lerner. If the details in the Post article about the Lerners are accurate, I think he'll make a fine owner, who improves the fan experience while trying to field a winner. That's leaps and bounds ahead of our present status.

Drinking, drinking, drinking!

2006-04-28T07:09:00.000-04:00

I woke up this morning to a five-game losing streak. That, of course, upset me. Then I read this gem from Tipsy McLeatherpants.

"We're just in a pitching nightmare," General Manager Jim Bowden said before the game. "We need a [fill-in] starter for [Thursday]. We need a starter for Sunday. Our ERA's over 5. We can talk about all the problems of this team; you have to pitch."

Pitching, pitching, pitching, indeed! Last year it took him until September to run out of pitchers. It's not even April, and he's duplicated his feat in 2006.

Instead of writing my own diatribe, I would like to associate myself with the statements by the good gentleman from Capitol Punishment. He perfectly captures what we're all thinking.

Fire Bowden.

Pack your bags, Jim and Tony!

2006-04-26T12:28:00.000-04:00

Since the news of the Lerners as new owners broke around noon on WUSA, the report has been challenged by Major League Baseball and Jeff Smulyan. Below are my updates.

UPDATE 3: On WUSA's 5 p.m. news, Brett Haber is standing by his story, saying MLB simply wants to control the news cycle. Haber says he has confidence in his two sources. Smulyan was not mentioned as a source, but as someone who had also heard the news.

UPDATE 2: Smulyan now denies confirming the Lerners as the new owners. But two things should be noted here. First, Smulyan doesn't exactly deny what WUSA reported that he said. Second, as an ownership candidate, he has every incentive to suck up to MLB. If he still wants a shot to get the team, he has to deny his role in any leak.

UPDATE 1: Now Bob DuPuy has issued a statement calling WUSA's report "baseless" and "there will be an official announcement when the decision is made."

That probably guarantees we won't have an announcement this week, since MLB likes to control information, and they'll hold off just to stick it to WUSA.

Since an ownership candidate is a source for the report, I tend to think that WUSA got a scoop here. But given MLB's statement, we now have to take it with a grain of salt.

My original post is below.
------------

Let's all welcome our new Lerner overlords!

And may the Lerners and Stan Kasten spare no one (Bowden and Tavares) in whipping this franchise into shape.

NOTE: WUSA seems to be the only news outlet willing to report the story. But since Smulyan, an ownership candidate, is a source for the story, I tend to believe it.

The Good, The Bad, The Hit and Run

2006-04-24T07:59:00.000-04:00

Two games in a weekend. Both on television. Two opposite results. A great win and a really tough loss. I was able to watch a majority of both games this weekend.

Friday was an exciting, encouraging win. Patterson was lights out until faltering slightly in the eighth, while Soriano justified Bowden's man-crush with a pair of solo jacks off Braves ace John Smoltz.

After the Braves tied it in the eighth, the Nats got four runs in the bottom half off Remlinger and Villarreal, capped by Soriano's three run shot. Throw in some tremendous defense, including an over the top diving catch from Zimmerman that was as good as you'll ever see, Friday night was an encouraging one for Nats fans.

After Saturday's rainout, Sunday night was a different story. The only bright spot was Tony Armas' shutout 6 and 1/3 innings. In front of a national TV audience and the lowest announced crowd at RFK since the team moved to DC, the Nats put 14 men on base but could only push across a single run.

It seems to me, a few weeks into the season, that if this team is not hitting home runs in bunches, they're still the same weak-hitting team of 2005 that can't get clutch hits.

And that's why I think the Nationals were too aggressive on the basepaths yesterday. Royce Clayton was caught stealing twice, and I believe both were with Brian Schneider batting. At least one appeared to be a hit and run, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me with Schneider batting. Sure, the pitcher is up next so you want to do everything you can to get a run. But Schneider is not that reliable of a contact hitter and Clayton is not as fast as he used to be.

The one the pissed me off most, though, came in the fifth inning. Johnson was batting with Soriano on second and Vidro on first and one out. With a full count, Frank started the runners. Both were safe, but Nick struck out by putting a bad swing on a pitch around the letters.

I don't know if it was a hit and run, a straight steal, or just starting the runners with a 3-2 count. But it seemed to me that Nick put a bad swing on a pitch he normally would have taken. Perhaps he was protecting the runners or he was distracted by the movement of the runners in his line of vision. Either way, since it was a weak swing, I feel like he struck out as a direct result of the runners moving.

Johnson and Guillen have been hitting pretty well lately. With two on and one out, why not just let them hit rather than getting cute and managing and running yourself out of an inning?

That left first base open with two outs, allowing Bobby Cox to catch Frank with his pants down by intentionally walking Guillen to bring up the rookie Ryan Zimmerman. The inning ended when Bruce Froemming struck out Zimmerman looking.

The bullpen was also a big concern, as Majewski picked up his third blown save and the loss by giving up a three-run homer to Betemit in the eighth. Svrluga's game story focuses on how Frank thought he threw too many fastballs (which he did) and how Schneider and Majewski disagreed.

It also drove me BESERK when Frank used three pitchers to get three outs in the seventh inning (Armas, Stanton, Rodriguez) before bringing in Majewski for the eighth. Stanton and Rodriguez only threw a combined six pitches in the seventh. I didn't necessarily oppose using both Stanton and Rodriguez in that situation, but if Frank bothered to double switch when bringing in one of the two, he could have left one of them in the game instead of pinch-hitting to lead off the bottom of the inning.

Good news: Armas seems to be coming along. Bad news: Everything else. We can't score runs consistently without homers; Frank got outmanaged, and the bullpen fell apart again.

You gotta love this team. Fire Bowden.

Tipsy McLeatherpants' Good-Time Drinking and Eating Emporium

2006-04-19T12:35:00.000-04:00

Woohoo! Three-game winning streak!

As is often the case with other things in life, I'm a very lazy man when it comes to blogging. So this will be a quick hitter.

Ryan Church

He should have never been sent to AAA to begin with, but the manner in which he was brought back up makes no sense. Neither he nor Watson was playing well a week and a half into the season. Each should have been given more time. But when Watson wins the job on a small sample size, perhaps it's fitting he loses it on a small sample size.

After four games and 14 at bats, Church has three homers, a double, eight RBIs and 14 total bases. Haters might call that a small sample size as well, but I think we can all agree on this: Brandon Watson wouldn't have come close to accomplishing that impressive four-game streak, maybe ever. It's good to have our sacred cow back. Even thought I'm sure Tipsy McLeatherpants will take all the credit.

Jim Bowden

Fire him. And not because of the DUI. Fire him because he's a self-important huckster who cares nothing about the team's long-term health except to the degree it helps him keep his job.

Drunk-driving is not funny. But the obvious snarky jokes ("Well, this explains the Soriano trade," etc) are hilarious.

The Punisher has a good recap.

Ownership

There's no excuse to wait any longer, now the Kasten and Lerner have joined forces. It's been blogged to death, but MLB and the National Disgrace have done damage to this franchise by not naming an owner sooner.

Everyone associated with the management of the franchise, from Tony Tavares to Bowden to the ticket office are doing half-assed jobs knowing that they might be fired the minute new ownership takes control. It was tolerable during the honeymoon period of the Inaugural Season, but now it is damaging the franchise and the fans are the ones that suffer.

Excuses

2006-04-13T10:23:00.000-04:00

Mets 3, Nats 1

I didn't watch or listen to the game last night, but I do have this to say: Jose Vidro needs to shut the hell up.

"[The deep fences at RFK] killed us last year, and it's killing us this year," Vidro said. "They didn't change anything. They don't care about it."

Baloney.

First of all, Vidro hit a freaking home run last night.

Second, except for the power alleys, the fences are not that deep. 335 down the line and 408 (the measured distance) to center field are average to moderately deep. It's the 395 distance to the alleys that's real deep.

And besides, both teams have to play under the same conditions. I can think of plenty of warning track fly balls hit by the visiting team last year that would have changed the entire complexion of the ballgame had they been home runs.

In nine games, the Nationals have hit 12 home runs. While that's certainly encouraging on one level, it's a little disconcerting on another. In two games at RFK, the Nats have scored two runs on two solo home runs. And there have been at least three, perhaps more, deep fly balls that home runs in almost any other park.

But the Nats need to start hitting doubles in order to score runs at RFK. Because of the deep fences, the gaps at RFK are huge, perfect for landing a bloop line drive that scoots to the wall. There wasn't a prettier sight in 2005 than Nick Johnson's perfect swing landing a ball into the gap as the RFK crowd exploded.

Playing good fundamental baseball and spraying balls into the gap is the way to score runs at RFK. The Nationals play more games at RFK than any other team, so they're in the best position to use the fences as a weapon. Learn how to hit doubles into the gap, then sit back and laugh as the visiting team's sluggers hit bombs that die at the track. That's what's called a home-field advantage.

It doesn't help that Jim Bowden can't understand this either. If the Nats should tailor their play to their home park, why in the world does Bowden have a hard-on for power hitters? (e.g. Preston Wilson last year and Alfonso Soriano this year) I really believe that making those kind of trades sends a message to the rest of a team that management wants power hitters, and then they start swinging for the fences and flying out.

If the RFK fences are already "in the head" of the Nats hitters, then we're in for a long season. There's nothing that pisses me off more than excuses based on something out of one's control. The Nats need to learn to adapt to what they've got.

The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow

2006-04-12T14:14:00.000-04:00

Mets 7, Nats 1

This post is almost 24 hours late, which may be a precursor to a season-long lack of timeliness on this blog. But I'm OK with that, and my opinion is the only one that counts around here.

I did go to Opening Day yesterday, and I'm ashamed to admit that I was very bored.

First of all, Opening Day was not a sellout. That's just embarrassing. Tampa Bay freaking sold out their opener. I don't know what to attribute this too, but whatever it was, it's embarrassing. I'm inclined to blame a lack of an owner and the offseason difficulties as the reasons for a lack of excitement.

Plus, the team looked like crap. Ramon Ortiz managed to escape unscathed for three innings, but his inability to miss any bats caught up to him in the fourth inning, and it was all downhill from there.

We can't swing the bat, either. Only three hits yesterday, two singles and Soriano's mammoth homerun. Starting Mets pitcher Brian Bannister only struck out one guy (the pitcher) and he didn't walk anyone either. So perhaps the Nats should have shown a little more patience at the plate. (I wish I'd kept a pitch count on the at bats so I could confirm a lack of patience.)

And I can't believe it took until yesterday to notice that Brandon Watson swings like a woman. Ryan Church isn't your typical leadoff guy, but he can hit a lot better than half the people on the team are hitting right now.

Speaking of Soriano, the crowd I was sitting near was really upset with how he played left field. They felt Lo Duca's fifth inning double should have been caught, and he definitely played Reyes' sixth inning hit into a triple by taking a horrific angle to the ball.

It may have been the groupthink effect, but I was definitely pissed as well. Since the pitching and hitting both stunk equally, I'll choose to be mad at the fielding instead!

What's most unsettling, however, is that this Opening Day did not feel like a celebration of a new season with new hopes for baseball in Washington. And I'm not going to blame that on the fans, nor the players. The blame falls squarely on the Nationals front office and Major League Baseball (which right now happen to be one and the same, thank you very much Mr. National Disgrace). And yes, I'm aware that I said I wasn't sure who to blame earlier in the post, but I guess I just made up my mind between now and then!

It's been said before by people more eloquent than I, but the Washington Nationals are still orphans. They have no owner, and they can't sell out Opening Day. Oh, and when Pedro Martinez goes headhunting in the second game of the season, it's the Nationals who suffer the ejections and the suspensions.

Give us an owner!

Free Ryan Church!

Plunk Pedro!

(Fire Bowden)

Nats Dig The Long Ball

2006-04-06T11:14:00.000-04:00

Nats 9, Mets 5 (10 inn.)

Well, how 'bout that?! After a 2005 season in which the Nationals sorely lacked power, they got all the runs that mattered last night on dingers from three of the big guys, Johnson, Zimmerman and Guillen, including Dutch's ninth inning blast off Billy Wagner.

I didn't see or hear most of the game, but I did put a radio on my pillow to listen to the extra innings. And I may or may not have woken up my spouse with my celebration of Guillen's go ahead homer. Sources can't confirm whether this actually happened.

I'm going off the rails on a crazy train

2006-04-03T16:12:00.000-04:00

Mets 3, Nats 2

This team is going to drive me absolutely bonkers. How do you have runners in scoring position with less than two outs more than once in a game and only score two runs?

And despite what I was yelling at the TV when Zimmerman's double in the eighth touched down, there's no way Alfonso Soriano should have been sent home. And even though sliding headfirst was stupid, Lo Duca still dropped the ball. Tschida blew the call, although his view was probably blocked by Lo Duca's body. But a blown call is no excuse for wasting so many scoring opportunities.

Livan pitched very well, but he blew two different double plays, which may have cost the Nats a precious run on defense.

I was ready to give Vidro props for a great day after his ninth inning single left the bat, but he decided he wanted to win the game right there, and got himself thrown out at second to end the game.

Stupid baserunning. Stupid fielding. Terrible clutch hitting.

The Nats are driving me crazy. Must be baseball season.

The Sons Speak

2006-03-29T14:01:00.000-05:00

From National Pastime, page 208:

"My dad always trades my favorite players," Chad [Bowden] said, somewhat contemplatively. "Isn't that right, Ty?" Tyler, bigger and older, laughed at his little brother. But Chad was serious. He thought about it some more. "Why is that?" Chad asked. Ty responded quickly, "Because he can."

Dream about magnolias in bloom

2006-03-29T10:09:00.000-05:00

I think it may now be official. There's nothing bone-headed, nothing so stupid or ridiculous the Nationals could do that would surprise me anymore. At least while the current regime is in place.

Yesterday, the Nationals sent Ryan Church, the National League Rookie of the Month for May 2005 to AAA New Orleans. In effect, that hands the starting CF and leadoff job to Brandon Watson, a speedy player with very little Major League experience.

I'm late to the party once again, since this story broke around dinnertime last night and I was away from ESPN and the internet once I got home from work. Most of the other fine members of the Natosphere have chimed in already, many of them doing a fine job of explaining much better than I could why this is a silly move.

The main rationale for the move seems to be that Church hit only .200 this spring while Watson hit .311. Perhaps that's true, but Church also walked 10 times -- a team high for the spring. And in 2005, Church hit .287 with 9 homers and 25 RBIs while Watson managed only a .175 AVG.

And as Scott pointed out in the Yudite chat yesterday, Johnson, Clayton, Guillen and Schneider all have worse averages than Church this spring, yet all four will be starting on Opening Day (assuming they're healthy.)

Check out the Punisher and the Federalist for some interesting number crunching on this issue. In the end, I think many agree the brass has been down on Church since he lost a fight with the left-field wall in Pittsburgh and his oh-so-unmanly injury to his pinkie toe.

Last night, I finished Barry Svrluga's new book, National Pastime. (I may or may not have a review up soon.) It goes into greater detail with some of the storylines from the 2005 season. There is a story that has relevance here.

In Spring Training 2005, Bowden and Frank Robinson were hoping that Endy Chavez would be the centerfielder and leadoff in the lineup:

With all that in mind, Bowden held meetings with each of his new players at the start of spring training. ... None was more important than his meeting with Chavez. There would be, Bowden said, no more of this free-swinging bullshit. If Chavez ... wanted to make this team ... he had to have the mind-set that he was there to score runs, not to drive them in. ... He had to, as Robinson said, "stop swinging from his ass."

All the information seemed to frustrate Chavez, who was twenty-seven and quiet. "I've heard it," he said impatiently one day. "I know." Leave me alone, he said, and I'll carry out your orders. After all the meetings of the spring, he asked for the same thing. The coaching staff obliged. (Svrluga, Barry, National Pastime, pp. 100-101)

After Chavez went 0-3 in a loss to the Dodgers in Vero Beach, Robinson got frustrated:

His on-base percentage fell to .257. In thirty-seven plate appearances, he had drawn two walks. Robinson, alone in the small manager's office inside the visiting clubhouse, muttered to himself afterward, "He's the same fucking player he's always been. Hasn't changed a thing." (Svrluga, pg. 104)

Of course, we know that Inning-Endy was shipped to AAA New Orleans near the end of Spring Training. And guess who was the beneficiary?

Church saw Chavez slump into the clubhouse that day, saw the paper in his hand, saw the look on his face. The gears started to turn, and Church looked away. Wait a minute. Church's mind started linking things together quickly.... If Chavez is out then ... Okay, think through it again. Count the outfielders remaining in camp. Five will go north. Jose Guillen, Brad Wilkerson, J.J. Davis, Terrmel Sledge ... and me? Holy shit, Church thought. Holy shit! I just made the team. (Svrluga, pg. 107)

Fast-forward to Spring Training 2006. Brandon Watson is the speedy centerfielder dujour. And less than three weeks ago, Robinson and Bowden highly praised Watson for his work ethic and willingness to listen, especially compared to Chavez.

And yesterday, the brass decided that Watson's .311 AVG, .368 OBP, 7 stolen bases and 6 walks meant that he had been more willing to listen to them than Chavez. They rewarded him with a spot on the team, and presumably the leadoff spot in the lineup.

Because Watson has better ears than Chavez, Ryan Church -- who got his 2005 roster spot because Chavez wouldn't "listen" -- gets demoted to AAA New Orleans. He'll take his .287 AVG/.353 OBP rookie season to the minors with him, along with his .323 OBP this spring (only 45 points lower than Watson).

It sure seems that the fate of Ryan Church rests on the ability of speedy centerfielders to listen to their superiors. Maybe it's just me, but I think Church has long since earned the right to have his fate decided by his own abilities.

Fire Bowden.

He's wandered the earth an exiled man

2006-03-22T13:33:00.000-05:00

So Soriano took the field about 20 minutes ago in left field. Our buddy Bote Man reports via audio that Soriano hit an 0-1 pitch to the warning track in his first at-bat.

It looks like this is resolved. For this season, at least.

Happy Because:

This distraction is apparently behind us, and the Nationals can get back to playing baseball.

Pissed Because:

Bowden seems to have won the PR war over this, even though he needs to be sent to Guantanamo for letting his ego put the Nationals in this ridiculous position.

Happy Because:

With Vidro, Johnson, Guillen, Soriano and Zimmerman in the middle of the lineup, the Nats might actually score a few runs in 2006.

Pissed Because:

Ryan Church may not have a spot on this team now that Soriano is in the outfield. It's a shame the way he's been treated, implicitly accused of being a pansy after a collision with the left field wall in Pittsburgh.

It's awesome that this seems to have been resolved. But Bowden cannot be let off the hook for this one. Trading for a player only to massage his overinflated ego without assurances he'll play the position you need is reckless, irresponsible and flat out stupid.

Fire Bowden.

You had to prove it to the crowd

2006-03-21T10:11:00.000-05:00

This is what happens while I'm being a good newlywed husband by spending time with Mrs. Rocket away from the internet, radio and ESPN. The Soriano situation came to a climax a little after 6 p.m. last night, and I didn't learn about it until this morning. In the meantime, just about everyone has already commented on the situation.

-- Capitol Punishment explores the options that Soriano and the Nationals have in front of them. (EDIT: Chris has updated with a reluctant defense of Soriano.)
-- BallWonk says the Nats might be forced to be second base polygamists.
-- The Beltway Boys says Soriano won this round and Bowden is the villain.
-- Curly W goes ballistic on Bowden, further endearing himself to my heart.
-- The Distinguished Senator is ready to rumble.
-- Federal Baseball spins a sordid tale of lust and passion.
-- Just A Nats Fan has a guest reporter from Viera.
-- The Nats Enquirer wants Soriano gone now.
-- The Nats Blog wants Bowden and Soriano gone.
-- Triple Play misses Wilkie, but laments he has to side with Bowden.
-- Oleanders blames Bowden.

Since I'm late to the party (again!) I won't try to pull something originial out of my hat.

This situation is just plain weird, though. There are no good guys, just like there are no good guys in the Comcast-MASN battle or like there were no good guys in the D.C. Council-MLB battle.

Soriano deserves our scorn and derision for refusing to take the field last night. By deserting his teammates last night, he became a poster boy for what the American public hates in prima-donna spoiled professional athletes. His culpability should not be understated.

However, there is one guy who could have prevented all this. And of course that man is our resident genius GM, Mr. James Bowden. As Sheinin reported yesterday, Bowden was refused the chance to Soriano before the trade went through. But Genius Boy wanted to do the trade anyways.

And today, the league-run news source reported that Soriano said to Bowden, "[Not getting permission] should have told you something."

Again, Bowden had to have been aware of all this. Yet he and his overblown machismo thought his powers of persuasion were greater than anyone on the Yankees or Rangers who had already tried to persuade Soriano to switch to LF. Bowden ignored Soriano's plainly obvious history, and for that he should never be employed in sports again.

Bowden said that Soriano will have one more chance on Wednesday to play left field before the team requests that he be placed on the disqualified list, suspending him without pay and without free agent service time.

Frankly, Soriano doesn't need a second chance. I highly doubt he'll change his mind, but if he does, after the stunt he pulled last night, he will be ruthlessly booed the first time he sets foot on the field at RFK. This team, as weak as it already is, doesn't need that kind of clubhouse strife. The Nats need to non-tender Soriano or trade him for the best offer they can get, even if it's a half-eaten chorizo and dixie cup of warm Blue Moon.

And kick Bowden's carcass out onto the Beltway with these parting words. "If you want an outfielder, f---ing trade for one, you stupid ass!"

You had to have a white hot spotlight

2006-03-20T08:23:00.000-05:00

After watching Soriano strike out to eliminate the Dominican Republic on Saturday, Dave Shenin has a tremendous article in this morning's Washington Post.

Most of us in the Natosphere have ripped Bowden for not inquiring of Soriano whether he was willing to play left field prior to pulling the trigger on the trade. After all, it was well known that Soriano thought of himself as a second baseman; he had already refused to switch for the Rangers.

It turns out that Bowden did ask permission from the Rangers to speak with Soriano. And the Rangers said no. That certainly implied that Soriano would refuse the switch, and Bowden even recognized as much.

But the freaking MORON made the deal anyways! The leatherpants wearing piece of bat excrement even had the balls to tell Frank, "You can handle it."

Soriano has no legs to stand on after his abysmal WBC performance where he failed to get a hit while committing several errors.

Yet his personality and history in regards to position switching are well known. Bowden deserves to be run out of town on a rail for failing to recognize the situation and gambling the team's season on making a big splash in order to garnish his reputation.

"It's not the mayor's fault that the stadium collapsed!"

2006-03-14T14:24:00.000-05:00

Wonder of wonders, we got ourselves a real live stadium design! For those that haven't seen the four drawings released by HOK and the DCSEC, click here.

I've probably spent an hour of my Tuesday studying and staring at these four pictures. At first I was thrilled. It's like being shown a picture of a future new car or a new home and you're all excited because it's just that -- new.

Let's start with what I like.

Despite the fact the rounded exterior is sort of reminiscent of Shea Stadium, I do like the contrast between the lines and curves that you can see in the above drawing. It's an interesting visual, and it's not something you see much anymore in baseball stadiums. I was never a fan of the exposed steel look.

I think I'm going to like the offset right field section (red arrow above), despite what I've heard elsewhere. It's different, and it's one of the elements that save the inside seating bowl from looking eerily similar to Shea or Dodger Stadium.

I like the curved exterior look you get in the above picture. It's a departure from the recent brick and steel looks, with a nod back to the modern Yankee Stadium. However, I would have preferred an exterior that looked more like this.

However, I think the main seating bowl (above) is just not good at all. I mean, there are four decks there, with the upper deck and the press box in the clouds. Who knows, maybe they'll install those coin-operated viewing machines up there so you can actually see the field.

The seating bowl is more evocative of boring places like Shea Stadium or the Oakland Coliseum. Of course, the design is not nearly as bad as those two stadiums. But in regards to the main seating bowl, there are a lot of very clean lines that remind one of a dual-use football stadium like Shea. But like I mentioned, the offset right-field section helps in that regard.

Like others have mentioned, I worry most about the view from behind home plate. Many ballparks are beautiful because of the skyline. What are we going to get, parking garages and the DOT building?

All in all, I like it because it's new. But the newness factor will wear off and we'll have to live with the place for a generation, at least.

A few things like the skyline and the height (altitude, even) of the seating worry me. From the drawings alone, I'm not overwhelmed. We'll have to wait for more details, I guess.

EDIT: I'm a bit more optimistic after seeing MissChatter's report from the unveiling. This picture in particular gives me some hope that it'll turn out OK.

In like a lion...

2006-03-08T13:14:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been an interesting beginning to the month of March, that's for sure. As usual, I've been sorely delinquent in chronicling my thoughts on the goings-on in the world of the Nats and baseball in general.

We learned last Friday that Guillen was lost for the first half of the year. (I actually wrote about that!) When combined with the loss of Lawrence for the year and the continuing saga of Soriano, that was devastating news. Over the weekend, we got some sorely needed good news; a second opinion revealed that Guillen just needed about two weeks of rehab. Unbelievably huge bit of good news.

Then on Sunday, we learned that MLB signed off the emergency lease document passed in February, with a few caveats. Many of our resident fanboys popped champagne corks, but I wasn't ready to celebrate until the D.C. Council signed off on the caveats.

Last night, they finally got it done. The Council passed a construction contract and reaffirmed the lease deal, effectively erasing all doubt that the Nationals would get a permanent home in the District.

Maybe I'm just immune from the pain of the past, but I honestly don't feel anything. It's like "That's nice, do you want a cookie for finally doing the right thing?!" Kinda like Nate's theory of congratulating Bowden when he doesn't crap his pants. (I can't find the link. Maybe it was Ryan's theory. Who freakin' knows?)

From a city management point of view, I don't blame the Council for balking at all this. Major League Baseball are a bunch of monopolist money grubbers. But I want baseball and I don't feel like giving anyone any credit for getting around to finally finishing this mess.

So can we have a (non-Smulyan) owner now? Maybe an owner can get us a REAL TV deal.

-----------

Speaking of fake TV deals, MASN has a website up now.

Straight from the horse's ass:

"Since at least 1981, the Orioles have had exclusive rights to the 7-state television territory. In 2004, Major League Baseball announced the relocation of the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C. The Orioles objected to the relocation of the Expos to within 35 miles of Oriole Park in Baltimore. Among other things, the Expos/Nationals had no television territory within which to telecast its games. In today's world, no baseball franchise could viably exist without a television territory and television rights revenues. The Orioles, the Nationals and Major League Baseball all understood this reality. The Orioles appreciated that a baseball team in the nation's capitol needed to be on television and agreed to share its exclusive television territory with the Nationals."

Alright, just shut up.

Using the words "at least" shows they haven't figured out exactly when this imaginary, made-up exclusive right to TV rights in the region began.

Oh and by the way, the Mister Angelos Screws the Nationals website has a comment form.

(Just my freaking luck. Five months after I move out of Fairfax County, Cox Cable adds the Nats games.)

-----------

Watching the WBC game between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela yesterday, I heard Harold Reynolds and John Kruk speculate that Soriano will not move to left field under any circumstances.

I don't know how right they'll turn out to be, but I think I've begun to be pretty indifferent on my opinion of Soriano. He's been a stubborn guy long before D.C. ever had a team. He's resisted left field before, and he even jonesed his way out of a contract to play in Japan.

But the onus was on Bowden to know all that. Like Reynolds and Kruk said, why trade for a second baseman when you already have one!? The new owners must ship Bowden back to Cold Pizza the minute they have control of the team.

----------

As for the WBC, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the US beat Mexico yesterday. Jake Peavy was filthy good, and it was the pitching that made up for some shaky American defense. Schneider caught a majority of the game, and it was really cool to see Chief in his USA duds pitch a dominating 1-2-3 fifth inning.

I went to a World Cup qualifying match in 2001, and it was a blast. I knew very little about soccer, but I wanted to wrap myself in the flag and dance and sing like a soccer nut. The WBC games I watched yesterday seemed to have a similar atmosphere, and I think that freaking rules.

I do hope the WBC succeeds and evolves to the point where it becomes an important part of the MLB season, rather than something that's a sidenote to spring training.

I'm just kidding!

2006-03-05T16:28:00.000-05:00

Thank God!

Jose does like to play through injuries and pain. And I pray that he gives everything enough time to heal properly.

¡Yo tengo dolor en mi muñeca, pendejo!

2006-03-03T12:02:00.000-05:00

So, it looks like Guillen is out until at least June with a wrist injury. Wheeee. This is really bad news, the loss of a major offensive piece.

Assuming the second opinion doesn't change anything, this makes the Soriano/outfield situation even more dire. If Alfonso doesn't eventually agree to move the left field, we have exactly zero starting outfielders set in stone.

As it is, one would hope that Ryan Church finally gets his chance to be a starter, presumably in right field. That leaves big question marks to fill the other outfield slot, such as Brandon Watson or Michael Tucker.

Good work by Bodes. Good work trading away Brad Wilkerson without asking if what you were getting in return would even play the outfield. Now we get to see if he'll go sniffing around the Reds for another outfielder falling into the "toolsy" category. Or God forbid, Sammy Sooser.

At this rate, it might be smarter to just put on the field the Chinese National Team who got spanked by Japan last night.

And if I claim to be a wise man

2006-03-02T10:52:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure I've had an original blogging idea in a long time. And it's kind of frustrating. There's a ton of Nats blogs out there, and a lot of niches that are filled. Some guys know the Nats farm system (or lack thereof) like the back of their hands. Other guys are diligent enough to weigh in on almost every news development. One gives us the schismatic point of view, while another gives us the female point of view. Then there are the guys who are smart enough to admit they are too lazy and enlist friends to blog with them.

I guess I'm the guy who compensates for his lack of anything to say by posting pictures of ex-Nationals in their new uniforms. Or by amassing a collection of over 100 spring training photos stolen from news sources.

It must have been the posts from JP Allard and MissChatter that got me thinking. I don't fully agree with JP; there is a place for the link-factory news regurgitator blogs - and I enjoy reading them. But I don't want this place to be one of them. So I guess I fall more into MissChatter's camp. I started this place as "Nats Homework" - a way to force myself to pay attention to the team. But like MissChatter said about herself, I too don't have biting wit, a head for stats or the indepth knowledge of the farm system. I just like baseball, the Nationals, and I like to write about it too.

I've pointed out before this entry as one that I'm especially proud of. It was a neat little tidbit a half dozen people witnessed, and it made for a good story. I like this entry too, where I wrote about Mrs. Rocket thoroughly enjoying herself at a ballgame.

Maybe that's my niche. Writing stuff that you wouldn't read anywhere else, whether it's about me or it's something that only I witnessed. I guess we'll see what this season brings.

Why God, Why?

2006-02-23T17:58:00.000-05:00

Man, I sure wish we had a centerfielder that could bat leadoff.

Get out the whoopin' stick

2006-02-23T14:07:00.000-05:00

So Frank, JimBo and Fonzie are going to be all diplomatic and political about it.

What good is it to have a crusty ol' curmudgeon as a manager if he's not going to kick Soriano's ass out to left field?

Blacked Out

2006-02-23T13:36:00.000-05:00

Shameful. It's a sin that only 32 games will be broadcast on over the air television this year. And only a select few cable and satellite subscribers will get more than that.

So let's get it all straight. We don't have an owner. Our stadium deal is still in limbo. We have a over-paid malcontent who still won't change positions to help the team. We have a moron GM who has a hard-on for toolsy players and former Cincinnati Reds. (Big bonus to Dave Sheinin for taking on that angle!)

And now we won't even be able to watch our team!

I guess we can all thank Bud and Pete for another finger in the eye of the collective Nats fanbase.

When your luck is battin' zero

2006-02-13T08:19:00.000-05:00

So Bowden went and did it... He sold Jamey Carroll to the Rockies for $300K, further convincing me that Bowden needs to be shipped out of town as soon as possible.

Let's be clear, I'm not pissed about losing Carroll the player. What does fill me with murderous rage, however, are two things.

First: Losing Jamey Carroll the person is an big blow to the organization. As I've pointed out before, one of the few entries I've written that's worth reading describes the encounter with Carroll that solidified in my mind the value he brings to a team as a human being.

Carroll does what he's asked on the field, without complaining. Unlike one particular player who Bowden lusted after, before trading another gritty player for him. He runs hard to first base and chokes up on the bat. And he was always the first Nat on the field after the opponents batting practice. Carroll was one of the reasons the Nats were so likeable. Now, just like Wilkerson, he's been let go by our resident genius GM.

Second reason why I'm stifling my murderous desire to impale Bowden on the Washington Monument: The ONLY reason Carroll was squeezed off the bench is because Bowden felt the inexplicable need to sign eighty gazillion infielders to guaranteed major league deals.

I'm not buying Bowden's BS about how Jamey wasn't a "good fit" or he "didn't drive in enough runs and some in the organization felt that he was not good enough defensively to replace a player like Guzman." Please!

How much of an improvement are Royce Clayton, Marlon Anderson, Damian Jackson, Robert Fick, Matt LeCroy or Bernie Castro going to be over a guy like Carroll. Maybe one of these guys will break out, but it's not like Bowden has a master plan for all this. He's just spraying shots all over the board, hoping he'll get lucky. And his dumb haphazard jackassedness has cost the Nats one of the true good guys of the game.

Speaking of dumb jackassedness, since Cap'n Leatherpants couldn't be bothered to sell Carroll before signing Matt LeCroy, he went and exposed Darrell Rasner to waivers, who was of course claimed by the Yankees. Rasner now joins Sunny Kim as shining examples of how Bowden doesn't know how to think two steps ahead of himself.

At least it looks like Sammy Sosa's misplaced pride may save the Nats from more of Bowden's stupidity.

EDIT 9:19 AM: Must-read - Triple Play Nate's brilliant Nats short story, "The Long Pitch Good-bye." (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

NOW can we have an owner?

2006-02-08T00:48:00.000-05:00

12:44 am -- The DC Council passes an emergency lease. Catania, Fenty, Graham, Mendelson all opposed; everyone else in favor.

It was painful. But it's done.

Can we have an owner now?

Here's to Alcohol

2006-02-07T21:18:00.000-05:00

The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.

Marc Fisher, once again, has hit the nail on the head. (I'm not, however, ready to completely give up.)

DC has proven that it is a terrible place to do business. I don't harbor any animosity toward the principled opposition of Adrian Fenty or David Catania. They stood strong by their opinions.

However, the milquetoast pansies who couldn't make up their minds were just interested in playing the warring factions against each other and drumming up false racial and class wars just to further their political ambitions.

For the record, I have no idea what will happen. I still have hope that things will shake out positively.

But the bull$#!7 we've had to put up with is just f*cking shameful.

Depths of Mediocrity

2006-02-03T09:02:00.000-05:00

So Cap'n Leatherpants grasped at another straw yesterday, signing Royce Clayton to a minor league contract. While some hail this as the end of the Guzman era, the rest of us just wonder what the hell PT Bowden thinks he's accomplishing.

The four blog entries I linked to above neatly sum up what the problem here is. OK, even Bowden knows that Guzman sucked last year. Sucked bad. I think he hit around .220 for the year, and that was after his September surge. Say Guzzy hits around what he's capable of -- perhaps about .265. Is Clayton going to be any better? No, not really. OMG gives us an appropriate Simpsons metaphor for whole situation.

And like Brandon at Curly W points out -- our middle infield depth chart is like half a dozen players deep. That normally might be a nice problem to have, but when you're choosing among Damian Jackson, Marlon Anderson, Jamey Carroll, Royce Clayton, Christian Guzman -- not to mention the Vidro/Soriano outfield vs. second base debacle -- I mean, it's almost like trying to choose between Ron Darling and Rob Dibble as TV color men. You just can't win.

Besides, do we really want a guy who Dennis Quaid struck out on three pitches?

JUNE 30, 2006 -- With the game on the line in the bottom of the eleventh inning, Tampa Bay reliever Dennis Quaid strikes out Washington's Royce Clayton to secure the Tarpons' first win of the season.

Then again, Guzman would probably find a way to look even more pathetic against a guy like Quaid.

Caption This Picture

2006-01-24T08:55:00.000-05:00

~~"Who'll take Soriano off my hands for $69.55?"~~ (OK, that one's not even remotely clever)
"Soriano wants $12 million. What am I bid for a night with my fiancee?"

EDIT: A tremendous post by Brandon is up at Curly W on the subject of JimBo's incompetence.

Review: Beyond The Shadow Of The Senators

2006-01-23T13:31:00.000-05:00

For those of us who religiously followed the soap opera surrounding the relocation of the Expos to Washington, we remember that a popular mascot choice for the new team was "Grays".

That name would have been an homage to the Homestead Grays, the Negro League team which played many home games in Washington's Old Griffith Stadium. Much to the chagrin of Mayor Tony Williams and Will Carroll, the Expos were renamed the "Nationals" and the rest is history.

But the story behind the Homestead Grays, arguably the most successful franchise in Negro League history, is largely unknown to the common baseball fan. Brad Snyder's exhaustively researched book Beyond the Shadow of the Senators fills in the gaps on an important period in baseball history.

When I picked up this book to read it, I expected to read a definitive account of the history of the Homestead Grays franchise and its time in Washington. While that story is intertwined in its pages, it's not the main thrust of the book.

The actual theme of the book is tough to pigeon-hole; it's a tremendously detailed account of a very complicated sociological role that Washington DC, the Washington Senators, the Homestead Grays, the Negro Leagues and the "black press" played in the integration of Major League Baseball.

Snyder's incredibly complex tale covers many areas of history, including writer Sam Lacy, ballplayers Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard, Clark Griffith and the Washington Senators, the Homestead Grays, and the black culture of early 20th century Washington DC.

The book describes how black Washingtonians were some of the best patrons of Clark Griffith's Washington Senators in the 1920's and 30's, despite the all-white nature of the Senator teams Griffith put on the field.

However, blacks stopped coming to see the Senators once the Homestead Grays moved a majority of their games from Pittsburgh to Washington. They did so not because of loyalty to their skin color, but because the Grays played a more competitive brand of baseball.

One would think that the success of the Grays would prompt Griffith to sign one of their stars like Gibson or Leonard to play for the pitiful Senators. However, the money Griffith made by renting his stadium to the Grays was the only thing that kept the Senators franchise afloat. Besides any racist leanings Griffith has been accused of having, he also had plenty of financial incentive to keep the Major Leagues and the Negro Leagues separate.

The so-called "black press" of Washington constantly pressured Griffith, to no avail, to take advantage of the Negro League talent that played in his own stadium. Snyder argues this crusade taken up by journalists like Sam Lacy, Wendell Smith and Art Carter directly led to baseball's eventual integration in 1947.

Snyder presents in breathtaking detail the story of how the Grays helped drive the integration of baseball. However, the complex nature of the story leads to a somewhat unfocused book that covers a gigantic amount of information.

In between an introduction and an epilogue, Snyder dedicates nine chapters each to a different subject or topic. The only link between some of the topics is the (sometimes minor) part each played in Washington's role in baseball's integration. For example, the chapter dedicated to Satchel Paige is full of information about the great pitcher, who was a much of a performer as an athlete.

The forty pages dedicated to Paige are interesting and informative; however, the only relevance to the topic of the book is how Paige's appearances at Griffith Stadium drew huge crowds and contributed to the popularity of the Grays among Washington's black fanbase.

The book is incredibly detailed, and that is its greatest strength. Snyder spent 10 years researching material about this period in baseball history. That hard work is evident in an exhaustive set of endnotes and a bibliography which encompass 100 pages of text. The book is worth reading alone simply to glean the tremendous amount of historical information.

However, the incredible detail is the book's biggest weakness as well. Snyder covers an huge range of topics, some of which are only tangential to the role Washington played in integrating baseball. It's very hard to tie so many loose strands of information back to the author's original thesis. Snyder does an admirable job, but as a result the book has a somewhat unfocused quality.

Despite its faults, Beyond the Shadow of the Senators is still an amazingly detailed account of a very important time in baseball and American history. The history of the Homestead Grays in Washington DC and its role in baseball's integration have been largely ignored by mainstream baseball fans. Brad Snyder does a very good job in filling that void.

I have a blog?

2006-01-20T15:09:00.000-05:00

It's been a looong time, hasn't it. Do we even still have a team?

Seriously, I haven't been ignoring the Nats. But between a newlywed first Christmas and a lot of work to do, I've just been too busy to write about it.

I won't try to give a recap of the many events I've missed, since if you're a reader of this blog, you probably also frequent the many other (better) Nat blogs out there.

But here are some thoughts that floated through my little mind as events have unfolded this off-season.

The Stadium

I care tremendously about what happens here, but I can't bring myself to get emotionally involved with the ins and outs our current debacle with MLB and the DC Council. MLB has proven that monopolies are bad. And the DC Council has put forth the best argument yet against home rule for the District.

But all you need to remember is that Bud Selig is a National Disgrace.

Jamey Carroll

Despite what Evil Basil (is there any other kind?) might say, I'm glad the guy is coming back. I gained a ton of respect for the guy after a July game against the Astros. That encounter led to one of the few blog posts I've done that is actually worth reading.

Michael Tucker

Why oh why did we sign him? I'm sure he's a fine guy, but where will we use him. With Marlon Byrd, Damian Jackson, Robert Fick, Marlon Anderson and all the other bench players we have, why even waste money on the guy? Bowden Delenda Est.

New Coaches

I like just about everything here.

Mitchell Page, the former St. Louis Cardinals' hitting coach, was promoted from AAA New Orleans to be the Nats hitting coach. He was highly respected with the Cards, but he fell out of favor because of alcohol problems. He's said to be doing better, and giving him a chance with DC is a great move.

Davey Lopes is a good call for first base coach. He knew how to swipe a bag in his day, and perhaps a few less baserunners will get picked off this year. Bringing Tony Beasley (3rd base coach) into the system is a great move. He has a fantastic record of managing in the minor leagues and could be a candidate for a promotion once Frank retires.

Brian Schneider and Nick Johnson

Two of my favorite players avoided arbitration and agreed to contracts with the Nats. Johnson signed only for one year, with incentives added if he plays a certain amount of games. I always was fond of Nick, who is probably the quietest guy on the team.

Schneider signs for four years at about $16 million. It's a perfect length contract for him, one that runs out when he starts to get a little too long in the tooth. He's a great defensive catcher and is adequate at the plate. Great move.

Alfonso Soriano and Brad Wilkerson

Fonzie went to arbitration and is asking for $12 million. We offered him $10 million. He can go screw himself.

Wilkerson, who some say we traded in part because he might be difficult to resign, agreed to a $3.9 million deal with Texas! Is Soriano worth $8 million more than Brad Wilkerson? No effing way. Bowden Delenda Est!

Sammy Sosa

Please God, no! Apparently, we're still going after Sosa. Bringing him in to Spring Training on a non-roster invite for very little guaranteed money would be a hard thing to turn down.

But we can't devote a single guaranteed red cent to him. Even then, he had an abysmal 2005, not to mention the fact that he just passed Frank on the all-time home run list. Frankie's been known to be real sensitive about his place in history. Do you really want to put an alleged steroid user in the clubhouse with him? We already have enough potential clubhouse problems with Soriano.

So that's what I think, if anyone still cares. I'll be at home sharpening my pitchfork, in case an angry mob assembles to move against Jim Bowden, Bud Selig, Bob DuPuy, Peter Angelos, Jerry Reinsdorf, Adrian Fenty or Marion Barry.

The Nationals Festivus

2005-12-22T10:13:00.000-05:00

Continuing on the Festivus Theme...

Tomorrow is the great holiday of Festivus, which according to legend was invented by Frank Constanza of Seinfeld fame.

"Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had - but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way!" ~ Frank Costanza, Seinfeld, "The Strike," Aired 12/18/97

The official date for Festivus is December 23rd, which is tomorrow. However, since most Nationals fans will take tomorrow off to get a jump on the Christmas weekend, Nasty Nats is declaring today to be "Nationals Festivus Observed."

So my friends, let us all gather around the Nationals Festivus Pole, which of course is made of aluminum. (Very high strength-to-weight ratio, unlike Carlos Baerga.)

The tradition of Festivus begins with the Airing of Grievances. I'm going to tell everyone all the ways they've disappointed me over the past year.

I got a lot of problems with you people! And now you're gonna hear about it!

Peter Angelos: Basically, you suck and everyone knows it. You and your bitchiness stood in the way of DC Baseball. Like the Spanish explorers discovering the New World, you claimed dominion over half the Eastern Seaboard for the Orioles. You failed to realize that the reason your franchise was struggling is because your team SUCKS! And then, Captain Asbestos, you hijacked the Washington franchise by blackmailing baseball into giving you the TV rights to the DC franchise. Rot in hell, Havana Pete!

Bud Selig: First of all, you took your damn sweet time moving the Expos. You stuck them in Puerto Rico for a couple years, and doomed them to mediocrity by cutting their budget. Frankly, even that was a National Disgrace. Once you finally got your act together and brought baseball back to DC, you sold us down the river by giving the Pratt Street Anus our TV rights! Then you kept missing your own self-imposed deadlines to sell the team to an actual owner. First, it was by Opening Day. Then it was the All-Star Break. Then it was by the World Series. Then it was by Christmas... Now, who the hell knows?!

Linda Cropp: You hijacked DC Baseball at the eleventh hour last December, holding it hostage in order to jumpstart your mayoral bid. Then miraculously, you released the Nats from your demon clutches, allowing the Stadium Agreement to pass the DC Council. Now, you wants credit for saving baseball AND for standing up to MLB. Fortunately for you, the voters of DC are probably stupid enough to buy that line of crap.

Bob DuPuy: To start with, you're a stupid flying monkey. And you're fat. Now, you're threatening DC, who's simply trying to figure out who will pay for cost overruns of the stadium. You put a gag order on potential ownership groups, not allowing them to offer to pay for any stadium cost overruns. The only thing that should be gagged is your fat jowly neck.

Jim Bowden: Where do we begin with you, Cap'n Leatherpants? First, you were hired to be our GM. That's disappointing to begin with. Then you signed Cristian Guzman to a contract so ridiculous - the Minnesota Twins laughed at Guzman and told him to get his ass to Washington. Right there, that's enough to get you fired. But you weren't done yet. You traded two perfectly good starting pitchers for a backup second baseman and an overrated outfielder. Both those players are now free agents, and we're out two starting pitchers. You stink! But you weren't done. You traded our most marketable player and some of our precious minor league talent for an overrated, overpaid, smug, asshole second baseman. You, in all of your stupidity, never bothered to ask the guy if he was willing to change positiions! Soriano is now saying that not only will he not change positions, he's going back to the American League after 2006!!!! So as it stands now, you've effed us over, you stupid, stinking moron!

I got a lot more grievances for all of you, but ... I lost my train of thought.

And now as Festivus rolls on, we come to the Feats of Strength.

With the help of Nate from Triple Play, we've come up with a dandy of a fight: A Greased-up Leatherpants-Wearing Jim Bowden vs. Jose "I KEEL YOU" Guillen without his medications. Until Guillen Sans Meds pins Greasy Jim, Festivus is NOT OVER!

I lost my train of thought. But do my half-dozen readers have any grievances that need to be aired?

'Twas Three Nights Before Festivus

2005-12-20T11:37:00.000-05:00

Time for some airing of grievances, bitches.

Well, they effin pulled the lease vote from today's DC Council agenda. Fan-flipping-tastic! The optimist in me says this is just Mayor Williams buying some time so he can try to pull seven votes out of his hat. And the fact that this opinion is the optimistic one is frightening.

And Bob "Jowls" DuPuy has sent a threatening letter to the DC Government, warning that DC will be in breach of the Baseball Stadium Agreement if a lease is not in place by 12/31/05. Then, he said, MLB can take DC to arbitration to recover damages. I don't know if DuPuy has a leg to stand on, but all this sabre-rattling bullshit from both sides is tiresome.

I won't pretend to know what's going on. Other bloggers have done a much more thorough job of following this crap fest. And even if I did have a clue of what's going on, it would frustrate me to no end. I've taken the attitude of the wise Hoosier, MattNats: "Everyone involved is an asshole, and all I want is a ball team."

Speaking of the airing of grievances, our little Google-bomb made the Baltimore Sun. The writer quotes this site, which is flattering but misleading. I did not come up with teh Google-bomb, nor did I spearhead it. I just used this space to advocate for it. Still, it's nice to get some more publicity for our little prank.

In the end, are we going to lose the team over this craptastic mess with the Council, MLB and the lease? I suppose it could happen, but we're a long way from that. If I understand the agreements involved, MLB doesn't have the right to take away the team before 2008. But I could be wrong.

I don't think we have to worry about losing our ball team. It doesn't change the fact that everyone involved is still an asshole. What we really want is a team on equal footing with the rest of the league. That means we want a team with an owner!

Right now, it doesn't look good for the Nats in 2006. We've already lost two key pitchers to free agency, in part due to a lack of ownership with a budget. (Some would argue we didn't need Loaiza and Carrasco back. But lack of an owner robbed us the chance to even consider it.) We don't have the money to go sign another pitcher, and the lack of stability in DC is scaring away potential free agents.

Everyone involved is an asshole and all I want a ball team with an owner. I'm waiting on a Festivus Miracle.

-------------------

EDIT: 1:25 pm

Another grievance to air:

Bowden's big acquisition still won't play outfield, and now he wants to go back to the American League after 2006.

I nominate JimBo to take on Jose Guillen in the Festivus Feats of Strength, provided that Guillen skips his meds before the fight.

Oh Captain, My Captain

2005-12-15T16:11:00.000-05:00

Well, in the midst of all the stadium madness, which other Nat bloggers have been chronicling dutifully, the Nats signed Frank Robinson for another year as manager. Also coming back are bench coach Eddie Rodriguez and pitching coach Randy St. Claire. I'm particularly happy that St. Claire is returning.

And despite the criticism that Frank gets from all corners of the Natosphere (including from myself), I am glad Frank will be back, at least for 2006.

There's no doubt in most people's minds that Frank is not the best manager in baseball, or even an ideal one. He's obsessed with the sacrifice bunt and the hit and run. He trades pitchers who show him up. He's unaware that the double-switch even exists. He's mean, cranky and curmudgeonly.

But in an off-season of uncertainty, there's something to be said for the status quo, even if it is crusty ol' Frank Robinson. We have no owner, a GM who makes trades for poop and giggles, and a stadium deal that could be in trouble. We just created a "second base" controversy by trading one of the area's favorite players.

The Nats need some stability somewhere. This is already Frank's team. The players, at least those who were around in 2005, already know Frank and what he expects. Recently signed Robert Fick is excited to play for him. Throwing a new manager in the already muddled situation would make things worse.

It's not like Frank is all bad, either. I don't think I ever loved the guy more watching him throw himself at Mike Scioscia in the Pine Tar game. Bad hip and all, he went out there and stood up for his team, possibly providing the inspiration for a comeback victory.

Frank makes plenty of poor managerial decisions. He's a crusty ol' curmudgeon. But he's the captain of the ship, and it's the right move to bring him back.

While I Was Sleeping

2005-12-08T08:59:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've all noticed by now that Jim Bowden, in his infinite wisdom, has traded Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge and Armando Galarraga to the Texas Rangers for Alfonso Soriano.

My first impression. Wow! Not necessarily a good "wow" or a bad "wow," but just "Wow."

The ramifications of this deal have already been tossed around by the vast members of the Natosphere. (Getting married turned me into a responsible working adult that goes to bed early. Yawn.) The reactions range from downright scornful to jubilation, with most people falling somewhere in the middle.

The trade is not the worst thing ever. Soriano is a better power hitter than Brad, but Wilk is vastly superior to Fonzie with the glove. Sledge is coming off a horrendous injury, and Galarraga might become a 3rd or 4th starter at best.

But why do it? Soriano will make about $5 million more than Wilk next year. Is a bit of power at the expense of a lot of defense really worth that much money? Soriano hit 36 homers last year, but that was in an extreme hitter's park. Can he even crack the 20 HR barrier in RFK Canyon? Soriano is a free swinger who's not as good of a contact hitter as Wilk.

Soriano is also best acquainted defensively with second base. But wait? Don't we already have a three-time all star? Never fear, it's being reported that Soriano will move to the outfield. But he doesn't want to play outfield, and Soriano has been known to be sullen.

So JimBo just traded for another mediocre defensive 2B who doesn't want to play outfield. But we frickin need pitching, dammit! JimBo said so himself. Right now, we only have four starters, and that assumes that Drese is healthy and serviceable.

Now, if either Church or Vidro are shipped out for pitching, we can revisit this deal as maybe an excellent one. But for now, we gave up our biggest trading pieces for a guy that may create more problems than he solves.

It's not the worst deal ever, but I don't see how it improves the team that much. JimBo filled a moderate need (power and speed) by creating another (too many 2B), while all the while ignoring our biggest need (pitching).

Why would Boston even consider hiring this guy?

Please, Have Mercy

2005-12-05T08:37:00.000-05:00

Success!

We did it! We successfully google-bombed the Dark Lord!

As detailed here, because the jockjaws at Yuda's -- along with other Nationals fans -- are sick and tired of MLB ownership of our team, we decided to google-bomb the Commissioner of Baseball, Emperor Bud Selig.

As of right now, the first result of a Google search of the phrase 'National Disgrace' is the official MLB biography of Bud Selig. Click here to see for yourself.

There was some progress over the weekend. It has been reported that the District and MLB have reached tentative agreement on a lease deal for the new stadium. This was widely believed to be one of the major obstacles impeding the announcement of a new owner. (Assuming the lease is signed and approved by the DC Council, which unfortunately is still not a guarantee)

So there is a light at the end of the tunnel. But I don't think any of us will be satisfied until the Nationals have an owner, and the team is finally free from the clutches of the Dark Lords of MLB.

Oh and by the way:

Bud Selig is still a National Disgrace.

Ode to Stevey

2005-11-30T10:42:00.000-05:00

As is old news by now, Esteban Loaiza became the latest National to find a home elsewhere, signing with Oakland for 3 years at just over $21 million. Despite the fact that this development is the best thing for both Loaiza and the Nationals, I can't help but feel the slightest bit of regret and disappointment.

I have this weird complex when it comes to the sports teams I love. I get oddly attached to the players that I've come to know as part of the team. When Matt Nokes was traded away from the Tigers in 1990, I couldn't fathom that my favorite catcher would be playing for the Yankees. This was even harder for my favorite collegiate teams, since players tend to graduate or declare for the professional draft. Perhaps it's not all that weird of a complex, but it's definitely impractical in a sports world of free agency and early declarations for the professional draft.

I'll miss "Steve-Lo" -- as some of us un-PC types called him on occasion. He was reliable and efficient, despite never being all that spectacular. On a team that didn't have much margin for error, he was a valuable resource.

And besides, the guy drove a bitchin' car. On a handful of occasions when I parked myself by the players lot searching for autographs, Esteban drove out and stopped his car to sign. He had a customized Mercedes E320. On the tail, the '3' and the '0' were removed and replaced with 'L' and '1' to form EL 21. Very sweet ride.

As already documented by a myriad of Nats bloggers more diligent than I, this is probably a good situation for the Nats and Loaiza. Steve-Lo wasn't worth 3 years and $21 million to the Nats. We offered him 2 years and $8 million, a far cry from what he wanted. But he got it from Oakland, so more power to him.

According to Harper at OMG, it was the three year contract that Stevey wanted. If we would have been able to sign him for 3 years and $12 million then like Harper, I think it's a no-brainer to sign him. But like Harper says, I doubt that would have been possible. Nine million dollars is an awful lot of dough to leave on the table.

I don't even mention the fact the lack of a Nats owner hamstrung us from the beginning. Is 3 years at $21 million a good value for a pitcher like Loaiza? Maybe, maybe not. But who knows if a proper owner with a proper budget would have been able to reach a deal with Loaiza.

Other bloggers have criticized Tom Boswell's column about this issue. Loaiza is no gigantic loss to be sure, but what are the alternatives? Jason Johnson? Ick. Brett Tomko? Uh, no thanks. Loaiza is no world-beater, but by all accounts he liked Washington and would have liked to stay. If we had an owner, we might have been able to keep him.

But it's of no matter now. Esteban is an Oakland Athletic, and Mrs. Rocket's disbelief at him getting picked off will have to remain a fond memory. Esteban contributed a lot to the great inaugural season we experienced. I'll miss him. And his funky male pattern baldness.

Google Bombs Over Milwaukee

2005-11-28T11:53:00.000-05:00

As of right now, Bud Selig's bio is on the second page of results for a Google search of National Disgrace

Let's keep it rolling.

And maybe one of these days, I'll be able to blog about a new owner. Something that monumental might actually get me to write a substantive post.

National Disgrace

2005-11-18T14:15:00.000-05:00

As chronicled in my last post and in many other fine blog posts (some of which are linked in my previous post), Supreme Dark Lord Selig refuses to set a timetable for selling the Washington Nationals franchise to an independent owner. As we all know, this severely handicaps the ability of the Nats to compete, especially since the free agency period is in full swing.

So the Natosphere, especially the jockjaws at Yuda's, have decided to try to make a statement. We're going to Google-bomb the Dark Lord.

What's Google-bombing? Well, this Wikipedia article explains the basics. It's a way of manipulating Google's search engine results in order to make an ironic or funny statement.

For example, google the phrase "miserable failure." The first search result is the White House biography of President Bush. No matter what you think of POTUS, this is a neat trick of political satire.

Our chosen phrase for Bud Selig is "National Disgrace." The page we want to link to is here, which is Selig's official bio on MLB.com.

To join the google-bombing, create a link with the words National Disgrace, that directs towards Selig's bio.

Like this:

National Disgrace

If this is repeated enough times on unique webpages, such as blogs, message boards or personal webpages, the google-bombing will be successful.

As you can see, National Disgrace is a popular search term on Google. It will take a TON of links to get to the top spot.

Now get moving! Let's make a statement on Selig's reluctance to free the Nats from the death-grip of his liver-spotted hands.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Skunky Bud

2005-11-11T10:25:00.000-05:00

Per usual, I'm very behind on my blogging. And like always, the big news has already been tossed around by bloggers more diligent than I. (Here, here, here, here, here, here) But I'm mad enough about recent news to chime in, even if it's late.

Well, our old friend, Supreme Emperor Commissioner Bud Selig announced there will be no owner named for the Nationals in time for the owners meeting next week. Great. Thanks a bunch, loser.

There are a lot of politics here that I won't even pretend to understand. Major League Baseball wants a lease agreement from the city before it'll name an owner. The city wants an owner first. At least, that's what I think the problem is. And I'm sure DC wants assurances that the new ownership group will be local, not an outsider like Bob Short who'll move the team to Las Vegas or Portland. And according to Jack Evans on WTOP Radio right now, without a guaranteed lease payment from MLB, the District won't be able to get a high-grade bond to pay for the stadium.

What's Bud's excuse? He hasn't had enough time to meet with all the ownership candidates! Bull. Freaking. Crap. How long does it take to meet with a group of guys for an hour each? Take him to get a freakin' hot dog at your local diner, Bud.

In reality, 1) you just don't want to etch a lease payment in stone, even after Washington's fan base has increased the value of the team AND given you a new stadium, and 2) you can't decide which ownership group will fall in line, goosestepping along with the rest of your minions in the Cult of Selig.

So what's that mean for the team? Well, free agency starts today. Two very critical Nats pitchers, Esteban Loaiza and Hector Carrasco, are free agents. Both want to return to Washington. But without an owner, we don't know if we can afford to pay them! That doesn't even include the goals of competing on the free agent market! The Nats were 2-3 players away from making the playoffs last year. Are we doomed for a Montreal/Puerto Rico quality team in 2006?

We barely even have a staff right now. Jim Bowden is only signed as GM through April. Frank Robinson doesn't have a contract, as do none of the coaching staff. How the hell are you supposed to resign your players, not to mention attract anyone new, if you don't know who's in charge?!

I've had enough. We were supposed to have an owner by Opening Day. Then by the All-Star break. Then by September. Then by the World Series. The current self-imposed deadline is next week. But Bud doesn't want to box himself in.

We've been screwed with too much. We couldn't watch the Nats on TV in 2005. We could barely hear the radio signal. Bud gave our TV rights, the lifeblood of a franchise, to Peter Angelos. If he screws us again on ownership, I pray that Congress gets involved.

Tom Davis is already pissed at you over steroids, Bud. I bet he'd love another excuse to drag you before his committee. In the meantime, I dare you to step foot on the field in Washington. The booing will make Lance Cormier feel like he got a standing ovation.

Revenge of Lance Cormier

2005-11-04T10:29:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning to find out that our resident one-legged third baseman was traded last night. And all the bloggers beat me to the punch. That's what I get for going to bed at a reasonable hour.

P.T. Bowden actually pulled a good one out of his hat, sending Vin to San Diego for starting pitcher Brian Lawrence and cash, reportedly the difference in the two contracts. Just about all the Natosphere likes it, and I will join in on the "groupthink".

First, let's look at what we get in return. Brian Lawrence had a horrible year in 2005, but he has shown over his career that he's quite capable of being an adequate starter at the back of the rotation. Check out Chris' post for an excellent breakdown. Livan and Patterson will anchor the front of the rotation, while we now have Lawrence in the back end. If we can resign Loaiza, which I think we can, then he will fit in at #3. You then have Rauch, Drese or even Carrasco working for the #5 spot. I can think of much worse options for the 2006 Nationals rotation.

More importantly, in acquiring Lawrence, Bowden was able to dump a 38 year-old one-legged third baseman who's not willing to be a backup. That clears the way for the man of the future Ryan Zimmerman to start at third in 2006. Interestingly enough, it may open up an opportunity for Brendan Harris or Rick Short to make the big club as a backup infielder. All of these are good things.

Despite the appeal of this trade, I will miss Vinny. The guy helped make for a very memorable season, especially on opening night. With a double, triple and homer in his first three at-bats, we all know what happened when Vinny came to the plate in the eighth inning, needing only a single for the cycle. The entire park, including myself in Section 517, was standing. And then pansy-ass Lance Cormier drilled him. The booing lasted for the remainder of the entire inning. That was one of the neatest things I'd ever seen.

Castilla was also in the middle of the play that made me fall hard for the Nats. I detailed that moment here and here. Two days after opening night, I was sitting in the upper deck at RFK, jumping up and down as Castilla and Guillen motored around the bases, literally about three feet apart. They slid into home to score the tying runs and popped up into a bear hug.

~~So it's time for you to go, Vinny, but thanks for all you did in our inaugural season.~~

EDIT: That's way too corny of a closing line, plus I have a few things to add.

- As mentioned, it looks like Ryan "Dutch" Zimmerman is first in line to start at third base next year. I know some Nat fans, mostly the mouth-breathers at BPG, hate the nickname Dutch. Some have started to call him "Z-Man the He-Man". Fine, don't call him Dutch. But Z-Man is just idiotic. If you don't want to call him Dutch, then don't. But Z-Man is moronic.

- Ryan's "Nat of the Day" sidebar at Distinguished Senators still cracks me up. JimBo did pull a fast one on Kevin Towers with the Castilla trade. Maybe I really do love the leader!

Survivor: Curacao

2005-10-31T16:02:00.000-05:00

I'm back. And yes, I survived. I'm still married, and I wasn't eaten like a male praying mantis.

I took the plunge, and at about 3:40 pm on October 8th, I finally got married to Mrs. Rocket. So, like Yuda, Ryan, DM, misschatter, BallWonk, Brian, JMadison, and I'm sure others I can't remember, I'm now a married Nats blogger.

It poured rain all day on the 8th, but it didn't damper our fun. It did, in fact, force our limosine to take an alternate route from the reception to the hotel, thanks to flooded roads. There's nothing like praying the limo driver won't ruin your wedding night by driving the car over an enbankment at midnight in the driving rain.

Then it was off to Curacao, the land of Andruw Jones. There are quite a few Braves fans on this tiny southern Caribbean island, so I packed all my Nats t-shirts for the trip. Here's a picture of me on the balcony of our hotel room. (Thanks go out to St. Barry for serving as my "face" double. He's much better looking.)

Microsoft Paint is a fantastic program, isn't it?!

Curacao is a beautiful island, and it's not nearly as Americanized as its neighbor island of Aruba. We stayed on a remote part of the island, away from the mega-resorts like Breezes or Sandals.

Although I didn't catch a single game in its entirety, watching the playoffs in Curacao was interesting. The local channel on the island would carry the MLB.tv feed, which spared us from the inane crap of Tim McCarver. In between innings, however, two personalities would discuss the game in the local dialect of Papamiento. It was really cool to see how baseball was enjoyed so much over 2,000 miles away from home.

So, what do I know about the recent goings-on with the Nats and potential ownership? Not a damn thing. Although one guy from New York at the resort scared the crap out of me. He told me he was pretty sure he heard on ESPN the Nats had been sold to some guy who owns a radio station (read: Smuylan). Thank god he was wrong.

For now, check out the bloggers in my sidebar to stay updated. I'll post the next time I have something substantive to say. Or at least the next time I feel embarrassed by the lack of posts on my blog.

Mr. Tony Would Be Proud

2005-09-27T08:02:00.000-04:00

How 'bout that Hector Carrasco and that Cristian Guzman?

Yes, I'm well aware how pathetic it is that we're excited about the starting performance of a 35 year old reliever who had to scramble to find a job this year. But it's the something, and the Nats are playing hard, trying to finish the year over .500 and not in last place.

And yes, I'm also well aware of how pathetic it is that I have nothing else to say on the subject. But hopefully I'm not turning into Kornheiser, who used his two and a half paragraphs in yesterday's paper to defend old guys. Talk about having nothing worthwhile to say.

Oh well, at least I'll be on that honeymoon in less that two weeks.

Pushed As Far As I Can Go

2005-09-22T08:45:00.000-04:00

So this is how it ends? With a thud. Four straight losses. Three of them in which the Nats held the lead with two outs in the ninth.

Last night was a little different, as Washington fell 5-1 to San Francisco, paced by Barry Bonds' fourth homer of the year. Bonds may not be doing it ethically or legally, but damn -- he's good.

I didn't see the game, so I won't pretend to have anything insightful to say about it. But I do want to rip Mr. Tony Kornheiser a new one.

In today's Washington Post, Mr. Tony finally gets around to devoting his precious six paragraphs to the Nats. However, I guess shouldn't be surprised it's not actually about sports. In his "column" Kornheiser lays into Ryan Church for supposedly saying all Jews are doomed to eternal damnation.

If Church actually said that Jews are doomed to hell, then -- even though he has a right to his beliefs -- he shouldn't have framed it in such an unfortunate way.

But I think we should consider the possibility that Church is the victim of some ambiguous phrasing by the author of the article. Here's the section in question from the original article:

Church was concerned because his former girlfriend was Jewish. He turned to Moeller, "I said, like, Jewish people, they don't believe in Jesus. Does that mean they're doomed? Jon nodded, like, that's what it meant. My ex-girlfriend! I was like, man, if they only knew. Other religions don't know any better. It's up to us to spread the word."

Read that section again... I don't read that as Church proclaiming that Jews are doomed to eternal hellfire. As I read it, Church asked a question then reacted with surprise when receiving an answer from chaplain Jon Moeller. It sounds like he was merely relating to the reporter his reaction to the position stated by the chaplain.

I'm not going to get into a religious or political discussion here. I can understand that Kornheiser and others might be upset that some think they're doomed.

However, Mr. Tony's anger toward Church is misdirected. Ryan asked a question and received an answer. The reporter was recording his reaction to that answer. Kornheiser would be better served devoting his once-in-a-blue-moon excuse for a column to actual sports, rather than searching for a reason to make lame matzoh ball jokes at the expense of a guy searching for answers about his faith.

Wake Me Up When September Ends

2005-09-19T08:21:00.000-04:00

So what'd I miss?

Seriously, I've tried to like Frank. I do enjoy his old man crustiness; I think it's funny and even sometimes refreshing.

But Saturday night is proof positive that he stinks.

Baseball. It's a cruel mistress. Commissioner Giamatti had it right:

"It's designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything is new again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops, and leaves you to face the fall alone."

Here comes the rain again.

Hope Springs Eternal

2005-09-16T08:58:00.000-04:00

Nats 6, Mets 5 (10 innings)

Well, I suppose I should probably say something. After all, I had practically proclaimed the Nats to be dead. St. Barry must have killed and resurrected them about ten times now. Even Tom "Foam Finger" Boswell can't believe they're still breathing.

Just when I thought the Nats were going to let me and Churchy get hitched in peace, they had to go and sweep the Mets in a three-game series at Shea this week. Now, with 15 games remaining, Washington is 76-71 and 2.5 games behind the Houston Astros in the hunt for the Wild Card.

No less than a sweep of the Mets this week probably would have been acceptable. But we did it, somehow coming back to win yesterday afternoon on clutch hits from a number of players, but especially from the ghosts of Third Baseman Past and Third Baseman Yet To Come. (Sorry, Mr. Dickens.)

So, with 15 games remaining, what will it take to win the Wild Card? About 86-88 wins is probably the magic milestone. That means the Nats have to win 10-12 of the last 15 games. Check out the fine post from Chris for a more detailed breakdown.

Does it defy all logic that we can do this? Oh, definitely. But since when have the Nats -- and for that matter, baseball itself -- ever been about logic?

Beat the Mets

2005-09-15T08:41:00.000-04:00

Wooo! We won! Twice!

Did I see the games? No, I'm still carting crap between my two apartments in my tiny ass car. Covering a 30 mile distance can be kinda time-consuming.

So am I'm happy we won and are now three games back with 16 games left? Definitely. But let's not get too excited. We still have to finish the year with a bang and have the teams ahead of us falter, at least a little.

So why are you here reading me? I didn't see the games! Go read Chris, Basil, Ryan, John, Herr Wonk, Brian, Harper and Jean-Pierre or any of the other fine blogs in my sidebar. Or you could just join the Order of St. Barry and read his fine game story.

(I can't believe I've devolved to this, giving reading recommendations!)

When that first leaf falls...

2005-09-12T08:57:00.000-04:00

It was not a good weekend to be a sports fan in my world. My first sports love and my most recent sports love both fell apart in crucial situations, losing some very big games. Luckily for my psyche, I was too busy to witness most of it.

As I've mentioned before, I started forming my sports allegiances when I lived in Michigan as a kid. There's nothing bigger in southeastern Michigan than Wolverine football. And of course, when you love Michigan football, you despise Notre Dame. To this day, I can't stand the Irish. They're so damn insufferable, like they were ordained by God to win football games. It's so freakin' uppity of them. And I say that as a practicing Catholic.

Well, Michigan blew it. Freaking turnovers and an offense that couldn't go anywhere. They were bad. Passing the ball? What in the name of Bo Schembechler is that?! Run the ball, baby!! I don't care how long it's been since I lived in Michigan, losing to Notre Dame stinks big time.

And then there's the Nats, the team I've more recently grown to love. If I had actually seen any of the games this weekend, I might be out on a ledge somewhere. Seriously.

I caught the end of Friday's win only after the Nats had completed the comeback, so I missed any of the emotional highs of that win. I didn't see any of Saturday's win, but it sounds like we were never really in that game. But I can't imagine the pain of watching Sunday's comeback, only to see a blown save in the ninth. I guess I should be really grateful that I've been real busy of late.

Maybe this is all meant to put things in perspective for me. As I'm sure you're all tired of hearing, there's some big stuff coming up for me this fall. And right now, that's certainly where my mind is focused. It was also a tough weekend for America, as we're still digging out from Katrina while remembering the fourth anniversary of 9/11.

Things like these tragedies or a personal milestone like a wedding are certainly more important than sports. But still, once the dust settles, there's nothing like riding along with your team on the emotional rollercoaster of a season.

Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mine

2005-09-09T08:51:00.000-04:00

Fish 8, Nats 4

I think it would be accurate to call myself one of the more "optomistic/realistic" Nationals fans, at least among the jock-jaws over at Yuda's. I've resisted pronouncing the Nats completely dead, at least so far. But after the latest three-game losing streak, only the most blindly optomistic can hold out realistic hope.

Granted, the Wild Card is still possible. But let's think clearly here. At four games behind the lead with only 21 games to play, Washington would need a winning streak of at least four games to climb back in the race.

Can they do that? Sure, anything's possible. No one would have predicted 50-31 at the halfway point. But with only three starters you can count on to even give the team a chance to win, how likely is even a two game winning streak? I mean, we don't even know who the fourth starter is right now.

But let's assume the Nats can sweep the Braves and take the first game of the Mets series. That wouldn't even get you in first place in the Wild Card. Three teams are ahead of us. Milwaukee would need to sweep Houston this weekend.

But that leaves the Phillies and the Marlins. They play each other this weekend! Assuming the Nationals sweep Atlanta and Milwaukee sweeps Houston, whoever wins that series would move into first place in the Wild Card.

Therein lies the problem. All the teams competing with the Nationals for the Wild Card (save for Houston) primarily play each other the rest of the way. It helps the Nats in the sense that they play the teams they're chasing. But when those teams also play each other, it makes it very difficult to gain ground on all of them. Philly, Florida, New York and Atlanta's games against each other will likely cancel each other out, leaving the status quo in place. If one team gets hot -- let's say Florida -- that makes them the favorite, forcing the Nats the sweep the Marlins in the last series in order to even have a prayer.

It hurts to have the team fall so hard and so fast. But having a team to be emotional over, even if it hurts, is something joyous in itself.

We want a pitcher, not a ...

2005-09-08T08:53:00.000-04:00

Fla 12, Was 1

After returning from wandering in the wilderness, Chris Needham wrote a pretty good blog entry about Tuesday's loss. He talked about how every emotional reaction is intensified this time of year. Big wins make you the favorite to win the World Series, while crushing losses suddenly make you the worst team ever to trot onto a baseball field.

Being very busy this month, I've fallen prey to this quite often over the past week. I'll glance at the boxscore and either be elated or crushed. Yesterday, I think the bubble of this remarkable season finally popped for good.

Dontrelle Willis dominated the Nationals, who did everything in their power to lose this game. Seven Nationals pitchers were trotted out, all of them allowing at least one run. The Fish scored 12 runs and left 17 men on base. That's a pretty good indicator that your pitching stinks.

Washington managed only five hits, three of them by September call-ups. Young Ryan Zimmerman got one of those hits, but his inexperience at shortstop showed when he made two errors that each led to an unearned run.

One of Frank Robinson's major strengths has been his handling of the pitching staff. But John Halama, the stop-gap fourth starter, was only given the opportunity to pitch 2/3 of a inning, allowing a single run. I mean, sure, the guy stinks. But when you don't even have a fifth starter, do you really want to make your bullpen pitch 8 1/3 innings? I just didn't get it.

Last night was primarily about starting pitching depth. At the beginning of the year, the Nats had extraordinary depth. There were probably 7-8 guys that would be at least a serviceable #5 starter on many Major League teams. Now, thanks in part to injury but mostly to pure stupidity, the Nats can't even put a fourth starter out on the field.

Boswell jumped on this line of thinking (FINALLY!) in yesterday's e-mail column, and St. Barry continues the thought process in last night's game story. Right now, it would be nice to have at least one guy out of the group of Zach Day, Tomo Ohka, Sunny Kim and Claudio Vargas. One can debate endlessly the merits of the trades involving Zach Day and Tomo Ohka. But letting Sunny Kim get snapped up on waivers was careless. And Jim Bowden even waiving Claudio Vargas was stupid to begin with, since he apparently had an option year left. He could have been sent to the minors without putting him on the waiver wire!

Apparently Frank is considering going to a four-man rotation by the end of next week. That's alarming by itself, even though it's probably necessary. But what's flat out frightening is that the fourth starter would be the bullpen!

Jim Bowden you stink. Nats hitters - you stink too.

Tonight is about as must-win as it gets. Barring a minor miracle, losing tonight would likely doom the Nats - especially with how well Houston is playing as of late.

It would hurt a lot to miss the playoffs. But the fact we actually are hurting over baseball is a wonderful thing. This could be the first time in 34 years that Washington baseball fans get to say, "Wait 'till next year!"

Pump It Up

2005-09-06T08:53:00.000-04:00

Nats 5, Fish 2

Despite the fact we were in this all along -- at least mathematically -- a week ago I wouldn't have believed the Nats could be only 1.5 games out of the wild card with 24 games remaining.

They just weren't playing well. Whenever the opponent jumped out to a lead, it seemed that the game was all but over. And even if the Nats managed to come back from monumental deficits, as they did against New York and Atlanta, they would still lose a heartbreaker. Washington didn't have any confidence in itself, and frankly, neither did a lot of fans.

But they seem to have found their edge. With three consecutive victories in must-win games, I think the team has got the message that this is crunch time. Despite the clubhouse tensions Boswell has reported, the gravity of what's at stake may have finally shown up on the field.

And if that's means they're not allowed to play music or cards or movies in the clubhouse, then great. It's time to put all of their energy into baseball.

They're showing energy too. ¡Livan!, whose eight innings of masterful pitching earned him back his exclamation points, was a model of enthusiasm on the mound and at the plate. Marlon Byrd, who has been on a tear since returning from AAA, was animated in celebrating his successes at the plate. And Cristian Guzman, who had been removed from the game, was the first to greet ¡Livan! as he returned to the dugout to a standing ovation.

Indeed, the fun has begun. Of course, with Darrell Rasner and John Halama getting the next two starts, it may be a little less than fun the next two days.

They're aliiiiiiiiiiive!

2005-09-05T13:57:00.000-04:00

Greeting from the new apartment, the future home of Mr. and Mrs. Rocket1124. As I write, I’m sitting on the floor of a mostly furniture-less living room, watching a grainy picture of the Nats taking on the Marlins, thanks to cheap pair of old fashioned rabbit ears. So far, so good; it’s 1-0 Nats in the third.

Between trips between the old and new apartments, I managed to squeeze in a trip to RFK on Saturday night. It was an excruciatingly painful game that dragged on for about four hours. Chad Cordero blew a save, and it looked like we might blow one of the biggest games this year.

Not only was I happy that we won, but I was very encouraged at the pure exuberance shown by the Nats as Jose Guillen scored on Preston Wilson’s double. The team bolted out of the dugout to mob Guillen as he scored, then turned to mob Preston out near second base. Wilkerson led the way, and Preston greeted him with an emphatic high five.

I stood there in section 421 taking this all in, and I couldn’t help but smile. These were the Nats I had fallen in love with way back in April. This was the same spirit I saw when Guillen and Castilla slid into home plate safely right on top of each other, then hopped up into each other’s arms.

A loss in Saturday’s game would have been devastating. It would have killed any confidence they had left, and it would have put them five games back of the wild card.

Now, after Sunday’s big win, the Nats are two games back of the Phillies for the wild card. And form all accounts, the team is feeling good. We’re still breathing.

Treading Water

2005-09-02T08:48:00.000-04:00

The Nats did just enough to avoid disaster in the four game series at Atlanta, splitting with the Braves. They remain seven games back of Atlanta in the division, but fell to three games back of the Wild Card, with 28 games remaining in the season.

It's sooooooooo effing infuriating, however, that the two losses could have easily been wins. I missed nearly all of Wednesday's 5-3 loss in the first game of the double-header. But apparently the Nats ran themselves out of several opportunities to get back in the game. Not only did Guillen get his ass picked off, stupid Frank put on a hit and run with Vinny Castilla on base and Garry Bennett at the plate. Now I'm not one who thinks a hit and run is the wrong call 99% of the time. But Vinny can't run! It's that simple. And as nice a guy as Gary is, he can't really hit either. Stupid, stupid.

Last night, the Nats came back from a 7-1 deficit to tie the game. Old school Nats, right? I got my hopes way up that this would be a June-style Nats win, snatching a win out of the jaws of defeat in one of the biggest games of the year. But no. Andruw Jones homered to lead off the Braves half of the tenth, and just like that, it all turned for the worse.

Again, Washington ran themselves out of several opportunities. In the fourth, Vinny forgot how many out there were and got doubled off first on a fly ball to center. In the fifth, good ol' Cheeseburglar Baerga tried to go join Marlon Byrd on third base. (Perhaps he thought Marlon was packin' cheeseburgers. Har, har, har!)

I just now read St. Barry's game story. He puts it very well, as always. "Clearly, with September now upon us, treading water no longer suffices in the woolly, wacky, five-deep National League wild-card race. Although the Nationals emerged from this four-game series against the best team in their division with a split -- a solid showing, by most accounts -- they still came away with a net loss of a half-game in the standings and the feeling that something very meaningful was lost."

Treading water no longer suffices. That's a great way to put it. Three games out of a playoff spot with 28 games remaining is not an insurmountable obstacle. But almost all the teams ahead of us play each other too, dampening the opportunity to gain significant ground. The Nats have to win series -- even sweep some -- in order to push themselves to the top of the pack.

Went back inside, sat down, had a few drinks...

2005-08-30T22:56:00.000-04:00

Nats 3, Bravos 2

I was in and out during this game. Helping to plan a wedding keeps you busy. (By the way, helping is the operative word here! The lovely future-Mrs. Rocket is doing the heavy lifting.)

But this game, which was a crucial win, reminded me of the games we always won back in the glory days of June. A reliable player stumbles, Guillen's manhood is questioned, and the bullpen hangs on in a nailbiter. Textbook!

"Old Faithful" Patterson had to leave with some stomach problems, apparently. I didn't see it, I was discussing pew bows!

The Braves threw at Guillen's head, apparently because Larry Jones didn't like it when Guillen slid into third base hard. El Bate Loco pulled a Frankie, got up and hit a bomb of a dinger a few pitches later.

I finished my wedding discussions in time to see recent call-up Jason Bergmann wiggle out of two bases-loaded jams. Then he got a hit and scored as part of a Nats rally to take the lead! Too bad for him that he'll likely be sent back down to make room for Guzman's understudy, Deivi Cruz.

Hector Carrassco, Gary Majewski and Chief Cordero combined to hold the Tomahawk Choppers at bay to nail down a huge win.

I've said it a few times after a Nats win recently. This could be the start of something good. And if the Nats can at least split tomorrow's doubleheader, they can continue a modest streak of momentum. Five teams are bunched within a game and a half of the wild card, with the Nats bringing up the rear. It's still not over.

They've already missed lots of opportunities. But another one is in front of them. Tonight's "Glory Days" style win is another good start.

Bah!

2005-08-28T16:51:00.000-04:00

I have this weird memory of David Letterman on promos for his return to TV back in the early nineties. He would smile his goofy gap-toothed grin and spout a stupid one-liner. My favorite was "As always, the winner will be determined by the higher score." That cracked me up for some reason.

After a great game by Loaiza and the Nats on Friday to open a crucial series, the offensive was pathetic on Saturday and Sunday. They were shut out 6-0 in both games, managing only six hits in both games.

Guys, you gotta score if you want to win!

Now we go into division leading Atlanta for a four-game series. A split would be treading water. Three of four is a must in order to gain any ground. And of course, a sweep would be amazing.

With each series loss, it gets harder and harder to imagine the Nats in the playoffs. It can be done though, as we play most of our remaining games against the teams ahead of us. We just need to actually score a run or two.

Great Start

2005-08-26T22:03:00.000-04:00

Nats 4, Cards 1

A long journey begins with a single step. The Nats need to step it up and dig deep if they want to make the playoffs. Tonight was a great start.

A 4-1 victory over the best team in the majors is a good way to start. It would have been nice to take more than one game from the lowly Reds this week. But that's in the past. Tonight, the Nationals did what they had to do against the Cardinals.

Loaiza was great. He allowed only a single run in the seventh once he was tiring. He only allowed three hits while throwing 96 pitches, silencing the best offenses in the majors.

And the bats managed four runs. A veritable explosion of four runs!! Not bad for the Nats' offense.

Wilk led off the game with his second consecutive homer. (He homered in his last at-bat last night) Jose Guillen had himself a decent night too, going 2 for 3 and scoring a pair. Loaiza got himself an RBI too.

A nice start for the Nats. Let's see if they can continue it. Getting at least one more against the Cards would be very, very sweet.

The Time of Your Life

2005-08-26T08:43:00.000-04:00

Redlegs 5, Nationals 3

Sure, they're still in it. Two and half games out of the Wild Card is not an overwhelming obstacle, not by any means.

But when you fail to win the series you are supposed to win, like this week's against the Reds, realistically your chances don't look very good.

The Nats will spend the next week playing against the two best teams in the National League, St. Louis and Atlanta. At the end of the next week, what is now a fear could be turned into a cold, harsh reality. The Nats could be dead and buried. Unless they can dig deep and find something that's been missing for the past two months, stick a fork in 'em.

After a 100-win pace to the first half of the season, the Nats are now looking at a .500 record (81 wins) as a possibility. That would entail a 15-20 finish to the season. The way they're playing now, it's possible they won't manage even that. Here's hoping they keep playing for pride, long after playoff chances have flown by.

So what should we be pleased with? Before the season, every single last one of us would have been thrilled (or at least satisfied) with 81 wins. But after a 50-win first half of the season, our expectations skyrocketed. Was that unreasonable? Maybe, but personally I don't think so. Half a season is a large sample of games. Not even Mr. Superfan thought a 100-win season was possible. But 90 wins wasn't out of the question. And that should have been enough to challenge strongly for the Wild Card.

Some fans might tell you that we should be happy that baseball is back in DC and not worry too much about how the team is doing, especially given the circumstances. That's very true, at least to a degree.

But there's nothing wrong with wanting your team to do well. There's nothing wrong with being upset with a loss, and there certainly is nothing wrong with second-guessing the moves of a manager or GM. That's part of being a fan.

Being grateful for having a team and criticizing them are not two mutually exclusive sentiments. Both can be done. In fact, both should be done. Satisfaction with the status quo are how medicore sports franchises perpetuate themselves. Lack of fan involvement and passion in the fate of the team is why owners neglect their franchises. Then the team is caught in a vicious cycle of losing, which can drive away fans. Then, if worse comes to worse, the franchise moves. Like maybe to Minnesota or Texas.

So let's be grateful for the Nationals and remember this season fondly. But let's not be satisfied with a few months of winning. We can do better. Either way, we're in for the long haul.

Red Glove of Courage*

2005-08-25T08:52:00.000-04:00

* with apologies to BallWonk

Nats 5, Reds 3

You can't help but like a guy like John Patterson. A guy who looks more like Lurch than a major league pitcher, he's become the Nats ace, someone from which you can expect a stellar effort.

He did it again last night, but by his own admission, he nearly cracked under the pressure. His escape routine in the seventh inning was a thing of beauty, getting out of a bases-loaded no out jam. He pumped his fist emphatically as he ran back to the dugout.

And know what I like best about it all? He wanted more. After getting the hook in the ninth inning, he sat in the dugout looking almost pissed as Chief nailed down the game. At first I wanted to scream at him (Look happy! Your team won!). But I realized that he was just mad he couldn't do more. I like that.

And the Nats won a game they had to win. From here on out, they have to win series. No two ways about it. A loss last night would have sealed a series defeat vs. the Reds, something they can not afford. It was encouraging to see them win on the backs of JP's arm and Guillen, Schneider and Vinny's bats.

It's not over yet. I never thought I'd see the day, but even Mike Wilbon is optomistic.

The Curse of Jim Bowden

2005-08-24T08:38:00.000-04:00

Redlegs 6, Nationals 2

Jim Bowden's new team is 0-4 against his old team. Cincinnati must be enjoying its dominance of their former crappy GM. No wonder JimBo is trying to bring the whole organization to Washington.

The Nats simply have to do better than this. Two runs on four hits against a mediocre pitcher certainly isn't going to cut it. A starting pitcher throwing 83 mile an hour fastballs is not good enough. Fouling up the signs in a key offensive situation -- that's the kind of mistake that is not acceptable.

Things are looking bleaker now with a starting pitcher on the DL and another apparently about to join him. Armas will have an MRI today on his shoulder, which everyone could tell was hurting when he served up an 83 mph fastball to Edwin Encarnacion, who parked it deep into left field. I swear, the guy is made of papier-mache. He may join Drese on the disabled list.

Not that losing Drese and Armas are huge losses in the talent department, but this puts us in a huge bind, at least depth-wise. We've either traded or released all of our starting pitcher depth. Even if you stipulate that trading away Zach Day and Tomo Ohka were good deals, it sure would be nice to have Claudio Vargas or Sunny Kim right now -- both of whom were given away for nothing.

Washington is tied for fourth place in the division and two games back in the wild card. If they even want to sniff the post-season, the Nationals have to start winning -- now. It only gets harder from here on out.

Said Jose Vidro: "It's time for somebody to get up.... The whole ballclub needs to show that it wants it. Right now, it doesn't look it."

Skirting Disaster

2005-08-22T09:12:00.000-04:00

Since I last posted, the Nats have done just enough to avoid disaster. Twice, against the Phillies and the Mets, they pulled out a win in a situation where defeat might have severly hampered any playoff hopes.

After dropping the opener of Thursday's doubleheader in Philly, the Nats were in danger of losing the series. But they came back in the eighth inning of the nightcap, pulling out a victory to split the series. It was a fantastic victory in what was pretty much a must-win game, at least in my opinion.

I caught bits and pieces of each game in the Mets series on New York TV or radio. Friday was just another typical Nats loss; a brilliant John Patterson outing was wasted in a 1-0 defeat. Saturday, Livan -- who is in danger of ¡never! getting his exclamation points back -- imploded big time, allowing eight runs in less than three innings. Washington battled, tying the game in the ninth inning, but they couldn't push across another run, falling 9-8.

That left Washington in an essentially must-win situation again yesterday. The Nats responded, getting 6 runs in the first inning off Anna Benson's husband, driving him from the game before he could finish the inning. Loaiza pitched fairly well for a guy on short rest, allowing only a three-run homer to rookie Mike Jacobs. Also, kudos to Ryan Church, who seems to have found his stroke again, batting leadoff yesterday in place of a struggling Brad Wilkerson.

Despite a pair of fielding errors in the ninth, Washington hung on to win 7-4. The win prevented a sweep and salvaged a 7-6 roadtrip, which is not a disaster, considering how poorly the Nats had played prior to the trip.

So where does that leave us? Before the 13 game roadtrip from hell, the Nationals were two games back in the Wild Card and five and half games back in the NL East. After the trip, they're 1.5 back of the Wild Card and 5 back in the division. So we gained a half game in each race.

Considering the difficulty of the roadtrip, I suppose that's good enough, but just barely. They held their own; but with the season winding down, it's time to kick it up a notch. Twenty-five of the 38 remaining games are at home, so the opportunity is definitely there.

Shortstop?

2005-08-18T10:37:00.000-04:00

According to several sources (including from the horse's mouth/ass), it may not be long before the Nationals' first round draft pick, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, is brought up to replace Cristian Guzman at shortstop. In fact, he already has moved to shortstop in AA Harrisburg, starting last night in the Senators' 7-0 loss to Bowie.

Now I have no problem with moving Dutch to short, on a permanent or short-term basis. Seriously. The third base-shortstop switch been done plenty of times before, to sometimes great results. I have no doubt that he has the skill needed in order to make the adjustment to another position. Apparently, one scout even likes him better at short as opposed to third base. Dutch also played a lot of shortstop at Kellam High School in Virginia Beach, moving to third base full-time because

It does bother me, however, that this smacks of desparation from our circus master/general manager Jim "P.T." Bowden. Think about it: Cristian Guzman at shortstop is the team's highest profile and most obvious problem. Bowden's most glaring mistake is signing Guzman to a four-year, $16.8 million contract while giving up high draft picks in the process.

Zimmerman was Bowden's first draft pick. Calling him up to replace Guzman is a high-profile way to fix your biggest mistake with one of "your boys." It really bothers me that it seems that Bowden is willing to take a risk with Zimmerman's development in order to cover his ass. There are other options besides Dutch.

It's clear that Guzman is a problem that needs to be fixed. Jamey Carroll is not the solution for any period of time much longer than a few days. Despite his limited experience, Junior Spivey may be worth a look at short once he returns from injury. But Brendan Harris, Rick Short (pictured at left), Kevin Orie, and Juan Melo are all option the Nats have in the minor leagues.

Calling up Zimmerman and playing him could possibly tamper with his development and also start the clock on his option years, opening him up to the waiver wire and Rule V eligibility earlier than planned.

Dutch can and may do very well at shortstop in the big leagues. But while there are several other viable options, is it really worth risking the biggest minor league investment just to cover an interim GM's ass?

Bent, But Not Broken

2005-08-18T08:45:00.000-04:00

Phils 4, Nats 3

This was a game that would have been a huge, huge win. We would have moved into a tie for first in the Wild Card and also into a prime position to take 3 of 4 from the Phillies going into todays doubleheader.

And it's a game we should have won. Failure to score a runner from third base with less than two outs -- which happened in the seventh -- is just not acceptable for a team in a playoff race.

Yet it's not a killer, despite the fact it would have been a huge win. We lost a game to the Braves, but Philly leapfrogging us is all that happened in the Wild Card race; we're still a half-game out. That said, it is a must to at least split the doubleheader today. A sweep would be even better.

With Guillen's single in the ninth and Preston Wilson's 10 pitch at-bat, it was another game the Nats had a shot at winning despite poor play. If they truly want to make the playoffs, the Nationals have to step up and start delivering in these situations.

Just A Box Of Rain

2005-08-17T08:24:00.000-04:00

Just one question: Why in the world did the Phillies ever have this game started?!

Loaiza goes tonight and there will be a day/night doubleheader on Thursday. Imagine how huge a win tonight would be? It would force the Phils to try to sweep the doubleheader in order to salvage a series split.

Wachet Auf

2005-08-16T08:33:00.000-04:00

Nats 6, Phils 3

The new shipment of bats must be working or something like that. The Nats extended their winning streak (gasp!) to four games behind four Washington homers, a pair of which were two run dingers from the much maligned Preston Wilson. (Hey, I'm more than happy to be wrong from time to time if it means we win!)

Preston said it well after the game: "It feels good to contribute to a win. I think that's going to be the thing about us down the stretch -- a different night it's going to be a different guy -- and everybody is going to do their part and chip in."

His point is worth taking. There's enough good, decent players on this team that it can be someone different every night who sparks a win. Just about everyone was contributing in June. Problem was, nobody stepped up in July. Last night, Preston was the latest to step up in this nice little August four game winning streak.

Now that the offense is awake, I think it's safe to start feeling mildly good about the Nationals. If my math is correct, the Nats have hit more homers on this road trip (14) than in the entire freaking month of July (13). The most significant thing is the fact they hadn't been winning games due to offensive power. If the long ball bats are finally awake, then this could be a dangerous, dangerous team down the stretch.

I don't usually listen to Michael Wilbon for opinions about baseball, much less anything else. But he had a decent (although obvious) point on PTI yesterday evening. The Nats lost something like 13 straight one-run games during their horrendous July slide. But the fact they've only been one-run losses is encouraging. If the Nats can get that little bit extra -- that extra hit, that extra good pitch, that extra play in the field -- then they can keep themselves in the playoff race through September.

They have the talent. They just have to do it.

Rocky Mountain High

2005-08-15T08:23:00.000-04:00

Nats sweep Rockies: 4-2, 8-0, 9-2

I was in and out all weekend, but I saw enough of the Saturday and Sunday games to notice one very important thing. The Nats were smiling again.

Sure, they swept the Rockies, the worst team in the National League. And they did it in Coors Field, one of the best hitting parks ever.

But you've got to crawl before you can walk. Going into Colorado, they absolutely had to take two of three from the lowly Rockies. Not because failure would mathematically end the playoff chase, but because it would further drive the Nats into a funk.

Instead they responded in rather inspiring fashion, impressing even the most critical eye. Guillen stepped up on Friday, singling in two runs in the first inning, while Loaiza and the bullpen held the Rockies at bay. Armas and Patterson both got it done on Saturday and Sunday, despite each allowing an average of over one hit per inning. Johnson and Vidro stand out offensively from the latter two games, though nearly everyone had a contribution in some form.

The sweep pulled the Nats to within one game of the Wild Card lead. But the sweep is more important for what it does for the team's psyche. It hopefully has made them believe in themselves again. Winning the way they used to -- good pitching, timely hitting and some nice defense -- should bring back some of the old swagger.

And it couldn't come at a better time, as the road trip moves to Philadelphia and New York. It's yet another key point in the season, as the next seven games against the two division opponents is a prime opportunity to pick up some more steam in the drive for October

Everyday I Have The Blues

2005-08-12T08:18:00.000-04:00

'Stros 6, Nats 3

I'm tired. I'm so very tired of watching the Nats play poorly. If it's not poor pitching, it's poor defense. And if it's not a lack of offense, it's a lack of clutch offense. Last night, it was a little bit of everything.

Drese couldn't get the ball anywhere near where he wanted. The Nats botched a rundown in the sixth, when the ball clanked off Vinny's glove. Their bats were dead, except for a pair of relatively meaningless homers from Preston and Guillen.

If you want more - read St. Barry; I don't have anything constructive to say.

Vidro did leave us with this quote, though. "We still have a chance. ... I'm never going to quit. This is a game you play every day, and you got to come back the next day and try to do it. We're only three games out, and we still got a month and a half to go. If you quit now, you don't love this game."

We've got to take at least two games from Colorado this weekend and do it in a convincing fashion. Otherwise, our hopes dim to nearly nothing.

Opportunity Lost

2005-08-11T08:46:00.000-04:00

Houston 7, Washington 6

So much for momentum. After winning the first game of the series, last night was an opportunity to pull into a wild card tie with one of our best pitchers on the mound.

But Livan was not good, giving up seven runs in six innings. He didn't have much of anything on the mound tonight. He didn't put much of anything behind his pitches; perhaps his knee injury was finally catching up to him.

He tried to do it with the bat though, driving in three runs with a double and a homer. But it wasn't enough. In the sixth, when the Astros broke it open, Livan chose to intentionally walk Berkman to load the bases in order to pitch to Ensberg. Bad move, as Ensberg got a hit to drive in more run, making the score 7-4.

The Nats mustered two runs off Brad Lidge in the ninth, but it wasn't enough. Frank sent gimpy Jose up to pinch hit for Free Swingy McGee Preston Wilson. But Guillen whiffed, stranding the winning runs on base.

So the Nats are now two games out of the Wild Card lead. They fell to six and half games out of first place in the division and are now tied for third. Only one game is between them and last place. All of a sudden, I'm very, very tired.

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So it looks like Brandon Watson may stay in the lineup once Guillen returns. That probably pushes Preston Wilson to the bench. [sarcasm] He's done a fine job, eh? Good thing we acquired him. [/sarcasm] I've said it before, and I'm not the only one - but I'm pissed about Bowden's hard-on for outfielders. Our biggest trading chip, Zach Day, was traded for a guy that's stunk up the place, even though Bowden has said "pitching, pitching, pitching" was our biggest need. But then he lets Sunny Kim, our only long relief option, get away so he can give OF Matt Cepicky less than a week as a pinch hitter in the bigs. (While meantime, former Rookie of the Year candidate Ryan Church was standing in the corner of the dugout, trying to get someone's attention)

Do you even know what you're doing, Bowden? Can you think two moves ahead? It's ok, you can admit it. Frankly, you'd feel more at home going back to the idiots on "Cold Pizza."

Yes, No, Maybe

2005-08-10T08:34:00.000-04:00

Nats 6, Astros 5

The stuff that didn't happen in the win last night is almost as significant as what did happen. (say that ten times fast)

The Nats did win an important game, creeping to within one game of Houston's Wild Card lead and hanging on to second place in the NL East.

The Nats didn't lose their 14th straight one run game, which would have dropped them to a confidence damaging 3 games behind Houston and into a tie for third in the NL East.

The Nats did hit four home runs, opening up a 6-1 lead over the 'stros, thanks in part to "baseball's stupidest park." (I will set myself on fire if DC gets a park that stupid)

The Nats didn't hold the big lead, allowing Houston to climb back in it, thanks to Cristian Guzman's amazingly brilliant play in the infield [/sarcasm] and a little help from the second base ump.

Brandon Watson did go 2-5 in his major league debut, with a double and a high fly ball that found the seats for a "Juice Box" homer. He joins the distinguished ranks of those who were hot in their Nats debut. Previous honorees include Preston Wilson, Junior Spivey and Marlon Byrd.

Ryan Church didn't play as yet another newly acquired outfielder leapfrogged over him for playing time, further proving that Frank hates him. I think Churchy needs regular playing time to develop and mature, and I'd almost rather see him do it in AAA than rot on the bench here.

The Nats did win a key game despite many mistakes and errors. Perhaps this might relieve some of the "pressure to be perfect." I can only hope.

The Nats didn't win as decisively as they should have, which would have been a major momentum boost to begin this road trip from hell.

But a win is a win is a win. Right? I'll take it, and we'll see if Livan can earn back his exclamation points tonight.

Who's our Daddy?

2005-08-08T09:24:00.000-04:00

Coming into this weekend, no team in the NL West had a winning record. That was taken care of after the San Diego Padres got finished punishing our hapless Washington Nationals, sweeping a three game series in which we should have won at least two games.

Frankly, I don't think this team believes in itself any longer. That feeling best came through Friday and Saturday, when the Nats lost two games of the type they used to win, and win regularly. Washington had multiple leads in each game, despite weak starting pitching on both nights. But the Padres played like we used to play, mounting multiple comebacks and finally establishing a one-run lead they would eventually hold.

The Nats were just awful at the plate in both Friday and Saturday's games, despite actually scoring some runs. Vinny single-handedly stranded seven runners on Friday. Preston Wilson was bad on Saturday, hitting into a double-play in the first inning that killed what should have been a rally that would have set the tone for the whole game.

And yesterday, Jake Peavy dominated the Nats, tossing a complete game shutout. Peavy was great, but the Nats made him look better. Loaiza let Peavy drive in the first run and gave up solo jacks to Eric Young and Xavier Nady. Three very bad pitches, not to mention the fact he was picked off second base with nobody out.

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The Nats are just bad right now. Apparently there's some internal strife in the clubhouse; it seems players are too concerned about what everyone else is doing. I've defended Jose Guillen before, but he needs to shut the f*&! up and start playing smarter. And according to another source, Wilkerson had been talking about Guillen also. If that's also true, he needs to shut the f*&! up as well. I love both players, and I admire their desire to win. But both of them need to realize that teams win games, not individuals.

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Although it's certainly not the only reason the Nats are losing, I feel the acquisition of Preston Wilson was a factor in our recent slide. This isn't because Preston is a bad guy, and it's not because he's a bad player.

But I think it's because of something Jim Bowden said when he was acquired. "Hopefully, he can hit some three-run homers for us. He's going to strike out, and he's going to go 1 for 4 a lot. But hopefully, that 1 for 4 is with a three-run double or a home run. He's a guy who's a winning player, and he plays the game hard."

Well, that's more or less true. Preston strikes out a lot, but he's capable of the big blow, as evidenced by his three home runs in his three weeks as a National. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

But that's not the kind of success the Nats had been having. When we were winning, we weren't hitting a home run in every four at-bats. The batters weren't up there trying to change the game in one swing. We were getting timely doubles and singles, advancing the runners with well-placed bunts and ground balls.

As I said when Wilson was acquired, the trade changed our offensive emphasis. Instead of being a timely hitting, driving the ball into the gap kind of team - we were going to rely on the big blow. Not a smart strategy for a team that plays in RFK and has very little power.

Think about what that says to a guy like Ryan Church. He had been putting up rookie of the year caliber numbers by driving the ball to the gaps and mixing in a few homers. He also was playing a tremendous outfield defensively, crashing into the wall in Pittsburgh to make a game-saving catch.

But then the Nats go out and acquire someone who, by Bowden's admission, is there to deliver the big blow. The acquisition of Wilson pushed Church to the bench for all intents and purposes. It's as if they said "Churchy, ya did good, but you can't deliver the big blow. Take a seat."

So now, when Churchy does get into a game, he's up there pressing and trying to impress quickly so he can get his playing time back. Hitting six-run homers is not what he's good at, and perhaps that's why he's looked so bad lately.

(I also want to point out that when Khalil Greene's double hit the top of the left field wall behind Preston yesterday, I couldn't help but think that Ryan Church would have run full speed to make that catch, even if it meant crashing into the wall.)

Church and Wilson are not the reasons we stink right now. But when a player is acquired simply because he can deliver a big blow - that sends a message to the rest of the team. This big blow offense is what we're looking for. Go up there and start swinging for the fences.

Like I said, Church and Wilson are not the cause of the losing by this team. But the swing for the fences attitude is a big reason why we aren't winning. Players just need to go up there and do what they're best capable of doing.

It seems unnatural to compliment Guzman for anything, but he's a good example of this. He's still hitting below .200, but his average has been creeping up because he's playing within his abilities. He's gone back to his front-foot batting style and he's driving grounders and line drives into the outfield. Most of the time they're caught, but he's doing what he's best capable of doing in order to get hits.

THAT is what this team needs to start doing again. Do what you're best capable of doing in order to get a hit. For most of the team, that does NOT involve trying to hit six-run homers.

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All that said, there is some good news. I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance... Wait, wrong blog.

Seriously though, we're still at a point where we control our own destiny. Many of our remaining games this season are against the teams we're chasing or battling. There are at least two series remaining against each of our division rivals.

And if we somehow sweep the Astros this week, we'd lead the Wild Card standings. A tall order? Definitely, but stranger things have happened. It can be done. Lose this series, however, and you can stick a fork in the 2005 season.

A Taste of Glory

2005-08-05T09:01:00.000-04:00

Nationals 7, Trolley Dodgers 0

Was this the most well played game of the Nationals' Inaugural Season? Without looking back over the schedule in detail, I'd say there's no doubt.

To celebrate the return of hockey, let's hand out the three stars of the game.

One Star
Cristian Guzman

I've been real happy the way he's improved at the plate over the last few days. Today he got himself two RBIs, going 2-4 including a single with the bases loaded. I think he looks more confident and is definitely more patient at the plate. If he can keep this up over the weekend, I wouldn't be opposed to experimenting with moving him in the lineup to see if it helps his production even more.

Two Stars
Brad Wilkerson.

Our boy Wilk added to his list of Washington Nationals firsts with the bases loaded in the eigth inning when he deposited a 3-2 pitch over the right field fence. The grand slam blew the game wide open and hopefully gave Patterson a little more confidence to go out and finish his masterpiece.

Three Stars
John Patterson

In a dominating performance by one of the league's best pitchers, John Patterson tossed a complete game shutout, allowing only four hits while striking out a career-best 13 batters. After the game, he sounded like a very happy man: "For the first time in my career, I feel comfortable in the clubhouse," he said. "I feel comfortable with the city. I feel comfortable with the fans. I love playing for Frank Robinson. He motivates me in so many ways because I have so much respect for him. . . . I feel like I'm in my element. . . . I love the fans here. I love them. They get behind me, and it pushes me to another level."

After a horrendous month of July, the Nationals started August off right by taking a series for the first time in nearly a month. The rubber match was such a decisive win in uplifting fashion, that hopefully it will serve as a reminder to the team of the glory days of June, a reminder of what they are still capable of accomplishing.

Ain't it Grand?

2005-08-04T21:55:00.000-04:00

Nats 7, Bums 0

I'm still giddy. John Patterson throws a complete game shutout, striking out 13. And Brad Wilkerson hits the Nationals' first grand slam to break it open.

This is what we needed.

I thought wins were only true in fairy tales...

2005-08-03T23:52:00.000-04:00

Nats 3, Bums 1

Whenever I go to RFK, my emotions become heightened. A loss crushes me, and a win sends me home floating on air. My feet (and wheels) barely touched the ground after the game tonight.

In the early part of the season, Frank Robinson and other veterans of RFK said that balls would carry once the weather turned humid. Well, tonight was freakin unbearable, and all the game's runs were scored on homers. Not to mention that the Dodgers hit four last night. Has the prediction finally come true?

Armas was adequate. He allowed a dinger to Milton Bradley, but that was pretty much it. He threw way too many pitches though, and had to be pulled after 5 innings. The relievers were outstanding, especially Ayala and Majewski.

Preston Wilson and Nick Johnson hit monster shots to center field to account for the Nationals runs. Wilson had been anemic at the plate, but he looked good tonight with a double to add to his dinger. I'll overlook his pickoff, at least for now. Good ol' Nick Johnson did his part, dropping his bomb over the Chevy sign in right-center.

It was nice to see the Nats score runs due to power for once! Power is a muscle the Nats haven't flexed much this year. But tonight, the home runs brought RFK to life, which was a great feeling after the horrendous month we've endured.

Once Chad Cordero nailed down his 36th save, the PA system played "I'm A Believer" by the Monkees. It perfectly captured the mood as the Nats celebrated the win on the field. The fans applauded the Nationals as they came off the field. Frank and Schneider were among those acknowledging the crowd. Who knows how the season will end, but for one night all was well with the Nats faithful.

Launching Pad

2005-08-03T08:59:00.000-04:00

Do I even have to say it? Another one-run loss; another game which we could have won.

The cavernous RFK turned into a home-run park for the Dodgers last night, who scored all five of their runs on four dingers. I don't know how to explain it, really. Perhaps it was finally humid enough last night for the ball to carry. And the (one of many) frustrating thing is, Esteban didn't pitch all that horribly apart from the three homers he allowed.

I can't believe I actually felt confident early in this game. Loaiza let up a dinger to Kent, but he's a good player, so no big deal. In the third, after Schneider was hit by a pitch, Guzman came up and wonder of wonders, he actually looked pretty good at the plate. He was patient, working the count and getting good swings. He eventually got a single to put two on with no one out.

Even though Loaiza failed to get a bunt down, (the third failure by a Nats pitcher in four games) Wilkerson made up for it by hitting a bomb of a triple to the warning track in left-center. That made the score 2-1 Nats, and I was confident for the first time in a long time. Of course, stupid Vidro and Guillen couldn't get the run home from third.

Trailing 5-2 in the eighth, the Nats mounted another comeback, giving me a glimmer of what proved to be false hope. A sac fly by Vinny and a throwing error by the catcher on Preston's SB helped the Nats cut the lead to 5-4.

But alas, they fell short yet again, losing another one-run game that should have been won. If any of several things are done right, maybe the Nats win this game. Instead they lose the opener of a key series against a decidedly mediocre team.

I can deal with losing. But the Nats should have the decency to go out there and get blown out big time. It would make things a lot less stressful on all of us.