Nationals Power v2.0

End of May/Beginning of June update - lots of rain, lots of losses, few bright spots

2009-06-07T23:23:00.004-04:00

So it's been almost two weeks since I last blogged about the Nats. Truth be told, I just didn't feel like doing it. Miserable weather and even more miserable losses by a team in search of itself. Just very uninspiring for me.

The Nationals finished the month of May with an 0-6 roadtrip, losing three straight to the New York Mets and then three straight to the Philadelphia Phillies.

They came home and began the month of June with a victory, beating the San Francisco Giants 10-6, then had another rain postponement and played their first day/night true doubleheader on Thursday, June 4th, which also had it's share of rain and delays.

The Nats fired their longtime pitching coach, randy St. Claire, who had been with the club since the beginning (and before, having worked for the Montreal Expos) and replaced him by promoting their AAA Syracuse pitching coach Steve McCatty.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Randy Johnson celebrated his milestone 300th career victory by beating the Nats on June 4th, during the afternoon game of the double-header. At least the Nationals didn't have to endure the ignominy of experiencing this in San Francisco, as they did when Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's career home run record. Then the Nats lost the night game as well.

So the Nats took 1 of 3 from the Giants, and then 1 of three from the visiting New York Mets.
They won the Saturday night game, 7-1. June 6th, 2009 will be remembered by most as the 65th anniversary of D-Day, but Nationals fans will remember it as Nats starter John Lannan's first career complete game, throwing only 96 pitches over 9 innings. The Nats won 7-1 and had home runs from Nick Johnson, Adam Dunn, and Elijah Dukes. That's a game that I would have loved to attended but, alas, my ticket plan didn't include that night. The weather was pretty sweet, too. Not to take away anything from the Nats, but Mets starter John Maine had something of an off night, which helped.

The next day, however, the Mets struck right back and took advantage of Nats starter Craig Stammen's horrible first inning. Stammen did his best Cabrera imitation, throwing wild pitches, and the Mets took immediate advantage, going up 5-0 before the Nationals even got to the plate. The Nats lost 7-0, and instrumental in their defeat was the starting pitching of former-National Livan Hernandez, and former National (and one of my favorite Nationals of their short history) Ryan Church. Former National catcher Brian Schneider also did his part to hurt the Nats. It sure still hurts to see the three of them wearing New York Mets uniforms.

I did have tickets for the Sunday game, and the weather was okay, but I was seriously achy from a long workday on Saturday, and I just had a bad feeling about how the game would play out. Little did I know how right I'd be.

I've said all along that I'm not a "fair weather" Nationals fan, and I'm not (hey, I still ahve season tickets, don't I?), but I go to the games to have fun and enjoy myself. I don't relish long rain delays, especially on a work night, and I don't relish being outnumbered by Philly fans or Mets fans all the time when those teams come to visit. The Nationals are on pace to lose 118 games right now, and it's just painful to see, especially after last season's 102 loss campaign.

I'll go to at least one of the Cincinnati games this week, provided the weather isn't completely awful.

I just hope that the college draft on Tuesday turns out to be a great one for the Nats, a red-letter day in their history. We shall see.

Pirates/Orioles week summary

2009-05-25T15:10:00.004-04:00

A tough week for the Nationals, and a dismal homestand which ended on a nice note.

Nationals vs. Pirates

The Nats only took one of four games, avoiding a sweep but they missed some chances.

Monday, May 18th: Pirates 12, Nationals 7

The Nats 2007 first-round pick Ross Detweiler's debut was a good one, striking out six batters and having no walks. After the game, there was a question as to whether or not Detweiler would go back to the minors or have another start. Fortunately, the club decided to keep him around.

Nick Johnson had a 3 RBI night and was walked three times. Both he and Ryan Zimmerman had homers.

The Nats were down 3-0, then went up 5-3 in the 5th, only to allow five runs in the 6th. They had a chance to stay with the Pirates, being down 9-6 going into the 9th inning, but then they fell further behind, allowing three runs.

Garrett Mock got the blown save and was awarded the loss.

Tuesday, May 19th: Pirates 8 Nationals 5

Shairon Martis had a shaky outing, but the Nats stuck with the Pirates and tied things up 5-5 in the 9th on Adam Dunn's 12th home run of the season. Sadly, they lost in the 10th inning when reliever Joe Beimel walked three batters and allowed three runs. Beimel just hasn't been the same since he returned from the disabled list. I hope that he gets it together soon.

Wednesday, May 20th: Pirates 2, Nationals 1 (THE 100th GAME AT NATIONALS PARK)

I went to this game with high hopes. The weather was flat-out GORGEOUS for baseball, clear blue sky, 75 mild degrees and low humidity. Honest-to-goodness, this is the sort of night that you just pine for over the winter, dreaming of.

Hard to believe that they've already played 100 games here at Nationals Park. I guess 100 games isn't so many, but it seems like the park just opened yesterday to me.

John Lannan pitched another good game, allowing only one run, striking out five and only walking two.

The game was tied, 1-1, going into the 9th inning, and the Nats brought in Joel Hanrahan, who has struggled mightily all spring, and he threw an astounding 35 pitches in the 9th inning, 23 for strikes, but the one fateful pitch that he threw went wild and allowed the Pirates the go-ahead run from third.

At least the weather was nice.

Thursday, May 21st: Nationals 5, Pirates 4

Finally, the Nats notch a victory and avoid a second, consecutive sweep.

25 year-old rookie Craig Stammen had a good start, and the Nats may have found their fifth starter for the rest of the season, since Scott Olsen is on the D/L and Daniel Cabrera is banished to the bullpen.

The Nats briefly lost the lead in the 7th inning, but regained it in the 8th for good. Joel Hanrahan had a pleasingly uninteresting top of the 9th to nail down the victory.

Nationals vs. Orioles - "The Battle of the Beltways"

The Nationals have a pretty even record in Interleague play, and last year they split their two series with the Baltimore Orioles. The Nationals are trying to turn the Orioles series into a big, regional rivalry, but as former Orioles and Nationals Manager Frank Robinson remarked a couple of years ago, unless both clubs are winning, then there really can't be much of a rivalry. Still, Nats fans get appropriately irritated at Orioles fans who disrespect the National Anthem when performed in our park, but at least they come and spend a lot of money there.

Friday, May 22nd: Orioles 4, Nationals 2

Jordan Zimmermann pitched another beauty, striking out seven, walking one, and only allowing two runs. The Nats were tied 2-2 and took that situation all the way to 12 innings (in almost regulation time, though). Jason Bergman, Ron Villone and Joe Beimel all performed well out of the bullpen, but the Orioles managed to get to Kip Wells in the 12th, scoring two runs.

Ryan Zimmerman's 2-run homer was pretty much the highlight of the game for the Nats.

Saturday, May 23rd: Orioles 2, Nationals 1

Ross Detweiler got his second start and he performed well, striking out four and only allowing one run, though he did walk four batters. With the exception of Cristian Guzman's solo homer, there just wasn't much Nats firepower, though they did have seven hits.

The one, great Nationals highlight of the game will be Centerfielder Justin Maxwell's leaping snag of a long fly ball by Oriole Adam Jones to rob him of a certain home run. "J-Max" used all of his 6'5" body and long arms to time his leap to the centerfield wall and reach over the wall to snag the ball at the precise moment. A great moment for him, and one of the Nats defensive plays of the year.

I went to this game, and a personal highlight for me was simply getting to run into so many friends, including beer vendors Neal and Howard. Anyone who has followed this blog for more than one season knows who they are, but in short, they are two of my favorite ballpark people. I've run into Howard at Orioles Park and Raven Stadium, and I've encountered Neal at FedEx Field. They are just great guys who I always enjoy talking to. Along with Coach Ron Simms, Ellie and Roy, Susan, Mr. Charles, James, Ed, and so many others, they make my games a lot more fun.

You know, I still haven't attended a Nats win this season. I think that they've lost every game that I've gone to. Maybe I'm short-term-memory-impaired, but I just can't remember one.

Sunday, May 24: Nationals 8 Orioles 5

The Nats avoided the sweep with a big game by Adam Dunn, who had the first 6 R.B.I. game of his career, and despite a shaky start from Shairon Martis, who allowed seven hits, five runs, and walked two. He also allowed one home run and only struck out two.

The Bullpen of Ron Villone, Joe Beimel and Joel Hanrahan was essentially perfect, allowing no hits no walks and therefore no runs.

Adam Dunn had two home runs, the second being a Grand Slam thanks, in part, to some clever managing by Nats Manager Manny Acts, who with men on first and second, decided to have Cristian Guzman sacrifice to move the runners and then gambled that the Orioles would walk Ryan Zimmerman to get to Dunn. Dunn responded just as every Nats fan hoped that he would. Considering that both Guzman and Zimmerman were both hitting over .300 and Dunn was hitting in the .260's (I believe) this was a particularly gutsy move which paid off.

The Nats are 13-30 and are done at home for the month of May. Now they're off to New York to take on the Mets

Sunday sweep and weep: Phillies complete weekend series, take 4 of 4 over Nats 8-6.

2009-05-17T17:07:00.004-04:00

Lackluster. Just lackluster.

Today the Nationals lost their 4th in a row to the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-6. The Nationals led the game from the second inning through the 7th, but a bizarre error in the 8th inning led to three Phillies runs and their victory.

Despite the Phillies starter, Chan Ho Park, exiting the game in the second inning (having thrown an absurdly high 63 pitches). He was charged with five runs and had four walks. I thought that this was good news for the Nats, knock out the opposing teams starter and work on their weakened bullpen. Sadly, it didn't work out that way.

The Nats starter, Jordan Zimmermann, had another shakey start, allowing five runs and 3 walks, but composed himself and struck out 6.

The Nats just cannot seem to hold a lead. Today's was another 8th inning collapse. I won't even go into Jésus Colomes bizarre throwing error which cost the Nats the lead. It's just too depressing to discuss.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, Bob Carpenter and Rob Dibble on MASN were discussing the President's Race, and "Teddy"'s continued woes in that department. Carpenter said something to the effect of, "It gets harder to watch every day".

He could have been speaking of the Nationals continued losing.

Well, so long to the Philadelphia Phillies (and their fans...) for a while, and hello to the team from the other end of Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Pirates, whose record isn't nearly as good as their friends from across the state. Ross Detweiler will take the mound for the Nationals. It should be a good game.

My "Sunday Sermon" on rivalries

2009-05-17T16:15:00.004-04:00

There really ought to be more of a sense of rivalry between the Nats and the Phillies. After all, they are our closest National League rivals, and their record against the Nats over the past five seasons is seriously dominating. The Nats have been able to play spoiler to the Phillies in some recent years September games, but I suppose a real rivalry, such as the Phillies have with the New York Mets, won't happen until the Nationals are much more competative. It is certainly a much more natural rivalry than the Nationals have with the Baltimore Orioles. That "rivalry" is a tad contrived, as it is really more of a battle for the hearts and minds of regional baseball fans. It made more sense when the American League Washington Senators played Baltimore frequently each season. The Orioles have a longer and more storied history than the Nationals, they play in what is widely regarded as one of the premier ballparks in baseball, and they get frequent visits from the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, two of the oldest and most popular sports franchises in the world, which guarantees them some sellouts and lots of interest from the D.C. area. I would hope that the Nationals presence in Washington, D.C. allows fans of other popular and storied National League franchises, such as the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, who happen to live in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia or elsewhere within a two hour or so drive, the chance to see their teams in person.

So the Philadelphia Phillies, who are already 6-2 versus the Nats this season (as I type this, the Nats are leading the Phillies 6-5 in the bottom of the 7th) are the most natural choice for a rivalry. Once the Nationals start winning, and start selling more season tickets, that will help to keep Nationals Park from feeling like "Citizen's Bank South".

(Incidentally, Bob Carpenter on MASN just showed a graphic which demonstrated that in terms of average, runs per game, home runs, and extra base hits so far between these two clubs in 9 games this season, the Nationals stack up very well against the Phillies. Yet the lopsided disparity continues.)

It isn't any wonder that the Phillies fans overrun our ballpark. Team President Stan Kasten is savvy enough to know that a ticket in Philadelphia is hard to come by, especially since the Phillies are the defending World Series Champions, so he's encouraged Phillies fans (and fans of other teams) to come to Nationals Park and spend their money there and fill some seats. Kasten took some criticism for that but, really, it's a smart business move. Our NBA Washington Wizards (née Bullets) were marketed that way for years - "Come see Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers", or "See Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls", or "Watch Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics". The appeal of the other teams was greater than that of the home team.

Everybody loves a winner, especially in this, the most highly politicized town in the country, so until the Nationals lead the National League East, we can expect more of the same.

How will the Nationals achieve this? Primarily through pitching. Pitching, pitching, pitching. They have some good young arms in their system, and are bringing up more. They are bringing one of their best young prospects, Ross Detweiler, up to begin the Pirates series tomorrow evening. I hope that he earns a rotation spot.

I didn't intend this to be a roundabout way to bring up presumptive #1 college draftee Stephen Strasberg, but it's as good a time for me to weigh in on the Nationals expected decision to draft him as any.

I am 100% in favor of them drafting Strasberg. They need to draft him, offer him whatever Strasberg's agent, Scott Boras, asks for (supposedly 6 years, 50 million dollars) and get him signed. He could be up with the Nationals for a game or two in September, far too late to really help them but enough time to spark fan interest in off-season ticket sales.

Top pitchers put fans in the seats. I still regret not trying harder to see the Nationals/Astros game at R.F.K. a couple of years ago when Roger Clemens was here. Sure, they beat us, but Clemens would have been worth the agony of the defeat just to see him pitch.

Strasberg has had an amazing college career and Olympic stint. He won't need years in AA or AAA to prepare for the majors. If his signing could increase fan attendance at home every five days or so by even 10%, wouldn't that be worth the cost?

I know that better baseball minds than mine have cautioned against drafting Strasberg. It has been pointed out that no college pitcher drafted #1 has gone to the Hall of Fame. But things change. Exceptions are made. Chances are taken, gambles are done. I think that Strasberg is worth the risk, if for no other reason than the Lerner family and their partners have to demonstrate to the fans their willingness to spend money on quality players. They cannot risk getting the reputation of being "cheap" owners. They are building conservatively and cautiously (perhaps too cautiously for some) but they are in the business of building and when something is being built for permenance, it pays to be careful and cautious. It's cheaper and better to do things right the first time. I would much rather have a champion built well, which is competative for years and years than one which is bought and built through pricey free agents, which might collapse soon after (i.e. Florida Marlins model in the '90's).

Then we can really take it to those pesky Phillies and let the rivalry truly begin.

Nats rally hopes washed out in 6th as game called due to rain. Phillies 7, Nats 5

2009-05-17T15:15:00.004-04:00

I was looking forward to returning to the ballpark tonight. You heard me correctly. Despite the losses, there's still magic for me in attending baseball games. It was Saturday night, I was meeting up with a friend, and it was "Jackie Robinson Day", with every player wearing Robinson's #42 and fans wearing #42 white and blue buttons.

The forecast had been for rain at various times of the day, and it had rained briefly after the 1:05 game and before 6:00. I was starting to think that team president Stan Kasten was working his meteorological mojo again, but his magic wore off around 9:20 in the top of the 6th inning as what seemed like a monsoon arrived and halted play for the night.

I found my buddy Myron over at The Bullpen across the street. There was live music there, but the rain was coming down, so the tent was completely packed, Despite that, there were plenty of people who looked as though they were having fun. Sadly, most of them looked like rowdy Phillies fans. I guess I can't blame them for being cocky - their team is the reigning World Series Champions, and they'd just beaten the Nats earlier in the day, and the previous night, but I cannot use the word "gracious" to describe them.

We entered the ballpark through the Centerfield Plaza and went to find people we knew. Our friend Neal, a beer vendor, wouldn't be there as he was working the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico racetrack in Maryland earlier. We found our friend Ellie, and spent some nice moments catching up with her (and drying off in the process) Ellie is a complete sweetheart and she always tells me the nicest things about the people she works with. She really loves her job, and whatever else anyone criticizes the Nationals organization for, they cannot convince me that the club isn't stocked with decent, kind, hard-working folks. For some time now, Ellie has labored without the benefit of knowing what was going on during the game unless she heard the crowd roar or something like that. Back at R.F.K. stadium, she had T.V's around her to keep track, but she hasn't had one at the new ballpark. That finally changed, and she has a nice flatscreen T.V. to keep up with what's going on. Very kind of the powers-that-be to provide that for her, she deserves it.

We ran into some other friends and chatted with them as well. I looked for our old buddy Howard, beer vendor extraoirdinaire, and eventually I saw him, but wasn't able to go and chat with him. He left when the rain hit.

The game itself was pretty good through five innings, with the Nationals trailing 7-5, they'd rallied to put a scare into the Phillies and their fans. In the top of the 6th inning, though, the Phillies looked as though they might break the game wide open, as they had the bases loaded and no outs when the rain storm arrived around 9:20. Myron and I hung around until about 10:15 when we decided to leave and I was going to drive him home. The game was called at 10:52, so we made the right decision to leave. One always worries that such decisions are premature and hasty. I'd have been mortified (though elated) if play had resumed and the Nationals continued to rally and win.

Starter Daniel Cabrera has had an awful spring. He's started eight games, and is 0-5. Manager Manny Acta believes that Cabrera is improving, but he's still had problems with his control (I think he still leads the National League in wild pitches so far this season, but perhaps not any longer).

I realize that I haven't been saying much (if anything) about the opposing players, and that is an oversight, but really, most of them I don't know enough about to comment on them intelligently, but I can say this: The Phillies Raul Ibañez is this season's Nats-killer. His teammate Ryan Howard is bad enough, with all of the homers that he hits against the Nats, but Ibañez is the Nats reigning nemesis.

Thanks to my friends and "summer family", even when the Nats lose, my Saturday nights can still be special.

"Tax-Day" postponement brings bad news to Nats: Phillies 8, Nats 5

2009-05-17T14:59:00.004-04:00

I had tickets for this game, a 1:05 makeup game of the April 15th rain game, but as usual, I had to work. I gave my tickets to a friend, though.

I didn't miss much, except a late Ryan Zimmerman homer and an 8th inning three-run rally.

Starter Scott Olsen allowed six runs (five earned) and it turns out he was pitching injured, with shoulder and ankle problems. I have to respect Olsen's work ethic and dedication. He knew that he had to pitch as long as he could to spare the bullpen, which had been depleted the previous night, and there was still a night game to be played. Sadly for Olsen, he is now on the D/L.

Friday Night frights: Phillies 10, Nats 6 in late innings

2009-05-17T14:48:00.003-04:00

This was a nice little battle as the Nats and Phillies traded the lead, and it looked as though the game would come down to the bottom of the 9th as the Nats, trailing by two, tied the game 6-6 on a Willie Harris slicer down into the right-field corner, forccing extra innings.

Unfortunately, this is where the weakness of the Nats bullpen became apparent. They managed to hold the Phillies scoreless in the 10th and 11th, but the wheels came off of the bus in the 12th as the Phillies scored 4 runs and the Nats couldn't score.

Starter John Lannan only allowed three runs, and one walk, and struck out two. He pitched well enough to win, though.

*Sigh* Welcome home.

Better late than never: The San Francisco summary

2009-05-17T14:21:00.003-04:00

For my non-local friends and family, the summary of the third stage of the Nats road trip last week.

Game 1, May 11th: Giants 11, Nationals 7
Zimmerman crushed, extending his streak by going 4 for 5 with 4 RBI's, Cabrera came unraveled, fifteen hits, six walks and one costly Josh Willingham error.

Game 2, May 12th: Giants 9, Nationals 7
Zimmerman pushed his streak to 30 games, Nick Johnson drove in five runs, Nats rallied from being down 5-1 to lead 7-5 only to collapse in the 9th with Joe Beimel unable to get the save. Jordan Zimmermann didn't have a great game, allowing 5 runs and walking two, but he did strike out eight batters and pitched well enough for the team to win.

Game 3, May 13th: Nationals 6, Giants 3
As previously noted, a bittersweet end to a rough road trip as the Nats win to end on a high note but Ryan Zimmerman's hitting streak halted at 30 games. I give MAJOR props to the San Francisco Giants fans in attendance for giving Zimmerman a standing ovation and on top of their team losing. Stay classy, San Francisco, you fans embody the fine sportsmanship to which fans of all sports should. I don't like to dwell upon this, but I can think of a couple of major league cities where Zimmerman would NEVER have received such an honor, especially if the home team lost. The Giants Barry Zito did what so many other opposing pitchers had failed to do and that is contain Zimmerman. Of course, Zimmerman was also walked twice, but his hits never made it out of the infield.

Nats starter Shairon Martis, "The Big Wow from Curaçao" (catchy, isn't it?) extended his record to 5-0, Nick Johnson had four hits, Elijah Dukes had three RBI's.

Some quick Thursday Thoughts between the roadtrip and new homestand

2009-05-14T20:56:00.003-04:00

I haven't had the time to encapsulate the Giants series from this week, but I hope to do that tomorrow.

The sad news was, of course, the end of Ryan Zimmerman's hitting streak, which stopped at 30 games. Zimmerman was walked twice in the last game, and never got the ball out of the infield. He grounded into a double play but eventually made it to first base on a fielder's choice, I believe, so he didn't get credit for a hit. I cannot be certain about this for several reasons:

1) I tried to watch the game (it was my day off) on MASN, and the signal was horrendous. The picture and sound kept going out. I went to the MASN website and complained, but they replied that Comcast wasn't reporting any problems in my area. I don't think that it was a Comcast problem because all of my other channels were fine.

2) So, I went to Nationals.com and selected the gameday audio. It was nice to listen to Charlie and Dave, but my browser kept crashing and eventually, it informed me that I'd logged in too many times in a short period of time so it was locking me out - D'oh!

3) I haven't had time to read the game reports (...blush...)

Oh, the good news? The Nats won, so they ended the roadtrip on a nice note.

The Bullpen - opening Friday, May 15th, outside Nationals Park

2009-05-14T20:42:00.004-04:00

I just received an emailed press release from the folks who are opening and operating The Bullpen, just outside Nationals Park. It is opening Friday, May 15th at 5:00.

Located at the corner of N St. and Half St. SE. it will be open from 2 hours before game time until midnight. For those of you who use the Navy Yard Metro stop to go to the ballpark, you won't be able to miss it when you walk down Half Street towards the Centerfield Gate entrance.

According to the press release, "...(The Bullpen) will be the ONLY option outside of the ballpark for fans who want to come early and soak in the baseball atmosphere. The Bullpen offers interactive sports games for children sponsored by Under Armour and Headfirst Camps, great local food vendors including Rocklands (www.rocklands.com) & Surfside (www.surfsidedc.com/www/), a beer garden sponsored by Bud Light, and live music."

I think that this is exciting news. Finally, there is someplace in the immediate vicinity of the ballpark to go either before or after the games. It sounds like a great next step in the rehabilitation of the ballpark district.

I hope to check it out for myself this weekend.

More information at: http://www.thebullpendc.com/www/

3-game weekend wrapup; Two out of three 'ain't bad as Nats win first road series against Diamondbacks

2009-05-10T21:01:00.004-04:00

The Nationals played a really entertaining series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix this weekend. The Nats took the first two games and had more than a sporting chance at winning the Sunday game, but the sweep was not to be.

Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman continued his hitting streak, now at 28 games. To put this in historical perspective, Zimmerman is now precisely at the halfway point to tying New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, which he accomplished in 1941. It has long been considered one of the most unassailable records in sports. While I'm not getting my hopes up that Zimmerman will tie or top DiMaggio (since there are too many variables involved, from weather to team rules*), it is my hope that he gets the streak to at least 30, to get on most hitting streak lists of note, and I'd be happy if he got to 37 to get ahead of Washington Senator Gene DeMontreville (who had a 36-game streak in 1896-97. I'm sure that I'd settle for him tying or beating Washington Senator Heinie Manush, who had a 33-game streak in 1933.

(*I hope for Manager Manny Acta's sake, as well as Zimmerman's, that Zimmerman isn't late to a team meeting or function for the duration of this streak. Acta would have to choose between caving in and allowing Zimmerman to play and losing credibility with the team, or keeping his hard line and not start him for a game, and crushing the hopes of of the fans. The fallout from that is just too much to imagine.)

Okay - onto the games.

Game 1, Friday May 8th: Nats 5, Diamondbacks 4.

This game was murder on me. I have to be at work early on Saturdays, so a Friday night game, especially a west coast game, takes a lot out of me, ending as they do after 1:00 a.m. eastern time.

The Nats came back from being down 1-0 to go up 4-1, then 4-2, then 5-2 and held on as the D-Backs mounted their comeback. Jésus Flores and Adam Dunn both had homers, starter Shairon Martis got the win, and Kip Wells got a save.

Game 2, Saturday May 9th: Nats 2, Diamondbacks 1.

Starter John Lannan got his second win and kept the D-Backs off of the scoreboard for his six innings, and the D-Backs didn't score their one run until the bottom of the 9th, which added a thrilling, if horrible, aspect to the game if you're a Nats fan. Adam Dunn went long again, a homer that hit 50 feet above left-centerfield. If he'd hit that at Nationals Park, I believe that it would have landed in the Red Loft, or on the plaza. Ryan Zimmerman also went deep, so between him and Dunn, the two of them accounted for all of the Nats scoring. The bullpen held, and Joel Hanrahan got the save.

Game 3, Sunday May 10th (Mother's Day): Diamondbacks 10, Nats 8.

Despite 13 hits, including four home runs (two of which were on consecutive plate appearances, from Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham), the Nationals were undone by two errors and a faltering bullpen. Despite gaining the lead twice, the Nats allowed 17 hits by the D-Backs.
Adam Dunn's two homers pushed his season total to 11, putting him behind only St. Louis's Albert Pujols (who has 12) for the moment. He is a lot of fun to watch hit. If only his defense were as impressive. Willingham continues to make the most of his opportunities, with his good defense and his two, count 'em, two homers.

Now, on to San Francisco and the Giants, currently a better team than the Diamondbacks and only a little bit worse than the division-leading Dodgers. The Nats will need to make sure that they have more than "flowers in their hair"** to take two of three in the City by the Bay.

In other news, presumptive Nationals #1 pick in the June college draft (one month away) Stephen Strasberg, threw the only no-hitter of his college career in his final college start, against Air Force. Nationals assistant-G.M. Mike Rizzo said that, if the draft were today, Strasberg would be their pick, but that a lot can happen in 30 days. Über-sports agent Scott Boras is expected to ask for a six-year, $50-million contract for Strasberg, which would set a new high for a #1 drafted player.

(** '60's Scott Mackenzie song. Look it up.)

Nats trade 6-run innings with Dodgers, emerge victorious 11-9, rise to 8-18

2009-05-08T01:08:00.007-04:00

In the City of the Angels, on the National Day of Prayer, it was the Nationals fans whose prayers were answered. To the skeptics (of which I was one, early on), it started off as the "Nationals Day of not-having-a prayer".

This night's game promised to be interesting even before it began. Future Hall-of-Famer and perennial All-Star Manny Rameirez of the Los Angeles Dodgers received a 50-game suspension from MLB for a pharmacological offense (performance-enhancing drug) discovered in Spring Training. He would not face the Nationals tonight, which was a lucky break for them.

Nats starter, Jordan Zimmermann had the rockiest start you could imagine. He allowed a Grand Slam and two other runs in the 1st inning, but he kept his composure and didn't allow another run throughout the rest of his start.

I thought this game was over at the end of the first, but I wanted to see what the Nats could do.

They kept battling, and put one run on in the 6th and then 3 runs in the 7th, and I began to wonder, "Gee, maybe they can tough this one out and tie things up." Little did I realize that, in the 8th inning, they would score 6 runs and bat around the order on their way to rallying back from their early hole.

Things got scary again at the bottom of the 8th when reliever Joe Beimel allowed one run and then filled the bases with two out, but Beimel battled Dodger Juan Pierre with 2 out, and with a 1-2 count, managed to get Pierre to chop one close enough for 1B Nick Johnson to toss the ball to Beimel, racing Pierre to first base to end the inning.

I don't think that I've ever held my breath for that long before. *PHEW!*

My heart was almost oxygen-starved again as closer Kip Wells struggled in the 9th and almost blew it, allowing two runs.

Oh, and Ryan Zimmerman pushed his hitting streak to 25 games. For their part, the Dodgers' Major League record of undefeated home games to begin a season was halted at 13. It was the Nationals first win in Los Angeles in three years.

Josh Willingham was one of several hitting heroes tonight, but he also made a key defensive play where it looked like he'd injured himself. Perhaps it was fitting that he recorded the final out to this 3.5+ hour slugfest. It was truly a team win. 18 hits!

What a game. How the heck am I supposed to get any decent sleep when my heart is still beating so fast?

Nats collapse against Dodgers, lose 10-3, fall to 7-17

2009-05-08T01:01:00.003-04:00

These west-coast games are always a little tough on me. I began watching it late because @#$& Comcast had their schedules all screwed-up. They said that the game was to begin on MASN at 10:30, and instead, it was on MASN2, which you would never know, because the Comcast listing had the time slot for "Tonight from Washington". I've complained about this before - what IS the problem, Comcast or MASN? I blame Comcast.

Things started off well enough with Daniel Cabrera pitching, but then came the flurry of walks and the wheels falling off of the bus. The Nats lost ugly, 10-3.

The only good part was Ryan Zimmerman extending his hitting streak to 24 games.

The Dodgers kept their undefeated-at-home-this-season streak alive as well. I believe that they are sitting upon a Major League record.

And so it goes.

Nats battle Astros to 10-10 11th-inning rain postponement

2009-05-06T23:20:00.003-04:00

Thank goodness that there are no ties in baseball, but I feel sorry for the poor fans who sat through this afternoon's see-saw slugfest between the Nationals and the Astros, only to have the rain postpone the game. It will be made up, right where it left off, when the Nationals travel to Houston this summer. How surreal will THAT be? I'd love to know what the rules are in this situation. Do they play it as though it did not end, i.e. all players taken out are still out of the game? I hope I get to see that on MASN.

Most importantly, Ryan Zimmerman kept his hitting streak going, now at 23 games.

The Nats started off down 1-0, then went up 2-1 on an Elijah Dukes home run off of the so-called "Fred Astaire" of starting pitchers, Roy Oswalt. In the 5th, the Astros re-gained the lead 3-2, then went up 5-2. In the 6th, the Nats re-gained the lead 6-5 on walks, then going up 8-5. In the 7th, the Astros tied it up 8-8, then went ahead 9-8 in the 8th. The Nats went ahead 10-9, but couldn't hold it in the 9th, allowing the Astros to tie it up 10-10. Six lead changes and a LOT of walks! Just crazy.

Fortunately, the Nats outlasted Houston starter, Oswalt, one of the best starters in baseball over the past 8 years. By staying in the game for the duration of his start, the Nats helped their own cause greatly and were able to take advantage of the weak Astro bullpen.

Can't wait to see the end of this one in several weeks. Man, I hope they finally win it!

Nats top Astros 9-4, rise to 7-17.

2009-05-06T23:13:00.003-04:00

Didn't get to see much of this game, due to business interference, but from what I DID see and read about later, this was the best game the Nationals have played all season, a come-from-behind thriller to anyone who attended the game.

John Lannan FINALLY got his first win, and Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak (in no small part, thanks to 4 hits) to 22 games.

To come back from being down 4-2 to win 9-4 is pretty impressive for this team right now. So glad to see it. I hope they keep it going.

Nats/Cards Sunday soaked out

2009-05-04T00:49:00.003-04:00

Steady rain kept the game from being played today, the second rain-out of the season so far.

The good news is, because of Shairon Martis's complete game on Saturday, the bullpen has had two days off and should be completely rested to take on the Astros who come into town tonight.

Martis "completely" dominates Cards; Nats win 6-1, rise to 6-17

2009-05-04T00:17:00.004-04:00

Another Saturday afternoon game that I had to miss due to work. Thank goodness for D.V.R.'s

I got to miss Shairon Martis throw a complete game, which is a first in the Manny Acta era. Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 21 games. Adam Dunn had a 3-run homer.

The Nats won, 6-1, and by all accounts, Martis dominated the Cardinals. The cynic in me says, "Yeah, but they were resting Albert Pujols." Still, a win's a win.

Pujols pounds rookie pitcher: Nats lose to Cardinals 6-2, fall to 5-17

2009-05-01T21:39:00.004-04:00

Newsflash: Jordan Zimmermann is human. Film at 11:00.

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. Nats rookie pitcher Jordan Zimmermann lost his first major league game. It wasn't really his fault, he wasn't making mistakes, but the veteran St. Louis Cardinals, led by The Best Player in Baseball (Albert Pujols) weren't going to be stymied by a rookie pitcher. He allowed 5 runs on 8 hits in 5 2/3 innings and 101 pitches, and didn't walk anybody.

There was a little excitement on the Nationals side, as Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 20 games, Willie "Home Run" Harris hit a 2-run homer, and Jesus "Trip" Flores hit his second triple in as many nights.

I had tickets for this game, but I didn't go. I usually have to work early on Saturdays, so Friday night games are always suspect, especially if there is a chance for a rain delay (thunderstorms were called for up until several hours ago) or a long game with extra innings.

Weird thing - on MASN HD, for a long time, the Spanish language sound feed bled into the Carpenter-Dibble feed, and it was a little surreal. If I understood Spanish, it probably would have really been distracting for me. When the Cardinals hit a home run, it sounded just like it does when watching a soccer game on a spanish language channel: "HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME RUN!" instead of "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!" That made me chuckle.
Perhaps MASN was just celebrating Hispanic Heritage Day a little bit early?

Another night, another loss, but at least tonight the Nats didn't beat themselves and they had their chances. Sad when this is the only consolation that we can take.

Cardinals allowed to win as wild Nationals mistake their way to 9-4 loss, fall to 5-16

2009-04-30T22:37:00.006-04:00

This was a game which started out looking like a good old-fashioned slugfest. The Cardinals, led by All-Star first baseman Albert Pujols (arguably the best player in baseball) crushed a 2-run homer to open up the first inning, and then Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman answered that with one of his own in the bottom of the inning.

Nats starter Daniel Cabrera, despite establishing an ignominious team-record for wild pitches with four in the game, pitched well-enough to keep the Nats in the game.

The Nats even led, 4-3 at the end of the 6th inning, before the Cardinals tied it up in the 7th, 4-4. The 8th inning went scoreless, and the stage was set for a toe-to-toe battle in the 9th.

Then the wheels fell off of the proverbial bus.

The Nats allowed 11 walks the entire game, five by Daniel Cabrera and six by the bullpen. By the time Joel Hanrahan came in and BALKED the first batter he faced, not only had the wheels come off the bus, but the bus was in flames and plunging over the cliff.

Once again, the Nationals came into the 9th inning with a chance to win and...swooned. There's just no other way to look at it.

There is good news, though. Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 19 games, and the month of April is now officially over.

Mid-week moves and news

2009-04-30T22:29:00.003-04:00

In an effort to boost the bullpen, the Nationals acquired 26 year-old right-hander Logan Kensing from the Florida Marlins for right-hander Kyle Gunderson.

Lefty-reliever Joe Beimel is due to return from the D/L very soon, but will throw at single-A Potomac to ease his way back to the big club.

Shortstop Cristian Guzman returned to the club from the D/L.

Winning their way home: Nats control Phillies 4-1, rise to 5-15

2009-04-30T22:16:00.004-04:00

Starter Scott Olsen got a nice win and the bullpen-by-committee did the job, especially Julian Tavarez and Kip Wells, and the Nationals avoided a sweep in Philadelphia by winning 4-1.

Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to a club-record 18 games, and had a double, and the club welcomed back Willie Harris who, along with Anderson Hernandez and Elijah Dukes, were the hit-men for the evening.

A nice end to an otherwise ugly road trip. Glad to have them back home.

Creamed in Philly: Nats drop second straight to Phillies, 8-1, drop to 4-15

2009-04-28T23:19:00.007-04:00

I just don't know what to say about this one. Except for Adam Dunn's upper-deck blast of a homer to avoid a shutout, the Nats didn't really have a bright spot tonight. The Phillies just owned them.

Starter John Lannan needs a win.

Perhaps things will look up when our D/L clears up a bit and we get Willie Harris and Cristian Guzman and Joel Beimel back.

Citifield, but it looks like it could easily apply to new Yankee Stadium

2009-04-28T17:59:00.005-04:00

Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!

Obama says Nats bullpen is "toxic asset"

2009-04-28T16:57:00.005-04:00

At least according to Nate Beeler of the Washington Examiner:

Nats news: Hanrahan out as closer, bullpen-by-committee for time being, Beimel to close when he comes off D/L.

2009-04-28T16:29:00.003-04:00

I take satisfaction, but no joy, in this bit of news from the Nationals: Hanrahan out as Nationals' closer.

Julian Tavarez and Kip Wells will be the late-inning setup men. When Joel Beimel gets off the disabled list, he will be the closer, which greatly pleases me.

I don't dislike Hanrahan, but until he can do the job, I don't want him closing. Perhaps he's not cut out to be a closer? Maybe he'd do better as a setup man? There has to be another suitable role for him.

Cheesed in Philly: Nats blow lead in 8th, lose 13-11, fall to 4-14.

2009-04-27T22:30:00.004-04:00

As an old-time radio character sometimes said, "I is regusted." Well, if he were a Nationals fan, that would be the understatement of the still-young season.

When have the Nationals ever had FIVE home runs in a game and lost? For that matter, when have they ever had five home runs in a game?

This was as down and dirty a slugfest as I've ever watched on a ballfield (at least in the 4+ seasons I've watched the Nationals.) The Nats had 11 runs on 12 hits, including TWO homers from Ryan Zimmerman, who also extended his hitting streak to 16 games. Nick Johnson, Elijah Dukes, and Adam Dunn all went long, in a ballpark where home runs are a staple.

But the Phillies had two - count 'em, TWO - Grand Slams. One from Ryan Howard (no surprise) and the second from Raul Ibañez, which finally put the Phillies ahead in the 8th for good.

The Nats had the Phillies. Like Rasputin, the Phillies kept coming back to life just when we thought they were dead. But they never led the game until the bottom of the 8th inning.

I hate to point fingers, but tonight fingers NEED to be pointed. Relief pitcher Garrett Mock and closer Joel Hanrahan. They sinned by walking batters in a crucial situation (inexcusable) and not trusting their stuff, not elevating their pitches and throwing off the hitters' timing. Joel Hanrahan has no business being our closer if he's going to keep blowing it in crucial situations. Stick him in the bullpen, send him down to AAA Syracuse, but for crying out loud, take him OUT of the closing role! As it stands, he cannot get the job done, and he's had every chance. I'd like to see Beimel as the closer, once he returns from the D/L. In his post-game interview, Manager Manny Acta declined to say whether or not Joel Hanrahan was going to remain the closer, but I have to believe that Manny can read the writing on the wall in front of him and even his legendary patience must have its limits.

The Phillies are not a bad or even mediocre ball club, they are the defending World Series Champions. A team is not going to beat them if they make mistakes against them. Maybe a team doesn't have to play "perfect" baseball against them, but you cannot give them more than a couple of mistakes because they will make you pay for them.

On "Nats Extra" after the game, I watched a VERY agitated Ray Knight describe what he saw going wrong. It was somewhat cathartic for me to watch, as we never see anyone actually ON the club get angry about these things. As a former World Series M.V.P. and Major League Manager, Knight's perspective really helped me to resolve my own frustrations about the team.

This April has been a disaster for the Nationals. There is still plenty of time to turn things around, but decisions need to be made now.

Z-mann to the rescue: Nats top Mets 8-1, climb to 4-13

2009-04-27T08:57:00.002-04:00

So far, Jordan Zimmermann is no fluke. He threw a beauty on Sunday (but was quite critical of his own performance), winning his second consecutive start and dropping his E.R.A. to 2.38 while striking out five, walking two and only allowing one earned run.

The offense did their part, too, notching 13 hits, including some great homers from Austin Kearns and Jésus Flores.

Finally, a road win!

Too busy this weekend to really go into better detail, so here's the wrap.

Now let's see if the Nats can take this upswing into Philadelphia and get Shairon Martis his 3rd win.

Sat-err-day afternoon problems vex Nats, lose to Mets 8-2, drop to 3-13

2009-04-27T08:48:00.002-04:00

I was at work and couldn't watch this one. but I was going to turn on the radio and follow it.

After getting a little busy, I finally pulled up the game around 1:30, and saw that it was the bottom of the 1st inning.

The Nats were already behind 3-0.

Rather than distract myself with the radio, I just kept checking the score online. It just kept getting uglier. I saw those errors in the box and just sighed and went back to work.

8-2.

Santana's "black magic" pitching spells trouble for Nats as rally falls short, lose to Mets 4-3, fall to 3-12

2009-04-25T09:49:00.004-04:00

For the most part, I think that the Nats did pretty well last night against Mets ace Johann Santana. Against a guy like that, I think that you just have to battle as best you can and hope that he, or his teammates, makes a mistake. The guy is a workhorse. He threw 104 pitches in six innings, 75% of them for strikes, striking out 10, walking one, and only allowing Nick Johnson's home run (his first this year) to spoil his shutout. So what do you do with a pitcher like Santana? Outlast him. Hang in there and try to get to the bullpen, and that's what the Nationals did. Down 3-1, Jésus Flores hit a 2-run homer, his first of the season, to cut their deficit to 4-3 and, with no men out, the Nats had a few more chances to tie thinngs up, but it wasn't to be.

I feel badly for Nats starter Scott Olsen. He had a quality start, but didn't get enough help on defense.

Ah, well. If they're not going to win, at least don't embarass yourselves or your fans. Those close losses stink, but they stink less than the dominating blowouts. When the score goes the other way, that's pretty sweet.

At least the Nats had a nice, new, clean visitor's locker room to work out of, right?

Let's see what Daniel Cabrera can do today.

Walking in the wind: Nats allow Braves victory, 1-0, fall to 3-11

2009-04-23T08:38:00.004-04:00

First of all, I blame myself for this loss. I jinxed the team.

I got to Nationals Park early and walked around the place a bit, just taking in the sunny, but breezy, weather and talking to friends, and then I happened to see team president Stan Kasten walking towards me. "Are we going to sweep?", I asked, making a sweeping motion with my invisible broom. Catching my eye, he asked, "What?" I repeated my question, and Kasten quickly put his finger to his lips and went, "Ssshhh!" I had to laugh, but I didn't realize how right he was going to be.

The Nationals demonstrated once again that they are a pretty good team for the first eight innings, as starter John Lannan battled the Braves Jair Jurrjens, scoreless inning for scoreless inning, and the bullpens continued to blank each other through the eighth inning. The game was moving along quickly, probably to the relief of shivvering fans whi might have forgotten to dress warmly for the evening.

Then came the ninth inning. Neither Garret Mock, nor Mike Hinckley were able to get more than two men out, and managed to walk three batters, including the winning run.

Talk about frustrating. Some losses are harder to swallow than others, but probably none more so than the ones where your team has chances to win and cannot capitalize on them, and when your team hurts its own cause. Walking batters is a pitcher's sin, and isn't tolerated for long.

I was glad to get out to the park early, hoping to catch Nationals batting practice. Unfortunately, I wasn't in time, and only caught a little bit of Braves practice instead. I ran into "Coach" Ron Simms, usher extraordinaire, and spent some happy moments catching up with him. He showed me his daughter's wedding pictures and his we talked about his improved health and other things. Suddenly, a batting practice ball landed in the stands near us. I looked at Coach and he said, "It's all yours". So I went and searched for it and spotted it about the same time as a visiting Cubs fan, and I managed to beat him to it. He and I talked, he was a nice guy and we discussed the ballpark a bit. I decided to give the baseball to Coach Simms, because I knew that he would give it to a little kid and make them happy.

I also got to catch up with Mr. Charles Wells, who supervises ushers, and Tony, another usher. These guys really enjoy their jobs and like helping people.

I finally ran into Roy, who still works the Diamond Club, and then went upstairs to see his wife, Ellie, and catch up with them. They are the sweetest people, and getting to spend a few moments swapping stories with them is always a treat.

I feel as though I'm almost caught up with my entire "summer family". That means a lot to me, it makes each visit to the ballpark just that much more special.

I bought a program, and was pleased to see that it was wrapped in plastic, to protect it from the anticipated rain (which never came, thankfully). That was a nice touch, one that I really appreciate. Another example of the organization trying to pay attention to the little details.

My friend Mark showed up to take in the game with me, and we got caught up from last season as well. I bought some Hard Times Chili Mac with cornbread (an old favorite of mine) and , having not had any lunch, I couldn't resist the chili nachos, which I shared with Mark. My souvenir soda came in a cup with the season schedule on it, which I'm glad to see again. The cups from the first couple of seasons had the schedule on it and I really liked that, it was a great feature that's often useful.

Before the game, I ran into the girls from We've Got Heart, and they introduced me to Mike from Nationals Fanboy Looser. Nice to see more of the Nat-mosphere in attendance.

Well, not a great game, unless you enjoy pitcher's duels (which I do), and the way they lost was just awful, but now I can add that experience to the list of, "Strange things that I've witnessed on a baseball field."

Now I can put away my scarf, gloves and Nationals jacket until late September (October? Someday...) as by the time they return, it will be May and warm.

A well-needed day off and then up to brand-new Citifield and the New York Mets for the weekend. That ought to be interesting.

Random Thoughts for Wednesday

2009-04-22T10:51:00.002-04:00

1) I'd like to apologize to starter Jordan Zimmermann for continually misspelling his name the other night. (As this blog is, obviously, the linchpin in the Nat-mosphere, he will notice this immediately and sleep much more soundly, I'm sure). I'll have to come up with a mnemonic device to remember how to spell his last name and Ryan Zimmerman's last name. Let's see...

"Ryan" has one "n", and "Jordan" has......one "n". Rats. That won't work.

Ah, I've got it! Ryan was our first "Z-man", and Jordan is our second "Z-mann". Get it? How's THAT for clever?

2) Oh, and while I'm on the subject of spelling and words, I think that the debate has been settled by no less authority than the Nationals themselves. The term shall, henceforth, be known as the "Nat-mosphere", not the "Nat-o-sphere" because, as we all saw last week, the Nats have no "o". I like how some have interpreted that uniform "o"-mission (pun seriously intended) to be a veiled swipe at Peter Angelos and the Baltimore Orioles, especially those Orioles fans who insist upon shouting "O!" during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, which disrespects the song, in my opinion. Hey, do the Atlanta fans shout "braves!" at the end of the song? Not that I've heard of.

3) [Jerry Seinfeld voice] "What's the deal with Comcast and MASN 2? Every....single...time...I try to set my DVR to record a Nats game on MASN 2, Comcast has the listings for that time slot(s) as "Book World", or "Tonight from Washington", or some such listing, rather than "MLB Baseball". [/END Jerry Seinfeld voice] So I wind up having to record HOURS of "U.S. Senate" feed from C-SPAN (Congratulations to Christopher Hill, confirmed by the Senate as our new Ambassador to Iraq on a 73-23 vote, by the way.) I don't know if MASN 2 is at fault or Comcast, but for crying out loud, someone needs to get their act together on this.

4) Personal gripe: Why on earth didn't the Nationals postpone Monday night's game? The weather forecast had been for rain and thunderstorms for several days before Monday, and it just seems ludicrous to have put everyone through the wet misery of that rain game. Oh, sure, it turned out well, the Nats won after all, but in front of how many fans? A bus-load, perhaps? This made no sense on several grounds:

A) The opponent was Atlanta. We play them several more times this season, it should be very easy to make that game up, unlike a visiting west coast team, for example, which only visits us once.

B) It was a Monday night, for goodness sake, the day of the week which usually has the lowest-attendance anyway. This was like a gift from the rain Gods! Make up the game on a Saturday or Sunday as a double-header when the crowds are better.

C) April games here have lower-attendance, because the kids are still in school. Make that game up in June, July, or August and you are guaranteed a larger crowd. Even if it rains then, you already have more people in the ballpark spending money on food and trying to keep their kids amused.

I can understand if it was after Labor Day, and you really have no opportunities to make up the game, or getting an umpiring crew in is difficult, but it's April!

I say that this was a bad call. Did the team stores and the vendors really make money that night? I think not. I think that they lost money that could have been recouped 10-fold during the summer.

5) The Nationals REALLY have to work on Metro and the last-train departures. I really do feel sorry for those poor fans who went to Monday night's rain game who took Metro and were forced to leave before the end of the game, lest they miss their trains. They deserved to see the end, to see that win. My gosh, that's like taking a girl out on a date for four and a half hours, and then another guy gets to drive her home.

Take heed, Nats-fans-who-Metro: Watch the weather reports. If there's even a possibility of a 2-hour rain delay during a night game, you run the risk of missing the end of the game.

6) Much has been made of the gesture of the Little Leaguers who want to pay Elijah Duke's $500 fine, and I have mixed feelings about that. While it is a generous and laudable gesture on their part to want to send a message to the club (and to Dukes) that they were grateful for his time spent with them, people have to remember that he was PAID for his appearance (from what I've read). And Dukes probably makes more on his contract than all of the Little Leaguers parents, collectively, per annum. At least the Nats will give the money to charity or towards their charitable works, but I dunno, something about that still irks me a little bit. My respect for Dukes as a person went up after I read about all of this, though.

7) There have been some calls in certain quarters for the Nationals to fire Manager Manny Acta due to this poor start, and because these critics don't feel as though he can get the club to a consistent winning level. I am not one of those people. Granted, I'm no expert, but of all of the problems with the club at this time, I don't believe that the Manager is one of them. It is still a very young club. All along, I've felt that 2009 was the watershed year, the year that the club loses all benefit of the doubts of the past several years (i.e. no owner, playing in the canyon of old R.F.K. stadium, etc..) 2008 was a real setback, with all of the injuries, but I don't think that firing Manny is going to solve any problems, either real or imagined. I like Manny's character, his self-discipline and the integrity that he projects and the respect that he has from other baseball people. He's like a young Joe Gibbs in a baseball uniform with a Spanish accent, in that regard (Manny's a LOT taller, though). We do not need to bring in some loud-mouthed egoist who wants to see his name in the sports pages every day, some strutting martinet on a power-trip.

For the critics, especially in this political town, maybe it would be easier to think of Manny Acta like Barack Obama: a good, highly-competant guy who has inherited a lot of big problems. No, he's not going to please everybody, but I have to believe that there are much worse alternatives.

Another wet and wild win: Nats come back to edge Braves 4-3, now 3-10

2009-04-22T10:19:00.004-04:00

I'm beginning to wonder of there is some sort of weather correlation between the Nats and their victories. Two consecutive wet games, two consecutive wins. That certainly bodes well for this evening.

The night began with another hour-long rain delay, but Shairon Martis then took the mound for the Nats, and while he had a scary first inning, allowing three runs, he collected himself and managed to get through five more innings without trouble and notch his second win of the season.

The Nats rally began with Adam Dunn's 420-foot home run blast straight towards the batter's-eye in the sixth inning, cutting their deficit to 3-2, and then Austin Kearns tripled, and Josh Willingham came through with a pinch-hit to give them the lead, 4-3.

The bullpen did their job, and closer Joel Hanrahan managed to get the save. Mike Hinckley, who is credited with a hold, said afterwards that he gave all the glory to Jesus. At the risk of making light of Hinckley's religious faith (which I do not; I respect Hinckley and I respect his faith) I might suggest that he give some of that credit to his catcher, Jésus Flores, who called a great game and took quite a beating behind the plate. With all of the new pitchers he has to work with, I think that attention must be paid to the vital role of catcher Jésus Flores in the Nats battery success.

It is worth noting that the Atlanta Braves made a couple of key errors, possibly weather-induced due to the wet conditions, but this win was all Nats. I liked how they are being aggressive on the bases.

Wow, this is their first series victory of the season! That calls for for a small celebration, doesn't it? Now let's see if they can break out the brooms tonight, as John Lannan tries for his first victory. Goodness knows, he's overdue and has pitched well enough to earn them.

A rescue in the rain: J-Zim's debut sparks 3-2 Nats win over Braves

2009-04-21T09:08:00.008-04:00

The Washington Nationals have glimpsed part of their immediate future in the form of pitcher Jordan Zimmerman, and his performance in last night's 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves was certainly brighter than the weather.

After a two hour, ten minute rain delay, the game began and "J-Zim" quickly dispatched his first three batters with seven pitches. The evening was set for a pitcher's duel as the Braves Derek Lowe was his usual sharp self, and limited the Nats to only three runs in his six innings of work.
Zimmerman threw 71% strikes in his six innings, struck out three and walked one. He allowed one home run and established his initial Major League ERA at 3.00.

I had tickets to the game, but I didn't go. I was convinced that the game would be rained out. I worked late, and listened to Charlie and Dave on the radio on my ride home. Right when they brought on Assistant General Manager Mike Rizzo, at 8:15, I saw some flashes of lightning in the sky. I really thought that I'd made the right decision. Certainly, this game would be postponed, I reasoned. It's Atlanta, not some west coast team, we play them many more times, it's early in the season, plenty of time to make it up in a sensible fashion. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Between the rain, fog, mist, and cool temperatures, it just seemed like a miserable night to be out at the ballpark. The game went on, at 9:15, and then they had another rain delay in the 8th inning, at 11:16. Play resumed at 11:49, and ended just over five hours after it was supposed to begin, at 12:12, but the actual playing time was only two hours and twenty four minutes.

I feel sorry for the fans who took Metro and actually sat through that messy weather, only to be informed at 11:45 that the last Metro trains would be leaving soon, so they had to rush out of the stadium to make their trains, never getting to see and enjoy the end of the game. That's too bad.

J-Zim looked great. By all accounts, his control, attitude and temperament are first-rate, and I can't wait to see him play in person and witness that 95 mph fastball for myself, as long as I get a little bit drier weather, please. He also knows how to execute a nice sac-bunt, which always helps. I like how he allowed a walk, then gave up a 2-run homer to Matt Diaz, but came right back to retire six of seven batters. That kind of steely mindset will serve him well.

I'm excited about our new arrivals, especially the youngsters. Justin "J-Max" Maxwell stole his first Major League base last night, pitcher Garrett Mock got in the game, as did Alex Cintron and Kip Wells.

So, 2-10. Expo-nentially (that's a joke, by the way) that's quite a percentage increase. Hopefully, we can keep that rolling.

Deja-vu all over again. Another 9th inning implosion as Nats lose 3rd straight to Marlins, 7-4, fall to 1-10.

2009-04-19T17:16:00.003-04:00

Man, I'm glad to see the Marlins leave town.

Today, the Nats put forth another good effort through 8 innings only to collapse in the 9th and lose.

What can you say after this? At least Joel Hanrahan escaped any culpability, he wasn't sent in to pitch in the 9th.

I don't know what the deal is with Saul Rivera, usually a bullpen reliever put in to close today, but he's not the same pitcher he's been the last two years, he's worse. Quite simply, he's not throwing strikes and he's consistently getting behind the batters.

For my part, I changed my blog template (like it?) to see if that might send the team some good mojo. Alas, it didn't help. I may have to change it again.

For the most part, starter Daniel Cabrera did his job, even though he committed the unforgivable sin of actually walking the opposing pitcher.

On MASN, Bob Carpenter made a comment which made me laugh, yet turned out to be quite prescient. When the Nats went up 2-0 early, Carpenter commented, "Somewhere in the Marlins dugout, someone is saying, 'We've got them right where we want them'". Alas, his comment was right on the money.

The offense was getting on base, but they kept stranding runners. I don't know yet how many runners they left there, but through the first five innings, they'd stranded ten. TEN runners! I'm not certain that I want to know what the final total was.

I'm kind of glad that I wasn't there for this one. Gray sky, chilly and a little breezy.

I have tickets to tomorrow night's game, but the forecast is for rain all day long, so it might be another postponement. It will be too bad if that happens. I'm anxious to see the Major League debut of Jordan Zimmerman, one of the team's best young pitching prospects. Also, in Manager Manny Acta's postgame press conference, he made it clear that there would be an all-new bullpen tomorrow. The phones are ringing in Syracuse tonight.

The good, the bad, and the ugly: Nats blow lead, lose to Marlins 9-6 in 11, fall to 1-10

2009-04-19T13:21:00.004-04:00

I was disappointed that I wasn't able to use my tickets to the Nats/Marlins game yesterday, but it was a 1:05 game, and I work Saturdays. To compound my envy for those who A) didn't have to work, and B) were going to the game, the weather was 100% glorious, as almost-perfect a spring day as one could wish for in Washington. To make matters even more vexing, it was schedule-magnet giveaway day. Fortunately, I was able to give my tickets to a friend.

If you had the opportunity to go to the game and turned it down because of the Nats record, I think that you kind of missed the bigger picture of what baseball joy is all about; watching your favorite team on a beautiful afternoon. I mean, really, is there a nicer way to spend an ideal spring afternoon? Isn't that what so many of us missed about growing up in D.C. from 1972 until 2005?

So with no T.V. available to me, I did what any other devoted Nats fan would do when confronted with such barriers: I simply put on Charlie and Dave and played out the action in my head (oh, and on the gameday feature of Nationals.com)

Things certainly looked bright at the end of the first inning, as Austin Kearns hit a grand slam to put them up 5-0. The Nats were getting hits galore, and their fortunes were looking as bright as the sky over Nationals Park.

That was the good.

The club had a sad scare late in the game when Roger Bernadina, playing centerfield for Elijah Dukes, who was being disciplined for being 5 minutes late for work, went way back to the wall to snag a long fly ball and made a spectacular catch and throw, but fractured his ankle in the process and had to be helped off the field. He had two screws inserted into his ankle, and will be out for several months, and the club has called up Justin Maxwell from AAA Syracuse to fill in for him.

That was the bad.

With starter Scott Olsen and the bullpen having allowed only 4 runs, the Nats were one out away from victory at the top of the 9th, when closer Joel Hanrahan allowed a home run with a man on base to suddenly tie the game, 6-6. The game went into 11 innings, and the Marlins chalked up 3 more runs and the Nats lost 9-6.

That was the ugly.

What are the odds that a closer is going to have two consecutive blown saves, on consecutive days, to the same opponent, both of which were home runs which tied the game? I hope that Hanrahan's teammates kept all sharp objects away from him and confiscated his shoelaces afterwards.

After the game, I was certainly conflicted. I sure was disappointed in the surprise loss, and I didn't have to eat my heart out that I'd missed a great win (I still wish I'd been there for Kearn's grand slam, though) and I didn't feel so bad that I'd been inside on such a great day.

There's been a lot of chatter online about the Nats decision to sit Elijah Dukes for being 5 minutes late to work. Dukes had been doing something for Little Leaguers, some sort of community outreach that the Nationals encourage the players to do, even though this wasn't a club-sponsored event. Not only was Dukes on the bench for most of the game, and fined $500, supposedly he's been threatened by acting General Manager Mike Rizzo with being sent down to AAA Syracuse if it happens again.

I think that this whole situation is ridiculous. There have to be extenuating circumstances and a certain degree of flexibility on the part of the club. It isn't as though he was late because he was out drinking all night and overslept, for crying out loud. But being threatened with being sent down to the minors? Good grief.

Dukes is obviously turning his life around from his troubled past and doing what the club asks of him. The $500 fine I have no problem with, that is still a punishment.

I'm beginning to wonder if sitting Dukes wasn't an excuse to give Bernadina some playing time. Manager Manny Acta is having trouble trying to accomodate all of his outfielders so this might have been a perfect act of expediency on his part.

But what an odd confluence of events which has sent Bernadina to the disabled list. I just learned that the Nats have already sent 7 players to the disabled list this season. Shades of 2008, and let's hope that it doesn't get any worse.

I hope that after Sunday, that we're done with the Marlins for a while.

Nats lose heartbreaker to Marlins in 10, 3-2, fall to 1-8.

2009-04-17T22:18:00.004-04:00

Friday, April 17th was a gorgeous spring evening for baseball. Too bad I didn't have tickets, but I usually forgo Friday night games anyway because I have to be at work so darned early on Saturdays. And if there is a rain delay (or extra innings, as tonight's game had), it just increases my anxiety of being able to drag my butt out of bed Saturday morning in time to be at work when I need to.

Tonight's game might have been worth the effort, though. Starter John Lannan ("The Walrus", I call him) had a wonderful game, the bullpen was terrific, especially our new setup man, Joel Beimel, who ROCKS, and poor Joel Hanrahan blew his save with the home run he allowed.

Alberto "The A.G." Gonzalez might just be the most exciting player we have right now (I'm also thinking that he needs a better nickname. The joke was, he has the exact same name as a recent Attorney General, so perhaps we should just call him, 'Top Cop"? Heck, I dunno, I'm just spitballing here.) Don't get me wrong, I love Cristian "All-Star, 5 for 5" Guzman, but Gonzalez brings a lot to the table. I'm pretty happy with the Nats shortstop situation right now.

Manager Manny Acta got ejected for only the second time in his brief career, and at the moment (top of the 10th inning) I still don't quite know why, but I'm slightly bemused because I was there in Philadelphia when Acta got his first career ejection, two seasons ago, and there was no question why at the time. Funnily enough, John Lannan was also pitching that day (it was his Major League debut) and due no doubt to jitters, he hit two Phillies batters, Chase Utley (broke Utley's hand, too) and Ryan Howard, and umpire Hunter Wendlestead (sp?) tossed him and then tossed Acta, who came out to defend his player. Even MASN color commentator, Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton, thought that Wendlestead made a bad decision there. And, oh, were the Philly fans in a heated lather over that! They were calling for Lannan's head.

My gosh, it's great to see some Nats offense. They didn't have a lot of runs tonight, but they sure had a lot of hits, 12 to be exact.

No, the Nats didn't win, but they played well against the team with the best record in baseball. They led most of the night and only made one error. If it weren't for that one hanging breaking ball from Hanrahan in the 9th, they would have pulled it out 2-1.

Yeah, I hate losing as much as the next fan, but there is losing and there is losing badly, and the Nats didn't lose this one badly. It gives me hope for tomorrow and Sunday. It's an encouraging loss, not a horrible, dispiriting, crushing loss.

If this team continues to compete like this, the victories will certainly come in due course.

And someday soon, they should be able to string two victories together. And won't that be grand?

The 1988 Orioles can relax, no challenge to their 0-22 start this year as Nats beat Philies 8-2 to advance to 1-7.

2009-04-16T23:54:00.006-04:00

What a relief. Nice to get that first one out of the way, and in such high style, too. Home runs from Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, Elijah Dukes, and Alberto Gonzales. Starter Shairon Martis got a nice win, too. Great performances from all of the "new" guys; Willingham, Gonzales, and Roger Bernardina, who got a nice stolen base.

This is the kind of performance that I think most of us were expecting seven games ago. Let's just hope that the team got off to a slow start and needed time to "find" itself.

Another couple of nice things: no errors, and not many stranded baserunners, only eight, I think. Much better than those games last week, such as the one where the Nats stranded 15 (or was it 16?) men on base.

All in all, a great treat for all of the Nats fans who showed up at the park this evening. Tonight's game wasn't in my package, alas.

Oh, and those new "alternate" uniforms are pretty darned snazzy. They remind me a bit of the Braves alternate home uniform introduced a season or two ago. Frankly, I like them better than the "official" white with red home uniform. The blue hat is cool, with the red, white, and blue interlocking "DC", but I'd prefer to see a red, white, and blue curly "W" instead. I vote that the club wears that uniform at home for the rest of the season.

The State of the Blog Address (for any who were interested)

2009-04-15T21:25:00.004-04:00

Well, it's been almost an entire year between blog posts. Miss me? (Don't answer that).

I was quite excited a year ago when the new stadium was opening and I thought for certain that the 2008 Washington Nationals would be more competitive than the 2007 squad, if for no other reason that the smaller dimensions of the new park would allow for more offense than the canyon of R.F.K. ever could.

Then came the collapse.

Sometime around July 4th, I even stopped going to the games, as real life interfered which necessitated a move and all of the expenses that entails, not to mention the time involved. The Nationals didn't make it too tough on me to miss their home games, they obliged me by losing and giving me little reason to regret my stadium non-attendance.

The other problem was the ballpark itself. Oh, it's beautiful and clean and has plenty of food and drink and fun opportunities for families, and the Metro system makes it pretty easy to get to. The scoreboard is terrific and as far as I'm concerned the only "bad" seats are ones where you cannot view the scoreboard. Volumes were written last year by more patient bloggers than myself, as well as the working press, about the virtues and vices of Nationals Park, but my single biggest problem with it was that it isolated me from a lot of the people I enjoyed seeing, and because there are no large parking lots which bring in most of the fans, I couldn't really bump into friends on my way out of the games the way that I could at R.F.K. So that took away a lot of the fun for me. I do like the new ballpark - really, at the end of the day, what's not to like if you're an average (or even above-average) fan?

With the way things went in 2008, I didn't feel much like blogging about the team. Honestly, who really wants to read a litany of losing? It just gets tiresome, and I was completely uninspired. There's also been an increase in the number of baseball blogs which are either devoted to the Nationals or include them often enough in their content. I salute them for their efforts. They must not just have the time, which has to be considerable to do any justice, but also the passion and inspiration to do it.

It also didn't help that the Nationals traded away two of my favorite players (Ryan Church and Brian Schneider) for Lastings Milledge, who has been lauded up and down for having such promise, yet he has struggled so mightily since joining the club that seven games into this season, they've already sent him down to minor-league Syracuse. That really hurt me as a fan, I loved both of those players, and miss them terribly. I'm just happy, for their sakes, that they went to a more successful organization, the New York Mets.

What people must never forget about the 2008 Nationals as they marched to 122 loses and became the worst team in MLB is the plague of injuries that they suffered. The squad which took the field on Opening Day was completely devastated by injuries and if I remember this correctly, every player who was on the field on Opening Day went to the D/L at least once by the All-Star break. The only bit of pleasantry was seeing SS Cristian Guzman become the team representative to the All-Star game, after suffering such terrible campaigns in 2005 and 2006.

So many players have come and gone. The only ones left from Opening Day of the inaugural 2005 season are 1B Nick Johnson (finally healthy again? Fingers crossed!) and Guzman. I realize that cuts and trades are the nature of the game, but it would be nice to have a little more stability and continuity.

The post 2008 off-season of moves was interesting, all the way up through spring training. The Lerner family attempted to land free agent Mark Texeira, who decided that the allure of New York Yankee pinstripes and more-likely post-season glory was more valuable to him than the money that the Lerners offered as well as closer proximity to his family in Maryland. They did succeed in signing slugger Adam Dunn which promises to add excitement at the plate and veteran leadership in the locker room. They traded for Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen from the Florida Marlins. There are far too many other personnel changes to list, (including the coaching staff) but those were the major acquisitions.

To the surprise of few (and the delight of many, according to many blogs and published comments) the Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden resigned after facts came to light about one of their highly-touted Carribean prospects, who turned out to be older than originally thought and even his name was not what everyone thought that it was. Bowden resigned during the ongoing investigation, and was never actually charged with anything, but after the 122-loss season and allegations of misconduct in the club's Carribean operations, Bowden claimed to resign so as not to be a distraction to the team. Some of his assistants, including José Rijo, the head of their Carribean operation, also resigned or were let go. No immediate successor has been named, but assistant General Manager Mike Rizzo has taken on some General Manager duties and team President Stan Kasten is, essentially, also the General Manager for the time being.

The Nats had a good Spring Training and their minor leaguers are showing promise. All signs have pointed to a better 2009 season that 2008 was.

Well, that remains to be seen. As of today, Wednesday, April 15th, the Nats are 0-7. They've definitely had more offensive production, but they've also been stranding far too many baserunners. They definitely need some tweaking and tinkering and Manager Manny Acta has his hands full.

The Nats home opener, two days ago, was somewhat more sedate due to the 0-6 record, the overcast sky and cool weather, and the decision by President Obama not to honor one of D.C.'s oldest professional baseball traditions, the throwing-out of the honorary first pitch by the current President. Many fans were disappointed by that.

I'm not certain how many fans thought that the Nats had a real chance against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, the reigning World Series Champions, but considering that the Nationals made three errors and starting pitcher Daniel Cabrera had a weak outing, they may have been lucky to only have lost 9-8. Adam Dunn, Elijah Dukes and Ryan Zimmerman all had home runs, which made things exciting, and Cristian Guzman went 5 for 5 at the plate, but pulled his hamstring running to first base.

Before the game began, the team had a moment of silence for Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhardt, who perished with two others in a car crash last week after Opening Day. Adenhardt had many local connections, having been a Maryland native. A further sad pall was cast over the day's festivities by the sudden death of Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas, in the Nationals press booth, less than three hours before the start of the game. Kalas, a broadcasting legend both in MLB and the NFL, had been ill, but no one suspected that he wasn't well enough to travel. I have to believe that his sudden death gave the Phillies players added incentive to win that day's game on his behalf.

After a day off, the Nationals were to resume their 3-game series with the Phillies, but the game was postponed due to the day's continued rainfall. Perhaps it was a mercy, in that it gave Guzman and other players more time to rest.

So that's the "Reader's Digest condensed-version" of recent and near-recent events surrounding the Nationals. For my part, I've had to scale down from a full-season ticket plan to a 40-game plan due to economic reasons. I am already missing knowing that I can attend any game that I wish to (or not). I've moved over from the 1B side to the 3B side to be in the shade during the day games. Really, in relation to the field, I'm about where I was at R.F.K. Stadium, perhaps a tad bit closer to home plate. I have no complaints.

So far, I've seen usher Tim Harris and beer vending legend Neal. Nice to catch up with old friends. There are still many people who I'm anxious to see though. I hope to catch up with many more people at the ballpark before the end of the month.

I didn't get to the ballpark as early as I would have liked, so I missed some of the Opening Day ceremonies, but I bought a beer from Neal. I haven't tried any of the new food offerings yet from the new food vendor, but I look forward to some of my favorites: Five Guys burgers, Ben's half-smokes and some chili and cheese nachoes.

Many comments have been made about the new bronze statues in the Centerfield Plaza area, of D.C baseball legends Walter Johnson, Josh Gibson, and Frank Howard. None of the comments have been positive. I have to agree. Sadly, I think that those statues are as ugly as sin and they do not do dignified justice to their subjects. A tremendous opportunity for truly majestic and dignified statues has been squandered. Such a pity. Those men deserve better. If I get to see Frank Howard again soon, I will offer him my regrets that his statue wasn't nicer.

I had a really nice chat with a couple of Phillies fans sitting near me. They were greatly outnumbered by Nationals fans on Opening Day, but I really detected an improved attitude by them over recent years. I think that because they won the World Series last October, after a 28-year drought, their fans have less of a chip on their shoulders. I could be wrong, though. Perhaps by mid-season their frustrations will return and they'll be back to their old selves again. There was one Philly fan nearby me who made a couple of rude comments, but perhaps winning gives them license to make such comments. Hopefully, I'll find out the answer to that question myself some day.

I'm not a "fair weather" fan, but for me the simple facts are that I go to the Nationals games to have fun and enjoy myself, and when they are losing so badly and not putting a team on the field that I really want to watch, I lose a lot of incentive to go and have even less incentive to want to share my thoughts about it. They don't have to win 120 games to satisfy me as long as they are a COMPETATIVE team playing baseball worth watching. They don't have to win the division to keep me interested, just keep my hopes up, that's all I ask. The Nationals aren't "loveable losers", they are a young team trying to find itself, but it gets rough when you have to listen to a constant barrage of criticism and bragging from Orioles fans, Mets fans, Phillies fans, Braves fans, et. al. And blogging isn't my job, it is something that I do to share the joys of Nationals baseball with my family and friends and whomever else cares to read these miscellaneous ramblings of mine. But the Nationals have to give me something joyful to write about first.

Despite all of their troubles and loses, Nationals baseball is STILL better than no baseball at all to me. I love meeting other fans, even fans of other teams and just having nice discussions about baseball. At it's best, it's completely wonderful.

I remain hopeful, if guarded, about their prospects for this season.

Look for me in section #112, row HH. I'll be the guy in the red Nats cap. Say "hello" if you have the time.

Second-baseman's Slam Silences "Shea Stadium South"

2008-04-25T00:41:00.002-04:00

There is still too much to recap for the month so far, but last night's game against the New York Mets was special for me several reasons and I just have to blog about this.

Number one - the Nats won! 10-5 against the division-rival New York Mets, who had already beaten them 4 straight games this young season, and they did it in such dramatic fashion, coming back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game 3-3 before...

Number two - the Felipe Lopez GRAND SLAM! There it was, the score tied 3-3 with 2 out in the 6th inning and Felipe Lopez ("FLop", to us hard-core fans), who had just recently won back the starting 2B job from the struggling Ronnie Belliard, launched a 3-2 change-up from Aaron Heilman several rows into the right center field seats. It was a thing of true beauty - not a rocket, not a "frozen rope", just a nice parabola, which "settled" into the seats, as they say. My God, it was almost lazy how that ball arced over right-fielder Ryan Church's head and out of the field.

I was so relieved that the Nats were able to get that little bit of ballpark history out of the way. It was bad enough that the hated Larry "Chipper" Jones of the division-rival Atlanta Braves hit the first regular-season home run in the new ballpark on Opening Day (why couldn't it have been a National? D'oh! Eh, at least we had Zimm's walk-off homer) but I dearly hoped that several Nationals Park "firsts" would belong to our own players, and now we have another one, and a juicy one at that: the first Grand Slam hit in our park was by our very own Felipe Lopez and it was the game winner, the RBI's which put the Nats over the top. Mark your calendars, Nats fans, this is the answer to an excellent trivia question someday.

For four seasons now, I've had to suffer through the Mets visits to R.F.K. and now Nationals Park, and each time, the stands are FILLED with Mets fans. It is so ridiculous, the imbalance of fans, that our ballparks have become temporarily "Shea Stadium South". The cheers for the Mets are louder than for the Nats, and I feel bad for our players, who deserve better support in their own home ballpark. The only good part is, when the Nats actually BEAT the Mets at home, and the Mets fans fall silent. My God, that is a wonderful moment. When Lopez hit that Grand Slam, it just sucker-punched the Mets fans into silence - except for the fans yelling, "Heilman, you're a bum!" that is. It might not happen again this season, but for one warm spring night, the Nats came from behind and roared ahead of the Mets to deliver the hometown fans a sweet victory which was most overdue. And for "FLop", the baseball gods showered him with redemption, after a season where he seemed to be malaise and ennui personified.

It was also very nice to see pitcher Mike O'Connor back after missing all of 2007 due to surgery and recovery. Remember him? He's the Ellicott City, Maryland youngster who went to George Washington University and played well for them. He's a future starter and played well-enough in the minors for the Nats that they called him up and sent down Ray King (actually, offered him an option to AAA Columbus) but for now, O'Connor is out of the bullpen, and he acquitted himself very well last night in his inaugural appearance this season.

I arrived at the ballpark towards the end of the 3rd inning and after saying hello to Rico, back selling programs after being sick during the last homestand, I went up to section 240 to try my luck with the Five Guys stand. I've never had Five Guys burgers before, but I've heard about them for years, and I was happy to see that either the Nationals or concessioner Centerplate made a deal to get them into the ballpark because they originated here in our area, so they are "local" even if they are franchised now. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with raw onions, pickles, lettuce, tomato, mustard, ketchup and relish, and also an order of fries.

I'll say here and now that this was the greatest fast-food burger I've ever had in my entire life. Seriously. No joke, no exaggeration. Five Guys lives up to their vaunted reputation and hype. The only better burgers I've ever had have been at top restaurants here in D.C. such as Michel Richard's Central and also at Circle Bistro. On top of how fantastic the burger was, I LOVE how they served me. You ordered, you paid, then you waited for your number to be called. And the burger was wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in its own paper bag, and the fries were placed in a cup and in their own paper bag. BRILLIANT! These were easy to carry (MUCH easier than a cardboard tray) and kept me from having to worry about dropping or spilling any of them.

I haven't tried every single food offering yet, and I haven't actually been to the Ben's Chili Bowl stand itself (though I've really enjoyed the Ben's half-smoke "all the way", that's a great meal), but I'll say for the record that, if asked, my vote for the best Nationals Park food goes to Five Guys first (both due to quality and service) and Hard Times a close second, with Ben's in third place but not by much. We have some pretty darned good stadium food to be proud of, I think.

So this was a nice evening of firsts for Nationals fans in general and for me in particular, one of those special nights that reminds me of why I go to such great lengths to attend Nationals baseball games in the first place. Nothing beats the thrills that a baseball game can give to you.

Rumors of this blog's demise are premature, and yet...

2008-04-20T22:30:00.003-04:00

Those of you who might have read this blog in 2007 might have noticed that it has barely changed since September of last year. For reasons too numerous to list, that has, indeed, been the case. Suffice it to say that real life has taken precedence over online writings and ramblings. This blog is a hobby, not my job. My actual life has demanded far more of my time than I have been able to find, and this blog became a regrettable casualty of that.

What that means is, for me to be able to write a Nationals blog with any relevancy, I need to re-tool it a bit. Whereas last season, it was a daily blog (more or less), it will now likely become a weekly roundup. I'll try to write more often as time allows, though.

There will be other changes as well. With the regrettable departure of one of my very favorite Washington Nationals, the erstwhile New York Met Ryan Church, all of the fun has gone out of the idea of my "Ryan report". Sure, we still have Zimmerman and Austin Ryan Kearns, and Joel Ryan Hanrahan, but the gimmick is played out. You need at least four to make it any fun at all, and with Ryan Wagner on the D/L and Langerhans nowhere to be found, it's just not going to work this season, unless Jim Bowden makes some highly coincidental moves (Ryan Braun from the Brewers, anyone?)

Another thing that has changed the fun of blogging for me has been the new ballpark.
Oh, it's beautiful, it's positively gorgeous. I love it! I finally feel that the Nats are being treated like a major league team, and I will no longer have to listen to visiting Phillies fans, or Orioles fans, or any number of other teams fans, decry the terrible old conditions of R.F.K. Stadium. Now, I can puff out my chest with some sense of pride, we have the newest and best baseball park in the country. Okay, sure, it isn't in the top ten, but the Post's Thomas Boswell put it very nicely in his recent online chat:

"As I've written, the park is a beauty. No, not in the top seven, which are almost untouchable __Fenway, Wrigley, Yanks, Dodgers, Giants, Pirates, O's. But right in the battle with the next seven really wonderful parks in (no order) Seattle, San Diego, St. Louis, Colorado, Cleveland and Philadelphia. If the Nats get the parking right and the neighborhood gets built up and the waterfront is developed, there's a chance for Washington to get into the Top 10 in a few years. Certainly the top dozen. That's high praise in an era when (within three years) there will be 22 new parks opened since '91, plus Fenway, Wrigley, Dodgers Stadium and the still-elegant Royals Stadium. The Golden Age of Ballparks. And Washington is now right in the middle of it." (Thomas Boswell, Washington Post online chat, April 18, 2008)

I love the layout in terms of accessibility, the wide concourses, the extensive food options, the big new Team Store, that gorgeous scoreboard..As Dmitri Young said, "What's not to love?"
So what about the new ballpark has changed the experience for me? It isolates me a lot more from the folks who bring us baseball 81 times per season: the front-office personnel, the broadcasters, some of the ushers and other stadium workers. Everyone is spread out now, and compartmentalized. Remember Ellie? She's still there, but for me to see her, I have to wait for an elevator and take it up several floors. Susan, one of my favorite ushers, is now in either the Diamond Club or the President's Club, I can't just stroll by her section before the game and say hello. Also, the design of the seating area precludes quick visits to other sections. Unlike R.F.K., there is no horizontal movement between sections in the lower seating area except through the seats, so this greatly hampers moving around the lower seating area quickly and easily. It is, therefore, more difficult to visit friends in other sections.

Also, because most of us fans appear to be taking Metro to the ballpark, I haven't been running into so many friends that I used to see while coming or going from R.F.K.'s Lot #8. It's tough to just "hang out" around there after a game. I'm learning and experiencing for myself that Metro-fans don't fool around either before or after the games, there seems to be a real purposefulness and focus to getting to and from the ballpark. No one seems to want to linger around outside yet. Perhaps due to the cold weather, no one has so far, and there isn't as much development to distract fans on foot, no restaurants or bars. Hopefully, this will change for the better.

The upshot of all of that is, I don't have as many interesting encounters with other people as I'd grown accustomed to having at old R.F.K. over the past 3 seasons. Sure, it's early still, but I'm not optimistic.

Most unexpectedly, and the part that I hate to mention because of the terrible reflection upon my own character as a fan, the final thing that has kept me from blogging sooner is..... this terrible losing streak. For a while there, I thought that the 2008 Nats were going to challenge the 1988 (was it?) Orioles, who began their season 0-22 (correct me if I'm wrong about that, I just don't feel like researching it.) It was a long time ago, but I still remember the Sports Illustrated cover with Oriole Billy Ripken with his forehead resting on the butt of a bat, looking as dejected as any athlete ever has after losing. As of tonight, the 2008 Nats have a worse record than the 2007 Nats who were widely projected before the season began to have an historically bad season, challenging the inaugural season of the New York Mets for 120+ losses.
This 2008 squad was supposed to be better than last year's. Maybe not NL East champions, but right in the thick of things, with a solid chance at .500 or better. Our alleged hot-bats are stone cold, and there are sloppy mistakes being made.

I'm not turning on the team in any way, shape or form, far from it. It's still early, and for me, even bad baseball is better than no baseball at all. But things are very different now, mostly for the better, but some definitely for the worse. I need to find a way to express what it is to be a Nats fan in 2008 in our spanking-new ballpark. I just hope I find a way to do it that you, my readers, will find compelling.

Yawn......

2008-02-15T07:39:00.003-05:00

What's that sound? Can you hear it? Could it be? YES! It's true!

Pitchers and catchers are reporting to Viera today. Spring training is beginning.

So it must be time for me to resume blogging about the Washington Nationals, too.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge could almost have been speaking about me when he wrote,
"All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair- The bees are stirring - birds are on the wing - And Winter slumbering in the open air, Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring! And I the while, the sole unbusy thing, Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing."

Before reality so rudely interrupted me after the end of the 2007 season, I was trying to tie things up and share my thoughts and feelings about the end of baseball at R.F.K. and say goodbye for the time being. I'd still like to talk about that, reminisce a little bit, and thank some people in the process, but that will have to wait for the weekend.

I must congratulate the more active Nationals bloggers (you know who you are) who have dutifully covered all of the hot-stove and other off-season goings-on and issues, the progress of the new ballpark's construction, and so forth. You have done what I simply could not, and done it very well. I love blogging about the Nationals, but the post-season demands of real life necessitated that I hang up the keyboard along with my hat for a few months. It was all about seeking some balance and tending to other areas of life. As Morris Buttermaker so memorably said to Amanda Whurlitzer:

MB: After tomorrow,we do what all ballplayers do...we shake hands till we see each other next season.  Then we go fishing or hunting,
make some personal appearances...get to know the wife and kids again.

AW: I don't have a wife and kids.

MB: Neither do I,but I got my pools to clean. You've got your maps to sell and your ballet to learn.

Well, I didn't clean any pools, but I had other things that needed doing, places to go and people to see. Now it's time to catch up.

Some quotes which really capture the mood I'm in right now:

O, wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
~Percy Bysshe Shelley

"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream." ~ Barbara Winkler

Today, the excitement begins to build. Today, we start to get the daily updates from Viera. Today is where the 2008 season begins in earnest. Pretty soon, when the rest of the players report and Spring Training games begin, we get to look at boxscores again.

23 days until March 9th, when U.S. Daylight Time goes into effect, adding that wonderful hour of daylight at the end of our day (sunset that day around 7:30 EDT) and making us want to stay outdoors later.

35 days until March 21st, when spring officially begins.

44 days until Nationals Park opens and kicks-off Opening Day (yeah, I know, I have to fix my countdown widget. All in good time.)

There is much to be excited about. We'll talk about it soon. Stay tuned.

Oh, and Happy New Year.

Nats avoid Phillies sweep in final homestand OR an ugly story with a happy ending

2007-09-26T21:24:00.000-04:00

Emotionally, this is a difficult post for me to cobble together. This is my post about the final series at R.F.K. Stadium, the Philadelphia Phillies vs. the Washington Nationals.

For 3 years now, I have been an over-the-top, dyed-in-the-wool Washington Nationals baseball fan, despite only casual interest in baseball over the previous 35+ years of my life. The arrival of this National League franchise has changed my entire life, I think for the better. It has brought me in contact with so many different people from various walks of life who I never would have met otherwise. From the Lerners themselves and other members of the club ownership group to broadcasters, camera-operators, ushers, service workers, parking lot attendants and the players and fans, I have met a lot of really wonderful people thanks to the Washington Nationals. For almost 8 months of the year, from spring training through the World Series, I have a daily interest which means so much to me now. And then there is all of the off-season machinations to read about as well.

The Washington Post's Thomas Boswell once wrote a piece that resonates with many baseball fans and I have discovered that it resonates with me as well. I love this:

"Baseball is not necessarily an obsessive-compulsive disorder, like washing your hands 100 times a day, but it's beginning to seem that way. We're reaching the point where you can be a truly dedicated, state-of-the-art fan or you can have a life. Take your pick." ~Thomas Boswell, Washington Post, 13 April 1990"

For better or for worse, Boswell has described me. I am a truly dedicated, state-of-the-art fan, who pours over box scores, websites and records even the Nats games that I attend, so that I might review them later, if only to see the highlights, but usually to hear the excellent play-by-play calling of Bob Carpenter and the color commentary of Hall-of-Famer Don Sutton. I may have sacrificed what could be called "a life" because of baseball's all-permeating influence on my daily existence. Like the Jimmy Fallon character, Ben Wrightman in "Fever Pitch", I have to check the Nationals schedule before I can commit to any other possible plans. The first season was completely intoxicating, welcoming me to a world that I 'd only had fleeting encounters with in my life. The fact that the Nats were good made it even more wonderful, and the fun of flirting with a pennant race in early September only whetted my appetite for more. I treated myself to season tickets for 2006, mostly to secure a position in the new stadium but also because I was sick of begging for tickets from people who I knew had them, and I wanted good seats. Little did I know what joys awaited me as an official season ticket holder.

First of all, though this is hardly the most important aspect, being a season ticket holder is a matter of pride and dedication. You tell people that you have season tickets and they know how serious a fan you are. Who in their right mind would buy a pair of 81-game season tickets in the lower seating area for personal use (as opposed to a business write-off) unless you were among the most dedicated of fans?

So, on to the final series at R.F.K. (to be continued)

Continuing computer problems OR R.F.K. isn't the only thing in my life which is functional yet obsolescent

2007-09-26T21:21:00.000-04:00

Catching up here as best as I can. Sorry for the long hiatus. Due to continuing computer problems (basically, my 7 year-old Windows box is having an affair with obsolescence, and I need to replace it a.s.a.p.) and real life/work interferences, I haven't been able to blog about the past week as I would have liked to.

My thanks to the dozen of you who read this blog for your continued patience.

Nats pound Pelfrey but fall 8-4 OR Broken brooms, no sweep

2007-09-26T20:58:00.000-04:00

Well, so much for a Mets sweep. This one wasn't as close as the previous two nights. Starter Matt Chico didn't have as good an outing as he would have liked, and the Nats fell to the Mets 8-4.

It was a close game, with the Nats grabbing the lead back in the 2nd, but the wheels came off in the 7th. Despite 3 Mets errors (1 for the Nats), the Nats couldn't rally this time.

Ryan Report: Zimmerman went 2 for 5 with an R.B.I. That's the highlight of the Ryan Report.

Box score here.

Being my day off, I was able to get to the ballpark early, the last such weekday game at R.F.K. that I would, as it turns out. Saw all of my friends, had my brisket sandwich and beer. It was a nice night to be at the park, 74 degrees. I still managed to have a good time, despite the loss.

Nats sink Maine, Mets 9-8, take series OR Déja-vu all over again

2007-09-19T15:27:00.000-04:00

I had to check my calendar last night. It read, "September 18th", not "February 2nd". No, it wasn't "Groundhog Day", but it sure must've seemed like that to the New York Mets. Once again, they took an early lead, only to see the Nats rally and triumph.

Starter Joel "The Hammer" Hanrahan, like Tim Hudson the night before, didn't bring his best stuff. He lasted 3 innings and allowed 5 runs on 7 hits. The bullpen came to the rescue, though, with Mike Bacsik, Winston Abreau, Jésus Colomé (who got the win), Saul Rivera, Arnie Muñoz, Chris Schroeder, Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero (who got his 35th save) allowed only 3 more runs, and held off the National League East division leaders for the second consecutive night, winning 9-8 and taking at least 2 of 3 games. I loved what MLB.com's Bill Ladson had to say about Chad Cordero's 9th inning thrills: "..closer Chad Cordero gave the Nationals their usual scare."

Ryan Report: Church didn't play, Zimmerman went 1 for 4 with a double, Langerhans went 0 for 1, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 2 for 4 with a homer and 2 R.B.I.'s.

Nook Logan also had a good night, going 2 for 5 with a triple, Wily Mo Peña went 1 for 4 with an R.B.I., Ronnie Belliard was on fire, going 3 for 4 with a homer and 3 R.B.I.'s, Robert Fick went 2 for 3 with a walk, Brian Schneider went 1 for 3 with an R.B.I., and D'Angelo Jimenez went 1 for 1 with a R.B.I. in a pinch-hitting role.

Box score here.

My own feelings of Déja-vu came when I began driving towards the stadium, having not been able to get off of work early. Before the Nats even got to the plate, while I was still not even at the parking lot yet, the score was 4-0 Mets. I thought to myself, "Well, last night the Nats were behind 4-0 and that turned out okay." I wasn't expecting to win, I just wanted them to make a game of it and not get disgraced and humiliated. Little did I know what thrills awaited me.

The fire department was in attendance for their honorary night at the ballpark, and there were two big engines with the American flag suspended between their ladders out in front of R.F.K. It was a lovely sight. I gave some money to a firefighter collecting money for burn victims, that always feels good, I actually enjoy the opportunity to give at the stadium when charities are collecting.

71 degrees and clear for the just-under 20,000 crowd, and it was another gorgeous night for baseball. Saw Rico but no Ellie (family problem) and I got my usual Capital Q Barbecue beef brisket sandwich and a beer from Howard, and I watched the Nats second consecutive improbable rally. What fun! I joked to some fans that the Nats were reliving history, and we were witnessing the "Sinking of the Maine" right in front of our eyes.

Gotta make the most of these last home games, and with the surging Philadelphia Phillies on their way in for the last 4 games beginning Thursday, this may be the last chance to grab a thrilling win at R.F.K. I dearly hope that I'm wrong.

Nats rally from 0-4, beat Mets 12-4 OR A Monday Mets Mugging

2007-09-19T14:03:00.000-04:00

On Monday, the New York Mets came to town for their final visit to R.F.K. Stadium, and the National League East division leaders could not have expected what would happen over the course of the game.

Starting out with a 4-0 lead, the Mets were anxious to shake off their weekend sweep by the Philadelphia Phillies, who are hot on their heels for the division lead, and they certainly hoped to be able to beat up on their weaker division rivals to put some distance between themselves and the Phillies.

Funny how life, and baseball, doesn't always work the way you expect that it will, isn't it?

The Washington Nationals would go on to score 12 unanswered runs, and take the first game of the 3-game series.

The Mets starter, Brian Lawrence, was an "emergency" starter, having just been called up from AAA, but he has an interesting history where the Nationals are concerned. The Nationals acquired him in a trade with the San Diego Padres at the end of the 2005 season, as they sent 3B Vinny Castilla to San Diego for Lawrence. Lawrence had never been injured, and the Nats were looking to get a 200 inning performance out of him, but in spring training 2006, Lawrence was injured and out for the entire season. The Nats released him at the end of 2006. Lawrence got picked up by the Rockies if I'm not mistaken, and found his way to the Mets, and I always wondered what we missed by not having Lawrence in the Nats lineup last year. I'm not wondering any longer. He got hammered for 4 runs on 6 hits, and walked one in his 3 1/3 innings.

Nats starter Tim Redding had an almost identical outing as his Mets counterpart, also allowing 4 runs on 6 hits and walking one. The bullpen of John "Johnny A." Albaladejo (who got his first win), Saul Rivera, Luis Ayala, Arnie Muñoz, and Jésus Colomé did their usual efficient work, allowing only 4 hits and no runs.

Ryan Report: Church went 1 for 1 with a pinch-hitting 2-R.B.I. homerun, Zimmerman went 1 for 4 with a walk, Langerhans went 0 for 1 and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 3 with a double and was walked twice.

Nook Logan had another great game, going 3 for 5 at the plate with a double and an R.B.I. and he bunted well, Wily Mo Peña went 2 for 5 with 2 R.B.I.'s, Belliard went 1 for 4 with a walk and 2 R.B.I.'s, Ronnie Belliard went 1 for 4 with 2 R.B.I.'s, Brian Schneider had a double with 2 R.B.I.'s, Robert Fick went 1 for 2 with an R.B.I. and D'Angelo Jimenez went 1 for 4.

It should be noted that, the mighty Mets made 4 errors, all of which proved costly.

Box score here.

I couldn't get out of work early, so I listened to the game in my car and heard things going badly. The score was 3-0 Mets by the time I even got to the parking lot, and it was 4-0 shortly thereafter. I glumly went about my ballpark routine, and got my food and settled in to see how bad things might get. The Mets fans in attendance were not yet in full voice, and I anticipated another night of R.F.K. turning into "Shea South", much to the continuing irritation of Nats fans in attendance.

For the first time since April, I had to wear a jacket to guard against the chill. Autumn is knocking at our door, and knocking hard. It was 69 degrees and clear, and I was grateful for the good weather.

Saw all of my people (Rico, Ellie, etc..) and got my beer from Howard. I just wanted the Nats to play well and not get humiliated. I feared that the Mets would roar into R.F.K. with a vengence after being swept by the Phillies over the weekend.

The President's Race saw a presidential-pileup, as Teddy went down and Abe and Tom fell over him. Funny to see, I hope that they weren't hurt. George won.

It was wonderful when the Nats tied the score, but to continue getting run after run, I began to wonder, "Who are these guys in Nats uniforms?" It was an uncharacteristic burst of offense (aided by the Mets errors) and yet I couldn't feel comfortable until the score was 10-4. The Mets are good, but I didn't believe that they would overcome a 6-run deficit.

A wonderful way to begin a new series, and I remarked to several people afterward that I've never seen the stadium empty so quickly. I swear, within 10 minutes of the final out, the place seemed almost empty. Lots of Mets fans left early, that's for sure.

Nice to get that first game out of the way and preserve some dignity and respect.

Braves at Nats, the weekend series wrapup

2007-09-16T23:14:00.000-04:00

The Washington Nationals began their last homestand at R.F.K. Stadium on Friday, hosting the Atlanta Braves for a 3-game series. They took 1 of 3, so they avoided a sweep, but they should have taken at least 2 of the 3. It was so close, but they just couldn't get the job done.

Friday, September 14th: Braves 8, Nats 5

This game began in the rain, and it ended in the rain. It ended in a 5 hour, 13 minute marathon, the longest Nationals game in terms of pure game time (rain delay times excluded).

This game was also the Nationals 82nd loss of the season, guaranteeing their 2nd consecutive losing season and 3rd season finishing at or below .500.

Starter Matt Chico did okay given the conditions, but he couldn't dominate the Braves hitters. Chad Cordero blew the save in the top of the 9th inning, allowing the Braves to tie. Poor Chad has had more bad luck against the Atlanta Braves than against any other team and, truth be told, with a 2-run lead at the top of the 9th, with the rain the way that it was, and with some of Atlanta's best hitters coming to the plate, I wasn't comfortable, I worried about potential walks and tough Atlanta hitting. Reliever Jesus Colomé didn't have a good game, and his September hasn't been as productive as the earlier part of his season, before he went on the D/L with a non-pitching-related injury.

Ryan Report: Zimmerman hit a 2-run homer.

Soggy box score here.

I had to leave in the top of the 13th inning. I work Saturdays, and I had to be at work at 8:00, so just after midnight, after getting completely soaked, I packed it in. I could have sat under some cover, but with all of the empty seats around me, I thought that I'd have a good chance at any foul balls hit in my section. It didn't happen. As a matter of fact, things got awfully ugly in my section as some Braves fans kept standing up to see over some umbrellas and some Nats fans asked them to sit down. They protested a little bit and one fan made the unfortunate decision to refer to one of the Braves fans, who was, shall we say, "follically-challenged" by a name usually reserved for bald, violent racists. It just escalated from there, with the Braves fan calling the Nats fan a name that rhymes with "ice mole", and then a couple of female Nats fans remonstrating the Braves fans for cursing in front of children. Decorum was eventually restored, but some of these Braves fans started to challenge Phillies and Mets fans for sheer obnoxiousness. I can't wait until the Nats start winning and the stands are filled with Nats fans instead of visiting team fans.

This game was the first game that really felt like the end of the season. Sure, it was a Friday night, but so many of the college students who make up the Nat-Pack or other seasonal workers are gone, and things began to feel a little empty.

Saturday, September 15th: Nats 7, Braves 4

Now this was more like it. Nats starter Jason Bergmann had a quality start, and two of the lest likely Nats homerun hitters connected for crucial longballs.

With the crowd of 26,866 getting in a Latin mood on Hispanic Night at R.F.K. the team was a little more loose (and drier, after the previous night's soggy session). Autumn was in the air as the gametime temperature was 66 degrees, but a beautiful clear evening.

Starter Jason Bergmann won his 5th game, evening his record at 5-5. In his 6 2/3 innings, he threw 93 pitches for 63 strikes (66%), allowing 4 runs on 8 hits, walked 3 and struck out 3. He also allowed 2 homers. The bullpen of Arnie Muñoz, Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero allowed no runs and only 1 walk. Chad Cordero picked up his 34th save, but not before giving the Nats faithful chest-pains as he walked a batter and loaded the bases in the 9th inning. Rarely, it seems, does Chad have 1-2-3 9th innings, and "The Chief" was in full cardiac-mode this evening. When he comes through in these situations, the feeling of relief is so wonderful.

Ryan Report: Church did not play, Zimmerman went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk, Langerhans did not play, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 3 with an R.B.I. double and a walk.

The big Nats hits came from D'angelo Jimenez and Robert Fick, both of whom had homeruns, Jimenez going 3 for 3 with 2 R.B.I.'s and a double along with that homer, and Fick went 1 for 3 in a pinch-hitting role for Dmitri Young, and knocked in a 3-run homer. Ronnie Belliard went 1 for 4 with an R.B.I. and Brian Schneider went 1 for 3.

Dmitri Young had a scary moment when a ball took a bad hop and hit him in the side of his head at first base, knocking him to the ground. Fortunately, he wasn't injured, but he had a headache and strained his neck, and the Nats have him listed as day-to-day.

Box score here.

I arrived at the ballpark early, taking advantage of the season-ticket-holder deal to be allowed into the stadium an hour before the rest of the crowd. It was such a gorgeous afternoon, and I dutifully stood in line for some autographs until I realized that I already had all of the player's autographs who were signing, so I just chatted with other fans and saw some friends.

One unfortunate thing I heard was, a fan that I know was with his young sons, and they waited to get the autograph of a particular player. They were the LAST ones in line to get it, so there was no pressure upon that player in terms of time. The fan told his boys to get close in by the wall where the player was signing to get a photograph. Suddenly, the player stopped signing the ball in his hand and declared, "No pictures." in a rather gruff tone. The fan complied with the players request, but he wasn't happy about it. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that the player "owes" a fan anything other than their best effort on the field, but for crying out loud, what harm was there in giving these folks a quick photo? These are well-behaved fans, not pushy or demanding, and they weren't holding anyone else up. I simply don't understand that kind of treatment. If any player wants to explain that side of the argument to me, by all means, the comment section is open. I'm not identifying the player in question because I don't feel that it is my place to embarrass them or cause trouble for them, but I will say that this is a player who has an established reputation for not being terribly kind or friendly to fans. For what these guys are paid, you'd think that some of them would display a little more humility and gratitude. If they don't want a photo taken, there are more polite ways to request that.

I saw all of my friends and ate my usual. Got my beer from Howard and all was right with my world for the evening.

I loved this quote from Manager Manny Acta: "You can't lose on Hispanic Night when your manager is Hispanic."

Sunday, September 16th: Braves 3, Nats 0

Well, it wasn't a perfect weekend. Atlanta starter Tim Hudson pitched a complete game, throwing precisely 100 pitches for 72 strikes (do the math), allowing 7 hits and struck out 6.

That, in a nutshell, was the story of the game. I've said before, there's no shame in losing to a superior opponent, and Tim Hudson could barely have been better. All you can do is applaud him and hope that you don't see him again for a long time.

The crowd of 23,935 was treated to a pitching clinic watching Hudson, and it was a beautiful 66 degree, sunny day to see it. Nats starter Shawn Hill did his best, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits, walking 4 and striking out 2. He also allowed 1 homerun. The bullpen of Mike Bacsik, Chris Schroeder and Luis Ayala allowed no runs and only 3 hits.

Ryan Report: Oh, please.

At least the game only took 2 hours 24 minutes, allowing fans to enjoy the gorgeous weather doing other things.

Box score here.

I have to confess, I barely paid any attention to this game because I was with a lady friend, and believe me, she was a lot more interesting to me than whatever was going on with the game. We both enjoyed sitting in the sun and eating peanuts. Fans in the shade were feeling uncomfortably chilly, and days like this are enough to make you want to savor them as long as possible. We walked around, got some food, and chatted with lots of folks. All in all, it was a nice day, just not if your criteria for success depended upon the day's box score.

At least the Nats didn't get swept, but I was left thinking that really, they should have won Friday night and taken the series.

Nats at Marlins, the 3-game wrapup

2007-09-13T23:51:00.000-04:00

The Nationals lost their 2nd consecutive road series, this time to the Florida Marlins but, unlike the Braves series, the Nats didn't go down without a great fight and some impressive offense.

Game 1: Monday, September 10th - Nats 5, Marlins 4

This game was a nail-biter, with lots of thrills for Nats fans.

Nats starter Shawn Hill pitched a dandy, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, no walks, and he struck out 6. An interesting statistic: Hill has now allowed 3 earned runs or fewer in 13 of his 14 starts this season. That certainly bodes well for the future.

The bullpen did a god job holding the Marlins back, though Jésus Colomé allowed them back into the game in his 1/3 of an inning when he gave up 2 runs on 2 hits, narrowing the score to 5-4, but "Johnny A.", Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero (with save #33) completed the job.

Ryan Report: Church was 0 for 0 at the plate, but was walked, Zimmerman went 1 for 3 with an R.B.I. and a walk, Langerhans did not play, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 5 with an R.B.I.

Nook Logan went 1 for 3 with 2 walks, as did Felipé Lopez. Dmitri Young went 1 for 4 with a walk, Ronnie Belliard went 3 for 4 with a double and a walk, Jésus Flores went 1 for 5. The biggest hits came from Wily Mo Peña, who had his 8th multi-homer game of his career. His first one was a 2-R.B.I. bullet, which shot just over the left field wall, disappearing in the blink of an eye. The second was a solo shot to the seats in left-center.

The suspense of the game was lengthened with a 40-minute rain delay which, fortunately, didn't shift the momentum of the game.

All in all, it appeared that the Nats had picked up where they had left off with the Marlins in D.C. the previous week.

Game 2: Tuesday, September 11th - Marlins 13, Nats 8

Like the shark in "Jaws", just when you think the Marlins are dead, they seem to find renewed life and keep attacking.

This game had a see-sawing score, with the Marlins jumping to an early lead, losing it to the Nats, gaining it again, the Nats tied it up 8-8, and the Marlins ran away with it in the late innings, scoring 5 runs.

Starter Mike Bacsik never did get comfortable on the mound, allowing 8 runs on 5 hits, mostly due to 3 homeruns. The bullpen of six relievers all allowed at least 1 run, except for Winston Abreau. Saul Rivera, Chris Schroeder (who took the loss) and Luis Ayala each allowed 2 runs, and Micah Bowie (returning to action off of rehab starts and the D/L) and "Johnny A." each allowed 1 run. The Marlins scored in each inning except the 6th.

Ryan Report: Church was 0 for 1 in a pinch-hitting role, Zimmerman went 3 for 5, Langerhans went 0 for 1 pinch-hitting, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 2 for 3 with a double and a walk.

Some big hits came from Nook Logan and Felipé Lopez (each 1 for 5), Dmitri Young (1 for 4 with an R.B.I. a double and a walk), Ronnie Belliard (1 for 3 with an R.B.I.), Brian Schneider (1 for 3 with a walk), and Wily Mo Peña (2 for 5 with 2 R.B.I.'s, and he even got a stolen base, his first for the Nats).

The biggest hit of the game came from young Justin "J-Max" Maxwell, though. J-Max got is very first major league hit, on only his 3rd plate appearance, in a pinch-hitting role to boot, and it was one for the ages - a Grand Slam, which temporarily put the Nats ahead by 2 runs in the game.

The funny thing about that Grand Slam for me is, I got to chat for 2 seconds with J-Max as he left R.F.K. last week, the night that saw his very first major league plate appearance, when he hit that towering shot that ALMOST went over the wall for a homer, but was caught at the warning track. When I spoke to J-Max, I said, "Man, I thought that hit was out of there!", and he laughed and said, "Next time!" Little did we know. Who knows, in the new Nats ballpark, that first at-bat of his might have been a homer, but spacious old R.F.K. took it away from him. J-Max, the Nationals best minor-league hitting prospect, is definitely an exciting guy to watch.

Other than that Grand Slam, it was a game the Nats and their fans would just as soon forget.

Box score for Justin Maxwell fans.

Game 3: Wednesday, September 12th - Marlins 5, Nats 4

The Nats had the chance to take the rubber game and their 2nd straight series from the Marlins on Wednesday.

As Maxwell Smart might have said, "Missed it by THAT much!"

The Nationals went into 12 innings, 4 hours and 9 minutes worth of baseball, only to lose in the bottom of the 12th by 1 run.

Starter Joel Hanrahan didn't have much of a game. The only real highlight was Ryan Church and Wily Mo Peña hitting back-to-back homers. The bullpen did alright, but the game wasn't terribly memorable.

The fun part for me was, since it was my day off, and it was an afternoon game, I went down to the ESPN Zone to watch the game on their HUGE projection T.V., in the comfort of a leather reclining chair, with a burger and a 25 oz. beer. They even have little T.V. monitors above the urinals in the men's room, and I even noticed a monitor in the stall, too. Nice touch! Let me tell you, the ESPN Zone is THE place to watch a Nationals road game from. I highly recommend it, and I'll definitely do it more often next season.

Box score for the masochists among you.

So the Nats couldn't replicate a Marlin sweep, but at least they kept the games close. Hopefully, they will do better over the homestand.

Nats vs. Braves - the weekend roundup

2007-09-11T00:24:00.000-04:00

The Washington Nationals took only the Sunday game from their weekend series in Atlanta against the Braves, but there was much for a Nats fan to be interested in.

Game 1 - Friday, September 7th: Braves 7, Nationals 1

This is a game that I'd just as soon forget. The big story was, that Atlanta starter (and dead-lock 1st ballot future Hall-of-Famer) John Smoltz almost threw a no-hitter, and he dominated the Nats like he hasn't done in their 3 seasons of existence. This came to an end in the 8th inning as Ronnie Belliard blooped a single to right field. Ryan Church, in a pinch-hitting role, drove Belliard in to prevent a shut-out. Those were the only 2 Nats hits of the entire game.

Sloppy play was evident, but I don't want to take away from the accomplishments of John Smoltz. He created some havoc on the mound.

Nats starter Joel Hanrahan didn't have a good game, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 4 hits, striking out 3 but walking 4. Chalk it up to rookie growing pains and the Braves getting September tough.

Ross Detwiler made his major-league debut, but unfortunately, it was in what I call "garbage time". The Nats were getting killed, and a rally didn't appear imminent, but the one advantage for Detweiler was, there really wasn't any pressure upon him at that point to do anything but get some batters out, which he did. He didn't need to "hold" or "save" or anything else, just throw first-pitch strikes and retire batters. He allowed no hits, no runs and struck out one.
Detwiler became the first player selected in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft to play in a major league game so far this season. Happily for Detwiler, the first batter he faced was Andruw Jones, who grounded out. Thus, in one at-bat, you glimpse some of the greatness of the Braves past, and hopefully some of the greatness of the Nationals future.

Ryan Report: Let the record show that it was Church who prevented the embarrassing shutout. Oh, and Ryan Zimmerman made some unfortunate errors.

The box score for the curious.

Game 2 - Saturday, September 8th: Braves 9, Nationals 2

More sloppy play, and another night where the wheels fell off of the Nats victory bus early.
Really not much of a game, from a Nats fans standpoint.

Starter Matt Chico didn't have his best game, allowing 6 runs on 6 hits and walking 1, but he did strike out 5. He only lasted 5 innings, however. He's been better, but he's also been worse.

Ronnie Belliard had a 2-run homer to prevent a shut-out. He gets my vote for the Most Valuable National Player of the weekend series.

Ryan Report: Church had the night off, Zimmerman went 0 for 4, Langerhanswnet 1 for 1 in a pinch-hitting role, with a triple. Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 4.

All in all, another forgettable road game.

The box score for anyone interested.

Game 3 - Sunday, September 9th: Nationals 7, Braves 4

Well, this was much more like it. No errors today, and some offensive spark.

Nats starter Jason Bergmann got a nice win, another quality start, going 6 innings and allowing 3 runs on 4 hits, striking out 6 and walking 2. He threw 54 strikes on 87 pitches (62%).

The bullpen of Luis Ayala, Arnie Muñoz, Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero held the Braves very well, with Cordero notching his 32nd save.

Ryan Report: Let the record show that Church's 3-run homer sparked the rally to victory, and he went 1 for 4. Zimmerman went 1 for 5 with a homer, Langerhans went 1 for 1 and stole a base, too, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 5 with a double.

Big hits came from D'Angelo Jimenez (3 for 5 with 3 R.B.I's and a double), Ronnie Belliard (1 for 4), Dmitri Young (2 for 2, and walked twice, with a double), Wily Mo Peña (1 for 5), Jésus Flores (1 for 3 and walked twice), and Robert Fick (1 for 2).

So the Nats saved some face and avoided a disgraceful sweep, while they left Atlanta behind.
A disappointing weekend, but at least they ended it on a high note.

Nats complete Marlins sweep with 6-4 win OR The Magnificent Seven

2007-09-07T00:25:00.000-04:00

(Note: due to personal computer problems, this post is several days late. My apologies.)

The Washington Nationals completed a 3-game sweep of the Florida Marlins on Wednesday to keep themselves in 4th place in the National League East by a margin of 3 games, as well as keeping their undefeated September winning streak alive at 5 games.

By winning on Wednesday evening, the Nationals have guaranteed that they cannot lose 100 games this season, regardless of how the rest of their season unfolds. When one considers that a great many otherwise-knowledgeable baseball prognosticators predicted with smug certainty back in March and April that the Nationals were guaranteed to lose at LEAST 100 games, if not more, possibly becoming historically-bad, this is a welcome revelation. As it now stands, the Nationals are on a pace to win 73 games and lose 89, a .450 average.

The Wednesday game had so many aspects to it, so many changes, plots and subplots, that it was almost a gift for Nationals fans who are fascinated by such intrigue. I would like to think that if I were to write this game's results into a screenplay, it would be rejected by every Hollywood studio as being preposterous.

To begin with, Nationals starting pitcher Tim Redding, who had been pitching well, left the game after 4 1/3 innings with an injury due to being hit by a line drive and then stumbling off of the mound in an attempt to snag the ball. This opened up an opportunity for Jonathan Albaladejo ("Albuh-la-day-hoe", hereafter referred to as "Johnnie A."), a free agent who the Nats picked up after his spending 6 years in the Pittsburgh Pirates system and had an outstanding stint at AAA Columbus this summer. Johnnie A came in with 2 runners on base and got out of the situation, then came back in the 4th inning to strike out the side. He is going to be a fun pitcher to watch the remainder of the season, and someone to look forward to in spring training.

On the Marlins' side, starter Sergio Mitre didn't even last one inning as he loaded the bases and managed to walk in two of the Nats first three runs that inning. I've never seen a starting pitcher make such a quick exit, but that doesn't mean much. However, many other longtime baseball fans seemed equally stunned, unable to recall having seen a starting pitcher make such a quick exit.

The Nationals bullpen of "Johnnie A.", Winston Abreau, Jésus Colomé, Luis Ayala (who got the win), Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero (who got the save) did well enough to win, though it was shaky during Colomé's outing (he blew the save, but the bullpen recovered, obviously).

Ryan Report: Church went 1 for 3 with an R.B.I. and I breathed a sigh of relief to see him back on the field. Zimmerman went 1 for 4, Langerhans did not play, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 3 for 4 with a homer.

The other hits came from Felipe Lopez (1 for 5), Ronnie Belliard (ditto), Wily Mo Peña (1 for 3 with an R.B.I and a walk), Brian Schneider (also 1 for 3, with 2 R.B.I.'s and a walk), and Robert Fick (2 for 3 with an R.B.I. and a walk).

The last home game of this homestand, a chance to sweep the Marlins and hit the road on a high note, and being my day off, I was able to get to R.F.K. early enough to get right inside when the gates opened. After a quick hello to Rico, it was down to the Nats dugout to seek out some autographs. No such luck today, at least at this juncture, but I got to chat with some fans, one of whom was having great fun teasing the Marlin's Miguel Cabrera, who was taking batting practice, shouting, "That's right, Cabrera, get it out of your system now!" (ha!)
I went and saw Ellie and other friends. Tonight was the last night for my friend Maria, who works at the Capital Q Barbecue stand. She is from Slovakia and is going home, along with her friend and sometimes co-worker Elishka.

Today the Nationals honored the late Hall-of-Fame Pittsburgh Pirate Roberto Clemente, and between innings the scoreboard showed highlight clips of his amazing playing ability and narration of his marvelous achievements. Very inspirational, and always worthwhile. It's important for each generation of baseball fans to be fully aware of this amazing player and great humanitarian, and the impact that he continues to have to this day.

I had my usual beer from Howard and seriously enjoyed the Nats win. Undefeated at home this month, 5 game winning streak, such fun.

After the game, I again sought autograph opportunities outside the stadium, and one again I struck gold, getting several which I coveted but didn't have yet. It took a little while, as the parking lot was filled with D.C. police squad cars. Police had captured a guy who robbed a concession stand on the 500-level late in the game, and had accidentally shot himself as he attempted to climb a fence. Forget the fact that this guy went to the most difficult section of the stadium, with the fewest fans, and was probably captured on so many security cameras (heck, he was pursued by security as he ran down the ramps). What a dope.

I managed to get Felipé Lopez, Wily Mo Peña, Joel Hanrahan and Jésus Flores! I still need Ryan Zimmerman, Ronnie Belliard, Robert Fick, Tony Batista, D'Angelo Jimenez, Chad Cordero, Cristian Guzman, and several others, but I'm working on it. I'll never get all 40 members of the 40-man roster to autograph my ball (it's not big enough to hold all of those signatures, anyway) but it's fun trying. More to come with the final homestand.

Speaking of Flores, the night before, he fouled-off a ball that bounced off of the Nats dugout and hit a fan, in the face. It was in Coach's section, and the EMT's treated her. Well, she was BACK last night! Talk about a trooper! Coach didn't know who's foul ball it was. I told Coach that it was Flores's foul-ball, and he got Jésus to autograph it for her (she brought it with her). I think that Jésus even apologized to her. She wasn't upset or angry, she didn't even remember it happening. Her nose wasn't broken, but she was a little black-and-blue and swollen. Gotta give her a lot of credit. It's so funny - I asked Coach how the fan was who got nailed, and he said, "There she is right over there". I'm glad that I was able to tell Coach who it was and have him get her ball signed. I told her, "I'm jealous, I like to say that I bleed Nationals red, and I bleed for this team, but you really did!" She laughed. All's well that ends well.

Another amazing night for me to be a Nats fan. Only a few left, darn it all.

Nats rally in heroic 9th inning as Flores hits walk-off double, win 2nd consecutive home series OR Flores ends up smelling like a rose

2007-09-05T14:02:00.000-04:00

The Washington Nationals remain undefeated in September, having won 4 straight and taking 2 consecutive home series, against the San Francisco Giants, and last night against the Florida Marlins, winning the first two of a 3-game series.

The Tuesday night game saw the Nats start out 2-0, then the Marlins tied it up 2-2 only to take the lead, 3-2 in the 5th inning, where the score stayed until catcher Jésus Flores hit a walk-off 2 R.B.I. double to give the Nats the win in the bottom of the 9th.

Starter Shawn Hill had a solid outing, if not a dominating one. He allowed 3 runs on 11 hits, but he did strike out 6. He kept the Marlins from running away with the lead and allowed the Nats to stay in the game. In his 6 1/3 innings, he threw 71 strikes on 97 pitches (73%) and was impressive on the mound.

The bullpen was flawless, allowing no runs and no hits. We saw the Nats debut of lefty Arnie Muñoz, who replaced Ray King in the bullpen as lefty-specialist, the return of Winston Abreau, Luis Ayala, and Chris Schroeder, who walked one and struck out one, getting the win in the process.

Ryan Report: Once again, Ryan Church did not play, which continues to alarm me. Zimmerman went 1 for 2 with an R.B.I. double and was walked twice. Ryan Langerhans returned from AAA Columbus with the September 1st roster expansions and he pinch-ran for Dmitri Young and got the tying run at home plate, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 4 with an R.B.I. single.

The Nats did collect 10 hits for the game, none bigger than the Jésus Flores walk-off 2 R.B.I. double into the left-field corner, which sent Ryan Langerhans and Wily Mo Peña home to tie then win the game (thanks to 3B coach Tim Tolman for sending Wily Mo, by the way!). The other hits came from Nook Logan (2 for 4 with a double), Felipé Lopez (2 for 3), Wily Mo Peña with a clutch single in the 9th (1 for 4), Ronnie Belliard (1 for 4), and Jésus Flores who wound up going 2 for 4.

The fact that Jésus Flores became the hero of the game was especially sweet, considering that he was given 2 errors, both on dropping pop-ups behind the plate. You could just tell that this was killing him, and he was trying so hard to do his best. Neither error was costly to the Nats, but it wore on him mentally, so to turn it around and hit the game-winning double was Homeric in its poetry. As I heard Don Sutton say later on the broadcast, a "huge piano" had just been removed from Flores's back on that play.

I decided to take the day off, to give myself a little mini-vacation, so I got to the ballpark when the gates opened. It was a terrific evening for baseball, really lovely weather, 89 degrees and clear at game time, but no wind, so it felt warmer. I went down and got myself some autographs from Ross Detweiler, the Nats #1 draft pick out of Missouri State this summer, and Justin Maxwell, another top draft pick who is the Nats best hitting prospect. Both very nice guys, and the nicest part was seeing the sheer wonderment in their eyes, and their smiles, as though they couldn't believe their luck and that their wishes had come true, which they probably had. It's a different look than the veterans have, and it's a joy to see in person. I got a couple of photos which I'll post later.

Did my usual routine, saying hi to Rico and Ellie and getting my Capital Q Barbecue beef brisket sandwich from Maria. I said hello to several other friends and took my seat. Got a beer from Howard and my evening was perfect. I was hoping to see Shawn Hill dominate the Marlins, and in some ways he did, and we got something of a pitcher's dual with the Marlins' Dontrelle Willis not allowing the Nats more than 2 runs.

The first game post-Labor Day saw a crowd of only 15, 611, which is to be expected I guess, with the Nats not being in a pennant race, the kids back in school and it being a weeknight, and the Marlins aren't usually a big draw here. I remarked to one usher that one of the things I love about the Marlins visits is that there aren't many Marlins fans here, unlike Mets fans, Phillies fans, Cubs fans, who have huge, generationally-loyal fans. It's just nicer when OUR fans outnumber the visiting team's fans. Still, it's so sad to see fewer fans in the stands, it's like back in April again when the weather is cold. September realities, I suppose. I feel badly for the vendors whose livelihoods depend upon fans with cash.

What a fun way to win a game, though. God, there is nothing more exciting (or nerve-wracking) than a come-from-behind win in the 9th inning. Watching Flores get mobbed by his teammates in the infield, and then get not one but TWO shaving cream pies in the face from his teammates, Brian Schneider and Ryan Zimmerman, as he was getting interviewed by MASN's Debbi Taylor was such fun to see. The Nats now have a 4-game winning streak and have 4th place solidly to themselves, with the Marlins now 2 games behind them. I hope that they can win the Wednesday game and gain another game on the Marlins, as well as send themselves off onto their weekend roadtrip on a positive note.

One advantage of attending a post-Labor Day game is, because the crowds are smaller, there are fewer fans requesting autographs at the end of the game out in the parking lot, so I decided to take advantage of that for once (it's usually too crowded for me, too many folks clamoring for the players attention, and many of the players don't stop, which I completely understand, most are just tired and want to go to bed or go out and get dinner). I was lucky, there were only 3 other guys, all of whom had cards to sign, but I had my team ball and tried my luck.

I struck autograph gold. I managed to get Dmitri Young, Austin Kearns, Chris Schroeder, Jésus Colomé, and best of all, Manny Acta! Nick Johnson also stopped for me, but he noticed that I already had his autograph, which I didn't realize, because when I got it at R.F.K. earlier in the season, there was some confusion as to whether or not I was handed back my ball or someone else's. To be fair, some of these signatures are almost impossible to read (like doctor's signatures on prescriptions, really) and thankfully some of the players put their jersey #'s on there to help, but I thanked Nick for stopping all the same, and I apologized for the confusion. He was very nice about it. It was so nice to be able to congratulate Dmitri on his All-Star selection in person, and just to thank these guys. I noticed that Jésus Colomé has a T.V. screen on the steering wheel of his vehicle, and I joked with him that he could use it to watch his highlight videos - he liked that idea! It got a laugh out of him, and that was fun.

Thanks to all the players who signed my ball, I truly appreciate your time to make this fan's whole day.

Now to watch Tim Redding take it to the Marlins and try for the series sweep.

Ray King traded to Milwaukee for APTBNL

2007-09-04T15:34:00.000-04:00

So it would appear that the Brewers are shoring up their bullpen in preparation for their pennant race campaign. The Nationals GM Jim Bowden traded Ray King, a left-handed specialist, to the Brewers for a player to be named later.

Let's hope for our sakes that the player is Ryan Braun, and that Bowden can convince him to move from 3rd base to 2nd, or shortstop. After all, we have to keep the "Ryan" thing going, right?

This means that the team's new left-handed specialist will be Arnie Muñoz. According to the official press release:

"The trade means Arnie Munoz will be Washington's lefty specialist, and the club wants to see if he has a future in that role. Munoz went 3-1 with a 2.56 ERA in 54 appearances with Triple-A Columbus, where opponents hit .229 against him."

I will miss Ray King, as I miss every player the Nats ever trade, but I wish him well. He played in Milwaukee for 3 seasons so I'm sure that he has some friends there and will settle back into life in Milwaukee just fine.

Thanks for all of your help this season Ray - best of luck in Milwaukee!

Nats take Marlins 6-3, regain 4th place to themselves OR Bergmann's Labors not lost

2007-09-04T13:29:00.000-04:00

Labor Day in the Nation's Capital, and there was no place I'd rather have been than at R.F.K. Stadium to watch the Washington Nationals take on the Florida Marlins. It was a beautiful day for baseball and the Nats made the most of it, taking the Marlins 6-3.

Starter Jason Bergmann, making his first home start since coming off of the disabled list and some rehab starts (he pitched against the Dodgers, though), pitched a dandy, but it didn't begin that way, as he threw an unbelievably high number of pitches in the first inning (27 I think), but he settled down and did himself proud. He ended his day having thrown 70 strikes on 108 pitches (65%), allowing only 1 run (a solo homer) on 4 hits, walking 1 and striking out 9. It was a very impressive performance, and I'm thrilled for the guy.

The bullpen of Jésus Colomé, Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero kept things more-or-less under control, with Colomé struggling a bit, allowing 2 runs, but Rauch and Cordero allowed none, and Cordero got his 30th save.

*EDIT* I was very remiss in not reporting how impressed I was at the escape act that Jon Rauch engineered, with the bases loaded and just one out. He managed to get out of the inning without scoring any runs, striking out Mike Jacobs and Cody Ross, and making excellent use of his fastball. Great performance, Jon!

Ryan Report: Church did not play, not even in a pinch-hitting role, and I'm quite concerned about that. It pains me greatly that the team might feel that they can get along fine without him. Wily Mo Peña isn't making things any easier for Church, either, having hit some recent homers, including a great one on Labor Day. Zimmerman went 1 for 4 with an R.B.I double, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 3 for 4 with an R.B.I., raising his batting average to .266. Austin really is on a pace to win himself a Gold Glove award. If I'm not mistaken, he leads the National League in outfielders with a .997 fielding percentage. I hope that he can win one, that would be so nice for him.

The other great Nats hits came from Felipe Lopez (2 for 3 with a walk, and an outstanding triple), Dmitri Young (1 for 4 with a double), Wily Mo Peña (2 for 4 with a 2 R.B.I. homer) and Brian Schneider (2 for 4 with 2 R.B.I.'s).

A more beautiful Labor Day I can scarcely recall. The gametime temperature was 80 degrees, it was clear and sunny, and a nice 12 mph wind out to centerfield. I invited my buddy Myron and we got to the stadium just after the gates opened, and we went down to get autographs. No such luck, as no one seemed to be signing, but right after about 12:00 or so, Cristian Guzman appeared and signed lots of autographs, but I didn't see him until he was pretty much done - rats! I wasn't expecting him to be there, he wasn't in uniform, and despite some discussion about him coming back from injury early (he was expected to be out for the rest of this season) I didn't think that I'd actually see him around this week. Still, I hope to get his signature on my game ball before the end of the season.

Saw Rico, saw Ellie, spoke to Susan, and "Coach" down by the field, got my Capital Q Barbecue beef brisket sandwich from Dave and Maria, and Myron and I walked down to our seats. We saw several friends of his and I ran into a few of my own who I didn't expect to see, so that was lots of fun.

We were both a little disappointed in the size of the crowd, only 27, 592 reported, but I blame this on several factors, not the least of which is, that there just aren't a lot of Marlin fans in our area, and the prospect of a matchup between two teams that are 16 games out of 1st place isn't going to fill the seats. Another factor is, that baseball on Labor Day isn't yet an ingrained tradition here except amongst us Nats die-hards - heck, it's only been 3 seasons, it's going to take a few more to get people into thinking about it way ahead of time. It was also gorgeous beach weather all weekend and given our proximity to the Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Virginia beaches, a lot of people probably preferred to take advantage of the weather and enjoy one last weekend before all the schools were back in session. Hard to blame them, after all the Nats aren't exactly in a pennant race.

It was fun to watch "Way-out" Wily Mo hit a homer, but the better he plays the worse I feel for the future prospects with this club for Ryan Church.

I'm just completely happy that the Nats won their 3rd straight, putting them solidly in 4th place in the N.L. East, a game ahead of the Marlins. So many so-called "experts" never gave the Nats any kind of a chance at the beginning of the season, and they never would have predicted them in 4th place on Labor Day - heck, they were convinced that the Nats couldn't win more than 40-50 games. Well, as I believe I heard MASN's Bob Carpenter say recently about the Cardinals Manager, Tony Larussa, having said, "I don't know who 'they' are". and our own Manager, Manny Acta keeps proving that he is deserving of the NL "Manager of the Year" award.

Hope that the Nats can sweep the Marlins and have a winning homestand and go out on the road on a high note.

Nats take 2 of 3 from Giants - weekend wrapup OR Bye, bye, Barry!

2007-09-02T23:27:00.000-04:00

Labor Day weekend, and a Nationals home series against the San Francisco Giants. What could be better? The Nationals managed to take 2 of 3 and show some terrific pitching for the most part, plus a couple of homers from less-likely suspects. Just about the only disappointment over the entire weekend was the President's race (well, Friday's game was a disappointment, too..)

Friday, August 30th - Giants 3, Nationals 2 OR Ending August with a wimper.

No Barry Bonds, but Tim Redding on the mound vs. Kevin Correia. Redding didn't have his best outing, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits in 5 innings, but he walked 5 batters and only struck out 1 batter. He threw an alarming 104 pitches in 5 innings, with 57 going for strikes (55%). Mike Bacsik, Chris Schroeder, Jésus Colomé and Jon Rauch didn't allow any more runs but the damage was enough.

Ryan Report: Church 0 for 1 in a pinch-hitting situation, Zimmerman 0 for 4, and Austin Ryan Kearns was walked once and went 1 for 3, that 1 being a booming homer that left the outfield with authority.

It was a gorgeous night for baseball - 84 degrees, clear, 15 mph wind out to right field. It took just 2 hours, 44 minutes. Attendance wasn't what I expected, given that it was a glorious Friday night of a 3-day weekend, only 25,169 reported. I got to the ballpark on time, and didn't hit much traffic.

Saw Rico, saw Ellie, saw Dave and Maria at Capital Q Barbecue. Got my beef brisket sandwich. Saw Howard and had my beer. I'd had an awfully stressful day at work, and just as soon as I got to R.F.K. I could feel my stress melt away. Baseball is a wonderful salve for the soul, a balm against the pressures of life. I was glad that the awful roadtrip was over and a nice homestand could begin. Yes, the Nats lost, but at least it was a close game, an engaging contest.

So the Nats end August with a 12-17 record for the month (.413), bookending a wonderful 5 game winning streak with a 7 game losing streak. It coulda been worse, it shoulda been better.

Saturday, September 1st - Nationals 4, Giants 1 OR Teddy's big night.
*Teddy Roosevelt Bobblehead Day*

This was much more like it. Joel "The Hammer" Hanrahan pitched a no-hitter through 4 2/3 innings, Jésus Flores hit his 4th homer of the year (1st at R.F.K.) to tie the game, Chad "The Chief" Cordero got the save and the Nats broke their losing streak, getting September off to a nice start.

Starter Joel "The Hammer" Hanrahan continued to show outstanding promise for the future of the starting rotation. In his 6 innings, he allowed only 1 run on 1 hit (a homer) walked 1 and struck out 2. He threw 54 strikes on a very conservative 80 pitches (68%). Deservedly so, he got the win, too.

Ray King, Jésus Colomé, Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero allowed no runs and only 1 hit. Cordero got the save (his 29th).

It was wonderful to see the pitching staff put together a season-low 2-hitter, and best of all for many fans, they held Barry Bonds hitless. I would like to think that Joel Hanrahan and Chad Cordero went to Mike Bacsik after the game and said, "See, THAT'S how you pitch to Barry Bonds, man!" The best Bonds could manage was a long fly to left field in the top of the 9th, which Wily Mo Peña caught on the warning track to end the game. In some parks, that sucker would have been out, but not in wonderfully-spacious R.F.K. Many fans were at this game to see the Giant's left-fielder, either to boo him, cheer him on, or just to say that they'd seen him play. Bonds is in the twilight of his career, and this, his last roadtrip to R.F.K. could also be his last trip to Washington, D.C. as a professional baseball player. Every time he came to the plate, camera's flashed. I was pleased that the whole "756" watch was already over, so as not to provide any distraction, and proud of our pitching staff that held Bonds hitless.

Ryan Report: Church hit a pinch-hit sacrifice-fly which scored a run, Zimmerman went 1 for 4 with an R.B.I. double, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 0 for 3 with a walk.

The big hit of the game came from Jésus Flores, who belted the homer that tied the game in th 5th inning. It went almost dead-straight-away centerfield, 410 feet. It was his first homerun at R.F.K., 4th of the season. He went 2 for 4 with 2 R.B.I.'s. Nook Logan, Felipe Lopez, Dmitri Young, and Wily Mo Peña each had 1 hit, and Ronnie Belliard had 2 hits.

It was another gorgeous night for baseball - 82 degrees, partly cloudy, 3 mph wind in from right field. It took just 2 hours, 33 minutes. Attendance was pretty good, just over 30,000, but I understand from a few fans who I spoke with who arrived by Metro that as they got to the Stadium Metro station, there were already fans getting on the Metro with their bobbleheads. Maybe some of them even went to the stadium, bought a $5 ticket, went inside, stood in line, got their bobblehead and left. Still, it looked like a good crowd to me. I left work on time, and didn't hit much traffic due to the Labor Day weekend exodus, and was happy to arrive before 6:00. I saw Rico, then immediately went to get my bobblehead, then I went up to see Ellie, then Dave and Maria at Capital Q Barbecue. Got my beef brisket sandwich. Saw Howard and got a beer. I decided to treat myself, being as it was a holiday weekend and all, so I prepaid Howard for an extra beer vowing to get it from him later. In the 4th inning, Howard yelled to me from the aisle, asking if I wanted a beer, and I indicated that I did, and that's when Howard had some fun with another vendor - he yelled over to one of his coworkers that sales were so slow that he was GIVING away beers, shouting, "Look! I'm giving a beer to THIS guy, he looks thirsty!" The fans around me were laughing in bewilderment, and I quickly explained that I'd already paid him for it. It was quite a hoot.

The highlight of the game for many fans was the 4th inning "President's Race", which
was fraught with anticipation, as the entire crowd of 30,221 was anticipating that tonight, at long last, "Teddy" would snap his epic losing streak on this, his bobblehead night. "Teddy" emerged from the right-field tunnel in the middle of the 4th inning, born upon a litter by some Nat-Pack folks, who were followed by "Secret Service" agents who held the other three presidents at bay. The litter was lowered to the ground, "Teddy" disembarked the litter...and promptly fell forward on his face. Pandemonium ensued, with the litter-bearers fleeing back towards the tunnel and the "Secret Service" agents unable to hold the other president's back, and the race was on in earnest. "George" got the big lead, but "Teddy", to his credit, suddenly burst forth but lost the race to "George" by a nose. There was a collective groan of disappointment from the crowd (Later on, as I reviewed the MASN broadcast, Bob Carpenter indicated that it appeared to him that several fans were already heading for the exits - ha!) Now the theory that "Teddy" will win either on the last day of the season or on Opening Day at the new ballpark is the prevailing one. My money is on Opening Day, as the new ballpark will likely be sold out with 41,000 fans in attendance. Stay tuned.

My boss and his wife were with another couple down in 124 and I went to visit them for about a half-inning, and I also went to speak to some other friends, so I was pretty busy.
It was a terrific Nats win, and another wonderful night at R.F.K. I'm fully aware that there are only a few more of these game remaining this season, and I'm trying to enjoy each and every one of them as best as I can.

I did have a fun fan moment when, after the game ended and I was walking towards the parking lot, I got to speak to Ryan Church for a few seconds, as he'd stopped his car to sign a few autographs for kids. He was in a great mood (hey, they won after all) and it was a really nice moment for me. A great ending to a terrific night of baseball.

Sunday, September 2nd - Nationals 2, Giants 1 OR "Mr. Walk-off"'s Good Vibrations beat Brian Wilson.

Sunday's rubber game against the San Francisco Giants was a wonderful pitcher's duel, the Nats Matt Chico vs. the Giant's Barry Zito. Chico went 7 strong innings, giving up only 4 hits, one homerun, one walk and he struck out 3. He threw 58 strikes on 90 pitches (64%) and showed that his 2-week stint down at AAA Columbus was a valuable learning experience for him. It was nice to have him back and, thanks to the September 1st roster-expansions, we got him back just in time. If not for that homerun, the Nats might have won 1-0.

The bullpen of Saul Rivera and Chad Cordero allowed no hits, and Cordero got his 3rd win of the season.

Ryan Report: Church went 0 for 1 in a pinch-hitting role, Austin Ryan Kearns went 0 for 3, but Zimmerman had the hit of the day, a walk-off single on a 3-2 count with 1 out off of Brian Wilson to drive in Felipe Lopez. It was the day-before Labor Day, so I was considering the holiday factor as Zimmerman came to the plate, maybe that's why it wasn't a homer, but on MASN, Bob Carpenter did indicate that it was Father's Day in Australia and New Zealand. Figures! His teammates mobbed him in the infield, and that's always a glorious sight to see for any Nats fan.

The other Nats hits came from Nook Logan (who also had a "Sports Center"-esque diving catch in centerfield), Felipe Lopez and Ronnie Belliard. Congratulations to Barry Zito for a strong pitching effort, I'm just glad that the Nats have face him twice now and beaten him both times.

A terrific day for baseball, with the gametime temperature of 79 degrees, partly cloudy with a little 5 mph wind out to left field. The reported attendance was 27,310 but it really felt like less than that. It was "Kid's run the Show Day" at R.F.K. and the highlight of this for me was listening to young Allie Haines sing the National Anthem and God Bless America, and she had a lovely, wonderful voice. It's always a pleasure to hear such pretty renditions of both songs, and that young lady did them both proud.

Some fans had asked me at the beginning of the game if we were going to see the Giants's Barry Bonds at all, and I reminded them that he never plays a day game after a night game, BUT, I said, if the score is tied in the 9th inning, don't think for a second that Giant's Manager Bruce Bochy won't pinch-hit Bonds for their pitcher. I never thought for one moment that I was only going to be off by one inning! In the 8th inning, that is exactly what happened, and all Bonds could manage was a fly ball to centerfield which Nook Logan caught easily. Thus ends Bond's career appearances at R.F.K. stadium.

Being a Sunday, I got to the stadium early and went down to try and get some autographs, which I wasn't able to manage. I did see Rico and my various usher friends who I always try to say hello to when time allows. Saw Ellie, saw Dave and Maria and got my Capital Q Barbecue beef brisket sandwich and settled in for a glorious afternoon of Nationals baseball. Had my sunglasses and sunblock and didn't roast myself. Watching Ryan Zimmerman hit that walk-off single was such a fun moment, putting the cherry on top of a delicious Nationals Sunday "Sundae". A short game, they were done in 2 hours and 20 minutes, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

So the Nats win another home series and get September off to a terrific start. Let's hope that they can keep this going.

One of my greatest days as a Washington Nationals Fan.

2007-08-29T22:59:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago today, I enjoyed one of the best days I've ever experienced as a Washington Nationals fan. It actually began just after midnight, when I'd gotten home from the Nats/Phillies game the night before, and I was watching the telecast that I'd recorded and knocking around the Internet reading baseball news. I knew that there was an outside chance that the Nats might sign 6th round draft pick Jack McGeary, and just before the midnight deadline for signing draft picks, so I went to Barry Svrluga's Nationals Journal on WashingtonPost.com to see if there was any news. My jaw just about hit the floor when I read what he posted there, at around 11:53 p.m. that it was a done deal - wow! I was incredibly excited, realizing that this meant that the Nats were 20 for 20 on signing their top 20 draft picks, something that I believe only the San Francisco Giants had also done. With McGeary, that meant that the Nats had THREE lefties ranked in the top 15 prospects in the country, something that I would later hear from scouting director Dana Brown was almost unheard of, a feat that one might not ever see again for a generation. I guess to say that I was excited is really an understatement - I was ECSTATIC! This was unbelievably awesome. I emailed my friend with the Nationals who informed me that the deal had just been completed at 11:30 p.m. at the Capitol Grill restaurant (those of you who've paid attention will remember that the Capitol Grill is the same place where the Esmaylen Gonzalez signing occured) then they informed me that the press conference was at 4:00, and did I want to come? DID I? DID I? Are the home hats red? Does Manny Acta speak Spanish? Of COURSE I wanted to attend! At this point, I could barely get to sleep, I was dreaming about future Nats rotations with Ross Detweiler, Josh Smoker and Jack McGeary dominating the National League, alongside our "veterans" Shawn Hill, Jason Bergmann and Matt Chico (yes, I also dreamed that we'd go to a six-man starting rotation. Hey, it's my dream, okay?)

The next morning, I went to work and then left early to go to the ESPN Zone to meet Ryan Church. The good folks at the ESPN Zone had offered me a discounted lunch not long after USA Today-Sports ran that blogger piece where I answered some questions about the Nats and my blogging experience, so I decided to accept their offer that day. I arrived there early and met with their very nice marketing manager, Leigh Friedman, and she seated me in a prime spot where I could see Ryan, and I had a nice chicken caesar salad and an iced tea (gotta try and eat healthy were I can and, besides, I had to go back to work afterwards). The crowd was the largest one that they've had so far for one of these events, had to have been at least 50 people. (It was so many, that the Nationals folks with Ryan had to urge fans to get through the autograph line at the end quickly and only get one item autographed, since Ryan had to get back to R.F.K. for practice.) Once again, Charlie Slowes was the master of ceremonies and he got folks to participate in trivia contests, and ask Ryan some questions. My question to Ryan was the one about his showing patience at the plate this season. What I SHOULD have mentioned along with that question was, that it seems that his patience at the plate also translated into more walks, so he's getting on base more and that's a good thing. Ryan was very kind to every and all the fans, and I don't think that anyone left disappointed. He very kindly signed my "team" ball, and I got a photo with him (note: Ryan is the one on the right, I'm the big goof in dire need of a haircut).

(Photo credit: Shannon Parks)

While waiting in line, I had a brief but very nice chat with my server, Karen, who told me that she is a D.C. school teacher. If she takes as great care of her students as she did with me, then I have to think that she has very fortunate students, indeed. I think that she appreciated having so many more lunch tables to work with on what might otherwise be a slow August Thursday.

After briefly returning to work, I left for R.F.K. to attend the 4:00 press conference where the team introduced Jack McGeary. Please note, I was NOT there in any kind of "official" or blogger capacity, I was invited by a kind friend on the club who thought that I would enjoy seeing it as a devoted fan. I reported to the stadium where a nice intern, appropriately named Ryan, escorted me down to the press room, which looked familiar as I think it must be the same room where Manny Acta does most of his postgame conferences. As we walked towards the press room, I saw Manny Acta walking that way and speaking to someone, and it was all I could do not to rush up to him and say hello, but I restrained myself. Once inside the press room, I saw all the cameras set up and a few people eying me with what I thought to be a "Who the heck is that and why is he here?" look. (Ha!) I saw MASN's Debbi Taylor, and sat in her row of chairs. We even chatted for a brief moment about McGeary and the almost-unprecedented deal that the Nationals gave him, paying for his Stanford college tuition and having him play baseball for them in the summer. The signing bonus was definitely out-of-slot where the league is concerned, but it was brave of the Nationals to do that, and I have to believe that team president Stan Kasten was the point man on that argument. The Nationals owners and management aren't mavericks, they don't do things differently just for the sake of being different. They seem perfectly willing to abide by and operate within the framework that MLB uses and not be boatrockers, but as general manager Jim Bowden explained to the press, this was a unique situation, and Jack McGeary was a special individual. He was worth 1st round money, and should have gone in the first round to any other club with the vision to draft him, which they didn't. The Nationals had that vision.

I saw Mr. and Mrs. McGeary, Jack's parents, and when the press conference started, Jim Bowden introduced manager Manny Acta by stating that the last time that he, himself, had predicted that someone would win an award, they did, and Bowden was predicting that Acta would win National League Manager of the Year. Acta leaned to his side, rather askance, and playfully said, "Stop...." to much laughter. It was a happy, funny moment. Acta is humble, and possibly a tad uncomfortable with such adulation, given the team's record, but I was ready to applaud right then and there (heck, maybe I did, I can't remember..) Bowden introduced Jack McGeary, scouting director Dana Brown, development director Bob Boone, and it was a nice press conference, everybody happy and smiling, including yours truly.

After the press conference, I had to leave the stadium, but since it was so close to the time the gates would open for the night's game anyway, I drove to the proper parking lot and entered the stadium right when the gates opened, at 5:30. I said a quick hello to Rico and ran down towards the Nats dugout to try and get some autographs. I managed to get Luis Ayala's autograph on my team ball, and it was kind of funny. I allowed some kids to get in ahead of me (really, it has to be more important to them, and how often do they get to go to the games, compared with me?) and Ayala saw that I had a Sharpie pen and he needed one, so he asked me if he could borrow mine. Naturally, I said, "Sure!" and I just HAD to add, "Anything for the best guy in our bullpen!" That made him smile, which was nice to see, it meant that he was enjoying the moment. I'd handed him my ball along with my Sharpie, and when he handed them back, I didn't think that he'd signed my ball, so I proferred it again, and Ayala said that he had signed it, whereby I looked at it and noticed that, indeed, he had. "Oh!", I said, "you signed it so fast that I didn't even notice! Thanks!" Ayala smiled and was off. As I was standing there, I saw the McGeary's walking off of the field, where they had been observing practice and chatting with various folks. Since I recognized them, as they came off of the field, I asked Jack McGeary, "Mr. McGeary? May I be the first Nats fan to request your autograph?" (Yes, he's 18 years old, and I'm calling him "Mister" - well, he makes a lot more money than I do, so he's earned the right to be called "Mr." McGeary now). At that, both Jack McGeary and his parents smiled and seemed very tickled to be asked. I always bring a brand new unwrapped baseball for just such an occasion, and I got it out and offered it up. Some guy standing next to me beat me to it, but I still believe that I hold the honor of being the first Nats fan to ask him for an autograph on a ball. You can believe that I will follow his career with more than a passing interest. I applauded the McGeary's and thanked them for having Jack sign and congratulated them for getting everything that they wanted, his Stanford education assured and a career in baseball. My only regret is that I didn't have the presence of mind to get a photograph with him. I'm pleased to report that Jack McGeary is a polite young man, very tall (I'm 6'3" and he's taller than I am) and I told the McGeary's that I hoped to be able to blog nice things about Jack for many years to come. Jack, if you should ever happen to read this, thanks again, you made this fan's day.

Now completely floating from meeting Ryan Church and Jack McGeary, I walked up towards the press cafeteria to say hello to Ellie and chat a bit. After we talked, I noticed a familiar-looking man walk out of the cafeteria and towards the railing of the Terrace Food Court. I looked at Ellie and gave her one of those, "Is that who I think it is?" looks, and she just nodded her head. So I walked over to the man and introduced myself - "Mr. Lerner?" I asked, and Mr. Theodore Lerner, the principal owner of the Washington Nationals turned around and spoke with me. I introduced myself, and when I informed him that I was an 81-game season ticket holder, he smiled. He seemed very pleased to be able to speak with a season ticket holder and I was only too happy to congratulate him on his family's ownership of the team, and on that day's Jack McGeary signing. He didn't say much, but I didn't expect him to be a verbose man, quite the contrary, I imagined him to be a man of very few words, but when he DID speak, it meant something, and you listened. He DID say in response to my thanking him on the McGeary signing that it was a big step for them, but I assured him that it was the RIGHT step, and that every true Nationals fan was behind it 100%. I am extremely proud of the Lerner family's ownership of the Nationals, and it meant the world to me to be able to thank Mr. Theodore Lerner personally.

I swore that I'd recall every detail of that day, and I wish that I had written about it before two weeks had gone by, but I seem to recall that the rest of the evening was less-memorable. I know that I already blogged about the game, though - The Phillies beat the Nats, which was the sole sour note of what was one of the greatest days I've ever had as a fan of the Washington Nationals. A day that I'll never forget.

Nats can't "Dodge" sweep, fall to L.A. 10-9 in 12 OR Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home

2007-08-29T19:29:00.000-04:00

The Washington Nationals capped off a brutal 10-game-in-10-days road trip with a final loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-9 in 12 innings, thus completing a Dodgers home sweep. The Nationals have lost 7 straight games.

This game began with tremendous promise, as the Nats took a 4-0 lead in the 2nd inning, and starter Shawn Hill was pitching well. I was expecting a near-epic pitcher's duel with Hill vs. Penny, two of the best pitchers in the National League. It didn't turn out that way, and Penny left the game in the 5th inning, which only bolstered my hopes that the Nats could take their bullpen.

They couldn't.

It's difficult to remember that, at one point, the Nats led this game 8-3. When Penny exited, they led 6-3, and they managed to get 2 more runs off of Mark Hendrickson. Thnigs were looking up.

Shawn Hill lasted 5 1/3 innings and allowed 6 earned runs on 7 hits, walked only 1 and struck out 4. He threw 63 strikes on 96 pitches (66%) and looked pretty fair for the first 5 innings.
Then the wheels came off of the bus. In the bottom of the 6th inning, Hill struggled and when he exited, the Dodgers rocked Luis Ayala for 2 runs on 4 hits to tie the score at 8-8. To say that I was getting nervous was an understatement. Ayala got the blown save and Rivera took the loss. The only positives to come out of the bullpen's outing was scoreless outings by Jésus Colomé, Jon Rauch, Chris Schroeder and Chad Cordero.

Ryan Report: Church went 4 for 5 with a double and an R.B.I. What a great day he had, hitting his 37th double (only 13 more to reach his goal of 50 before the end of the season).
Zimmerman went 1 for 5 with a walk and an R.B.I. Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 5.

Felipe Lopez went 1 for 6, Nook Logan went 2 for 5 with a walk and 3 R.B.I.'s, D'Angelo Jimenez and Robert Fick each went 2 for 6, Jimenez with 1 R.B.I. and Fick with 2, including the one off of his homer, his first of the year, and Jésus Flores went 3 for 5 with a double and an R.B.I.

The game was certainly dramatic, and if the Nats had pulled off the win, it would be fondly remembered as a great end to an otherwise lousy roadtrip. Instead, it will be remembered as the game where the Nats failed to avoid a second consecutive sweep and went home with more questions than answers.

Nats continue slide, lose to Dodgers 4-3 OR All hopes on Hill

2007-08-29T12:19:00.000-04:00

Another beautiful night in Los Angeles, another 1-run Nats loss. This is getting depressing.

The Nats scored first again, and the game was close the entire time, but the Dodgers scored the go-ahead run in the 7th inning and held on for the 4-3 win.

Nats starter Jason Bergmann, fresh off of his rehab starts, pitched well enough, going 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, walking 1 and only striking out 1. He threw 55 strikes on 89 pitches (62%) and gave up 1 homer. Bergmann's start was encouraging. He may only have 5 starts remaining in the season, but if he keeps pitching this way, and improving, he should be just fine.

Chris Schroeder took the loss, allowing 1 hit on 1 run.

Ryan Report: Church went 0 for 3, Zimmerman 0 for 4, and Austin Ryan Kearns 1 for 3.

Despite the losses, Dmitri Young continues to be productive, going 2 for 3 with an R.B.I and a double and a walk. No small wonder that he's being talked about for some hitting titles and possible awards.

Ronnie Belliard had a nice triple. Tony Batista had a surprising pinch-hit homer. Felipe Lopez had a costly error, though he did go 2 for 4.

Any chance to right this roadtrip rests with Shawn Hill, who has been brilliant but lacked run support or, in the case of last Saturday, relief support. He's matched up against the 14-4 Brad Penny. Should be a wicked pitcher's duel. Let's hope Hill comes out on top.

Nats homer, homer, homer but fall to Dodgers 5-4 OR Sick Bacsik can't Dodge loss

2007-08-28T21:34:00.000-04:00

The Nats hoped to salvage their roadtrip in Chavez Ravine on Monday night, but it was not to be, as they rallied from an early 2-run deficit only to fall to the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4.

The game was not without it's highlights for Nats fans, as they were treated to homers from Wily Mo Peña, Dmitri Young and Ryan Zimmerman, quite possibly the first time the Nats have ever had three homers in one game only to lose (I await the corrective comments from astute observers who have better memories than I do as to whether or not my statement holds water).

Starter Mike Bacsik struggled early but worked well until the 5th inning, when the wheels fell off of the bus.

For me, watching Wily Mo Peña do his best Kirk Gibson (or, dare I say it, Roy Hobbs?) imitation was the highlight of the evening. Peña, who hurt his foot on a previous pitch, took a 3-2 pitch over the wall to put the Nats on top, at least temporarily. Peña limped to first base and was replaced in the game by Ryan Church. It's a pretty impressive sight to see a player who is obviously hurt, play through pain to sacrifice himself for his team. No, it didn't win the game, but it brought the Nats back from the dead and put them right back into the game. You can't underestimate the morale boost that sort of thing can give.

Ryan Report: Church went 0 for 3, Zimmerman went 1 for 3 with that homer, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 4.

These West Coast games just wear on me, and I fell asleep sometime around the 7th inning. Not much else of import happened for the visiting team, but hopefully they will make the most of Jason Bergmann's first start after coming off of the D/L.

Box score for those who simply can't resist.

Oh, and I thought for half a second that THIS item was about yours truly - darn it.

Saturday/Sunday Nats wrap-up OR Altitude sickness

2007-08-26T20:28:00.000-04:00

The Washington Nationals dropped both the Saturday night game (5-1) and Sunday afternoon game (10-5) to the Colorado Rockies, in Denver. Neither Tim Redding (Saturday) nor Joel Hanrahan could contain the Rockies batters.

Neither game was particularly compelling, if you're a Nationals fan, so I thought that I'd give an abbreviated account of both.

The Saturday game was more fun for me, personally, because I got to watch it from the comfy confines of Miss Chatter's backyard as we and several friends enjoyed "baseball on the barn". William Yurasko was there with his wife, as was D.C. Sportschick with her ~~boyfriend~~ husband. Despite a little rain (less than the folks who went to the Redskins-Ravens pre-season game got, apparently) a good time was had by all. Miss Chatter whipped up some excellent picnic food, including burgers and hot dogs on the grill. Yours truly brought some stadium-issue 16 oz. aluminum Budweiser and Bud Light bottles, and Mr. Yurasko brought the Beefeater and Schweppes tonic. Too bad we had more fun than the Nats did.

I suppose that, after the "Friday night massacre" of that terrible 9th inning, some of the enthusiasm for this road trip was knocked right out of me.

The highlight of the Saturday game was watching reliever Chris Schroeder work 3 innings and strike out 5 batters.

Ryan Report: Zimmerman went 0 for 4. Austin Ryan Kearns went 2 for 3 with a walk.

Here's the boxscore, if you are so inclined: http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2007_08_25_wasmlb_colmlb_1&c_id=was

Here I had hopes, too, that somehow Rockies reliever Jorge Julio would come to our rescue and give up some runs, but it was not to be. It would appear that Rockie's pitching coach Bob Apodaca has worked with Julio to correct his error-prone ways. Well, that just takes all of the fun out of seeing him come in for a relief appearance for me. As soon as I saw him on the mound, I perked up and got my hopes going. Alas, he allowed no runs.

The Sunday game, like the Saturday game, began with the Nats scoring first. Unhappily, Joel Hanrahan had a terrible outing. He simply couldn't get anyone out. It wasn't any fun to watch. The Nats lost 10-5 and it wasn't ever really close after the 2nd inning.

Ryan Report: I was very relieved to see Ryan Church back in the lineup, having sat out the past 2 nights to allow Wily Mo Peña some playing time. It has had me greatly worried, since I believe that Ryan Church isn't ideally suited for coming off the bench, and I'm concerned that the team might get TOO used to playing without him. He only went 1 for 4, but that 1 was a 2-run homer that sparked the Nats back to life a little bit. Zimmerman went 1 for 3 with a 2-out homer. Austin Ryan Kearns had another good day, going 2 for 4 with 2 R.B.I.'s

For the morbidly curious: http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2007_08_26_wasmlb_colmlb_1&c_id=was

Yeah, I'm not sorry to see the last of Coors Field for the year. Perhaps they'll have better luck against the Dodgers.

Rockies rally, Nats drop ball 6-5 OR Things to do in Denver when you're dead

2007-08-24T22:22:00.000-04:00

Y'know, I love Chad Cordero, but he sure has a way of taking what should be 3 routine outs to close a game and turning them into thrilling cliffhanger. In this case, the story went right over the cliff.

Starter Shawn Hill pitched a dandy, holding the Rockies to 1 run, Luis Ayala held them to no runs, then the moment Chad got on the mound, the rollercoaster ride began: 1 hit, then 1 homerun, suddenly it's 5-3 Nats and a save situation. Chad began loading the bases, allowing 4 hits and not retiring a single batter. That was enough for Nats Manager, Manny Acta. He sent Chad out and called in the big fella, Jon Rauch. Poor Jon entered the game with the bases loaded and no outs, in one of the worst pitcher's parks in baseball. Suddenly, he allows a hit, and the Rockies scored 2 runs to tie the game. Both Cordero and Rauch got nailed for a blown save. Then it was just a matter of trying to wiggle out of the jam, and it almost worked until a little single up the middle couldn't be contained by D'angelo Jimenez and the winning run scored from 3rd.

[Expletives deleted]

The first error of this roadtrip and it cost the Nats the game, but of course, the game was almost over long before that. This was a strong candidate for "worst loss of the season", as the Nats had the Rockies up against the wall. All they needed was 3 quick outs and the game was theirs.

Let's hang a name on it already. I hereby dub this the "Coors Field Curse". We just can't catch a break there.

I'm too angry and frustrated to post anymore tonight, I work Saturdays, so I'll pick this up later.

*EDIT* Okay. After sleeping on this, it doesn't seem any better. Shawn Hill got robbed of a much-deserved win. 1 run on 4 hits and 5 strikeouts? C'mon! That should have been light's-out, goodnight time. The bullpen has been the strength, but I just don't know if A) the Rockies have the book on Chad memorized, or B) Chad was throwing the wrong pitches. It isn't unusual for him to allow men on base, though. Chad makes good use of the defense to snag long flies in cavernous R.F.K. and other bigger parks, and also allow batters to ground into double plays, but there is no defense against the homerun ball.

If there were a category for "should have won's", then this game would be at the top of the Nats list. All they can do now is try to learn from it.

I don't know anything from anything about pitching, but it seems to me that sinkerball pitchers do better in Coors Field. Didn't Zach Day wind up there at one point? His strength was his sinkerball. Wasn't Shawn Hill throwing sinkers? Everything looked down to me, but I'll admit I wasn't glued to every pitch. I believe that I heard Don Sutton mention on MASN that curveballs just "hang" there, begging to be hit, so pitchers avoid those. I don't recall hearing anything about fastballs, though.

Ryan Report: Church didn't play, but Zimmerman went 3 for 4 with 3 R.B.I.'s and a homer. I think he likes that ballpark. Austin Ryan Kearns went 0 for 4.

"Way-out" Wily Mo, went yard again, going 2 for 4 with that homer, Dmitri Young went 1 for 4 with an R.B.I., Ronnie Belliard went 2 for 4 and Jésus Flores went 1 for 4.

By God, I hope that Tim Redding has a good outing and gets some run support and bullpen help. The Nats need to put this crap-sandwich of a game behind them and nothing causes amnesia like a nice win.

Nats take Astros 7-6, take series OR Hanging on for dear life

2007-08-24T21:17:00.000-04:00

I didn't really see much of this game. It was very strange. Allow me to explain.

I was invited to have dinner at a friend's restaurant Thursday evening, very last minute, but as I always have my DVR record the Nats games, I wasn't worried about watching it later on. So I had my dinner, saw some friends and got caught up with their lives, which was really nice. Afterwards, I trundled on home, and flipped on MASN2, and there was something horribly wrong, either with the signal, my DVR or the MASN broadcast.

The whole game was playing with an almost cyclical interruption, including screen-pauses, "ghosting" images and sound breaks. It was maddening to watch. I tried different things, like switching channels (only seemed to show up on MASN2) I tried stopping the recording and just watching the rest of the game without recording it, and that didn't help. It was impossible to enjoy. As a weird adjunct to this, DirecTV listed this as "Nationals at Rockies" rather than "Nationals at Astros". Maybe that was the root of the problem, the MASN folks were trying to cause a rift in the time-space continuum, and that resulted in my crappy picture and sound. I'm tellin' ya, it was like watching a T.V. that was haunted or filled with gremlins. As I write this, I'm watching the actual Friday night Nationals-Rockies game, and I am recording it without incident. Clear, clean DirecTV picture, no glitches.

The Nats had a good beginning, jumping off to a 5-0 start, and then tacking on 2 more to hang on by the skin of their teeth for the win. Chad Cordero almost blew it in the 9th, with the score 7-4, as he allowed 2 runs, but he got his save.

Ryan Report: Church went 0 for 4, but he had an R.B.I. Zimmerman went 1 for 3 with an R.B.I. double and a walk, and Austin Ryan Kearns had a great night, going 3 for 4 with a walk and an R.B.I. Lately, he's on fire, having readjusted his hands for better effect.

Ronnie Belliard went 2 for 5 with a homer and 2 R.B.I.'s Nook Logan went 2 for 5 raising his batting average to a torrid .289, second only to All-Star Dmitri Young. Nook Logan is living proof of the enduring wisdom of Bull Durham's Crash Davis, who warned the youngsters on his team, "You just got lesson number one: don't think; it can only hurt the ball club." Nook has attributed his recent success to the practice of not thinking at the plate, just hitting. It seems to be working. Dmitri Young went 2 for 4 with a double and an R.B.I.

Glad to see the Nats take a road series, especially a 4-game one. Now onto Denver and see what the Rockies have to bring. Maybe this is the roadtrip that will finally bring some Nationals success in Denver - I believe that they have yet to win a game there since becoming the Washington Nationals. With Shawn Hill on the mound on Friday night, I believe that they have a good chance.

Nats can't outlast Astros, fall 3-2 OR Houston a problem for D.C.

2007-08-24T19:49:00.000-04:00

The Washington Nationals lost this 3rd game of the Houston Astros series 3-2, and it wasn't the most engaging of contests.

I fell asleep. Didn't know who won until the next morning.

Starter Mike Bacsik was out-dueled by Houston's Woody Williams. Williams, who just turned 41 at the beginning of the week, struck out 8 in his 6 1/3 innings, and only allowed 2 runs on 8 hits(one of them a homer off of Austin Kearns) and 2 walks. I usually don't write this much about an opposing pitcher, but I'm less than a year older than Williams is, so it serves to fuel my Walter Mitty-esque dreams of suddenly becoming the next Roy Hobbs. Bacsik, on the other hand, allowed 3 runs on 3 hits (as with Williams, one of them a homer), struck out 4 and walked 1 in his 6 innings.

Ryan Report: Church and Zimmerman each got one hit. Hooray.

Not much to really say about this game, and since I missed most of it, I won't. Just as well. I hate blogging about the road losses.

Box score HERE for the morbidly curious.

Hanrahan hammers and Logan, Zimmerman hit Houston hard 11-6, grab 4th place in N.L. East OR Wandy wonders, "Hey, wha' happen?"

2007-08-21T23:52:00.000-04:00

Memo to Nationals Manager Manny Acta: Who was that guy wearing #7 and hitting in the number 2 spot, and what on earth did you do with Nook Logan?

Logan went 5 for 6, with 3 R.B.I.'s and raised his batting average to .287, as the Nats clobbered the Houston Astros 11-6. Logan's 5 hits represented a new career high, and the only thing that kept him from getting a 6th hit was due to a broken bat. I think that if Logan HAD gone 6 for 6, the league office would be investigating him for possible steroid abuse. This is NOT the Nook Logan that we've been watching all season, but since the All-Star break, Logan has really picked up his game. He didn't look quite as sharp over the recent homestand, but then almost none of the Nats did. Still, abandoning the switch-hitting experiment seems to have cleared his mind and made it easier for him to just play, not think so hard, as he implied was a key to his recent success.

Not to be forgotten, Ryan Zimmerman was a double away from hitting for the cycle, and might have done exactly that in the 9th inning, but he was walked. Zimmerman went 3 for 5 with a walk and 4 R.B.I.'s. He homered, tripled and singled. Fun to watch!

Starter Joel "The Hammer" Hanrahan had a pretty fair outing, going 5 innings and allowing 3 runs and 3 walks on 7 hits. He threw 60 strikes on 92 pitches (65%). Not so good to have to go to the bullpen in the 6th inning, but what the heck, they were rested. Jésus Colomé, Ray King, Luis Ayala and Chris Schroeder managed to hold the Astros to 3 runs on 7 hits, with the last 2 coming in the 9th inning.

Ryan Report: Church went 0 for 1 in a pinch-hitting role, Zimmerman had the aforementioned 4 R.B.I's on 3 hits, nearly cycling, Austin Ryan Kearns went 0 for 3 but was walked twice, and Joel Ryan Hanrahan went 0 for 2 at the plate but did alright on the mound.

Other Nats hits came from Dmitri Young (1 for 2, walked twice), Wily Mo Peña (1 for 5 with an R.B.I.), Ronnie Belliard (1 for 4 with an R.B.I. double and a walk), Brian Schneider (2 for 4 with a double and a walk), and Tony Batista (1 for 3 with an R.B.I.). Nook Logan, as mentioned above, had a career night, 5 for 6 with a double and 3 R.B.I.'s.

The Astros starter, Wandy Rodrigues, had a pretty incredible home record at Minute Maid Park this season, having not lost at home since May 30th, and was 6-2 with a 1.67 E.R.A. at home. Given that the Nats and the Astros entered Tuesday night's action with identical 56-69 records, it's my guess that Rodrigues, who took the loss, was left to ponder the immortal words of Mike Lafontaine.

So the Nats have rebounded well so far from their 1-5 homestand and have a chance to win this road series on Wednesday night with Mike Bacsik starting against Woody Williams. Now that they've grabbed sole possession of 4th place in the National League East for the second time in 2 weeks, thanks to their winning and the Florida Marlins losing, perhaps they can try to hold onto it this time.

Congratulations to Ryan Zimmerman once again, for getting another day in his major league career being on a team that isn't in last place. For the time being. Let's all hope that this is the last time Ryan is ever on a last place team again.

Nats ground Astros 7-0 OR "Houston? We have a problem.."

2007-08-20T23:21:00.000-04:00

Forget Hurricane Dan, the Houston Astros had better worry about the Washington Nationals.

The Nats began this 3 city roadtrip by roaring into Houston's Minute Maid Park and taking the Astros 7-0. It began with a big solo homer from Wily Mo Peña in the 2nd inning which ignited the offense and got them going in the 3rd.

Starter Tim Redding, returning to his Astros roots, wasn't flawless, but he had a defense behind him that was on their toes the entire game and got some crucial, timely double plays. He allowed 6 hits and walked 3 batters in his 7 innings, throwing 70 strikes on 116 pitches (60%). Those 116 pitches might be the season high that Manager Manny Acta has allowed one of his starters to throw, I can't be certain, but it seems likely.

The bullpen of....well, Jésus Colomé, making his first start since coming off of the D/L from his soft-tissue infection on his right buttock, looked as though he hadn't missed a beat, allowing only 1 walk and 1 hit but no runs in his 2 innings of work. No if's, and's, or but's about it. (ba-DUM-bump!) Welcome back, Jésus!

The great thing about this, of course, is that the rest of the bullpen got the night off, a valuable gain given that there are 9 more games on this roadtrip, and trips to 2 more cities.

Ryan Report: Church went 2 for 4 with an R.B.I. double, his 36th double of the season, only 14 shy of his season-goal of 50, Zimmerman went 0 for 4 with a walk, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 3 for 4 walk and 2 doubles. Incidentally, having mentioned Ryan Wagner yesterday, he happened to drop by the Nats clubhouse this evening, his home being in Texas. According to MLB, "Ryan Wagner, the right-handed pitcher who is out for the season with surgery on his right rotator cuff in May, dropped by the Nats clubhouse on Monday. Wagner, who came over as part of the Kearns trade last year, lives in Yoakum, Texas, about 120 miles west of Houston. "He's just checking in," Acta said. "He's not able to throw a ball for two more months."

The Nats big hits came in the 2nd and 3rd inning, beginning with Wily Mo Peña's solo homer (he went 3 for 4 with 2 R.B.I's and a walk) and included Felipe Lopez going 1 for 5, Ronnie Belliard going 3 for 4 with a double and a walk, and Dmitri Young going 2 for 4 with a 3-run homer.

After going 1 for 5 on the last homestand, victimized by the Phillies/Mets collective buzzsaws, this was a welcome bit of relief for us suffering Nats fans. Very nice to get a laugher. The club needed a win in the worst way, a little morale booster.

Have to give props to General Manager Jim Bowden again for Wily Mo Peña. He may not cure all of the Nats ills, but he seems to be as refreshing as a bracing gin and tonic in hot, sticky August. At least he's exiting to watch, there's a palpable sense of anticipation when he comes to bat, especially with men on base, as he proved tonight. His personal chemistry is a perfect fit with what the Nats already have going on in their clubhouse. I hope that this is the club that finally helps him to flourish and reach his true baseball potential.

Hope Joel "The Hammer" Hanrahan can keep this scoreless streak going.

Nats swept by Mets 8-2 OR Homestand horrors and homeruns

2007-08-20T11:28:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, the Nats got swept by the Mets 3 games to zero to complete a 1 and 5 homestand. Not even the early heroics of new outfielder Wily Mo Peña, who hit a 2-run homer off of the left field upper deck facing to briefly put the Nats ahead 2-1, could salvage a thorough and sound drubbing by the team from Queens.

Starter Shawn Hill wasn't quite the lethal menace to the Mets as he was to the Phillies last week, but he did yeoman work on the mound, allowing 5 hits but only 2 runs and he went 7 innings, which was good for the bullpen. He walked 2 and struck out 2, and one of his allowed hits was a 1st inning homer, but his outing was still very encouraging. It's too bad that they had him on a pitch count, he might have been able to go 8 innings. As it was, he threw 58 strikes on 88 pitches (66%).

Our bullpen of Jon Rauch and Chris Schroeder was less than stellar, with Rauch allowing 4 runs on 4 hits. This broke the 2-2 stalemate in the 8th inning and finished the Nats for the day. Chris Schroeder (happy birthday, Chris!) allowed a walk and a 2-run homer to drive the final nails in the Nats coffin. Oh, well, everyone has an off-day once in a while. They've been so good for so long, the odds were bound to catch up with them eventually.

Ryan Report: Church was back in left field, and he went 0 for 4, Zimmerman went 1 for 4 with an R.B.I., and Austin Ryan Kearns also went 0 for 4. Congratulations to "El Duque".

The Nats only managed to get 3 hits all afternoon - Zimmerman, Peña and Robert Fick. That's never going to be enough against the Mets.

Perhaps they'll have better luck against the Astros. When they were here recently, the Nats went 2-1 on them. Hope that Oswalt has an off-day.

A weird day, weather-wise. It was supposed to be sunny and cooler, due to that high-pressure system, but the rain clouds and overcast came early. 73 degrees at 1:35 game time with a 10 m.p.h. wind - hardly a typical August day but quite welcome. I had a couple of raindrops on my car when I hit the parking lot, but I needed my sunblock by the time the game started. Naturally, I left my sunglasses in the car (ha!).

After greeting Rico at the gate, I went upstairs to see Ellie, and I wound up having one of my most interesting ballpark encounters of the entire season. Now some bloggers have interviewed the National's T.V. play-by-play announcer Bob Carpenter and some have interviewed the Nationals T.V. color commentator, Hall-of-Famer Don Sutton. Well, I'm pleased to announce that I've scooped them all. Through a lot of luck and perfect timing, I got the opportunity to interview someone who knows all of the Nationals players, and probably hundreds more around the league, as well as lots of Hall-of-Famers. This person gets to see the players up close, in batting practice and often in the off-season as well. I'm talking about the one, the only, Jackie Sutton.

Now, Jackie may be young (I'd say 11 years old, but I'm pretty lousy at age guesses), but she's a seasoned baseball observer. When I met her yesterday for her interview (well, perhaps "interview" is a slight exaggeration...) she was introduced to me and I shook her hand and told her how much I admired her dad (the aforementioned Hall-of-Famer and MASN color commentator Don Sutton). Hearing that, a jaded look crept across her face that I'm sure so many celebrity children get when the umpteenth person tells them how much they admire their parent. I even said, "I'm sure that you hear that all the time, huh?", and she just nodded. Oh, how us overeager fans must tax the patience of even the most well-mannered kids. I quickly changed the subject and asked her how she liked one of my favorite restaurants in the Coachella Valley of Southern California (where the Suttons make their home). Suddenly, her face lit up with animation and she said that her family ate there all the time. I asked her who her favorite Nationals were, noticing that she was sporting a snappy Brian Schneider t-shirt, and she found that a difficult question to answer, she likes them all so much. I showed her the baseball that I'm currently using to gather as many player signatures as possible, and she looked at it with great interest, asking me who all of the signatures belonged to. Our conversation about that went something like this:

Me: "This one here is Matt Chico."
JS: "I know him!"
Me: "This one is Luis Ayala."
JS: "I know him!"
Me: "This one is John Patterson."
JS: "I know him!"
Me: "This one is Micah Bowie."
JS: "I know him!"
Me: "This one is Ryan Langerhans."
JS: "I know him!"
Me: "This one is Ryan Church."
JS: "I know him!"
Me: "This one is Nick Johnson."
JS: "I know him!"

Well, the rest of that conversation went pretty much the same way. I was so envious of her player acquaintances, and I joked to her that I needed to borrow her to help me get more signatures on my baseball. Her reply: "Nope!" (ha!)

One thing that Jackie did for me was, she acted as my messenger to get a short note to Bob Carpenter. Basically, I just wanted to ask him to address on the air what the Houston Astros and/or Major League Baseball had as contingency plans in case Hurricane Dan threatened Houston this week while the Nationals were there. Since I record the broadcasts, I'd see his answer. I even bumped into team President Stan Kasten and asked him, "Are we concerned about Hurricane Dan?" and he responded in the affirmative, mentioning that they were monitoring it closely. Fortunately for Texas, it appears today that Dan is headed towards Central Mexico. It shouldn't affect Houston at all, but who knows, they might get some rain as a result, and with all of the heavy rain that Texas has had this month, any more rain will cause flooding, so it bears paying attention to still. (I watched the broadcast later and Bob did, indeed, address the question. Basically, they have to wait and see what the track of the hurricane is going to be)

After that, a member of the MASN crew appeared and presented her with a whoopee-cushion advertising the Fox T.V. show, "Family Guy" that was being given away out in front of the Main Gate. There were costumed characters from the show doing photo ops, and Jackie was excited to see them, so she went down and got her picture taken with them, and then came racing back up to show it to her mom (who was nearby).

For a brief moment, her dad appeared, sneaking up behind her to give her a laugh, and the smile of pride on Don Sutton's face was irrepressible. He is obviously a devoted family man, and you can just tell that Jackie is the jewel of his life. I've been told that when Jackie and her mom visit the stadium, Jackie plays catch with her dad on the field. What an amazing childhood she must have. I later remarked to Bob Carpenter that Jackie must have more big brothers and uncles around the country than any other kid, and Bob indicated that she is, indeed, every players favorite "niece".

This is a perfect example of the kind of personally rewarding experiences that I've enjoyed being a Washington Nationals season ticket holder. Getting to meet the folks who bring us baseball and, more enjoyably, getting to know a little bit about their private side, the side that most fans just don't know much about. It's always a joy to see just what wonderful people they truly are, behind their more public personas, and how and why they are involved with the team. The season is relatively short, only 6 months of the "regular" season, and for a fan like me it's not long enough to get to know some of these people as well as I'd like to, but it means the world to me to be able to show them a little bit of my appreciation and affection for how much they enrich my own life.

During the game, I got my beer from Howard, and he told me that, last Sunday (when the Nats were on the road) and he was vending at Camden Yards for the Orioles, he was on T.V. for several moments of the Fox broadcast. He had just run out of beer and was responding to fan requests that they be allowed some free ice. So, Howard was tossing some ice to some fans (it was a VERY hot day) and the T.V. cameras picked it up and an announcer declared that one of the vendors had, apparently, gone berserk from the heat and was throwing ice on people (!!!!) My God, that made me laugh, Howard described it so perfectly, and I could just picture him doing exactly what he described. That's a moment that I'd pay good money to see on YouTube.

The highlight of the game play for me was watching Wily Mo Peña's homer off of the upper deck facing in left field. My gosh, that guy really can hit, and he will be a fun player to watch. I'm prepared for him to strike out a lot, Manager Manny Acta said that "power guys do that", so I'm not expecting him to be the next coming of Mickey Mantle, but perhaps the next coming of Frank Howard? I'd settle for that.

At the end of the game, the club handed out 35,000 Post Points Softee baseballs, courtesy of the Washington Post. Those were kind of fun. Since there were only 29,062 tickets sold, that meant that there were several thousand extra of these things available to enterprising fans.

No fun to get swept by the Mets, or any other team for that matter, but at least it was a fun day and the weather cooperated. Hopefully, the next time these teams meet, the results will be in the Nats favor.

Nats can't contain Mets, lose 7-4 OR Of bobbleheads, baffled batters, and Wily Mo

2007-08-19T22:03:00.000-04:00

If there has been a prettier night for a Nats loss this season, then I can't recall when it was. Saturday evening was positively gorgeous, mid-September weather in mid-August. 79 degrees and low humidity, high pressure, partly cloudy, but very pretty clouds. A little 6 m.p.h. breeze, too. Hopes were high, Mets fans were in high spirits (some quite literally) and Abe Lincoln bobbleheads were on the minds of over 35,000 fans, as the Washington Nationals lost to the New York Mets for the second straight night, this time 7-4.

The Saturday game was much better than the Friday night game, much more competitive and close the whole evening. Starter John ("The Walrus") Lannan, started things off well enough for the home team, but only lasted 5 2/3 innings, throwing 63 strikes on 100 pitches (do the math), and allowed 5 runs on 8 hits, including a homerun, walking 1 and striking out 3. He also went 1 for 2 with an R.B.I. single at the plate, his first major league hit and R.B.I. Congratulations, John!

The bullpen of Luis Ayala, Saul Rivera, Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero couldn't contain the Mets hitting as well as it needed to. Ayala was perfect in his 1/3 inning, Saul Rivera allowed 1 run on 2 hits and also walked 2, and Jon Rauch only allowed 1 hit. Chad Cordero also allowed 1 run on 3 hits.

Ryan Report: Tough night for the "R-Squad". Church went 0 for 1 in a pinch-hitting role, having the night off to make room for the Nats latest outfielder, Wily Mo Peña. Zimmerman went 2 for 4 with a walk and an R.B.I. double, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk. Ryan Langerhans was designated for assignment ("D.F.A.'d") to make room for pitcher Jésus Colomé, who is coming off of the disabled list. I can only guess that Langerhans has to clear waivers before reporting to AAA Columbus. This is going to take some of the fun out of the Ryan report, I'll tell you that. We need pitcher Ryan Wagner to come back up to balance out the Ryan-karma.

The other hits for the Nats came from Ronnie Belliard (1 for 5), Jésus Flores (1 for 4 with an R.B.I.), Nook Logan (1 for 2 with a double, an R.B.I. and a walk), and the Nationals debut of Wily Mo Peña, just picked up from the Red Sox, who went 1 for 4 with a double and a walk.

I got to the ballpark around 5:45, and got my bobblehead ticket right away and headed over towards the Diamond Club to retrieve it. No sense wasting time, and I saw the crowded parking lot and did some quick calculation: If there are only 20,000 bobbleheads and over 30,000 fans, then some people are going home empty-handed. I was determined not to be one of them.

So I said hello to all of my ballpark friends, and with beef brisket sandwich in hand, I went to my seat. I had some nice fans to chat with this time, too. Got up at one point to get a beer from Howard (it's hard to get a beer from him when my row is full) and Howard was in something of a poetic mood - "Look at the shadows that the fans in the mezzanine are casting on the wall above these seats. Look at this stadium with the eyes of a child, like it's your first time. You'll always want to remember this." I had to admit, he's right, I feel the same way, only I didn't put it quite the same way. There are fewer than 20 games remaining at R.F.K. and I'll never see another baseball game there again. For the rest of my life, I want to be able to close my eyes and remember the wonderful days and nights at R.F.K. watching Nationals baseball over these past 3 years. I envy the people who tell me stories about Griffith Stadium, attending Senators and Redskins games there. Griffith Stadium is long gone, replaced by Howard University hospital. R.F.K.'s future is undetermined. D.C. United still plays there, though even they are trying to get a new soccer stadium built. There will be concerts, probably, but what else? The city owns it. It is old, but functional. I imagine at some point, it will be torn down to make room for...something.

"Coach" Ron Simms, one of my favorite ushers (he's the one on top of the Nats dugout during "Sweet Caroline") told me that, during batting practice, Wily Mo Peña hit a ball up into section #534 (gold seats, left field, upper deck) 3 rows in. Now, THAT is power! That is Frank Howard territory. I'm hoping to see that in a game, too.

I left my seat at the top of the 6th inning to walk around a bit and enjoy the weather. I walked up to the terrace food court to visit with friends, and while I was there, the Mets Damien Easley turned his left ankle, and I was informed that a foul ball had landed right in my row, near my (now) empty seat. Murphy's Law at work again - I've always said that if I'm not in my seat then foul balls are raining down into my section.

Another Nats loss, and after 3 1/2 hours, too. Not as much fun as a win, but still had a good time. I always do. Anytime spent with friends at the ballpark is time well-spent indeed.

Nats fall to Mets 6-2 under Glavine avalanche OR Chico answers question, "What's high in the middle and round at both ends?" ("O-HI-o")

2007-08-18T15:09:00.000-04:00

The Nationals suffered a 6-2 New York mugging on Friday night at the sure and steady hands of 301-game-winner Tom Glavine, a game which saw "Iron Man" Matt Chico walk far too many batters for Manager Manny Acta's comfort.

Matt Chico has been one of the wonderful surprises of this season, not missing a single start in the rotation, and having some games which showcased pitching brilliance, such as a start he had in Pittsburgh followed by his July 4th start against the Cubs at home where he threw 6 shutout innings.

Everyone from Manager Manny Acta to pitching coach Randy St. Claire, to Chico himself has acknowledged that, on probably any other major league club, Chico would probably still be playing at the AA level, so he has certainly performed above and beyond all reasonable expectations this season and his future here is still secure, but right now he seems to have lost his command and just needs a sort-of "time-out" to go to Columbus, Ohio and throw strikes for the Clippers for a couple of weeks. One must also remember that Chico has benefited from playing his home games in what is the most extreme pitcher's park in the major leagues.

This move puts Mike Bacsik back into the starting rotation for the time being, and also makes General Manager Jim Bowden's job easier, since it buys him some time to figure out who else to send down to make room for their newest outfielder, Wily Mo Peña, late of the Cincinnati Reds via the Boston Red Sox.

Matt Chico has one of his worst outings of the season, lasting only 4.1 innings. In that time, he threw 48 strikes on an alarmingly-high 90 pitches (54%), allowing 4 runs on 5 hits, walking 5 and striking out only 2. 2 of those 5 hits were homeruns, by Damien Easley and Moises Alou respectively. I like Matt Chico, he has been one of the friendliest, and most modest, players who has signed my baseball this season, a very nice guy, and I think that it is too easy for us fans to fall into the trap of expecting more from him at this stage than he is reasonable ready to give. I think that he will come back from Columbus right after the September 1st roster expansions, and be just fine. I also think that his 2008 is likely to be a watershed year for him.

In bullpen relief, Mike Bacsik, Chris Schroeder, Ray King and Luis Ayala fared reasonably well, with Schroeder and King both allowing 1 run each. Bacsik and Schroder each walked 1 and King walked 2. To be fair, by the time they got into the game, most of the damage had already been done.

Ryan Report: Church went 1 for 4, Zimmerman was en fuego (that's Spanish for, "he excelled at the plate") going 3 for 4 with a double, Langerhans was 0 for 1, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 2 for 3 with a walk and an R.B.I.

Hot Nats bats on a pleasant evening also came from Felipe Lopez (1 for 5, maybe more lukewarm than hot), Dmitri Young (2 for 4 with a double and an R.B.I.), and Brian Schneider (1 for 4).

As I had to close my store last night at 7:00, I was late for the game, but I made great time down Rock Creek Parkway and 295. It seemed to me that everyone had already fled town, so I hit no traffic, and I got to the parking lot shortly after 7:30. As I approached the stadium, I heard a roar, and I thought that the Nats had done something great (no fireworks, so no homerun, but still...) When I got inside (after saying "hello" to Rico first, of course) I noticed that the score was 2-0 Mets (?!?!?) Suddenly, the cold, hard truth set in: those were METS fans shouting! Our dumpy, comfortable old R.F.K. had suddenly turned into Shea Stadium South.

I HATE when that happens.

The Mets aren't quite the Yankees in terms of fan base, but they seem to be getting a larger one all the time. They still play in the country's largest media market and have terrific cable, satellite, radio and T.V. broadcast penetration. Washington, D.C. is only a few hours away by train, and there are lots of transplanted New York/New Jersey residents in the area. Some came to college here and stayed, or came here to work for the government, or any number of other reasons and they, of course, brought their fan loyalties with them. It's part of their personal identity.

The Nationals haven't been around long enough to have developed a multi-generational fanbase yet, but it will happen. And once they start winning and encouraging more and more fans to come out to the new ballpark, they will sell more season tickets to Nationals fans, who will hopefully use them and not give them over to their friends who are Phillies fans, Braves fans, Cubs fans...or Mets fans.

I do not want Nationals Park (or whatever it is to be named - my money is on PNC Park at the moment) to ever sound like R.F.K. has these past 3 seasons when Mets fans, Phillies fans, even Cubs fans to a certain extent, outnumber the Nats fans and sound louder. Even on the T.V. replays, whenever the Mets did something, the crowd noise definitely sounded greatly in favor of New York. That should never happen. It's just embarrassing.

We fans need to do better. Does the club have to have a bobblehead promotion every homestand weekend to bring out the fans? Is it because they're not winning that the fan turnout isn't what it should be?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If your enjoyment of a baseball game is entirely predicated upon the win or the loss, then you're missing the forest for the trees. A win is a bonus. The fact that baseball is here should be enough to fill the stands on weekends with grateful, happy fans.

Maybe in 2008.

Nats fall to Phillies, 4-2, lose series OR Hamels hammers Hanrahan & Co.

2007-08-18T11:41:00.000-04:00

In the "better late than never" department, I give you my post about the Thursday night Phillies/Nationals game.

The Nats rallied briefly in the 8th inning from a 4-0 deficit to get to 4-2, but they simply could not contain the Phillies pitching and get any hits.

Starter Joel "The Hammer" Hanrahan pitched well enough, even though he only went 5 innings. He gave up 2 runs on 4 hits, walked 4 but struck out 8. He threw 51 strikes on 101 pitches. Hanrahan was 0 for 1 at the plate, a disappointment, considering that in each of his previous 3 starts, he'd gotten an extra base hit. Still, he's a pitcher, we should be grateful that he can do more than just bunt, and I am grateful.

The bullpen of Chris Schroeder, Mike Bacsik, Saul Rivera and Jon Rauch did pretty well, though both Schroder and Rivera gave up 1 run on 2 hits.

Ryan Report: All afternoon, I feared that Church might have worn out his arm signing autographs at the ESPN Zone (I'm blogging about that separately, stay tuned), but he did manage a single, going 1 for 4. Zimmerman went 0 for 4, Langerhans didn't bat, but Austin Ryan Kearns was 2 for 2 with a double and was walked twice, and Joel Ryan Hanrahan went 0 for 1.

The Nats bats came alive with Ronnie Belliard (2 for 4 with a double, and an R.B.I.), Dmitri Young (1 for 4 with an R.B.I.), and Nook Logan (1 for 4).

A tough loss to a strong division opponent, but one to take away some good things from.

It was an ugly night, 88 degrees, cloudy and humid as all get-out. I got to the park early (see my next post about this day) and was there right when the gates opened. I saw Rico and went right down to try my luck at autograph hunting. Luis Ayala kindly signed my ball, and I got a smile out of him when I referred to him as "the best guy in our bullpen" (hey, what's a little flattery between fan and player?). I also managed to get another player's autograph (again, see that post). I had my Capital Q barbecue beef brisket sandwich and a beer from Howard and I was all set. Saw several familiar faces around the ballpark and I enjoyed myself, despite the loss.

Those Phillies fans have a bizarre ritual after a win - they roam around singing the Philadelphia Eagles fight song (?!?!?). How unbelievably odd. Perhaps they forgot where they were, or were too inebriated to see that R.F.K. was in a baseball configuration, not a football one. Who knows? All I DO know is, if after a Nats victory, we roamed around singing "Hail to the Redskins", they'd call out all of St. Elizabeth's to lock us up.

Ah, well. Don't have to see them again for a little while. Now we have to concentrate on trying to take some from the Mets.

BREAKING NEWS! Wily Mo Peña traded to Nationals!

2007-08-17T13:54:00.000-04:00

Okay, it's apparently a few hours old, but a friend of mine tipped me off about this, but at this moment, this is the only thing I've seen online:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/08/wily-mo-pena-de.html

Wily Mo Pena Traded To Nationals

UPDATE: The Red Sox traded Pena for cash considerations and a player to be named later, according to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe.

According to Rob Bradford of the Boston Herald, Wily Mo Pena has been traded to the Nationals. Jim Bowden finally got his man again.

Assuming he can stay healthy, it'll be interesting to see what Pena can do with 550 ABs. For what it's worth, PECOTA projected a line of .276/.336/.504 heading into this season. Pena still has a one in five chance of becoming a star, according to Baseball Prospectus.

Official Nats press release here.

08/17/2007 1:45 PM ET

MLB.com

The Washington Nationals today acquired 25 year-old outfielder Wily Mo Pena and cash considerations from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for a player to be named later. Nationals Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made the announcement.

The 6-foot-3, 245 lbs. Pena is a career .256 (323-for-1262) hitter with 57 doubles, 67 home runs and 193 RBI in 459 games with Boston (2006-07) and Cincinnati (2002-05). Pena is currently batting .218 with five home runs and 17 RBI in limited action (73 games) this season with the Red Sox. Last year, however, in Pena's American League debut with Boston, he hit .301 (83-for-276) with 15 doubles, 11 home runs and 42 RBI in only 84 games. Pena was acquired by the Red Sox on March 20, 2006 from Cincinnati in exchange for right-handed pitcher Bronson Arroyo and cash considerations.

Pena returns to the National League, where he blasted 51 home runs in only 302 games with the Reds from 2002-05, an average of one long ball every 16.2 at-bats.

His best season came with Cincinnati in 2004 when hit .259 with 26 home runs and 66 RBI despite playing in only 110 games, as he shared the Reds' outfield with Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns, among others. With increased playing time and at-bats in '04, Pena averaged a home run every 12.9 at-bats overall, including one every 9.6 at-bats when facing left-handed pitching.

Pena brought his prodigious power to the big leagues at an early age, as he made his major league debut with the Reds in 2002 at the age of 20. Perhaps best known for his tape-measure home runs, Pena has hit at least two home runs in excess of 490 feet, including the longest recorded blast at old Busch Stadium (492 feet) on June 29, 2005.

Born in Lagunda Salada, Dominican Republic, Pena is reunited with Nationals manager Manny Acta, for whom he played during World Baseball Classic. Pena went 4-for-10 (.400) with one RBI and one run scored in three games during the inaugural tournament.

Nats even series with Phillies 1-1, winning 4-2 OR Redding railroads Phils

2007-08-16T10:56:00.000-04:00

Tim Redding is a wonder. We're lucky to have him. On Thursday night, he practically tried to win the entire game singlehandedly, pitching a wonderful game and personally driving in 2 runs.

Redding pitched 6 strong innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits, walking 3 and striking out 7. He threw 61 strikes on 96 pitches (64%) and drove in the first 2 Nats runs.

The bullpen of Saul Rivera, Ray King, Luis Ayala and Chad Cordero was their usual efficient selves, allowing a total of 2 hits in 3 innings. Ray King, in particular, got 2 important outs.

Ryan Report: Church went 1 for 3 with a walk and an upper-deck homer (sec. #467) which put the Nats up 4-1, Zimmerman went 2 for 4 with a double, Langerhans did not hit, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 0 for 4. That Church homerun was absolutely crushed, it was beautiful to see.

The good hits from the Nats bats came from Tim Redding, who went 1 for 3 with that 2 R.B.I. double, Felipe Lopez who went 1 for 4, Dmitri Young went 2 for 3, Brian Schneider went 2 for 3, and Nook Logan went 1 for 3.

Being my day off, I got to the ballpark early and enjoyed being able to spend some time saying "hello" to my various friends there. Said "hi" to Rico and then Ellie upstairs. Got my Capital Q barbecue beef brisket and my beer from Howard. I was ready to go. 88 degrees and not terribly humid. Nice to see a Nats win on a Wendesday. I sure enjoyed it.

BREAKING NEWS! Nats sign McGeary!

2007-08-16T00:04:00.000-04:00

This is HUGE! Just moments ago, Washington Post writer Barry Svrluga broke the news on his Nationals blog here:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2007/08/mcgeary_deal_part_2.html

It's official. He's OURS! Stanford's loss is Washington's gain. General Manager Jim Bowden and his team pulled off what many teams thought was impossible, signing a highly-rated player who had a full-ride to Stanford University, who had fallen in the draft because of his demands for 1st-round money.

I'm too tired to say much more about this right now, but I'm thrilled beyond measure to learn of this - I hope I can get to sleep now!

What a great week to be a Washington Nationals fan - first Josh Smoker, now Jack McGeary, and Ross Detweiler pitching in Potomac. Lefties galore!

Greater baseball minds than mine will write huge, analytical pieces about this with greater detail, but I just had to share my jubilation. This team had got to be the envy of all of baseball right now, with a scouting department and development people to get the farm system using everything but Miracle-Grow to fill the player pipeline.

Three cheers for Jim Bowden, his staff, the Lerners and Stan Kasten!

**EDIT** Here's the official press release:

Nationals agree to terms with McGeary

08/16/2007 12:39 AM ET

MLB.com

The Washington Nationals today agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Jack McGeary, the club's sixth-round pick from the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. Nationals Vice President/General Manager Jim Bowden and Scouting Director Dana Brown made the announcement.

"We are very pleased to be able to draft and sign three left-handed starting pitchers - Jack McGeary, Ross Detwiler and Josh Smoker - all blessed with first-round talent," Bowden said.

McGeary was named the 2007 Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Massachusetts after going 6-1 with a 0.88 ERA in seven starts as a senior for Roxbury Latin High School in West Roxbury, MA. He struck out 80 in his 40.0 innings of work, leading his club to a share of the Independent School League championship. The lefthander also earned ABCA/Rawlings Third-Team High School All-American honors. He had entered the 2007 season as a Baseball America Preseason High School First-Team All-American.

McGeary, 18, was rated as the 18th-best pitching prospect, 27th-best overall, among draft-eligible players according to Baseball America. He was also rated by the same publication as having the second-best command among draft-eligible high school pitchers.

The Nationals have now signed each of their first 20 selections from the 2007 draft.

The Nationals will host a press conference Thursday at 4:00 p.m. at RFK Stadium to introduce Jack McGeary.

Meet Ryan Church at ESPN Zone, Thursday, August 16th

2007-08-15T13:05:00.000-04:00

The press release is below, but this is an event that I absolutely cannot miss. Ryan Church is one of my very favorite players, and the chance to say "hello" and maybe get a photo together is irresistible. So come on down to ESPN Zone and meet Ryan Church AND you might even get the chance to meet ME! When have you ever had a better offer than that, I ask you? :-)

NATIONALS OUTFIELDER RYAN CHURCH

TO TAKE PART IN ESPN ZONE Q&A

WHAT: Nationals outfielder Ryan Church will be at ESPN Zone Washington D.C. on Thursday, August 16 to share his insight on the Nationals’ plans for the remainder of the season and the hype for next season. This lunchtime question-and-answer session offers fans the opportunity to get personal, candid answers to all their baseball questions, while getting better acquainted with Church. After the Q&A portion of the event, Church will sign autographs for ESPN Zone guests.

WHEN: Thursday, August 16, 2007 12 pm EDT

WHERE: ESPN Zone

555 12^th St., NW

Washington, D.C. 20004

Nats fall to Phillies 3-2 OR Hill brilliant, Phillies patient:.

2007-08-15T11:10:00.000-04:00

A day of mixed emotions in the Nat-O-sphere (or is it"Natmosphere"? I can never get that straight...). The Nats beat the rookie signing deadline by signing the 31st pick in the draft, Josh Smoker, who will report to the Gulf Coast League on Saturday. Then they blew a 2-0 lead in the 8th inning to lose to the Phillies 3-2. So, not a perfect day, but even in the loss, they got an outstanding start from Shawn Hill, who hadn't pitched for the team in 3 months and looked for all the world as though he hadn't missed a beat.

I am particularly thrilled about the Smoker signing. It is a marketing department's dream, a leftie who can throw 94 m.p.h.. I pledge to you, my half-dozen readers or so, that I will make it my mission in life to exhaust every single word-play variation on "Smoker" and pitching that I possibly can once he comes up to the big club (Next year? We shall see.)

Starter Shawn Hill was on an 80 count pitch limit, but it got him through 6 quality innings in which he threw 79 pitches for 52 strikes (68%), allowing 1 hit, no runs, and struck out 7.
If Centerfielder Nook Logan had gotten a better jump on a fly ball in the 5th inning and had called Leftfielder Ryan Church off, he might have made the catch and Hill would have had 6 no-hit innings. This has to be considered one of the best starts a Nationals pitcher has had all year. At the moment, my somewhat-dodgey memory can only think of a couple of Matt Chico starts, such as his July 4th shutout of the Cubs, to compare Hill's to, but there is no question that right now, Shawn Hill is the Nationals best starter. Watch out, Mets, your Sunday prospects just got a whole lot worse.

The bullpen of Luis Ayala, Jon Rauch, Ray King and Saul Rivera were almost perfect. Jon Rauch gave up the go-ahead homerun for the Phillies, but two previous plays put Rauch in a bad position. I like Rauch a whole lot, and I'm glad that he is still a Washington National, but it seems to me that he can run hot and cold - you never know which Jon Rauch is going to show up on the mound on any given evening but, to be fair, he runs "hot"a lot more often than he runs "cold". You can't give the 2007 Phillies an inch, or they will go yard, and that's exactly what happened Tuesday night to put the Nats down. They are a team with October ambitions, and not to be trifled with.

Ryan Report: Church got the Nats first 2 hits of the evening, going 2 for 3, Zimmerman went 0 for 3 with a walk, Langerhans went 0 for 1, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 0 for 4. Not a sterling night for the "R-Squad".

The Nats other big hits came from Felipe Lopez (1 for 3 with a walk), Robert Fick (1 for 1, climbing over the Mendoza line now at .206), Nook Logan (1 for 4) and Tony Batista, who went 1 for 1 with a 2 R.B.I. double to break the 0-0 stalemate and put the Nats up 2-0.

Tuesday was a gorgeous night for baseball in August: 82 degrees, clear and low humidity, with a 6 m.p.h. breeze that made the evening delightful. I got to the ballpark on time (thanks, boss!) and checked in with Willie (outside Gate "A"), whom I've gotten to know a bit from after the home games - I'll chat with him while waiting for the parking lot to empty a little bit and help him to direct people to the Metro - then saw Rico and then up to the press cafeteria to see Ellie. Ellie and her husband Roy have recently experienced a terrible family tragedy, which I won't go into here out of respect for their privacy (I'll only say that it was terrible enough to make the papers where it happened) and I had missed her during the last homestand, but I'd learned what happened from Roy (the kind gent who checks folks into the Diamond Club) and I just had to talk to her and give her a big hug. One thing that she told me was how the Nationals, including some players and members of the principal ownership, had shown their support to her family, and I am proud to say that if anyone has any doubts as to what a class organization the Nationals are, then they should be dispelled at once, because this organization bent over backwards to support a family that was experiencing it's darkest hour. "We are a family", they told her, and I never doubted their resolve, but it is incredibly heartwarming to actually hear about it firsthand. The Nationals do the right thing and they do it the right way. We can all be proud of them.

I ate my beef brisket sandwich and had my beer from Howard and enjoyed the normalcy of the evening with a little extra gratitude for all the wonderful folks who bring us the great game of baseball and the opportunity to get to know our neighbors a little bit better and make new friends in the process. Thanks to the Nationals being here, I've gotten to meet so many terrific people who I never would have met otherwise, and that is a blessing that is easily overlooked in our day to day lives.

Nats rally TWICE to edge D-Backs 7-6 OR Church on Sunday and Jésus to the rescue!

2007-08-12T20:19:00.000-04:00

The Washington Nationals avoided a sweep at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday with two thrilling come-from-behind rallies, edging the National League West leaders 7-6 and avoiding a sweep to close out their roadtrip.

The heroes of the afternoon's action were Ryan Church, Jésus Flores, Robert Fick, Felipe Lopez and the bullpen of Chris Schroeder, Saul Rivera, Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero.

First they were down 5-1 and rallied to tie things up 5-5, then the D-Backs grabbed the lead again 6-5 and the Nats rallied for the second time to win 7-6.

Flores hit a homerun in the 9th to tie the score at 6-6, Robert Fick hit a triple (which might have been scored a double and an error, but wasn't) and was himself driven in by Felipe Lopez on a sacrifice to put them up 7-6.

Starter Mike Bacsik didn't last as long as he would have liked, going only 4 innings in which he gave up 5 runs (including 2 homers) on 8 hits and a walk. Fortunately, Chris Schroeder came in and threw 2 shutout innings (striking out 2), Saul Rivera allowed 1 hit in his single inning, Jon Rauch gave up 1 run on 2 hits and got the win, and Chad Cordero notched his 26th save of the season.

Ryan Report: Exciting! Ryan Church went 2 for 4 with a homer and 2 R.B.I.'s, Zimmerman went 1 for 5 with a triple and an R.B.I., Langerhans was 0 for 1 and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 4 with an R.B.I.

Felipe Lopez was 0 for 2 but walked twice, and he did drive in the winning run on that sacrifice. Jésus Flores went 3 for 4 with that far leftfield homer and 2 R.B.I.'s.

One of the lighter moments came late in the game when Tony Batista was hit by a pitch by Micah Owings. Batista appeared to begin to charge the mound, but was only taking his normal, circuitous route to first base. It momentarily alarmed the D-Backs catcher, who then broke an embarrassed smile, and Don Sutton on MASN explained that this was what Batista does, and I recalled seeing him do this on YouTube, where he scares the hell out of a pitcher in Japan who hit him with a pitch.

It's nice to end a roadtrip with a win, especially having lost two in a row, and so many to the D-Backs all season. Now they have a day off to come home and face familiar foes at home in the form of the Phillies and the Mets, both teams with October ambitions. Once again, the Nationals find themselves a game behind the Marlins, and in the cellar of the National League East.

It was a bittersweet moment last week when the Nationals briefly took 4th place all to themselves. Ryan Zimmerman observed that this was the first time in his major league career that he was on a team that wasn't in last place in the division. It made him so happy, I felt badly for him that they couldn't hold that for him, but there are still many games left to play, and perhaps the Nats can fulfill MY pre-season wish of just finishing ahead of the Marlins.

Webb traps Nats, unable to escape, 1-0 loss OR Saturday night shutout

2007-08-11T22:18:00.000-04:00

The good news was, it was a mercifully short game, lasting only 2 hours 11 minutes. Also, Nats starter John Lannan went 7 strong innings.

The bad news was, the Nats lost their 2nd straight game to the Arizona Diamondbacks, this time by the score of 1-0, under the dominating pitching of reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, Brandon Webb, who extended his consecutive shutout innings pitched to 33.

John Lannan (I am SO tempted to call him "The Walrus") really did the best that could be expected of him, surrendering only 1 run in 7 innings, allowed 4 hits and walked 2. For a guy who hasn't even been in the major leagues a month, he's doing exceptionally well.

Not much to say about the Nats performance tonight. Felipe Lopez was 1 for 4, Nook Logan was 2 for 3. Robert Fick was 1 for 3.

Ryan Report: Church went 1 for 4 with a double. That's all, folks.

Thank goodness the Nats don't have to face Brandon Webb again until next season.

Nats rally, tie D-Backs, then collapse 11-4, OR cooling off in the desert night

2007-08-11T19:50:00.000-04:00

The Washington Nationals, who were on a white-hot 6 game winning streak at home to begin the month, have begun to cool off on this road trip. After splitting their series with the Giants in San Francisco 2-2, they arrived in the Arizona desert to take on the Diamondbacks, and former teammate Livan Hernandez, on Friday evening.

They fell behind early, 4-1, with starter Matt Chico having one of his worst outings of the season as he lost command of his pitches. But they rallied mightily in the 6th, victimizing their fold friend Livan on 3 solo home runs to tie the game. Unfortunately, the bullpen couldn't hold on, and the Diamondbacks tacked on 5 runs in the 7th and 2 runs in the 8th to ruin the Nationals chances.

An ugly game, to be certain for Nats fans. With the exception of that wonderfully exciting 6th inning, the Nats bats cooled off and the bullpen was uncharacteristically generous, giving up 4 walks which, with Chico's 6 walks was their single-game season high of 10.

Ryan Report: Church went 0 for 3 with a walk, Zimmerman went 1 for 4 with a homerun, Langerhans did not play, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 2 for 4 with a homerun.

Not a terribly engaging game. Either that, or the week's exhaustion is getting to me and I can't get truly interested in a game like this one.

The Diamondbacks aren't pushovers, they lead their division, unlike the cellar-dweller Giants who the Nats could only manage to grab 2 of 4 games from. The Diamondbacks are a team on the come, and a sure force to be reckoned with in October of this year.

I was hoping that the Nats would win this one, off of Livan Hernandez, who they know so well, because I don't like their chances against Brandon "Cy Young" Webb on Saturday night.

I'd like to be proved wrong.

Nats rally to take Giants 3-1, split series OR Escaping by the bay

2007-08-10T21:45:00.000-04:00

The Washington Nationals escaped from the madness that became Barry Bonds week in San Francisco by edging the Giants 3-1 Thursday afternoon. They split their series with the Giants 2-2, and came oh, so close, to taking it 3-1.

Starter Joel Hanrahan ("The Hammer", I call him), was the ringleader of this band of baseball-playing escape artists. He got himself into a couple of spots of trouble and managed to extricate himself from them. Hanrahan threw 54 strikes on 93 pitches (58%) allowing 1 run on 7 hits, walking 4 and striking out 2. At the plate he proved equally adept, going 1 for 2 with a double. If Joel Hanrahan has to be sent down to the minors when Shawn Hill returns off of the disabled list, it isn't going to be for lack of production and effort. He has proven himself to have what it takes to be successful in the majors, and I hope that the team finds a way to keep him aboard to finish the season in D.C. If not, he'll be guaranteed a shot at the starting rotation in spring training. If he is traded, it will be very, very painful.

The bullpen had a nice, busy day, with 5 relievers getting work in. Ray King, Saul Rivera, Luis Ayala, Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero allowed a total of 3 hits and no runs. As proven over and over again this season, especially since May 11th, the bullpen is magnificent, a daily credit to pitching coach Randy St. Clair and his staff.

Ryan Report: Church was 0 for 1 in a pinch-hitting role, Zimmerman was 1 for 4 with a walk, Langerhans was 0 for 2, Austin Ryan Kearns was 2 for 3 with a walk, and the newest member of the "R-Squad", Joel Ryan Hanrahan (you can look it up!) was 1 for 2 with a double.

The big hits came from Felipe Lopez (2 for 5 with 2 R.B.I.'s, and an 8th inning homer), Nook Logan (2 for 5), and Tony Batista (2 for 4).

I didn't get to see this game live, I was at work, but I did listen to it on the radio and follow it online. I watched my recording of it later, as usual. Nice to see them leave San Francisco on a high note, even if they didn't win the series. They showed the whole country that they are a team on the come, a club to be reckoned with. As a Nats fan, that's all that I could reasonable ask for.

Nats shutout by Giants 5-0 OR Redding railroaded

2007-08-09T13:37:00.000-04:00

Of all the pitching matchups of the Nats-Giants series I was most looking forward to, it was this one; Tim Redding vs. Matt Cain. Redding entered Wednesday's action with an E.R.A. of something like 2.46, and Cain was 3-12 on the season, a far cry from his performance in 2006 where he was quite dominant, winning 13 games.

That whole scenario came undone as the Nats couldn't get any offense going, getting only 4 hits, making Cain look like a Cy Young contender. Redding did okay, going 7 innings and giving the bullpen a rest, but he did make a couple of costly mistakes, not the least of which was a 1st inning 2-run homer to Barry Bonds. Redding became the latest in a long line (447) of Bond's pitching victims. He even gave up a homer to Cain, his very first one in the majors. Not a happy evening for Nats fans.

Ryan Report: Church managed one of the 4 Nats hits on the night. As Porky Pig would say, "a th-th-th-th, that's all, folks!"

Felipe Lopez got 2 hits, Nook Logan got one. *Sigh*.

A forgettable game on an anti-climactic night by the bay. I just hope that the Nats can put it behind them and regroup for the Thursday afternoon game.

Nats rally to beat Giants 8-6 OR Team win trumps celebration of 1 individual

2007-08-08T00:19:00.000-04:00

In the immortal words of the late President Gerald Ford, "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over." Alleged steroids-abuser Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants has finally hit career homerun #756 off of Washington Nationals starter Mike Bacsik to pass Hall-of-Famer Henry "Hank" Aaron for the lead on the all-time major league list.

Poor Mike Bacsik. It fell to him to give up one of baseball's most famous homeruns. As a Nationals fan, I'm kind of glad that it fell to him to give it up, rather than one of the young guys, like Matt Chico or John Lannan, because this sort of thing could shake their confidence. Bacsik is also quite likeable and quotable, and MASN's Bob Carpenter hit it right on the head when he mentioned that soon the entire world would know just how quotable Mike Bacsik truly is. Bacsik isn't a bad pitcher, he's simply a decent journeyman, who has his good days and his bad days, and would probably have a better record this season with a touch more run support. As nice a guy as I think that he is, I have to believe that he isn't a part of the National's future beyond this season, there are simply too many hot young pitching prospects coming up in the Nationals minor league ranks. He'll probably be traded or go back down to AAA Columbus and be fondly remembered by the veterans of this club as a great teammate and classy guy. The way he handled his post-game news conference was masterful, he was honest, forthright, and extraordinarily well-spoken for a professional athlete. He took to it as though he was born to it. I congratulate him, and I'm proud that he wears the Nationals uniform.

I'll tell you what's scary - go to Wikipedia.org and check out the entries for Barry Bonds and Mike Bacsik. They were updated withing minutes of the famous homerun, I checked. Wow. I wonder if there were users logged-in and just sitting there waiting for this to happen?

The best part for me was, of course, the Nationals won, 8-6, so at least we have that going for us, which is nice. That is certainly what mattered to me the most.

(Oh, and to the Pittsburgh Pirates: You're welcome.)

Let the record show that the Nationals, at least for 1 day, are TIED FOR 4TH PLACE in the National League East, with the Florida Marlins. We're no longer undefeated in August, but we're back on the streak! Time to grab 4th place for ourselves and keep winning!

I'll add to this post later in the morning. Right now, I just want to go to bed. These west-coast games are murder on my sleep cycle.

*EDIT Okay, where was I? Oh, yes. My first question of the day is, how many people returned their tickets to the San Francisco Giants for the Wednesday night game, and for the Pittsburgh series? (Bonds won't play Thursday, so that was an odd day out anyway).

Now, onto the actual game results.

Starter Mike Bacsik lasted 5 innings, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits, walking 1 and striking out 5. Oh, and he also allowed 2 homeruns. After allowing Barry Bond's #756, Bacsik had to leave the game, as the mid-game ceremony would interfere with his rhythm and his arm. He didn't get the win, but at least Bacsik didn't get the loss.

The bullpen did their damndest to hold the Giants down and get the win, and they performed beautifully, with Chris Schroeder going 2 innings, and throwing 21 strikes on 32 pitches (66%), allowing 1 run on 2 hits, and striking out 2. Schroeder got the win, too, his very first major league win. Jon Rauch allowed 1 hit in the 8th, and Chad Cordero allowed no hits, getting his 24th save of the season.

Ryan Report: Church 0 for 3 with a walk, Zimmerman 1 for 4 with a sacrifice R.B.I. and a triple, Langerhans 0 for 1, and Austin Ryan Kearns the big hero of the night for Nats fans, going 2 for 4 with a walk and 2 R.B.I.'s and a homerun.

The other big hits for the Nats came from Felipe Lopez, who was 3 for 4 with a walk, a double, a homerun and 2 R.B.I.'s, Ronnie Belliard (1 for 3), Brian Schneider (1 for 4) with a homerun and a walk, Nook Logan (1 for 4) with an R.B.I. and Tony Batista, (1 for 1) with an R.B.I.

I love how the attendance was reported at AT&T Park: Attendance: 43,154 (103.8% full)
Game Time: 3:12, weather: 62 degrees, clear, wind: 18 mph, out to center.

I watched the entire game and all of the post-game coverage, including the Bonds interview. He said some nice things about our Nationals, he was gracious, even a little bit humble, I'll give him that.

An interesting game, a memorable spectacle. One that I know I'll always remember watching.

Nats battle Bonds, Giants, but edged 3-2 in 11 OR High drama by the bay

2007-08-07T21:48:00.000-04:00

With all of the commotion surrounding controversial San Francisco Giant's left fielder Barry Bonds as he tries to usurp Hall-of-Famer Hank Aaron's career home run record, I think that the last thing that either the Giants or the Washington Nationals were expecting last night was a pitcher's dual.

Nats starter John Lannan, making only his 3rd major league start, pitched a terrific game, even if he didn't have ideal command of his fastball. He lasted 7 innings and gave up 1 run on 8 hits, walked 5 and struck out 2. The soft-throwing lefty threw 97 pitches for 57 strikes (54%). More importantly, he kept the Nats in the game, giving them chances to win, and he spelled the bullpen for the most part, an important consideration given the jet-lag and brutal schedule they've all had, with 7 games played in a row and 6 more to go before their next day off. Lannan has handled quite a bit of pressure of late, but last night was almost October-level pressure. I'm darned proud of him, he's had to grow up fast.

The bullpen of Jon Rauch, Saul Rivera, Chad Cordero, Ray King and Luis Ayala started off well, but got into progressive trouble. Rauch did fine, striking out 2 and allowing no hits or runs, Rivera also allowed no hits or runs, but Chad "The Chief" Cordero blew the save in the 10th, allowing the Giants to tie the game. Ray King got into trouble, and took the loss, as he allowed men on base, and Luis Ayala gave up the winning run in the bottom of the 11th, but it was charged to King.

Ryan Report: All quiet on the western front. One scary moment for Zimmerman, as he took a nasty pitch to the front of his batting helmet in the 1st inning, a nasty "crack" sound as the ball impacted the plastic. Pay attention, kids, the pros always say, "safety first!".

Dmitri Young provided all of the Nats firepower for the evening, driving in both Nats runs, the 2nd on a right-field blast which temporarily gave the Nats the lead in the 10th inning.

This game reminded me of the old, "hurry up and wait!" joke, or "Suddenly.....nothing happened." Each inning was fraught with tension, and as the game moved into the wee-hours of the morning for the east-coast fans, it was easy to stay awake because the anxiety of such a close game would have precluded any sleep.

One really nice aspect of the MASN broadcast was when former Nationals manager Frank Robinson, the great batting Hall-of-Famer, joined Bob Carpenter and Don Sutton in the broadcast booth for an inning or so and gave some candid answers to the questions posed to him. It was very nice to hear from Frank that he follows the Nationals closely, tries to watch their games, and is interested in their success. He obviously still has a great deal of affection for the players whom he skippered for two seasons in Washington (and for some of them, such as Brian Schneider, even before that in Montreal). The one question which I WISH that Bob or Don had posed to him was his impressions of manager Manny Acta's job this season. Since Acta had worked for Robinson in Montreal, the two men are well acquainted with each other, and I know that Acta has had nothing but the highest praise for the legendary Hall-of-Famer and ground-breaking manager. It was somehow very comforting to hear that Frank encouraged Nook Logan to bunt at least once per game. Frank is somehow like our "manager emeritus", looking over Manny's shoulder from the League offices and keeping an eye on things. Maybe he wasn't the greatest manager of all time, maybe he didn't have the greatest record, but the man DID win over 1,000 games and saw most of the greatest players of all time, and respect must be paid.

Not the greatest game, not the worst, but after the shellacking that the Nats just gave to the Reds and the Cardinals, it seemed as though they had the wind knocked out of them. I blame jet lag. Perhaps Mike Bacsik can hold the line and spark the Nats a bit on Tuesday night.

Nationals Power meets the "Capital Punisher"

2007-08-07T00:33:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, I played hookie from work for 90 minutes to race down to Pearson's Liquor, one of my nearby competitors, to say "hello" and get autographs from the great Washington Senator's legend, Frank "Hondo" Howard, a.k.a. the "Capital Punisher".

I'd actually met him once for about 5 minutes in another liquor store way up in northern Maryland about 13 years ago, but this was special, as he was signing specially-dipped bottles of Maker's Mark Bourbon (who he does some work for) as well as just about any kind of Senators memorabilia that his fans were willing to put in front of him.

Screech's Best Friend, William Yurasko and Miss Chatter, all made much nicer posts about this event than I possibly can, but I had to get back to work as quickly as possible and wasn't able to come early. I was exceedingly pleased that I was able to bring this event to the attention of some fans who might have missed out on it otherwise, as I know I would have. In fact, after this event, I mentioned it to some fans who were sorry that they hadn't heard about it (This is what happens when you don't read this blog on a daily basis ;-) )

For my part, I got some Maker's Mark signed for myself and some for some gifts, a signed photo and a baseball. I also got someone to take this photo of the two of us:

(For the exceedingly daft, or to anyone not paying attention, that's Frank Howard on the right, your's truly on the left, looking as proud as a fan can possibly be.)

I cannot swear that I ever saw Frank Howard play. My father took me to one, and only one, Senator's game, their final season, in 1971. I was just shy of 6 years old. I have no recollection of who the Senators were playing, or any other details, just some very faint memories of sitting up in the upper deck on the 1st base side, in the gold seats, I believe. I'm pretty sure my dad got me some popcorn or peanuts or something to snack on, maybe a hot dog. How I wish I could remember, and how I wish he were still alive for me to ask about that and share the memory. I like to think that I saw Frank Howard that day, though. In any event, I wanted to have this moment with "Hondo", as he is an especially kind and generous man, very giving of his time and ever so appreciative of his many fans. I did mention to him that, at my own store, we sell a boatload of Maker's Mark, and I will happily continue to do so out of respect for a man whose physical size is dwarfed only by his tremendous character.

I would not be exaggerating to say that Maker's Mark Bourbon is as easy to enjoy as an afternoon with a baseball legend. My personal thanks to the folks at Pearson's, the folks at Maker's Mark, and of course to Mr. Frank Oliver Howard, one of the nicest men I've ever met.

On Bonds and other thoughts

2007-08-06T14:38:00.000-04:00

For almost a week now, I've been fearing that the Nationals were being set up for Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants. It doesn't take a marketing genius to figure out that Bonds and the Giants desire all season was for Bonds to break Hall-of-Famer Hank Aaron's career home run record at home rather than on the road. Going into August, Bonds was 1 homer shy of tying the record, but he accomplished that on Saturday, against the San Diego Padres in San Diego. Since Bonds never plays a day game after a night game, I knew since Saturday night that his greatest career moment was likely to occur when the Washington Nationals went out to San Francisco for a 4-game visit.

To my mind, Bonds really has just 3 days to accomplish this feat against the Nationals, since the Thursday game will be an afternoon game following a night game. So the sacrificial starting pitcher is going to be, in order, either John Lannan, Mike Bacsik or Tim Redding. Lannan is a rookie, not even 2 weeks into his major league career, but Bacsik and Redding are veterans. I feel good about our bullpen's chances against Bonds, as the Nationals bullpen has, I believe, the best E.R.A. in the National League, and the second best in the majors.

On the one hand, I like that the Nationals will indeed be on the "national" stage for at least one game, possibly three, but on the other hand, I don't like that one of our pitchers will forever be the answer to a trivia question, eternally linked with a controversial personality.

The best case scenario for Nationals fans? That Bonds doesn't hit a homer, of course. The second-best scenario would be that the Nats walk Bonds, which some would consider a spineless move and others would consider smart, depending upon the game situation.

If Bonds does break the record in the next 3 days, I hope that the Nationals at least win the game. That would be an emotional Pyhrric victory, but a victory nonetheless.

I just wish that the Nats weren't in this situation. They don't need such distractions.

It would appear, however, that not all the Nationals are letting this situation get to them. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman seems positively bellicose about it. Just click below to hear what he had to say about it:

CLICK HERE

*EDIT: I just realized that, over the weekend, our Ryan (Zimmerman) beat the Cardinals Ryan (Franklin) and our Flores (Jesus) beat their Flores (Randy). It's eerie how this has happened with the Nats and some recent opponents (i.e. refer back to my posts such as how our D'Angelo Jimenez beat the Colorado Rockies Ubaldo Jimenez). Surely there is some baseball voodoo at work here in the Nationals favor.

Nats rally to complete Cardinals sweep, perfect homestand OR STILL undefeated in August!

2007-08-06T01:02:00.000-04:00

There's something so poignant about a perfect homestand. Not 5-1, not 4-2, but 6-0. Lovely symmetry. The fact that the Nats completely blew out the Reds and the Cardinals for a couple of these games was icing on top, but all the games were hard fought and nothing really came easy for them (Okay, okay, the Saturday night game was a laugher, but it didn't start out that way).

On Sunday, Nats fans got to taste a little bit of perfection, as they beat the Cardinals 6-3 in front of 33,517 and improved their home record this season to 30-29.

Starter Matt Chico didn't last as long as I'm sure he, and manager Manny Acta, would have liked, but he did well enough in his 5 innings, allowing 6 hits and 3 runs, walking 3 and striking out 2. He even went 1 for 2 at the plate, with an R.B.I. single.

Saul Rivera, Luis Ayala, Ray King and Chad Cordero allowed no runs and only 2 hits and 1 walk in bullpen relief. Ray King got the win and Chad Cordero got his 23rd save.

Ryan Report: Church went 1 for 2 with a double (his 34th of the season, working towards his goal of 50) and a walk, Zimmerman went 3 for 5 with a double and an R.B.I., Langerhans went 0 for 1, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 5.

The other big hits for the Nats came from Ronnie Belliard (1 for 4), Dmitri Young went 3 for 5 with a double and 3 R.B.I.'s, Nook Logan went 2 for 3 with an R.B.I. and he's REALLY picked up his game of late with solid hitting and some precision bunting and base-stealing.

It was the 1st Annual school supply day for the Nationals, and I dropped off some notebooks, pens, crayons, and a lunchbox for the charity, run by the Nationals wives (a.k.a, the "First Ladies"). I got my barbecue and just sat back and enjoyed a nice afternoon of baseball. It was 86 degrees and partly cloudy then overcast for the afternoon, so I didn't roast in the sun the way that I usually do.

So satisfying to walk out of R.F.K. with a second consecutive sweep on an undefeated homestand. I'm one happy fan, and I'm especially happy for the players who have worked so hard to get to where they are.

Nats rally to pound Cardinals 12-1 OR Hanrahan hammers, Zimmerman zings!

2007-08-05T10:36:00.000-04:00

Lots of baseball history was made on Saturday.

The New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez became the youngest major league player to reach 500 career homeruns.

San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds tied Hall-of-Famer Hank Aaron's career homerun record of 755, at San Diego.

And at R.F.K. Stadium, Joel "The Hammer" Hanrahan won his first home game in his home debut and hit his first major league double which drove in 2 runs (another personal first), and Ryan Zimmerman hit 2 homeruns, for the first time in his career.

In front of 29,252, the Washington Nationals extended their winning streak to 5 games, improving their record to 50-60 and moved to within 1/2 a game behind the 4th place Florida Marlins.

Starter Joel Hanrahan ("The Hammer", I call him) pitched very well indeed, going 5 innings, and allowing only the 1 run (a homerun) on 3 hits, walked 3 and struck out 3. He threw 57 strikes on 93 pitches (57%) and greatly helped his own cause, going 1 for 1 at the plate with a double and 2 R.B.I.'s.

The bullpen of Saul Rivera, Billy Traber and Chris Schroeder was almost perfect, allowing no runs and only 4 hits and 2 walks.

Ryan Report: Okay! Church went 1 for 4, Zimmerman went 2 for 5, both of them homeruns, driving in 3 R.B.I.'s - it was Zimmerman's 1st multi-homer game of his career - Langerhans was 0 for 1, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 0 for 5.

The Nats got 14 hits, and the rest came from Felipe Lopez (1 for 3), Dmitri Young went 3 for 4 with a double, Nook Logan went 3 for 3 with a walk, a double and 2 R.B.I.'s, Brian Schneider went 2 for 3 with a homerun and 2 R.B.I's and a walk, and Tony Batista went 1 for 1 with an R.B.I.

Saturday night's game might be the hottest night game I've ever attended. It was 93 degrees at first-pitch, with a 5 m.p.h. wind, and it was just muggy as all get-out. There was a haze over the field, which only worsened every time Zimmerman or Schneider got a homerun and fireworks would go off. I got to leave work late, but still early enough to get to the ballpark and get inside early. No Ellie and no Rico still - perhaps they're just off for the weekend. I had to drop off something at Gate F, and I met a woman who was upset and wished to speak with someone about the bottled water policy - she'd had hers confiscated because it didn't have a label on it. I gave her one of mine, and a Nationals official took her information to clarify the bottled water policy, but in the meantime she gave the fan several bottles of chilled Aquafina water, plus a knit cap for her trouble. A VERY nice response by the club! For the record, I believe the reason the fan had her water confiscated was explained at the gate as, her water didn't have store labels on it, so there was no way to prove that it came from a store (as opposed to a home refill or some such). The rules DO state that it must be sealed, but nothing in the official A-Z ballpark guide states that it must have a label.

More Capital Q Barbecue beef brisket sandwich and a beer from Howard and I was good to go.

It was "Thomas Jefferson Bobblehead Night" and I wasted no time going in to retrieve mine.
The line moved fairly quickly.

With the Nats racking up a ridiculous score of 12-1, the fans I was speaking with were just as perplexed as I was - How are we supposed to react? What are we supposed to do? We're not used to being in this situation. I met some nice fans, and we cheered and high-fived and enjoyed ourselves tremendously despite the sitz-bath-type weather.

All that was missing was the sound system playing, "They'll be a hot time in the old town tonight."

The Nats improved to 29-29 at home. And I feel as though I can remember every thrilling win and every agonizing loss. Thank goodness the thrilling wins are now starting to pile up.

"Homestead Grays" edge "St. Louis Stars" 3-2 OR Uniformly great fun

2007-08-04T10:59:00.000-04:00

On the night that the Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals honored the Negro Leagues by wearing replica jerseys of their city's long-defunct Negro League teams, the ~~Washington Nationals~~ Homestead Grays defeated the St. Louis ~~Cardinals~~ Stars 3-2 before 27,992 at R.F.K. Stadium.

With some former Negro League players in attendance, fans got to see the players in what I thought were some outstanding replica jerseys (modern uniforms just aren't as cool looking, in my opinion) and listen to 1940's music over the stadium sound system, and see scoreboard presentations of some of the great Negro League baseball stars, such as Satchel Paige, "Cool Papa" Bell, and many others.

Grays starter Tim Redding had a wonderful outing, going 6 1/3 innings, allowing 1 run on 7 hits, walking 2 but striking out 8. He threw 71 strikes on 107 pitches (67%).

The bullpen of Ray King, Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero was effective, but Rauch did allow the tying run on 3 hits. Chad Cordero struck out 2, allowing 1 hit, and he got the win.

Ryan Report: Church went 0 for 3, Zimmerman went 3 for 5 with a double and had the winning R.B.I., a walk-off single, his 6th such R.B.I. in his short career, Langerhans went 1 for 1 and Austin Ryan Kearns was walked in his 2 plate appearances.

The other hits came from Felipe Lopez (1 for 5 with a double and an R.B.I.), Ronnie Belliard (1 for 4 with an R.B.I.), Dmitri Young (1 for 3), Brian Schneider (1 for 1), Nook Logan (1 for 4) and Tony Batista (1 for 1).

It was 90 degrees at 1st pitch, but there was a nice 8 m.p.h. breeze blowing to help keep the evening from being stifling. I brought my friend Kathryn, and we got to the park a few minutes after 7:00, and made the rounds, but to my dismay, there was no Rico tonight and no Ellie! We stopped at Capital Q Barbecue, and made our way down to the seats. We both really enjoyed seeing the throwback uniforms of the Negro Leagues, and we both appreciated the pitcher's duel that took place, with Tim Redding emerging the victor, though he did not get the win. If Redding continues to fan batters the way that he has been, then there is NO way that he is coming out of the rotation. He has the lowest E.R.A. of any of our starters (2.43) and he can obviously eat innings and spell the bullpen a bit, and Manager Manny Acta wasn't reluctant to let him throw over 100 pitches. I hope that he, too, becomes an "Iron Man" of our rotation, the way that Matt Chico has been all season, having not missed a start.

There is nothing, I repeat, NOTHING like a walk-off hit, and Ryan Zimmerman has delivered several of his 6 career walk-off hits at R.F.K., much to my delight. The awful anticipation of the crowd, everyone on their feet, the roar of celebration as the ball cleared the infield past the gloves of the infielders, the "BANG! ZOOM!" of the fireworks (as Charlie Slowes says on the radio), and last night was just such a joyous moment. Not a thrilling homerun, just a simple single into the gap. The whole bench clearing to rush out to congratulate Zimmerman is a thrilling site to see. I've listened to the replay of Charlie Slowes calling the hit several times now, and it still gives me goosebumps. One of the most wonderful moments a baseball fan can have.

Nats sweep Reds out of D.C. OR Undefeated in August!

2007-08-03T10:54:00.000-04:00

How nice to begin the month of August with a sweep of another team.

On "Walter Johnson Night", as the Nationals honored the anniversary of the legendary Washington pitcher and inaugural Hall of Fame member, the Nats completed their sweep of the Cincinnati Reds 7-3 in front of 26,223.

The Nationals are now 109-109 in R.F.K. Stadium.

Starter Mike Bacsik got his 5th win of the season. He allowed 3 runs on 3 hits (2 of which were homeruns), walked none but struck out 6. He threw an incredibly economical 81 pitches (51 strikes, 63%). Bacsik appears to have found his pitching groovc of late.

The bullpen of Jon Rauch and Saul Rivera were their usual selves, allowing no runs, but Rivera did give up 2 hits. The Nationals still have the best bullpen in the National League.

Ryan Report: Not too shabby! Church went 2 for 5 with a double, Zimmerman went 3 for 5 with a double and 3 R.B.I.'s, Langerhans did not bat, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 5.

The big hits came from Ronnie Belliard (2 for 3 with a double, with 1 R.B.I. and 2 walks) and D'Angelo Jimenez (a double), Dmitri Young went 2 for 4 with 2 R.B.I.'s. Even pitcher Mike Bacsik had a double!

It was 89 degrees at gametime, clear and with a nice little breeze, which was most welcome. As usual, I got to the ballpark late, but not as late as I had expected - I left work at 7:05 and was walking towards the stadium by 7:33, there just wasn't much traffic to contend with. I made my usual rounds. Rico was in fine voice at the program stand, Ellie and Jonathan enjoying the cool of the press cafeteria a/c, and the good folks at Capital Q Barbecue doing what looked like a land-office business, to which I was happy to contribute. I was sorry to have missed the pre-game festivities honoring Walter Johnson, but I caught some of it later on the MASN broadcast. Since all of the Nats were wearing replica caps from the 1927 season (Johnson's last) the whole game had a little of that "Field of Dreams" throwback aspect to it.
Very cool to see. I also liked seeing the "countdown calendar" over in left field, marking how many home games are remaining in R.F.K. Stadium (now 26).

Nice short game, two and a half hours. I had a nice leisurely drive home. I always enjoy driving up the George Washington Memorial Parkway and viewing the illuminated monuments across the Potomac - the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Kennedy Center, and darkened Theodore Roosevelt Island. Always a pretty drive.

Nats crush Reds 7-2, win series OR Lannan is The Man

2007-08-02T08:20:00.000-04:00

The Nats made short work of Bronson Arroyo and the Cincinnati Reds last night, jumping onto a 4-0 lead in the 1st inning, and improving that to a 7-0 lead by the end of the 2nd. They held on to win 7-2 before 28,944.

Nats starter John Lannan, making his 2nd major league appearance and home debut, got his first win, going 5 2/3 innings and throwing 54 strikes on 98 pitches (55%). He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 1. He even got a nice pickoff at 2B. He received a very nice standing ovation from the home crowd, too. The kid can pitch, and the good news is, he's only going to get better. Congratulations, John!

The bullpen of Chris Schroeder, Ray King, Jon Rauch and Luis Ayala allowed 3 hits and no runs. It is worth noting that, in the month of July, the bullpen had the best E.R.A. in the National League.

Ryan Report: Lots to enjoy. Church went 2 for 4 with 2 R.B.I.'s, Zimmerman went 1 for 3 and was walked once, Langerhans did not bat, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 2 for 4 with 3 R.B.I.'s, most impressively on his 2-run homer in the 2nd inning. I'll bet Kearns was happy to show his former team just why they should miss him. Zimmerman had some adventures on the basepaths on defense, as he tried to run down Reds 2B Brandon Phillips, who successfully executed a double-steal. Phillips raced from 1st to 2nd, and 1B Dmitri Young threw the ball on the fly to Zimmerman, almost as though Zimmerman was a wide-receiver going on a side-pattern, and Zimmerman raced from the shortstop position (where he was playing on a shift) and almost beat Phillips to 3rd base. It didn't amount to much as the inning ended on the next at-bat, but it was impressive to watch. Unfortunately, Zimmerman also had 2 errors, raising his season total to 17.

The other Nats action came from Felipe Lopez (1 for 4, with a double and a walk), Ronnie Belliard (1 for 3 with an R.B.I. double and a walk), Dmitri Young (2 for 4 with an R.B.I.), Brian Schneider (1 for 4 with a double) and Nook Logan (2 for 4).

I got to the park early, even beating some of the parking lot attendants. My buddy Myron joined me and we went in at 5:30, said "hello" to Rico, and headed down to the field for autographs. I missed Zimmerman by seconds, and Luis Ayala moments later, but I did get D'Angelo Jimenez, so I was 1 for 3. Bumped into MASN's Bob Carpenter (who is getting over a summer cold) as well as Jim Bowden's wonderful assistant Harolyn, and also principal team owner Mark Lerner. I got to tell them how much I enjoyed the Nationals documentary on WETA (channel 26) the previous night (after the game, of course). We said hi to several people who I saw in that documentary, including "Coach" Ron Simms, and fans Biff and Iris. Then we went over to section #301 (by the Diamond Club) to pick up my free (for being a season ticket holder) Washington Nationals 2007 Yearbook (a $15 value). It is quite nice, but I haven't had time to really look at it yet. Saw Ellie's husband, Roy, by the Diamond Club then went upstairs to see Ellie and Jonathan by the press cafeteria. Got myself my Capital Q barbecue, and we went down to our seats to settle in.

We spoke with several ushers that Myron and I know, and saw several friends and had a great evening. Howard and Neil were hilarious, needling each other over beer sales. I got my Bud from Howard, and the evening was complete.

Nothing beats a night at the ballpark with a buddy, especially when your team wins.

Nats rally to halt Reds 6-3 OR Tuesday night hit parade

2007-08-01T10:28:00.000-04:00

The Cincinnati Reds came to town Tuesday night and the Washington Nationals were only too glad to greet them. After falling behind 2-0, the Nats rallied in the 5th to surge ahead 4-2, finally winning the game 6-3 before 20,165. The Nationals close out the month of July having won 14 and lost 12.

Starter Matt Chico got a much-needed win, despite getting into trouble a few times. He gave up 2 runs on 9 hits, walked 3 and struck out 4 in his 5 innings. He threw 57 strikes on 90 pitches (66%). Congratulations, Matt!

By contrast, the bullpen of Saul Rivera, Luis Ayala and Chad Cordero almost shut the Reds down completely. Rivera allowed 2 hits, Ayala 1, and the Reds scored only 1 run in the last 4 innings. Chad notched his 22nd save of the season, on 9 pitches (6 strikes) and what a pleasure it was to see Chad on the mound tonight, almost 6 hours after the trade deadline. Rumors of his possible departure had been circulating for some time now, and it was so nice to know that he will still be a National for some time to come. "The Chief" is a beloved member of the Nats, and no fans wanted to see him leave.

Ryan Report: Terrific! Church went 2 for 4 with 2 R.B.I.'s and a double, Zimmerman went 2 for 4 with a bases-clearing double and 3 R.B.I.'s, Langerhans was 0 for 1, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 4.

The Nats were quite busy with the bats, as a matter of fact. Felipe Lopez was 3 for 5 with a double, Ronnie Belliard was 1 for 5 with an R.B.I., Nook Logan was 3 for 4 and also reached on a fielder's choice and had a double. 12 hits for the Nats, but the Reds had 12 hits, too, so why did the Nats dominate the Reds tonight? Well, the Reds also left 12 men on base, and there was some terrific defense by the Nats.

The defensive PLAY-OF-THE-GAME came in the 6th inning, when Ronnie Belliard took away a hit from the Reds Jeff Keppinger, who hit a line drive which ricocheted off of the shoe of pitcher Saul Rivera and went towards Belliard near 2nd, who, in one fluid motion, scooped the ball in his glove and pirouetted with his body to...well, it wasn't so much of a throw or toss as a lateral the ball BACKWARDS right to shortstop Felipe Lopez, who got an out at 2nd. It was pure poetry in motion, and MASN later replayed that play no fewer than 20 times. It has GOT to be the #1 highlight on ESPN's "Sports Center". Credit also had to go to Lopez for being right on top of that play and being prepared. Watch it here.

The lowlight for the Nats came in the 2nd inning when Brian Schneider walked to start the inning, then Nook Logan smacked the ball into far right field, all the way over to the corner. Reds rightfielder Ken Griffey Jr had to chase that ball into the corner, and Schneider was motoring around 2nd, and was already 1/4 of the way home when, for some strange reason, 3rd Base Coach Tim Tolman, held Schneider up, sending him back to 3rd, and Nook Logan, who was practically on Schneider's heels, he's so fast, had to race back to 2nd to avoid being tagged out. A chorus of "boos" rained down upon Tolman, and rightly so. There is NO WAY that Schneider wouldn't have scored, and Logan would have been on 3rd, with Matt Chico, the pitcher, coming up to bat next, with 2 outs. There is NO WAY that Ken Griffey was going to throw the ball 330 feet to home plate with any chance of getting Schneider out! But Griffey DID throw the ball to 2nd, and Logan was lucky to get back to the bag. Unbelieveable. Luckily, it didn't cost the Nats the game, but Tolman has firmly established himself as the "Human stop sign". One wonders what Manager Manny Acta, the former 3rd base coach for the Mets, had to say to him about that.

I was lucky to get off of work early, and despite gridlock traffic on the Southwest/Southeast freeway, due to an accident on the 11th street bridge, I got to the park on time. It's always nice to begin a new homestand. I made my rounds with Rico and Ellie, got my Capital Q Barbecue beef brisket sandwich from Dave and Maria, and went down to see some friends and get to my seat. Very warm night, 88 degrees at game time, humid too, I really thought the ball would be flying tonight. The most amazing thing to me about the win was, the Nats kept Griffey off the bases all night - he went 0 for 5!

Good evening, great times. Looking forward to tonight as John Lannan goes for his first home start. I sure hope that he has a better time than he did in Philadelphia last Thursday.

"Frank Howard Day" at Pearson's Liquor, this Saturday

2007-07-31T16:34:00.000-04:00

Loathe as I am to promote one of my competitors, this is actually a pretty cool event.

Washington Senators legend Frank Howard will be at Pearson's Liquor this Saturday, August 4th, from 12:00-3:00 to sign specially-dipped bottles of Maker's Mark Bourbon which will sport the Washington Nationals colors. Visit their website and R.S.V.P., as space is limited.

If I weren't working at that time, I'd go in a heartbeat. Maybe I'll ask for the time off. I've met Frank once before, a few years ago, in a liquor store in Maryland. He was working for the Jim Beam people then. He told those of us who were in the store that he went where Dallas Green went so, for example, if Dallas Green was managing the Mets, then Frank went to the Mets to be a hitting instructor.

Take some time to visit with a baseball legend and Senator's icon! "Hondo" will be glad to see you.

Of trade deadlines and other thoughts

2007-07-31T12:30:00.000-04:00

July 31st, and all of baseball is a-buzz and a-twitter with last-minute trade possibilities. Thankfully for the Nationals, there isn't nearly as much drama as there was last season, with the entire Nat-O-sphere (Nat-mosphere?) on the edge of their seats waiting to see if All-Star left fielder Alphonso Soriano would remain a National through the end of the season or be traded in some sort of blockbuster deal. I fully remember sitting in front of my work computer flipping back and forth between Firefox tabs on my browser, between the Nationals website, the Washington Post, and a couple of other baseball news sites, anxiously awaiting any word. I was so grateful that Soriano was not traded, and we were treated to another 8 weeks of his wonderful play, and when he joined the 40-40 club, he joined it as a National.

With potential trade players Ronnie Belliard and Dmitri Young safely locked up with new contract extensions, the only players of true concern for Nationals fans are setup man Jon Rauch and closer Chad Cordero, who have both been the subject of trade rumors for several weeks.

On the signing side, there have been rumors galore that the Nats want to sign Adam Dunn from Cincinnati.

Personally, I don't want to see either Jon Rauch or Chad Cordero traded. They are both very good at what they do, integral parts of one of the very best bullpens in baseball this season. Having said that, if either of them IS traded, I sure hope that we get a lot in return because they are both worth it.

Onto other random subjects.........

The girls at We've Got Heart have a nice entry about the Nationals special on WETA (channel 26) tonight at 9:00 about the Nationals. I'll have to record it as I'll be at the game.

If there is any doubt that Philadelphia has some of the most psychotic fans in sports, then these comments on a Phillies blog ought to put those notions to rest. Right, Philly fans - John Lannan, making his debut in the major leagues, INTENTIONALLY broke Chase Utley's hand. He's just that deadly accurate with his pitches, that's why the Nats called him up, to ruin the rest of your season by taking Utley out. The Nats are dead-locked in a pennant race with you guys after all (Oh, that's right - we're NOT!). Forget that the home plate umpire told the Nats before that happened that Lannan was, "all over the place", you just have to have someone to blame for a freak occurrence, so go after a kid you never heard of 24 hours before that happened. You Phillie fans constructing Facebook groups and websites making empty threats against a rookie pitcher are a disgrace to your team and your city. The "City of brotherly love"? Yeah, right.

Philadelphia certainly doesn't have the exclusive franchise on psychotic fans, though. Obviously, some Mets fans can be driven to a murderous rage by their team's uneven play.

Maybe more later, if I have the time, or the Nats are involved in a last-minute trade. Stay tuned!

*UPDATE - in an interesting move, the Phillies acquired Julio Mateo from the Mariners to beef up their bullpen. This could be good news for the next time the Nationals face the Phillies because, as has been demonstrated both against the Marlins and the Mets (and the Rockies, for that matter), the Nats always do well against pitchers named "Julio", especially this season.

Nats lose to Mets 5-0 in rain-shortened series final OR Nats series win hopes Flushing down drain.

2007-07-29T16:35:00.000-04:00

For those of you readers who aren't particularly religious, I offer up today's Nats/Mets game at Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens as proof that there IS a God, and that he is merciful. The Almighty Himself was obviously watching the game and decided that He'd had enough.

The Nats were down 5-0 and had given up 10 runs in just 5 innings when the rain, which had started a few innings earlier, got bad enough to halt play. After an hour and a half delay, the game, which had qualified to be a complete game, was called. Someone obviously wanted to put the Nationals, and their fans, out of their misery.

(Of course, I'D like to think that the Nats were JUST warming up and were about to really take it to the Mets again, so the umpire's decision to call the game seems rather rash to me.)

For those of you who are curious as to how these things work, here are the official MLB rules which proscribe how a called game is handled:

4.10
(a) A regulation game consists of nine innings, unless extended because of a tie score, or shortened (1) because the home team needs none of its half of the ninth inning or only a fraction of it, or (2) because the umpire calls the game. EXCEPTION: National Association leagues may adopt a rule providing that one or both games of a doubleheader shall be seven innings in length. In such games, any of these rules applying to the ninth inning shall apply to the seventh inning.
(b) If the score is tied after nine completed innings play shall continue until (1) the visiting team has scored more total runs than the home team at the end of a completed inning, or (2) the home team scores the winning run in an uncompleted inning.
(c) If a game is called, it is a regulation game:
(1) If five innings have been completed;
(2) If the home team has scored more runs in four or four and a fraction half-innings than the visiting team has scored in five completed half-innings;
(3) If the home team scores one or more runs in its half of the fifth inning to tie the score.
(d) If a regulation game is called with the score tied, it shall become a suspended game. See Rule 4.12.
(e) If a game is called before it has become a regulation game, the umpire shall declare it “No Game.”
(f) Rain checks will not be honored for any regulation or suspended game which has progressed to or beyond a point of play described in 4.10(c)

(I don't see the words "mercy rule" in there anywhere, but perhaps it doesn't need to be.)

Truth be told, I was plenty concerned about this game. Nationals starter Billy Traber hasn't exactly been dominating anyone this season, and Dmitri Young, the Nats All-Star and biggest offensive weapon, was sitting this game out. I kind of felt as though the Nats were bringing a knife to a gunfight. Mets starter John Maine, who was 11-5 going into this game, is a genuine threat on the mound, and he took his best stuff to the Nats early. The Nats only managed to get one measly hit against Maine, by Ronnie Belliard. Maine, for his part, struck out 5 Nats batters and lowered his E.R.A. to 2.92.

In ugly contrast, Traber lasted only 3.2 innings and gave up 5 runs on 8 hits, including a 3-run homer, striking out 3 but walking 2. Reliever Chris Schroeder only faced 4 batters and allowed 2 hits.

Ryan Report: Oh, please.

So, 2 games to 2: Like kissing your sister, or worse? I take a moral victory out of this weekend, the Nats could have done a whole lot worse, and I'm certain that Mets fans everywhere believe that the Mets SHOULD have won 3 of 4, if not 4 of 4, but the Mets have not been without their own troubles, including losing 2B Jose Valentin for the season to injury. The Nats also were spared having to face Tom Glavin, whose will be looking for his 300th win on his next start.

So the Nats get an early departure from New York and Monday off. They now come home to begin a 6-game series against the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals, two teams that the Nats had some success against earlier in the season. More reason to give a fan hope.

Nats edge Mets 6-5 OR Nats the Kings of Queens for the night

2007-07-28T22:14:00.000-04:00

Tonight the Washington Nationals jumped ahead of the New York Mets 3-0 and survived the Mets charge to tie the game, jumped ahead again 6-3 and held off the Mets second rally to win 6-5, evening their day's play at 1 game each, but gaining the edge in the weekend series 2-1, with game #4 Sunday afternoon.

The Nats starter, who I am christening Joel "The Hammer" Hanrahan (original, isn't it?) made his major league debut, the second Nationals pitcher to do that this week, and their 13th starting pitcher this season, a major league high. Like his fellow teammate from Columbus, John Lannan, Hanrahan didn't get the win, but he DID pitch incredibly well, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits, walking 1 but striking out 7. SEVEN! Nice work for a rookie! He threw 86 pitches with 56 strikes (65%) and threw 5 shutout innings, making only one costly mistake in the 6th inning when he didn't locate a pitch where he wanted it to Carlos Delgado, who launched a 3-run homer to tie the game. He even had a good turn at the plate, hitting a triple at his very first major league at-bat, becoming only the 4th pitcher since 1974 to do that. He wound up going 1 for 3. Welcome to the majors, "Hammer"! I can't wait to see him pitch again.

The bullpen of Ray King, Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero did well, with only Rauch being a little bit shaky as he allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, but he held on to the Nats lead to give Chad Cordero the chance to get his 21st save (which he did) and get himself his 7th win.

Ryan Report: Has the phrase "like night versus day" ever been more appropriate? The "R-Squad", which was basically neutralized this afternoon, came back to life this evening, though Church got the night off. Zimmerman went 2 for 4 with a walk and an R.B.I., Langerhans went 1 for 3 with the CRUCIAL game-winning R.B.I., and Austin Ryan Kearns went 2 for 5.

The Nats racked-up another 6 hits from D'Angelo Jimenez (2 for 4, with a double, an R.B.I. and a walk), Ronnie Belliard (2 for 5 with a double and 2 R.B.I's), Dmitri Young (1 for 4 with an R.B.I.) and John Hanrahan (1 for 3).

This game is easily a candidate for one of the Nats most exciting games of the year, made so because they were playing the N.L. East-leading New York Mets, playing IN New York's Shea Stadium (always a hostile environment for visiting teams), the drama of playing the 2nd game of the day, the added drama of a visiting pitcher making his major league debut, jumping ahead 3-0 in the 2nd, the Mets tying the game 3-0 in the 6th, the Nats surging ahead in the 8th to make it 6-3, then holding on for dear life as the Mets rallied to make the score 6-5. The old Coney Island rollercoaster in nearby Brooklyn never provided as many up-and-down thrills as this game.

3 down, 1 to go. Could the underdog Nats actually win this series, embarrassing the Mets in their own ballpark? At least they can't lose the series. Billy Traber takes the mound, but their best hitter, All-Star Dmitri Young will sit out the game to get two days off in a row (Monday being an off-day).

I can't wait to see what happens. Gametime 1:10.

Nats lose day game of Mets double-header 3-1 OR Duelling with El Duque

2007-07-28T19:55:00.001-04:00

Nationals starter Tim Redding had a brilliant outing today against the New York Mets, going 6 innings, spelling the bullpen a little, and allowing only 1 run on 5 hits, walked 4 but tied his personal strikeout high with 8.

Unfortunately, New York's Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, had an even better day.

Hernandez worked 7 innings and only gave up a solo homerun to Felipe Lopez, walking 2 but also striking out 8, as the Mets won 3-1 in game 1 of the day/night double-header.

There really isn't much to say about this game from a Nats standpoint. Redding was freakin' brilliant, going toe-to-toe with the Mets, in what was an exciting pitcher's duel, if you are as into that sort of thing as I am. Redding threw 64 strikes on 106 pitches (60%) and kept the Nats in the game, giving them chances to score meaningful runs. I can't wait to see his next start.

The game fell apart for the Nats when reliever Saul Rivera, normally a much more dependable reliever, allowed 2 runs on 3 hits in the 7th, and the Nats fell behind 3-1. All the Mets had to do was hold on for closer Billy Wagner in the 9th, and they did, and Wagner shut down any Nationals hopes for a 9th inning rally.

Ryan Report: Fugghedaboudit.

As I type this, the Nats are ahead 3-0 in the night game. Fingers crossed, hoping for the best.

Nats take Mets 6-2, win 1st of 4 OR Church, Bacsik are double-trouble in New York

2007-07-27T21:55:00.001-04:00

I'm starting to think that the secret to the Nats winning more games the rest of this season is for them to play against more pitchers named Jorge.

They've had such success this season against Jorge Julio, of the Marlins/Rockies, and last night in Queens, they jumped all over starter Jorge Sosa early and often.

The Nats jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the 2nd inning on Ryan Church's R.B.I. double which scored Dmitri Young, who had reached 2nd on his own double, then Brian Schneider drove in Church on HIS own double, then Nook Logan hit a ground-rule double to score Schneider, the 4th double of the inning and the game-winning R.B.I. - Congratulations, Nook!

Nats starter Mike Bacsik got his 4th win of the season and had his most impressive outing to date. The bullpen was gassed, having played 3 straight games in Philadelphia, including the 14-inning marathon on Wednesday night, and Manager Manny Acta was determined that Bacsik pitch as many innings as possible to spell the bullpen, given that they were facing 3 more games this weekend, including today's day/night double-header. The Nats simply couldn't afford for Bacsik to make an early exit, and Acta apparently ordered that Bacsik stay in even if he began to get rocked by the Mets, to "take one for the team". But Bacsik rose to the challenge in heroic fashion, working 7 innings, throwing 55 strikes on 83 pitches (66%) allowing 8 hits but only 2 runs, walking 1, but striking out none. Fortunately, Bacsik also had some great defense behind him, too. He even helped his own cause - with 2 plate appearances, Bacsik was walked once and got himself a hit.

Thanks to that great defense, and lots of excellent offense, the only reliever the Nats needed was Luis Ayala, who pitched the 8th and 9th innings, allowing no runs and no hits, and striking out 2. This is the Ayala that we remember from 2005, when he was widely regarded as one of the best setup men in baseball.

Ryan Report: Church went 2 for 4 with 2 R.B.I.'s, including that 2nd inning R.B.I. double, followed by his 8th inning 2-out homer, Zimmerman went 2 for 4 with a walk, Langerhans did not bat, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 3 with a walk and a 7th inning homerun. This was an especially sweet victory for Church, who has become the subject of trade rumors with the revelation that soon-to-be re-signed Dmitri Young will likely play left field next season, jeopardizing Church's position. Apparently, the Chicago Cubs have shown interest in Church since last winter, but Nats GM Jim Bowden wants a high price for Church. Church had been in something of a slump, having had a hot spring, but not having hit a homerun in many weeks. Kearns, too, had been in a slump, and it was nice to see him swing the bat so well, seemingly back on the proper hitting track.

Brian Schneider and Dmitri Young both had hot bats for the Nats, each going 2 for 4 with Schneider having 2 R.B.I.'s. Schneider, too, has been in something of an offensive slump of late, but seems to be emerging from it. He's certainly not an easy out, but he's finding the gaps now. So great to see him happy and hitting.

Now the bullpen is fully rested and ready for today's day/night doubleheader, the 12:10 makeup game from a spring rainout, with Tim Redding starting, and the evening's game at 7:10 with fresh-from-Columbus callup Joel Hanrahan making his major league debut.

Nats take lead, lose lead, rally to beat Phillies 7-6 OR Flores has fun in Philly

2007-07-27T07:37:00.000-04:00

The Nationals had a roller-coaster afternoon in Philadelphia, starting the game 2-0, then falling behind 3-2, then 5-2, then rallying to close it 5-4 before gaining the lead for good on a Jesus Flores 3-run homer to put them up 7-5 and held on to eventually win 7-6.

Starter John Lannan, making his very first start in the major leagues, had an unfortunately inauspicious debut. He lasted only 4.1 innings, throwing 87 pitches for 50 strikes (57%), but allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 6 hits, walking 2 and striking out 1, establishing his E.R.A. at 8.31. He also allowed a Ryan Howard homerun. The worst part for Lannan, though, was his control, as he hit the Phillies Chase Utley on the hand, breaking a bone which will likely end his season, and Ryan Howard. The home plate umpire, Hunter Wendelstedt, threw Lannan out of the game after he hit Howard, apparently because he had to believe that Lannan was retaliating for Howard hitting a homerun off of him in the 3rd inning. Wendelstedt argued that, rookie or veteran, he can't read a pitcher's mind and has to treat them all the same. Personally, I believe that NO ONE, including Wendelstedt, believes that Lannan was purposely throwing at Howard, but the rules are in place to protect the batters. From where I sat, it didn't look like Howard made any effort to get out of the way, merely turning a bit, but that's neither here nor there. Wendelstedt was 12 inches away from him, I was not. Still, if Lannan had hit any other batter besides Howard, he probably would have only received a warning from the umpire at most, since it was apparent to Wendelstedt, who acknowledged that he saw Lannan was having control problems.

It occurs to me, though, that one unintended benefit of Lannan's ejection was, we avoided a possible beanball war. Who knows? The next Phillies pitcher might have been strongarmed by his teammates to drill Dmitri Young or Ryan Zimmerman. It could have gotten seriously ugly. Wendelstedt's decision, as wrong-headed as I think it was (and, boy, did Don Sutton ever agree on MASN!) had that one little upside to it.

Later on, as I watched the replay of the broadcast, I was very pleased to hear Don Sutton's analysis of that entire situation. Besically, Sutton said, "When this situation happens, you stick the rule book in your ear and employ BASIC COMMON SENSE." After all, WHY would Lannan intentionally put a 2nd man on base with only 1 out when the Nats were behind by 1 run? It's ludicrous! Manny sure wouldn't stand for that sort of nonsense - if he thought that it was intentional, he'd have driven Lannan to 30th street station personally and put him on the next train back to Columbus.

Lannan's ejection resulted in some Nationals history as well, as Manager Manny Acta came out to discuss the call with the umpire, and wound up getting his very first ejection as a major league manager. To his credit. Acta didn't use any profanity (I could have guessed that, it doesn't seem to be his style) and to the umpire's credit, he said that Acta hadn't. Acta merely kept arguing with the umpire as he was changing pitchers, and got the toss.

Fortunately for the Nationals, their bench coach, Pat Corrales, had years of experience as bench coach to Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox, who is nearing the record for career ejections by a manager, so Corrales was in a very familiar situation.

Chris Schroeder, Ray King, Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero did fine work in relief with only Cordero allowing a run in the bottom of the 9th. Rauch got the win and Cordero got the save.

Ryan Report: Church and Zimmerman both went 0 for 4, Langerhans did not bat, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 3 with an R.B.I.

The hits came from Felipe Lopez (2 for 5 with 2 R.B.I.'s), Ronnie Belliard (1 for 5), Dmitri Young (2 for 4 with an R.B.I.), Nook Logan (2 for 4 with a double), and Jesus Flores who had the game winning homerun, going 2 for 4 with 3 R.B.I.'s.

Happily, I was able to attend this game. My brother Steven got some good tickets from a client and invited me up for this "businessman's special". I elected to take Amtrak, even though Citizen's Bank Park is right off of I-95 and only 152 miles from D.C. I just figured that the game would end shortly after 4:00 and I'd be hitting rush hour traffic in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, which didn't appeal to me. Besides, I was worried that I might hit traffic on my way up and didn't want to risk running late. As it turns out, this was a great decision. I hit heavy traffic driving to Union Station, but once I was there I was able to grab the 9:25 train to Philadelphia, and less than 2 hours later, I was in 30th Street station with my brother able to pick me up in short order. I have to say that taking the train was great. I was, indeed, very tired from not getting enough sleep the previous night, and I wasn't 100% sharp to make a 2.5 hour drive. Being able to sit back and relax and read the Washington Post was a treat for me, and I arrived in Philadelphia better rested and certainly a lot less stressed from highway travel. Besides, it was a good "green" decision - I'm sure I would have burned around $35 worth of gasoline on that round trip. The fare seemed reasonable, too, only $58 round-trip (plus $15 to park at Union Station all day). I even ran into another Nats fan along the way.

Words cannot completely express how impressed I was with Citizen's Bank Park. It is simply gorgeous. I had a complete ball walking around, enjoying the scenery. I was so impressed by Citizen's Bank Park that it really got me excited about our own new ballpark. If Nationals Park is anywhere near as nice as Citizen's Bank Park, then I believe every Nationals fan will be more than satisfied with it. Citizen's Bank Park is only the second of the so-called "modern" ballparks that I've ever visited (Oriole Park at Camden Yards being the other), so I can't compare it with Pittsburgh, which even some Philly fans have told me is even nicer than CBP, or San Francisco, but I couldn't have been more impressed. Some of the features that I most enjoyed were:

The centerfield's "Ashburn Alley". It was completely delightful, and I had a great deal of fun walking around and high-fiving everyone I saw wearing a Nationals cap.

The mural depicting Philly baseball history was another very cool feature, as was the display by the visitor's bullpen with brass reliefs demonstrating various pitches and how to hold the ball.

The statues of various great players in Phillies history.

Caricature artists drawing for fans. I'll bet kids just love those.

The "photo-op" with the cardboard cutout of players. If you've never seen this, it is simply a cardboard relief photo of several players celebrating at home plate, and a fan can stand behind it and get their photo, as if they are a player. Another kid favorite, I'm sure.

I was able to buy a Coca-Cola! I had NO idea that any MLB stadium sold any Coke products because I thought that Pepsi was the Official Soft Drink of MLB. Glad to see that I was mistaken. They even let you buy 20 oz. sodas and water with the caps on - unheard of at R.F.K.! One disappointment was, their "souvenir" fountain sodas were in very ordinary cups, nothing worth saving, unlike our own souvenir cups at R.F.K. which are decorative and even have the season schedule printed on them. Chalk up one for the Nationals!

I ate some barbecued beef from Bull's Barbecue, which I just HAD to try to compare it with our own Capital Q. It was NICE, but...hey, it's no Capital Q. :-) So I didn't have a hot dog, but I DID notice the hot dog condiment stations, which had sliced onion dispensers. A very nice touch. I wanted to try a genuine Philly cheese steak, but the line for those was so long, I'd have missed the first inning for sure.

I liked how the program vendors worked the stands, too. This one guy, who called himself "Tommy Programs" was hilarious - he worked the seating aisles shouting, "The most important document since the Constitution! The fastest-selling book since Harry Potter! Lots of pictures and no big words!" Fans were laughing left and right AND buying the programs!

One impressive thing that Tommy did before he left Ashburn Alley was, when the stadium sound system announced the National Anthem, they called for men to remove their hats. Since the sound system isn't that great out on Ashburn Alley, Tommy took it upon himself to shout, "ALL GENTLEMEN ON ASHBURN ALLEY! PLEASE REMOVE YOUR HATS FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM!" I thought that this was one of the classiest moves I've ever witnessed, and I applauded Tommy for it. I asked him if that was his own idea, or if the team asked him to do that. He replied that it was his own idea, because he had a friend who died in Iraq, and he didn't think that it was too much to ask for the men to take 20 seconds to honor the flag. I wholeheartedly agreed with him. Frankly, I'd like to see our own ushers do that.

I had a good time chatting with some Phillies fans, who all seemed to know that we, too, were building our own new stadium, but they were quite proud of Citizen's Bank Park, and justifiably so. No wonder they had ticket sales in excess of 43,000 for the day. With great weather and a ballpark like that, what baseball fan could pass up an opportunity to take in a day game? I understand from the Philly fans that they get a lot of New York Mets fans who come down by train when the Mets are in town. Again, it's a short train ride from Penn Station (2 hours, maybe?) and of course, there are a lot of Mets fans in nearby New Jersey.

My brother got me back to 30th Street Station in time for me to catch the 5:45 back to D.C. I even ran into the same Nats fan that I saw on the way up. We high-fived and chatted about the game, and met another fan who wasn't at the game, but wanted to hear us discuss it. 2 hours later, I was getting into my car at Union Station and motoring home.

All in all, especially with the Nats victory, a wonderful day. I took some photos which I hope to post later.

I would like to wholeheartedly recommend to every Nationals fan to buy tickets and ride the train up to Philadelphia at the end of September to see the Nationals play in Citizen's Bank Park. They finish their season there, and it would be a wonderful tribute for so many fans to make the trip and send them off into the off-season. Besides, if you've never seen that ballpark, you will get some idea of the glories that await us on April 1st here in D.C. and some good things to think about for the next 6 months.

Nats blow lead, lose 14-inning marathon 7-5 OR strangeness in the night

2007-07-26T22:33:00.000-04:00

I started watching this game, but due to the hard day at work that I had, I was utterly exhausted and fell asleep somewhere around the 5th or 6th inning. When I woke up, the game was over, so I went to bed. Little did I know that the Nats made things so exciting at the end of regulation and almost managed a win against these Pfightin' Phillies, falling instead 7-5.

Starter Matt Chico lasted only 4.2 innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits, walking 3 and striking out 2. He threw 60 strikes on 95 pitches (63%). The bullpen of Chris Schroeder, Ray King, Luis Ayala and Chad Cordero were almost perfect in the regulation innings, with only Ayala and Cordero surrendering a hit and Cordero allowing a run, but it tied the game up and he had a blown save, but it really wasn't his fault, inasmuch as a bizarre set of circumstances where both Ryan Church and Ryan Langerhans went after the ball in left center and couldn't hear each other call for it, with 44,000 screaming Phillies fans making that almost impossible, and Church had it in his glove but lost it as he and Langerhans almost collided, then Church had ti dig for the ball and threw it to shortstop Felipe Lopez, bouncing it to him badly, which caused the Phillies Jimmy Rollins to pause momentarily at 3rd, only to then dash home, as Felipe Lopez fired the ball to catcher Brian Schneider, who wasn't able to snag the ball cleanly, and Rollins was safe at home. As Manager Manny Acta said later (I'm paraphrasing, but I'm close here) "Five things went wrong on that play. We get one of them right, we win the game."

In extra innings, Jon Rauch allowed 2 walks but no hits, Saul Rivera allowed 2 hits and 3 walks but no runs, but Chris Booker took the loss in the 14th, allowing 2 runs on 1 hit.

Ryan Report: Church 1 for 4 with 2 walks and a double, Zimmerman 2 for 7, Langerhans 0 for 2, and Austin Ryan Kearns went 2 for 6.

The Nats big hits came from Felipe Lopez (2 for 7 with an R.B.I.), Ronnie Belliard (2 for 7 with an R.B.I.), Nook Logan (2 for 3), Tony Batista (1 for 2 with an R.B.I. double), and Jesus Flores (1 for 2 with 2 R.B.I.'s)

A tough loss to a division rival, you really hate to lose such a close one after almost 5 hours, but given how offensively tough the Phillies are, it's encouraging to take them for so many innings. Still to be so close to victory only to give it away is one of the bitterest of sports experiences.

Nats drop game 1 to Phillies 4-3 OR Sorrows in Southside

2007-07-25T09:06:00.000-04:00

What a tough way to begin a road series.

The Nats ran into early trouble last night in Philadelphia as starter Jason Bergmann exited in the 3rd inning with a baserunning injury, and the bullpen couldn't contain the Phillies hitters, as the Nats lost 4-3.

Bergmann left due to an Achilles injury, after allowing 2 runs on 4 hits. He threw 52 pitches for 31 strikes (60%), an awful lot of pitches for 2.1 innings. He gave up a homerun, a walk and struck out 1. The bullpen of Billy Traber, Chris Booker (who got credited with the blown save, despite not giving up any hits or runs), Saul Rivera, Ray King and Luis Ayala did their best, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits. Unfortunately, Ayala gave up the tie-breaking homerun.

Ryan Report: Not a lot here. Church went 0 for 3 and was walked, Zimmerman went 1 for 4 with a double, Langerhans 0 for 4 and Austin Ryan Kearns went 1 for 2 with a walk.

The other Nats hits came from Felipe Lopez, Ronnie Belliard, and an impressive bases-clearing double from Brian Schneider, which put the Nats ahead briefly 3-2.

Tough night, but not a discouraging one. The Nats can take a lot into Wednesday's game.