When I thought up that awesome title for this short post, I thought back to that NBC show with Rob Lowe that was just one of many desperate attempts by NBC to recapture some of that West Wing lightning in a bottle. I never saw an episode of the show, mainly because it looked terrible and clichéd. But also because Rob Lowe killed his own career (again! As if his 80’s foibles weren’t bad enough) when he left West Wing and the character of Sam Seaborn behind to become Dr. Vegas. God that show sucked too.
Since then NBC has been reduced to peddling “Heros” which is like X-Men and Lost, but not as cool and twice as contrived. Or “My Name is Earl,” which is not funny at all. Sorry. Oh, and let’s not forget “Deal or No Deal”, possibly the worst hour of TV to come along in the last 15 years. The show’s concept is worthless. There’s no skill involved whatsoever. It’s based on the same concept as Russian Roulette: pick one thing out of an ever smaller number of things and hope it’s not the worst thing you can possibly imagine…like a gunshot to the head. Besides that, the show is FAKE! It’s not real at all and everyone, from the contestant to the audience, are actors. Worst kept secret in crappy network TV.
Anyway, back to baseball. No incredibly enlightening post tonight as my girlfriend and I are going to see the Blows play the Blue Jays. Every Tuesday they offer half price upper reserve tickets and we figured, eh, why not? After the collapse of the Nats last night, I’d rather watch the Jays spank the Blows around for a few hours and then catch the Nats highlights on Sports Center anyway.
And yes, I was being sarcastic when I said that this post’s title was awesome. It’s unimaginative and dumb, much like the majority of network television. Which is why I got my TiVo today! Woo!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Tradegate!
What would a season be without some controversy? Nothing, I tell you! Nothing but boring. And what better way to attempt to distract fans from another dismal season than a controversy? No better way! That’s really what I think Tradegate, my name for this whole hullabaloo over the trade of Gary Majewski, along with Royce Clayton, Bill Bray, Brendan Harris and Daryl Thompson to Cincinnati for Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez last July. Basically, the Reds are mad because almost as soon as they got him, Majewski went on the DL and hasn’t been the same pitcher since. Oh, that and the fact that the other players in that trade haven’t exactly saved the Reds from an abysmal start to the season, either.
The Reds filed a grievance with MLB today that alleged the Nationals did not disclose the extent of Majewski’s tendonitis to the Reds prior to the trade, the logic being that had they known, the trade wouldn’t have happened. At this point, no one’s really talking much about it. The Reds and Nats both aren’t saying anything, mainly because they know that one wrong word could cost them the case. However, Bow Bow has said in the past that the Nats provided Cincinnati with every medical record and report they asked for and that Majewski’s arm troubles were plastered all over the media. I can only vouch for the second part of that statement being true. Majewski’s tendonitis was a known secret around DC last year. And I would assume that Bow Bow wouldn’t be foolish enough to screw around with a big trade like that by hiding information about a pitcher’s problem that was bound to get out anyway. Bow Bow had to know that it was only a matter of time before Majewski’s arm got really injured. Otherwise why trade him along with three other players, including a promising reliever in Bill Bray? Why take two (theoretically) good pitchers, the position you’ve said many times you’re focusing on to build the franchise, and trade them away for two position players? So, following that logic, why try to hide the problem?
If anything, you’d expect this to have leaked long ago. Washington is a town built on poorly kept secrets (Watergate being the easiest example). And with the supposed dissension in the ranks of the Front Office, I would think this sort of fraud would have made its way to the Washington Post by August of last year. Some pissed off employee would have let it slip, certainly. But, so far as I know, that didn’t happen.
So, at this point, here’s my theory. The Reds are just mad because they made a terrible trade. Not the worst trade ever, but still one where they got the short end of the stick. They’re mad that their bullpen is atrocious because Bray and Majewski aren’t adding value. And they’re mad because they lost two long-time Reds in the deal at the hands of their former GM of ten years. Below is a link to Federal Baseball, where you can get the summary of my theory by looking at his graphic of the grievance document.
I’m interested to see what MLB has to say on the matter. At this point, there’s really not enough factual information out there to make a real educated guess, despite my theory above. Although it’s pretty much air tight, in my opinion. Just kidding.
The Reds filed a grievance with MLB today that alleged the Nationals did not disclose the extent of Majewski’s tendonitis to the Reds prior to the trade, the logic being that had they known, the trade wouldn’t have happened. At this point, no one’s really talking much about it. The Reds and Nats both aren’t saying anything, mainly because they know that one wrong word could cost them the case. However, Bow Bow has said in the past that the Nats provided Cincinnati with every medical record and report they asked for and that Majewski’s arm troubles were plastered all over the media. I can only vouch for the second part of that statement being true. Majewski’s tendonitis was a known secret around DC last year. And I would assume that Bow Bow wouldn’t be foolish enough to screw around with a big trade like that by hiding information about a pitcher’s problem that was bound to get out anyway. Bow Bow had to know that it was only a matter of time before Majewski’s arm got really injured. Otherwise why trade him along with three other players, including a promising reliever in Bill Bray? Why take two (theoretically) good pitchers, the position you’ve said many times you’re focusing on to build the franchise, and trade them away for two position players? So, following that logic, why try to hide the problem?
If anything, you’d expect this to have leaked long ago. Washington is a town built on poorly kept secrets (Watergate being the easiest example). And with the supposed dissension in the ranks of the Front Office, I would think this sort of fraud would have made its way to the Washington Post by August of last year. Some pissed off employee would have let it slip, certainly. But, so far as I know, that didn’t happen.
So, at this point, here’s my theory. The Reds are just mad because they made a terrible trade. Not the worst trade ever, but still one where they got the short end of the stick. They’re mad that their bullpen is atrocious because Bray and Majewski aren’t adding value. And they’re mad because they lost two long-time Reds in the deal at the hands of their former GM of ten years. Below is a link to Federal Baseball, where you can get the summary of my theory by looking at his graphic of the grievance document.
I’m interested to see what MLB has to say on the matter. At this point, there’s really not enough factual information out there to make a real educated guess, despite my theory above. Although it’s pretty much air tight, in my opinion. Just kidding.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
A Closed Letter to the Blowrioles Fanbase
Dear Howard County/Dundalk Resident,
Your team is not good. In fact, they stink. Oh sure, I know you’re immediately laughing it off and saying that Washington stinks too. That we have the same problems as Baltimore: bad hitting, a bad GM, a pitching crisis, etc. And I won’t disagree with you on the whole. But, we both know that the Blows, dollar for dollar, are a mess of a team and organization.
I realize that our teams are only similar in their geographical location. In fact, I don’t really see the MLB-imposed Beltway Battle as anything more than a nice way for MLB to make a weak-ass attempt at bringing more people to both RFK and Camden Yards. I know that most Blows and Nats fans share this feeling. This is the most similar that the teams are going to be for the foreseeable future, so enjoy taking heart in our pitching troubles, hitting troubles, and ownership bungles. It won’t last forever. Oh and please don’t forget that your hard earned dollars that you spent for those overpriced tickets, Blowrioles jerseys, midget-sized $5.50 beers, and that mediocre (at best) Boog’s BBQ went to pay for a team with a $93 million payroll and all of 4 more wins than the Nats.
“Well at least we’re 2nd in our division” you say. Yes, that may be true. But look at your division. You’re 10 games back from the Red Sox (who utterly embarrassed you last Sunday…or did you forget that travesty of a ninth inning?). The Sox are probably the best team in baseball. The rest of the AL East, however, is up in the air. To this point, the Yankees have not played to their potential. They’re so desperate they gave The Rocket $28 million and their first borns to pitch for them. However, you and I both know that won’t last forever. At some point, the firepower that $195 million buys will come back and then the Blows will be in third. Let’s not forget the Blue Jays, who ran you right out of Canada last week. The Jays are just one game behind you and guess what, they’re coming to town tomorrow! I may just have to go to one of those games to see the pounding in person. Luckily, that only leaves the Devil Rays, the perennial 5th place holder in the AL East. They’re still bad, so you’re saved from finishing last. Congratulations. You’re destined for a fourth place finish…again. I admire your consistency.
And need I even discuss the ownership? The Dark Lord of DC area baseball is still trying to get MLB to pay him for allowing the Nats into town. I guess noone likes to see their inflated attendance dwindle to pathetic levels. I mean, who’s going to waste money on that crappy BBQ? That’s in addition to the complete train wreck of the front office. Having the Dark Lord micromanage the team doesn’t help either. So, to recap: greedy, ambulance chaser for an owner who’s more concerned with squeezing every penny out of the gullible fan-base then with building a solid organization from the farm system up (have you seen the Frederick Keys? They oscillate between mediocre to bad effortlessly).
And the Nats? Well, we stink too, don’t get me wrong. Our pitching rotation is like a house of cards; one strong gust of wind and it’ll all come tumbling down. But the difference between the two clubs is expectation. The Nats were never supposed to be good this year. That’s because everyone in the front office from the owners down to our manager, understood that there is a longer-term effort going on here. Could we have signed some big names (Hernandez and Soriano come to mind) to help the cause this season? Yeah, but it would not have made a marginal difference. We were always destined for the bottom of the NL East. The difference between the Nats and the Blows is that there is a system at work here. Sure they’re last this year, but it’s so in a few seasons we’ll actually have achance at winning the division, pennant, maybe even the Series. The Blows are just trying to finish third, and have been trying since 1998 just to get above .500. Playing not to lose is always a good strategy.
So don’t be too happy with taking the series this weekend. Each game in the series was decided by one run. Much of that was due to the excellent pitching by the Blows and Nats alike. Which only serves to highlight the spirit of the Nats rather than the Blows. The only “starter” who pitched in the entire weekend was Jason Simontaachi. Everything else was pitching by committee, essentially. And still there were no blowouts. Even today’s game was a one run nail-biter.
Personally, I can’t wait for the series here in Baltimore. I’m interested to see how things go when our starters (unpredictable and unstable as they are) are back and maybe, just maybe, Nick Johnson will be back and ready to airmail a few balls onto Eutaw St.
Sincerely,
PMW
P.S.: The whole yelling “O” during the National Anthem is lame. Everyone outside of Bawlmore is laughing at you because it’s so lame. That and the John Denver “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” song. “The Wire” and “Homicide” were based in Baltimore so singing about living in the country is laughable. Sing that stuff out in Dundalk or Westminster.
Your team is not good. In fact, they stink. Oh sure, I know you’re immediately laughing it off and saying that Washington stinks too. That we have the same problems as Baltimore: bad hitting, a bad GM, a pitching crisis, etc. And I won’t disagree with you on the whole. But, we both know that the Blows, dollar for dollar, are a mess of a team and organization.
I realize that our teams are only similar in their geographical location. In fact, I don’t really see the MLB-imposed Beltway Battle as anything more than a nice way for MLB to make a weak-ass attempt at bringing more people to both RFK and Camden Yards. I know that most Blows and Nats fans share this feeling. This is the most similar that the teams are going to be for the foreseeable future, so enjoy taking heart in our pitching troubles, hitting troubles, and ownership bungles. It won’t last forever. Oh and please don’t forget that your hard earned dollars that you spent for those overpriced tickets, Blowrioles jerseys, midget-sized $5.50 beers, and that mediocre (at best) Boog’s BBQ went to pay for a team with a $93 million payroll and all of 4 more wins than the Nats.
“Well at least we’re 2nd in our division” you say. Yes, that may be true. But look at your division. You’re 10 games back from the Red Sox (who utterly embarrassed you last Sunday…or did you forget that travesty of a ninth inning?). The Sox are probably the best team in baseball. The rest of the AL East, however, is up in the air. To this point, the Yankees have not played to their potential. They’re so desperate they gave The Rocket $28 million and their first borns to pitch for them. However, you and I both know that won’t last forever. At some point, the firepower that $195 million buys will come back and then the Blows will be in third. Let’s not forget the Blue Jays, who ran you right out of Canada last week. The Jays are just one game behind you and guess what, they’re coming to town tomorrow! I may just have to go to one of those games to see the pounding in person. Luckily, that only leaves the Devil Rays, the perennial 5th place holder in the AL East. They’re still bad, so you’re saved from finishing last. Congratulations. You’re destined for a fourth place finish…again. I admire your consistency.
And need I even discuss the ownership? The Dark Lord of DC area baseball is still trying to get MLB to pay him for allowing the Nats into town. I guess noone likes to see their inflated attendance dwindle to pathetic levels. I mean, who’s going to waste money on that crappy BBQ? That’s in addition to the complete train wreck of the front office. Having the Dark Lord micromanage the team doesn’t help either. So, to recap: greedy, ambulance chaser for an owner who’s more concerned with squeezing every penny out of the gullible fan-base then with building a solid organization from the farm system up (have you seen the Frederick Keys? They oscillate between mediocre to bad effortlessly).
And the Nats? Well, we stink too, don’t get me wrong. Our pitching rotation is like a house of cards; one strong gust of wind and it’ll all come tumbling down. But the difference between the two clubs is expectation. The Nats were never supposed to be good this year. That’s because everyone in the front office from the owners down to our manager, understood that there is a longer-term effort going on here. Could we have signed some big names (Hernandez and Soriano come to mind) to help the cause this season? Yeah, but it would not have made a marginal difference. We were always destined for the bottom of the NL East. The difference between the Nats and the Blows is that there is a system at work here. Sure they’re last this year, but it’s so in a few seasons we’ll actually have achance at winning the division, pennant, maybe even the Series. The Blows are just trying to finish third, and have been trying since 1998 just to get above .500. Playing not to lose is always a good strategy.
So don’t be too happy with taking the series this weekend. Each game in the series was decided by one run. Much of that was due to the excellent pitching by the Blows and Nats alike. Which only serves to highlight the spirit of the Nats rather than the Blows. The only “starter” who pitched in the entire weekend was Jason Simontaachi. Everything else was pitching by committee, essentially. And still there were no blowouts. Even today’s game was a one run nail-biter.
Personally, I can’t wait for the series here in Baltimore. I’m interested to see how things go when our starters (unpredictable and unstable as they are) are back and maybe, just maybe, Nick Johnson will be back and ready to airmail a few balls onto Eutaw St.
Sincerely,
PMW
P.S.: The whole yelling “O” during the National Anthem is lame. Everyone outside of Bawlmore is laughing at you because it’s so lame. That and the John Denver “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” song. “The Wire” and “Homicide” were based in Baltimore so singing about living in the country is laughable. Sing that stuff out in Dundalk or Westminster.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Holy Win-Streaks, Screech!
Well, well, well. Four games in a row counts as an official win streak. It’s undeniable now. When the Nats won two in a row, I was secretly referring to it in the deep, dark recesses of my mind as a win streak. Sure, that area of my brain is rife with desperation as I pray that the Nats elude the dreaded .250 win percentage forever burned into the minds of all Mets fans. As of February 28, 2007, I only had three hopes for this season (in no particular order):
The Nats will lose less than the 120 games of the 1962 Mets. Yankee and Red Sox fans are horrid enough. There’s no need to validate Mets fans by elevating their franchise to the one that produced only the second worst team in the history of the game of baseball. Plus, I don’t think the Nats are 120 losses bad.
The Nats will win a majority of the six games they play against the Baltimore O my God we spent $95 million for a craptastic team! That means that they need to take 4 of 6. I think it’s do-able and with any luck, they’ll just go ahead and take all 6 and make me the happiest person in Baltimore.
Make some real progress in The Plan and set up a decent 2008. I don’t expect miracles here. A 1 year plan is unrealistic when you look at how comprehensive the overhaul has been in the organization thus far. But as long as I see progress, I’m happy. Just so this long season wasn’t in vain, I’m fine.
So, after this fantastic weekend, I am feeling better about my Three Hopes. At this point, the Nats are on pace to go 56-108, light-years away from the 120 high-water mark, but still above the 100 loss mark reserved for teams like the Royals and Devil Rays of yore.
And yes, I think we can safely say that the Nats have a 4 game win streak going. Of course, with Jerome Williams (lovingly, I’m sure, referred to as Southeast Jerome in homage to Clinton Portis) coming back tonight against Tim Hudson, we should squeeze every last drop out of this streak as we can.
On another note, the Baltimore O’s my God our overpaid team has had 9 losing seasons in a row had one of the most disastrous half innings (http://bugsandcranks.com/baltimore-orioles/losing-it/) I’ve seen in a long time. It was bad enough that they were leading 5-0 going into the bottom of the 9th. What made it a story that will be told for years to come is that it a.) happened at Fenway against the Red Sox and b.) came on the heels of a terrific effort by Jeremy Guthrie, one of the O’s rising pitching stars. If we had that guy to go with Shawn Hill and Jason Bergmann, the Nats’ rotation future would be safe indeed. Anyway, this kid pitched the game of his career to this point, against unquestionably the best team in baseball right now, and he goes to the dugout with a 5 run lead, only to watch helplessly as the O’s inept bullpen all put threw underhanded to the Sox.
I’m not going to say that the Nats don’t do that because we all know Murphy’s Law. But even if (or perhaps when?) that happens in DC, I at least have confidence in Manny, the Lerners, Stan Kasten and, to a lesser extent, Bow Bow. I can reasonably expect that they’re taking precautions so that that sort of thing won’t become endemic to the organization as it has to Baltimore. I know many don’t agree with my level of confidence, but Kasten helped build the Atlanta dynasty and Ted Lerner built his business from the ground up. If Bow Bow can focus and not get distracted by shiny things, and if Manny becomes a good manager (both big IF’s, I know), then the Nats are fine. The O-crap’s! however, are in trouble.
Which brings me to the last part of this post: the weekend series in DC. I wish I could go to those games, but it’s just not practical being in Baltimore. Maybe if gas wasn’t $27.95 a gallon, I’d consider it. But the last three games of the series are here in Baltimore and I will be at all three of them so I don’t feel too bad. I’ve even talked my girlfriend into going to one, although I think she’s a baseball fan and just won’t admit it.
Anyway, as the weekend approaches, I’m going to write a special post for the series. Hopefully I’ll get to catch most of the games on MASN.
Some interesting articles to check out on what I posted about today:
1. Baltimore Orioles on SI.com
2. O's Frustration Boils Over
3. Late Bloomers (article in Boston Globe)
4. Nationals' SI.com Site
5. Nats Beat Braves (from Seattle Times)
6. Bugs and Crank post on O's Meltdown
7. Nationals Journal
And check out the news feed for lots of other information.
P.S.: My predicition for the Presidents' Race tonight: GW will just edge out TJ. George has won every race during this streak...the front office won't mess with karma.
The Nats will lose less than the 120 games of the 1962 Mets. Yankee and Red Sox fans are horrid enough. There’s no need to validate Mets fans by elevating their franchise to the one that produced only the second worst team in the history of the game of baseball. Plus, I don’t think the Nats are 120 losses bad.
The Nats will win a majority of the six games they play against the Baltimore O my God we spent $95 million for a craptastic team! That means that they need to take 4 of 6. I think it’s do-able and with any luck, they’ll just go ahead and take all 6 and make me the happiest person in Baltimore.
Make some real progress in The Plan and set up a decent 2008. I don’t expect miracles here. A 1 year plan is unrealistic when you look at how comprehensive the overhaul has been in the organization thus far. But as long as I see progress, I’m happy. Just so this long season wasn’t in vain, I’m fine.
So, after this fantastic weekend, I am feeling better about my Three Hopes. At this point, the Nats are on pace to go 56-108, light-years away from the 120 high-water mark, but still above the 100 loss mark reserved for teams like the Royals and Devil Rays of yore.
And yes, I think we can safely say that the Nats have a 4 game win streak going. Of course, with Jerome Williams (lovingly, I’m sure, referred to as Southeast Jerome in homage to Clinton Portis) coming back tonight against Tim Hudson, we should squeeze every last drop out of this streak as we can.
On another note, the Baltimore O’s my God our overpaid team has had 9 losing seasons in a row had one of the most disastrous half innings (http://bugsandcranks.com/baltimore-orioles/losing-it/) I’ve seen in a long time. It was bad enough that they were leading 5-0 going into the bottom of the 9th. What made it a story that will be told for years to come is that it a.) happened at Fenway against the Red Sox and b.) came on the heels of a terrific effort by Jeremy Guthrie, one of the O’s rising pitching stars. If we had that guy to go with Shawn Hill and Jason Bergmann, the Nats’ rotation future would be safe indeed. Anyway, this kid pitched the game of his career to this point, against unquestionably the best team in baseball right now, and he goes to the dugout with a 5 run lead, only to watch helplessly as the O’s inept bullpen all put threw underhanded to the Sox.
I’m not going to say that the Nats don’t do that because we all know Murphy’s Law. But even if (or perhaps when?) that happens in DC, I at least have confidence in Manny, the Lerners, Stan Kasten and, to a lesser extent, Bow Bow. I can reasonably expect that they’re taking precautions so that that sort of thing won’t become endemic to the organization as it has to Baltimore. I know many don’t agree with my level of confidence, but Kasten helped build the Atlanta dynasty and Ted Lerner built his business from the ground up. If Bow Bow can focus and not get distracted by shiny things, and if Manny becomes a good manager (both big IF’s, I know), then the Nats are fine. The O-crap’s! however, are in trouble.
Which brings me to the last part of this post: the weekend series in DC. I wish I could go to those games, but it’s just not practical being in Baltimore. Maybe if gas wasn’t $27.95 a gallon, I’d consider it. But the last three games of the series are here in Baltimore and I will be at all three of them so I don’t feel too bad. I’ve even talked my girlfriend into going to one, although I think she’s a baseball fan and just won’t admit it.
Anyway, as the weekend approaches, I’m going to write a special post for the series. Hopefully I’ll get to catch most of the games on MASN.
Some interesting articles to check out on what I posted about today:
1. Baltimore Orioles on SI.com
2. O's Frustration Boils Over
3. Late Bloomers (article in Boston Globe)
4. Nationals' SI.com Site
5. Nats Beat Braves (from Seattle Times)
6. Bugs and Crank post on O's Meltdown
7. Nationals Journal
And check out the news feed for lots of other information.
P.S.: My predicition for the Presidents' Race tonight: GW will just edge out TJ. George has won every race during this streak...the front office won't mess with karma.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Flashes of Brilliance
After a horrible road trip to San Diego and Milwaukee, and Chicago that resulted in 8 losses out of nine games, the Nats seemed like a different team tonight. Unfortunately I only got to see the first three innings of the game because my girlfriend and I went to a restaurant/bar in the hope of relaxing with some live music and a chill atmosphere. Long story short, it was NOT that kind of place and we ended up going all the way out to Canton to go to a low key Starbucks nearby. Bummer, but she’s auditioning for the Baltimore Opera Chorus tomorrow morning so relaxation was of prime importance.
Anyway, I missed the Nats’ 6-0 victory over the Marlins! I can’t believe it. I got to see the first inning where the bats came alive. I only wish I had been able to see the rest of the game. No worries as I’ll get to see the whole thing tomorrow…let’s just hope they can pull out two wins in a row!
I have to say, this was the most pleased I have been with the entire Nats performance all season. As Bob Carpenter and Don Sutton were apt to point out, the Nats have only been blown out a few times (once by the Fish, so take that Southern Florida Expansion Team #2 ). For the most part they’ve been competitive in their losses, which doesn’t change their record, of course. And it was mainly the surprisingly good pitching and decent defense that kept them in the games. God knows they weren’t scoring runs (averaging 2.5 runs per game is not the definition of an offensive juggernaught).
But tonight it all came together for one glorious game. As Gus Simsky says in Kevin Costner Baseball Movie #459 (a.k.a. For Love of the Game, an underrated baseball film, actually), “Right now, we don’t stink…We’re the best team in baseball right now, tonight.” OK, so maybe the best team in baseball is going too far, but Shawn Hill had an embryonic no-hitter going when he left the game with a sore elbow. So, in a very, very technical way, for about an hour, the Nationals might have been the best team in baseball. But probably not. They were the best team on the field at RFK tonight and that’s what counts. Let’s just hope that there’s no bad news on Hill’s elbow tomorrow. I mean, I know Jerome Williams is coming back for Tuesday’s game against the Braves (am I the only one not looking forward to that game?). But really, that is cold comfort to me, especially with Patterson on the 15 Day DL (has he been hit by a falling piece of space debris yet? That’s the only freak injury left for him, I think), I’ll wait before pinning my hopes on a pitcher who was 0-4 with a 6.11 ERA before going on the DL and then having just one outing at Columbus. Call me crazy.
And 15 hits? Insane! The Nats scored more runs in tonight’s game than in their last three games combined. Z Man went 1-3 with an RBI, raising his BA to a respectable .257. OPS is still sluggish, but it’ll come up. I have faith. All in all, a great night.
On a more macro level (yeah, I totally work in Finance), there’s a terrific set of posts on Nats320 where SBF sat down and talked with Stan Kasten about the team and the future, etc. I’m not sure how SBF gets such insane access to players and staff alike, but I’m sure it has something to do with being a season ticket holder and being completely insane when it comes to the Nats. I applaud that unbridled enthusiasm, for sure. He’s in many ways the euphoric doppelganger to the author of Capitol Punishment. Both are Nats fans in their own rights, but are on very different ends of the fandom spectrum. Anyway, check out the post.
On another macro note, it seems that Mitchell Page, the Nats now former hitting coach, is taking a leave of absence for personal reasons. I have no basis for speculating whether this had anything to do with the team’s deplorable batting thus far in the season. The official front office line is that the two are unrelated. And certainly, there’s little correlation between the Nats appointing their new hitting coach, Lenny Harris and the team’s performance this evening, despite the opining of Carpenter and Sutton to the contrary. The guy was promoted three hours before the game. If he can do that in three hours, the Nats should score roughly 68 runs tomorrow night and around 1.3 million by the end of the season. I’ll check back tomorrow and see if we’re on track.
Regardless of the reason, we all hope for the best with Page’s problems, of course. But I also hope that Harris can find some way to maintain a little bit of this offensive momentum for the time being until the bats start up on their own. We’ll see
Anyway, I missed the Nats’ 6-0 victory over the Marlins! I can’t believe it. I got to see the first inning where the bats came alive. I only wish I had been able to see the rest of the game. No worries as I’ll get to see the whole thing tomorrow…let’s just hope they can pull out two wins in a row!
I have to say, this was the most pleased I have been with the entire Nats performance all season. As Bob Carpenter and Don Sutton were apt to point out, the Nats have only been blown out a few times (once by the Fish, so take that Southern Florida Expansion Team #2 ). For the most part they’ve been competitive in their losses, which doesn’t change their record, of course. And it was mainly the surprisingly good pitching and decent defense that kept them in the games. God knows they weren’t scoring runs (averaging 2.5 runs per game is not the definition of an offensive juggernaught).
But tonight it all came together for one glorious game. As Gus Simsky says in Kevin Costner Baseball Movie #459 (a.k.a. For Love of the Game, an underrated baseball film, actually), “Right now, we don’t stink…We’re the best team in baseball right now, tonight.” OK, so maybe the best team in baseball is going too far, but Shawn Hill had an embryonic no-hitter going when he left the game with a sore elbow. So, in a very, very technical way, for about an hour, the Nationals might have been the best team in baseball. But probably not. They were the best team on the field at RFK tonight and that’s what counts. Let’s just hope that there’s no bad news on Hill’s elbow tomorrow. I mean, I know Jerome Williams is coming back for Tuesday’s game against the Braves (am I the only one not looking forward to that game?). But really, that is cold comfort to me, especially with Patterson on the 15 Day DL (has he been hit by a falling piece of space debris yet? That’s the only freak injury left for him, I think), I’ll wait before pinning my hopes on a pitcher who was 0-4 with a 6.11 ERA before going on the DL and then having just one outing at Columbus. Call me crazy.
And 15 hits? Insane! The Nats scored more runs in tonight’s game than in their last three games combined. Z Man went 1-3 with an RBI, raising his BA to a respectable .257. OPS is still sluggish, but it’ll come up. I have faith. All in all, a great night.
On a more macro level (yeah, I totally work in Finance), there’s a terrific set of posts on Nats320 where SBF sat down and talked with Stan Kasten about the team and the future, etc. I’m not sure how SBF gets such insane access to players and staff alike, but I’m sure it has something to do with being a season ticket holder and being completely insane when it comes to the Nats. I applaud that unbridled enthusiasm, for sure. He’s in many ways the euphoric doppelganger to the author of Capitol Punishment. Both are Nats fans in their own rights, but are on very different ends of the fandom spectrum. Anyway, check out the post.
On another macro note, it seems that Mitchell Page, the Nats now former hitting coach, is taking a leave of absence for personal reasons. I have no basis for speculating whether this had anything to do with the team’s deplorable batting thus far in the season. The official front office line is that the two are unrelated. And certainly, there’s little correlation between the Nats appointing their new hitting coach, Lenny Harris and the team’s performance this evening, despite the opining of Carpenter and Sutton to the contrary. The guy was promoted three hours before the game. If he can do that in three hours, the Nats should score roughly 68 runs tomorrow night and around 1.3 million by the end of the season. I’ll check back tomorrow and see if we’re on track.
Regardless of the reason, we all hope for the best with Page’s problems, of course. But I also hope that Harris can find some way to maintain a little bit of this offensive momentum for the time being until the bats start up on their own. We’ll see
Monday, May 7, 2007
No Singing That Day in Mudville
Nothing like coming off a heartbreaking loss by playing the hottest team in baseball in their own park. Milwaukee has the best record in the Majors while the Yankees are struggling to get back above .500. When did April become Upside Down Month?
Regardless, the Nats are in Miller Park tonight to try and squeeze out at least one win in the series. Hoping for anything more would be greedy, but hey, I’ll take what I can get. Now to some specifics.
If you’re reading this blog, you undoubtedly know about the disaster that was the final 30 minutes of the game yesterday against the Cubs. Before getting to the disaster of the 9th and 10th innings, let me list some positives I got from the game:
Ryan Zimmerman may be slowly emerging from his slump. While he went just 1-3 with a walk and 2 K’s, I take heart from any hit. A fact that was played out this evening as Z-man went 2-4, raising his BA to .256. OK, so it’s not Tony Gwynn, but it’s a start.
Matt Chico pitched better than expected. He kept to his game plan for the entire outing. Only Geoff Jenkins’s 3-run homer in the second inning detracts from a good 7 inning outing tonight.
Ryan Langerhans had two hits, which will hopefully turn into more, but that’s debatable as Nook Logan returned to the outfield tonight. Luckily for Langerhans, Nook didn’t really do much tonight so all is not lost.
Shawn Hill had a good outing overall, despite some control problems that were probably more the result of some nagging arm soreness rather than a long term problem. Let’s hope the rest helps that soreness.
OK, so that’s about all I got out of the game. There was still the paltry offense led by Dmitri Young’s fluke 2-RBI pinch hit in the 7th. Luckily, it was helped by Shawn Hill’s solid pitching and some decent defense (I’m looking at you, Z-man, and your ninja-like reflexes).
Chief, you’ve GOT to get going here! Four blown saves already and this one the worst yet. Look, I’m a Chief fan. He’s not my favorite player, but I like him. He comes in to each game to win it. I never doubt his commitment to winning. And obviously, he’s got off the field family issues weighing on him right now. (http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070507&content_id=1951413&vkey=news_was&fext=.jsp&c_id=was) However, the closer has one job: come in for one half inning and get three outs to get the win. When you throw 7 straight balls, you’re not going to get that job done. Especially against the Cubs. So while the Nats could have done a lot to make the score a little better (Kory Casto stranding like 15 runners comes to mind), Chief’s gotta get the job done no matter if the lead is one run or 10.
Some quick notes:
John Patterson has been placed on the 15 day DL with soreness in his right bicep. The only ailment left for Patterson is getting struck by lightning and bird flu at this point. The guy has rotten health luck. I guess we can take solace that Jason Simontacchi is returning tomorrow. Then again, he’s returning against the Brewers.
I’ve been living under a rock because I had no idea that the Brewers were under new ownership as of 2005. That partially explains why they’re playing so well. Yeah, they played a lot of teams with sub .500 records thus far, but not having the Seligs running your organization automatically adds 15 wins to your record. I think someone measured that and if they haven’t, they should because it’s true.
I’m going to the Orioles-Devil Rays game tomorrow night using some company tickets that one of our executives was giving away. While I’m no O’s or Devil Rays fan, a free major league baseball ticket sitting 10 rows back from the field is something I won’t turn down without a very good reason.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad 4th Inning
As I type this, the Nats have finally gotten out of a horrendous 4th inning where Matt Chico imploded in record time, walking 3 and giving up several multi-base hits to allow the Padres to inflate their lead to 4 (score being 5-1 San Diego). I know the Nats are bad, but these types of innings are painful to watch. Up until that point, things had been going fairly well for Washington. Chico was pitching pretty well (3 innings of solid pitching with a working change-up and thus, an effective fastball that kept batters off balance), and while the Nats weren't generating tons of runs, they were up 1-0. But now all that has been washed away.
Chico's meltdown happened right before my very eyes. One minute he was locating his pitches fine. He wasn't striking guys out (only got 1 K tonight, I believe), and was relying heavily on the defense to rein in those flyballs everyone was hitting, but the work was getting done. Then he walked a batter or two and you could sense the panic creeping in. Then he gave up a triple to Khalil Greene and critical mass was reached fairly quickly. A sacrifice fly, a pinch hit by Blum and a double by Marcus Giles and bang! we've got ourselves a 5-1 deficit.
************At this point I stopped writing and saved the rest for work today*************
I felt bad for Chico and not just because his mom was in the stands watching him (they interviewed her minutes before the meltdown). He's a young guy who's got a lot of potential, some of which has already been seen this season. But he's been thrown in the deep end without the swimmies. He's being asked to be a Major League starter on a young team with little hope of getting out of the cellar of the NL East. Some would argue that this would aleviate some pressure to perform as well as a veteran, but I would argue the opposite. On a team like the Nats, where the Two Ryans (Church and Zimmerman) are viewed as clubhouse leaders along with The Chief, it's far too easy to stand out without trying to. This is even more pronounced on the Nats, where the starting pitching has been the object of much debate and abuse and analysis. That makes any successes (read Jason Bergmann and Shawn Hill) more worthy of celebration and any failures that much worse.
That being said, I think the performances from Bergmann and Hill have been fantastic and prove that just because the baseball writers and "analysts" say it's so, does not always make it so. I also think that while Chico is a good AA or AAA pitcher, he's nowhere near ready for MLB baseball. He's barely made it to the 5th inning in most of his starts and he only gets there in spite of himself. It's a tough row to hoe, but it mightbe time to sit him down. If for no other reason than to get a guy in there who can get to the 6th or 7th reliably (I know, a tall order for the Nats) and give the bullpen some rest.
On a different note, looks like Jim Bowden is getting restless, despite The Plan supposedly coming along fine. Yesterday the Nats sent Chris Snelling to Oakland for Ryan Langerhans. Langerhans has not been hitting particularly well this season…OK, he’s been sucking it up as of late. But, as was noted by Capital Punishment yesterday, lots of players have been struggling and Snelling, as promising as he was, wasn’t being used very effectively. In fact, he wasn’t really being used at all other than in some pinch hitting and limited left field platooning. And with Casto up from Columbus and clearly the favorite to play LF, Snelling had little real chance of seeing anything beyond a platoon arrangement out there. This, in turn, would have made it tougher for him to get out of his batting troubles, which would have helped to keep him second fiddle to Casto, and thus the sick cycle continues.
As it stands, Snelling is going to Oakland and he’ll probably do very well there. If the A’s are actively seeking a player, you have to think they have some crazy plan for him ala Scott Hatteberg (who was traded to Cincy in 2005 and has subsequently had two of his best seasons, batting average and OPS-wise, ever). So who knows what Chris Snelling will do? I do know that he wasn’t going to get to do it as a National, which is a shame.
Langerhans, however, seems on the surface (I honestly don’t know that much about him) to be a good complement to the left field of Kasto and Company. There are rumors that Langaerhans is being thought of as a first baseman, but I’ll believe that when I see it. And in the outfield he will probably end up being the 5th outfielder behind Church, Kearns, Casto and Nook Logan. However, he can play left, right or center well, which is ultimately why the Nationals are going to pick up an outfielder at this point. Langerhans is not going to save the ball club with his bat but he might be able to save some runs with his glove. Especially if Matt Chico is on the mound.
And on that note, I think I will check out the offer on today’s Nationals Insider and see how grossly overpriced the Ryan Langerhans jerseys are. Honestly, I know MLB is a shameless merchandiser, but the guy’s been on the team for like 13 minutes and they’re already hawking his jersey like it’s worth the $79.99.
Chico's meltdown happened right before my very eyes. One minute he was locating his pitches fine. He wasn't striking guys out (only got 1 K tonight, I believe), and was relying heavily on the defense to rein in those flyballs everyone was hitting, but the work was getting done. Then he walked a batter or two and you could sense the panic creeping in. Then he gave up a triple to Khalil Greene and critical mass was reached fairly quickly. A sacrifice fly, a pinch hit by Blum and a double by Marcus Giles and bang! we've got ourselves a 5-1 deficit.
************At this point I stopped writing and saved the rest for work today*************
I felt bad for Chico and not just because his mom was in the stands watching him (they interviewed her minutes before the meltdown). He's a young guy who's got a lot of potential, some of which has already been seen this season. But he's been thrown in the deep end without the swimmies. He's being asked to be a Major League starter on a young team with little hope of getting out of the cellar of the NL East. Some would argue that this would aleviate some pressure to perform as well as a veteran, but I would argue the opposite. On a team like the Nats, where the Two Ryans (Church and Zimmerman) are viewed as clubhouse leaders along with The Chief, it's far too easy to stand out without trying to. This is even more pronounced on the Nats, where the starting pitching has been the object of much debate and abuse and analysis. That makes any successes (read Jason Bergmann and Shawn Hill) more worthy of celebration and any failures that much worse.
That being said, I think the performances from Bergmann and Hill have been fantastic and prove that just because the baseball writers and "analysts" say it's so, does not always make it so. I also think that while Chico is a good AA or AAA pitcher, he's nowhere near ready for MLB baseball. He's barely made it to the 5th inning in most of his starts and he only gets there in spite of himself. It's a tough row to hoe, but it mightbe time to sit him down. If for no other reason than to get a guy in there who can get to the 6th or 7th reliably (I know, a tall order for the Nats) and give the bullpen some rest.
On a different note, looks like Jim Bowden is getting restless, despite The Plan supposedly coming along fine. Yesterday the Nats sent Chris Snelling to Oakland for Ryan Langerhans. Langerhans has not been hitting particularly well this season…OK, he’s been sucking it up as of late. But, as was noted by Capital Punishment yesterday, lots of players have been struggling and Snelling, as promising as he was, wasn’t being used very effectively. In fact, he wasn’t really being used at all other than in some pinch hitting and limited left field platooning. And with Casto up from Columbus and clearly the favorite to play LF, Snelling had little real chance of seeing anything beyond a platoon arrangement out there. This, in turn, would have made it tougher for him to get out of his batting troubles, which would have helped to keep him second fiddle to Casto, and thus the sick cycle continues.
As it stands, Snelling is going to Oakland and he’ll probably do very well there. If the A’s are actively seeking a player, you have to think they have some crazy plan for him ala Scott Hatteberg (who was traded to Cincy in 2005 and has subsequently had two of his best seasons, batting average and OPS-wise, ever). So who knows what Chris Snelling will do? I do know that he wasn’t going to get to do it as a National, which is a shame.
Langerhans, however, seems on the surface (I honestly don’t know that much about him) to be a good complement to the left field of Kasto and Company. There are rumors that Langaerhans is being thought of as a first baseman, but I’ll believe that when I see it. And in the outfield he will probably end up being the 5th outfielder behind Church, Kearns, Casto and Nook Logan. However, he can play left, right or center well, which is ultimately why the Nationals are going to pick up an outfielder at this point. Langerhans is not going to save the ball club with his bat but he might be able to save some runs with his glove. Especially if Matt Chico is on the mound.
And on that note, I think I will check out the offer on today’s Nationals Insider and see how grossly overpriced the Ryan Langerhans jerseys are. Honestly, I know MLB is a shameless merchandiser, but the guy’s been on the team for like 13 minutes and they’re already hawking his jersey like it’s worth the $79.99.
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