Can the Nationals go 11-3 the rest of the way?

OK, it isn't the thrilling pennant race to save the season... BUT it could be a big stepping stone for the Nationals.

11-3 would mean the Nationals would have a winning record.
After losing over 100 games in 2008 and 2009 and coughing up 93 losses last year, a winning year THIS year would be a giant first step for the franchise.

It would be the franchise's first winning season since they were the 2003 Expos.
It would be the city of Washington's first winning baseball season since the Ted Williams managed 1969 Senators.

And with a core of young players like Wilson Ramos and Ryan Zimmerman and pitchers like John Lannan, Jordan Zimmermann, Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard they might be piecing together decent team.

And oh yeah. If Stephen Strasburg is totally back from his Tommy John surgery and Bryce Harper hits as advertised, this team could be making strides to be the first playoff team in DC history since 1933.

Step one though... put a winning team on the field.
And they can do that THIS year by going 11-3.

And I'm rooting for them.

Sanity

I had questioned why the Nationals and Dodgers needed to play a double header, especially with the Dodgers traveling cross country.

Evidently mother nature agreed with me.

Game 2 was rained out.
The Dodgers get out of Dodge. I guess it will be only 161 games for the boys in blue.

A question about the Dodgers-Nationals double header

Rain yesterday forced the Dodgers and Nationals to play a double header today.
Here's a question:

Why?
Seriously. Why did they need to play both games?
The Dodgers are going to San Francisco tonight and let's face it, neither team are playing this October.

The Nationals are 16 1/2 games out of a playoff spot with 21 games to play.
The Dodgers trail Arizona by 11 1/2 games with 20 left.

Yeah it is POSSIBLE that they could get hot, the Braves and Diamondbacks could collapse and a Nationals vs. Dodgers game could be an NLCS preview.

Is that possibility REALLY worth playing 2 meaningless games in what will no doubt be an empty Nationals Park?

Play ball.

Unlike Riggleman, the Nationals didn't quit

The Nationals have had a hell of a week.
They swept the Mariners in a dramatic series at home in DC. And the euphoria of that series lasted about a nanosecond as Jim Riggleman, he of a career of mediocrity, suddenly felt he was entitled to an in season contract negotiation.

Say what you want about Riggleman and I have nothing personal against the man, but he quit on the team.

And off they went to Chicago where interim manager John McLaren was promptly thrown out in HIS first game. (The team was running out of managers.)

Friday night's game was one of the wildest and strangest regular season games you will ever see as the White Sox kept tying the game on the brink of losing. And yet the National never quit despite blowing several late leads and won it in the 14th.

After a loss yesterday they were losing late before Danny Espinosa homered in the 7th and the Nats held on to a 2-1 win.

They could have easily been swept and nobody would have batted an eye.
The team could have wandered into Chicago in a daze and nobody would have been surprised.

Instead they showed some guts and not only stayed above .500 but are now just 3 games in the loss column out of a playoff spot.

Davey Johnson, a man who was ACTUALLY screwed by two organizations after leading the Reds and Orioles to the LCS and getting let go, is getting into a good situation:

A tough young club who doesn't quit.

Their old manager did, but not the team.

Hey great win, Jim! Jim?.... JIM?!

I admit that I haven't been kind to Jim Riggleman on the pages of Sully Baseball.

I questioned the reasoning of dumping Manny Acta for Riggleman and his less that sterling resume.

And I thought he was doing baseball a disservice when he benched some of his starters in critical stretch run games.

Well now he has the Nats playing on a roll and they have crawled back up to .500.

And what does he do?
He quits.

Now there are already articles being written in his favor and who knows? Maybe the Nationals organization IS a mess.

But I'm sorry. Why should the Nationals offer Riggleman more years? Even with the team above .500 now, he's been a big league skipper over 12 different seasons. In the 11 ones before this one has a grand total of 2 above .500. He seems like a solid baseball lifer, but does 1 game over .500 before July constitute a lot of leverage?

And with this dramatic series against the Mariners (another team he managed since 2008), you'd think that the Nationals would be trying to ride some momentum.

Instead they have to answer questions about a manager who quit on the team. (Sorry, that's what he did.)

He said to the media "I'm not Casey Stengel."

No kidding.

And if the Nationals put up a good record for the rest of the season, it will make the Nationals decision to not retain Riggleman look even smarter.

Don't worry... he'll be an interim manager someday. Hey, he's 22 years younger than the Marlins new manager!

Biggest double take of the night

I saw the Mariners were cruising to a win in Washington and I was writing in my head a new post. It would be about the Mariners potentially not going away.

I had it all mapped out.

I gave my kids a bath, and I glanced at the score. It was 5-1 Mariners in the bottom of the 9th.

I dried my kids off and I saw the Nationals won 6-5 in the 9th. Wilson Ramos hit a 3 run 2 out bottom of the 9th walk off homer.

And now the Nationals are only 4 games in the loss column out of a playoff spot.

Maybe I should have prepared a NATIONALS post.

No instant replay is ruining a wonderful game in Phoenix

The Nationals and Diamondbacks are playing a wonderful and riveting game in Phoenix. (No really! They are!)

Roger Bernadina hit a ground out and the throw beat him to first in the 11th.
He was called safe.

In less than 20 seconds two angles were shown that the throw beat the runner at first.
The inning was extended and now Washington has the lead.

And as I type this the Nats hit a grand slam to give the team a huge lead.
The inning should have been over.
The pitcher made 3 outs. No fielder made an error. And yet he had to make FOUR outs.

Isn't it worth 20 seconds to let the correct team win?

A wonderful game has been ruined.

Hope you idiots who are against instant replay love that blown call.

Coolest game of the night... Marlins and Nationals?

Seriously... what more did you want in a game?
Extra innings... late inning rallies...




Roger Bernadina made a jaw dropping full extension snow cone grab in center field that is a lock for SportsCenter highlights for years to come.





Then Omar Infante scored the winning run with a bizarre and brilliant slide, putting his hand around catcher Wilson Ramos' tag.

What more do you want?

Teams other than the Marlins and Nationals?

I can't help you with that.

Don't blame me for blowing Anibal Sanchez's no hitter

OK, I feel a LITTLE bad about writing a post about Anibal Sanchez and pitchers throwing no hitters while he had a no no after 6.

But in the post I NEVER said that Sanchez was throwing a no hitter. I just said there were a lot of pitchers throwing no hitters late into the game and had a picture of Sanchez.

Alas almost EXACTLY after I posted it, Laynce Nix of the Nationals hit a low line drive that Mike Stanton couldn't catch, ending the no hitter.

I DIDN'T DO IT!
I didn't jinx anything!

(Then why do I feel badly?)

Welcome to the Nationals Mr. Perez

He is a lock to win 15 games with the Nats!
And he will be a bargain at $414,000 for Washington (and just $12 million for the Mets.)

I guess the Nationals found a drawer with $126 million in it

This is one of those strange moments in sport where the collective wisdom of the entire baseball community all has a single opinion of something... and when it will inevitably come true, there will be a "WE TOLD YOU SO" ringing so loud through the land that windows will vibrate.

In 2006, Jayson Werth was an injury prone outfielder who played for the Blue Jays and then the Dodgers. He missed the entire 2006 season after surgery to his wrist.

He was 27 years old. He had only once played more than 100 games in a season. (He had NEVER played 105 games in a season.)

His numbers were ordinary except for a glimpse of things to come when he homered twice in the 2004 Division Series for the Dodgers. I remember seeing one of the homers and thinking "Jayson WHO?"

And now, after 6 full seasons (and parts of 2 others) in the bigs, he is signed for seven years.
The next time he hits .300 will be the first time in his career.
The next time he drives in 100 runs will be the first time in his career.
The next time he finishes in the top 5 in On Base Percentage, Slugging, OPS and total bases will be the first time in his career.

He's had one truly terrific season... his walk year.

Any alarms going off yet?

Plus he is in his 30s and guess what? The age when sluggers get BETTER when they reach their mid 30s are over... and he'll be paid like an elite player when he is in his LATE 30s.

Jason Giambi is giggling somewhere.

I know Werth does all the things right and he is a good teammate blah blah blah.
All that has so much more value (note I didn't make the Werth-Worth pun) when you have MVPs on the team and Cy Young candidates in the rotation.

Kevin Millar was a remarkable cog in the Red Sox wheel... but they had Papi, Ramirez, Damon and a batting champ in Bill Mueller. It's easier to be the "heart and soul" when other people are supplying the firepower.

Now he will be the heart and soul of a franchise whose biggest star is Stephen Strasburg and he isn't playing in 2011.

If they had $126 million to throw around, why not get into the Cliff Lee sweepstakes?
Or Prince Fielder?
Or spread that money around and make improvements.

Or stick it in a drawer and wait to spend it when they... oh I don't know... can put a winning product on the field.

Instead the Nationals tried to make a splash. Well bellyflops make splashes too.

As for Jayson Richard Gowan Werth... I don't blame him.

He's won a ring and contributed big time for it in 2008. He has 13 post season homers and a career .987 playoff OPS. He hit 7 homers in the 2009 postseason alone.

And he was a huge part of one of the best Philadelphia sports teams ever. And if they start to go south in 2011, people will blame it on Werth's departure.

Why not cash it in?
Why not say "Hey, for the next seven seasons, I am going to make so much money that my grandkids will be able to support THEIR kids on it"?

And oh yeah, he should be receiving a thank you note from Carl Crawford.

Werth is off the market but setting the bar high and who is courting Crawford? The Angels, the Yankees and the Red Sox... no big spenders.

THE RANGERS DID IT! Mariners and Nationals... you are on the clock

The Texas Rangers are going to the World Series.
Those words look strange being typed out.

I honestly thought they would never make it in their history. But here they are.

And I am thinking about Washington for several reasons.

The Rangers WERE the second version of the Washington Senators before they moved to Arlington.

The team currently in Washington, the Nationals, are one of only two franchises to never had made the World Series.

The other also plays in Washington... Washington State. The Mariners.

The Nationals got to within one game of the 1981 World Series when they were the Montreal Expos.

The Mariners made it to three ALCS berths and getting to Game 6 in 1995 and 2000.

But alas no pennants.

So you are on notice, Mariners and Nationals.
Everyone else has made it in BUT you. All of the original franchises have won at least one World Series.

The Nationals franchise has been around since 1969. The Mariners showed up in 1977.

The Expansion of 1961 and 1962 gave baseball the Mets (who won the 1969 and 1986 World Series and the 1973 and 2000 pennants) the Astros franchise (who won the 2005 pennant), the Angels franchise (who won the 2002 World Series) and now the Texas Rangers.

The expansion of 1969 gave us the Nationals franchise, the Padres (winners of the 1984 and 1998 pennants), the Royals (winner of the 1985 World Series and the 1980 pennant) and the Brewers franchise (winner of the 1982 pennant.)

The 1977 expansion introduced the Blue Jays (winner of the 1992 and 1993 World Series) and the Mariners.

The 1993 expansions brought the Marlins (winner of the 1997 and 2003 World Series) and the Rockies (winner of the 2007 pennant) to the show.

And finally the 1998 expansion sparked the Diamondbacks (winner of the 2001 World Series) and the Rays franchise (winner of the 2008 pennant.)


Put together a pennant winner and get off this board.
If the Rangers can do it in the sweltering heat, then your team can do it.

Your road to the pennant starts...... now!

Oh come on! Let Livan finish the game!

Hey Nationals Manager Jim Riggleman, I've got a bone to pick with you.
Livan Hernandez was pitching tonight and also hitting quite a bit.

It was a game against Atlanta so it has playoff ramifications for both the Wild Card and the NL East... just not for the Nationals.

The Nats don't have a lot to play for this year anymore. They are trying to avoid 90 losses and probably will reach that total anyway.

But don't blame Livan Hernandez. He's had a nice year (even if the win loss record isn't sterling) and tonight got an RBI double and a homer and threw 8 shutout innings for the win.

So why didn't you have him throw the 9th, Riggleman?
Seriously, was getting an inning of work for Sean Burnett so important that you couldn't let Hernandez get his third complete game of the year?

Don't you see how awesome the symmetry of that would be?
Livan Hernandez hits an RBI double, a homer and throws a complete game shutout. That is total domination of the opponent.

Instead it is merely a win.
Crazy managers don't know to humiliate the opponent when they have the chance.

Oh come on! Let Livan finish the game!

Hey Nationals Manager Jim Riggleman, I've got a bone to pick with you.
Livan Hernandez was pitching tonight and also hitting quite a bit.

It was a game against Atlanta so it has playoff ramifications for both the Wild Card and the NL East... just not for the Nationals.

The Nats don't have a lot to play for this year anymore. They are trying to avoid 90 losses and probably will reach that total anyway.

But don't blame Livan Hernandez. He's had a nice year (even if the win loss record isn't sterling) and tonight got an RBI double and a homer and threw 8 shutout innings for the win.

So why didn't you have him throw the 9th, Riggleman?
Seriously, was getting an inning of work for Sean Burnett so important that you couldn't let Hernandez get his third complete game of the year?

Don't you see how awesome the symmetry of that would be?
Livan Hernandez hits an RBI double, a homer and throws a complete game shutout. That is total domination of the opponent.

Instead it is merely a win.
Crazy managers don't know to humiliate the opponent when they have the chance.

Adam Wainwright continues to show his amazing generosity

Once again, Adam Wainwright could have taken all momentum of the Cy Young award, put it under his wing and make it his to lose.

Instead he lost his 3rd straight chance to win his 18th.
His ERA jumped from 2.18 to 2.30 and he only lasted 5 innings against the Nats and the Cardinals have fallen to 4 games back in the loss column.

Aces are supposed to face sub par teams and STOP losing streaks.

Instead Roy Halladay, Ubaldo Jimenez, Chris Carpenter and Tim Hudson are all still hanging around with Cy Young ambitions and you are keeping their hope alive.

Man... he is nice, isn't he?

Adam Wainwright continues to show his amazing generosity

Once again, Adam Wainwright could have taken all momentum of the Cy Young award, put it under his wing and make it his to lose.

Instead he lost his 3rd straight chance to win his 18th.
His ERA jumped from 2.18 to 2.30 and he only lasted 5 innings against the Nats and the Cardinals have fallen to 4 games back in the loss column.

Aces are supposed to face sub par teams and STOP losing streaks.

Instead Roy Halladay, Ubaldo Jimenez, Chris Carpenter and Tim Hudson are all still hanging around with Cy Young ambitions and you are keeping their hope alive.

Man... he is nice, isn't he?

Tony LaRussa should be trying to Restore the Cardinals to the Pennant race

Call me nuts, but maybe the time Tony LaRussa spent coming up with a speech for Glenn Beck's dopey little promotional stunt could have been used in a more productive manner:

Like how about a game plan against the Nationals.

You know when you are the prohibitive favorite to win the division with the best 1-2 punch in the rotation in all the National League and a guy who seems hell bent to win his third straight MVP and you are LOSING ground to the Reds and Phillies... maybe promoting a Fox News talk show shouldn't be priority one.

Oh yeah, the Nats won 14-5... the Cardinals pitchers are letting up an average of 9 runs a game to the Nationals.

Maybe they should have Glenn Beck write THAT on his chalk board.

Tony LaRussa should be trying to Restore the Cardinals to the Pennant race

Call me nuts, but maybe the time Tony LaRussa spent coming up with a speech for Glenn Beck's dopey little promotional stunt could have been used in a more productive manner:

Like how about a game plan against the Nationals.

You know when you are the prohibitive favorite to win the division with the best 1-2 punch in the rotation in all the National League and a guy who seems hell bent to win his third straight MVP and you are LOSING ground to the Reds and Phillies... maybe promoting a Fox News talk show shouldn't be priority one.

Oh yeah, the Nats won 14-5... the Cardinals pitchers are letting up an average of 9 runs a game to the Nationals.

Maybe they should have Glenn Beck write THAT on his chalk board.

Montreal had better honor the Hawk

Andre Dawson dusted off the Expos beach ball cap one more time and was honored by the crowd in Washington DC tonight. The Hall of Famer got emotional watching the tribute to his career and the crowd was respectful and cheered.

But most of them were there to see Stephen Strasburg.

You see Strasburg plays for Washington... Dawson never did. In fact Dawson never played a big league game that counted IN Washington.

He played the bulk of his career for the Expos... who moved from Montreal to Washington.

The tributes have been many for The Hawk. The Marlins (his current employer) has honored him already and in August he will have his own day at Wrigley Field. (Hopefully they will retire his #8 there.)

But he went into the Hall of Fame as an Expo and became a superstar in Montreal.

Yeah his knees were banged up there and he became a national figure when he moved to Wrigley... but that doesn't excuse the fact that he should take his bows in front of the French Canadian fans whom he played his guts out for.

And there is a way to do it.

Montreal doesn't have a baseball team anymore... and it is sad because that team produced a lot of great players and as I have said before, I miss the Expos.

But they DO have a hockey team. And that hockey team has a crazed following. And it is safe to say if you are a Canadien fan of a certain age, you probably have fond memories of the Expos of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

When the Canadiens start their season, they should do the right thing.

They should bring out the Hawk and have him do that strange honorary first puck drop before one of their first games.

It would be the fitting farewell to his year long victory lap and closure to his Expos career that ended in collusion after the 1986 season.

One more time, Montreal. VIVE LE FAUCON!

Montreal had better honor the Hawk

Andre Dawson dusted off the Expos beach ball cap one more time and was honored by the crowd in Washington DC tonight. The Hall of Famer got emotional watching the tribute to his career and the crowd was respectful and cheered.

But most of them were there to see Stephen Strasburg.

You see Strasburg plays for Washington... Dawson never did. In fact Dawson never played a big league game that counted IN Washington.

He played the bulk of his career for the Expos... who moved from Montreal to Washington.

The tributes have been many for The Hawk. The Marlins (his current employer) has honored him already and in August he will have his own day at Wrigley Field. (Hopefully they will retire his #8 there.)

But he went into the Hall of Fame as an Expo and became a superstar in Montreal.

Yeah his knees were banged up there and he became a national figure when he moved to Wrigley... but that doesn't excuse the fact that he should take his bows in front of the French Canadian fans whom he played his guts out for.

And there is a way to do it.

Montreal doesn't have a baseball team anymore... and it is sad because that team produced a lot of great players and as I have said before, I miss the Expos.

But they DO have a hockey team. And that hockey team has a crazed following. And it is safe to say if you are a Canadien fan of a certain age, you probably have fond memories of the Expos of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

When the Canadiens start their season, they should do the right thing.

They should bring out the Hawk and have him do that strange honorary first puck drop before one of their first games.

It would be the fitting farewell to his year long victory lap and closure to his Expos career that ended in collusion after the 1986 season.

One more time, Montreal. VIVE LE FAUCON!