Wh**ptee - D**

Two Cheaters Side-by-Side

I’m not going to jump up and down. I won’t.

I know the Nationals desperately needed an adequate back up catcher for Jesus Flores. I know they needed a catcher who could start for when Jesus Flores goes on the disabled list for an extended stay (like he has the past few years).

The Nats did that – and they did so by inking a sure-fire Hall of Fame catcher in the twilight of his career. Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez.

I put the “Pudge” in quotes not because he uses that as his nickname, rather because I cannot believe the media still has the audacity to use it. I mean, really, does this REALLY look like a guy who should be called “Pudge?”:

That doesn’t even look like the same guy. And don’t normal humans typically put on weight over the course of time. The dude’s 38 and looks like he lost 30-40 pounds in the past couple of years. This is a professional athlete who’s supposed to be building muscle and working out and he LOST that much?

If I were Carlton Fisk, I’d throw up in my mouth every time I hear that hack Karl Ravech from ESPN call Ivan Rodriguez “Pudge.”

I know it’s not been proven, I know I am only speculating and no, I cannot prove anything, but if steroids were to help any one position on the field more than any other it would be catcher – and Rodriguez played for the Rangers, the same team Jose Canseco was playing for when Canseco was handing out syringes like lollipops at a bank drive-thru window.

Again, no proof, but COME ON.

I appreciate that the Nats are trying to improve the team on the field and I honestly believe this move will help the team in a desperate need area. I will continue to root for the Nationals to improve, but I will NOT root for Ivan Rodriguez. I hope to God that Jesus Flores plays 162 games per season for the next two years and Ivan Rodriguez never sees the field. I know it’s unrealistic, but I don’t care.

Ivan Rodriguez will make the hall of Fame someday strictly because of his offensive numbers because that’s all that most members of the BBWA care about anymore anyway. They’ll overlook his laziness behind the plate in favor of that rocket arm that was bolstered artificially be steroids. They’ll ignorantly put him in failing to take into account that he probably would never have eclipsed the real Pudge for games behind the plate because the only way he could’ve possibly pulled it off was to inject himself with a substance that allowed him to do so.

Bully for you “Pudge.” You keep on sticking around and continue looking as skinny as a high-school freshman playing flute in the band while living the lie of an ex-steroid user. I’ll not root for you and I would sincerely hope nobody else in Natstown does either.

A Clean Sweep Of Gold And Silver For Zimm

Ryan Zimmerman Takes The Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards

Ryan Zimmerman pulled off a rare sweep last week as he took home two of baseball’s post-season awards (although they are of lesser significance than some others).

Zimmerman captured the Gold Glove Award and the Silver Slugger award in the National League this year. Unlike the Rookie of the Year or the Most Valuable Player, these awards are given out to one player at each position and Zimmerman earned both awards for National League third basemen.

All-in-all it was a great year for the Nationals’ young third-sacker. He went to his first All-Star game this year and now has added two yearly achievement awards to his resume which is growing each year. On top of all that, Zimmerman signed a contract extension with the Nats earlier this year which bought out the last two years of arbitration as well as the first three years of his free-agency. The deal will pay him $45,000,000 over the course of his contract (plus tons of incentives) and will culminate in 2013 with a $14,000,000 salary.

Zimmerman had a career year this year with career highs in AVG (.292), OBP (.364), SLG (.525), OPS (.888), HR (33), and R (110). He also played in 157 games at 3B.

Of course, what Nats fans are hoping is that this is just the start of a budding superstar career for Zimm. Hopefully the team continues to build around him and put the pieces in place to help him succeed.

Good Business or Evil Empire? Or Somewhere In Between?

Senator Palpatine and Anakin Skywalker Looking Over Their Empire

Now that the 2009 season has come to a close it’s time to start talking about off-season issues.

An interesting topic was on the docket this morning as the folks on Baseball This Morning (XM-175 from 7:00 – 10:00 Eastern) discussed some of the issues facing the general managers this week as they begin the general managers’ off-season meetings. The question was posed, “if you could change one thing about baseball, what would that be?”

A lot of listeners called in and discussed things like: (a) whether or not to let the National League get the DH (or force the American League to lose the DH); (b) whether or not to continue to allow the World Series home-field advantage be determined by the All-Star game or to go by some other merit based achievement; (c) the expansion or abolition of instant replay; and the most popular (d) what to do about the economic disparity of the sport.

After listening to the entire show and now hearing former Nationals general manager Jim Bowden expand on the topic, I have decided to give my cents to the argument on how to make the economic situation better.

When first addressing this subject, the immediate, knee-jerk reaction that everyone wants to touch upon is a “salary cap.” Many people point to the NFL and the NBA as successful examples of how a salary cap works. Well, I’ll admit that I don’t watch any professional basketball (it sucks) but I remember the 1980’s successful franchises: Boston, Los Angeles and Detroit (and eventually Chicago). The last two franchises to win the championships? Boston and Los Angeles and recently Detroit won a couple as well. It’s not like the NBA is spreading the wealth.

The NFL which is supposed to be king actually works under a much more stringent cap than any other professional league with a cap. Over the course of the 15 years the NFL has operated under a salary cap, the league has seen 11 different teams win the big one while MLB has only seen nine over that same period of time. But a little further analysis shows that despite having more teams make the playoffs every year, the NFL has sent 20 of its 32 teams to the Super Bowl while MLB has sent 16 of its 30 teams to the World Series. Not exactly a huge difference and the NFL has a hard cap. Even further, the cap really hasn’t helped defeat the notion of building a sustained winner – Pittsburgh, Denver, New England and Indianapolis have all proven to be perennial powerhouses in the NFL and make the playoffs seemingly every year and Pittsburgh, Denver and New England all have multiple Super Bowl championships in the salary cap era (Pittsburgh has been to three Super Bowls, won two of them; New England has been to five Super Bowls, won three of them; and Denver has been to and won two Super Bowls).

It seems like MLB’s economic problems all stem from one team: The New York Yankees. The Yankees spend the kind of money that the other 29 teams simply cannot generate on their own – but is a salary cap really the answer?

The current economic system of “revenue sharing” is working according to the folks who make a living covering these sorts of things – the good folks at Baseball Prospectus. In an article published on August 12th by Shawn Hoffman, B.P. posits that the system needs some tweaking but essentially the system may be a better fit for baseball than the hard cap of the NFL or the soft cap of the NBA.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a solid subset of franchises that's fully
satisfied with the status quo going forward. But the thing is, baseball's
current revenue sharing system has actually worked pretty well—the goal is to
balance competition and profitability, and MLB has had a pretty good share of
both over the past few years. If the owners were to completely reinvent the
wheel for the next CBA, they would be taking on a significant amount of risk,
which really isn't necessary given how well the current system has worked.

Mr. Hoffman goes into a little detail as to how the current revenue sharing system works – albeit an over-simplified version - but he does a great job of breaking down the system into material that a dope like me can understand.

Essentially the current system takes the amount of money a team spends over the “threshold,” assigns a percentage of that money as form of “luxury tax” and combines that with the revenue generated from national media coverage and splits that pot between baseball’s 30 teams. Currently, only the Yankees are paying the luxury tax.

We can run through an example. The teams brought in about $6 billion in revenue
last year, and will probably be right around that figure again in 2009. (I'm not
counting the half-billion or so that flows into MLB Advanced Media and MLB
Network, but doesn't reach the teams themselves.) Let's assume that about 20
percent, or $1.2 billion, came from national sources. That means each team would
collect about $40 million.

To me this means that the clubs who are the beneficiaries of the revenue that the Yankees (and a couple of other teams) are throwing into the pot, they’d be loads better than they are currently.

Here’s where I will veer from the Mr. Hoffman’s theory. Since the Yankees seem to have a bottomless pit of money, let’s test that theory and make it a “dollar-for-dollar” system. That way, if the Yankees want to push the payroll to $250,000,000 every year, so be it – they’ll just continue to pay a higher luxury tax than anyone else. I’d even see if I can push it one step further. Perhaps you could penalize teams that go over the payroll threshold by taking away a percentage of the national media income the league gets from Fox, ESPN and TBS. This could be offset by only airing a certain number of Yankee games on the national networks, but it will certainly make the ratings at YES go up as they carry more games and the demand for the network goes up.

It’s an overly simple answer to a much more complex problem. But it seems to me that if a moron like me can come up with something, then the folks who know these things a lot better than I do can get something done.

At the end of the day, I am strongly against a salary cap. I cannot watch the NBA anymore (though it may have less to do with salary structure and more to do with the style of play of the modern game) and I can’t help but notice that what the NFL touts as “parity” to me looks more like “mediocrity.”

I honestly believe that while I hate watching the Yankees win a World Series that they essentially bought, this sort of thing is good for baseball in the long-run. Over the course of history, a good, entertaining play or film always gave you a hero to root for and a villain to root against. There is no more polarizing organization in all of sports than the Yankees. Baseball needs the Yankees to be good so everyone pays attention.

For what it’s worth, Shawn Hoffman does a much better job of describing why the system of MLB is better than the NFL or the NBA. I recommend purchasing a subscription to Baseball Prospectus and reading up on topics such as these because with the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement on the horizon, this could become a huge issue if the Yankees win it all two more times in a row.

Hey MLB.com - Eat a Dick

Apparently MLB.com Hired The Bobs As Market Researchers For MLB.com's "Customer Service"

Wow, just wow.

While I was on vacation, I received word from my bank that my checking account went negative because a charge came in from MLB.com stating that I had been charged for a monthly subscription to MLB.tv for the end of the regular season and then again they graciously charged me for MLB.tv’s post-season coverage as well.

The charge only amounted to about $30, but since I was on vacation and couldn’t take care of it, my bank charged me a $25- overdraft fee.

I also have EZ-Pass which we were using to cover tolls to and from Florida. EZ-Pass is set up to hit my account whenever there is less than $10- to cover tolls on my EZ-Pass account. Care to guess what happened? That’s right. EZ-Pass dinged me for another $25- which then gave me yet another $25- overdraft fee from my bank (who at least was kind enough to give EZ-Pass the money so I wouldn’t be arrested for tollbooth hopping).

Here’s where I admit to my fault: I purchased MLB.tv back in June so I could watch my beloved Nationals every night and I could watch them in HD since my computer has an HD monitor for viewing television broadcasts online. Well, about 30 seconds into my first game, I realized that my internet connection wasn’t conducive to receiving live broadcasts in HD so that feature was rendered pointless.

Add to that the fact that the Nationals really sucked this year and I saw no reason to continue paying for the service. Knowing that I had checked the little checkbox that said, “Please do not renew my subscription when the current subscription expires” I just let it go dormant. Well, the “good” folks at MLB.tv didn’t see it that way. On July 27th they hit me for $19.95. They did so again on August 27th. And then again on September 27th (while I was in Florida) and added to it the post-season subscription (that I didn’t ask for). So that’s $70-. Not a big deal, but they did add another $50- in overdraft fees bringing the grand total to $120-. Usually no big deal, but we were on vacation and came back from Florida with no expendable cash.

Again, my fault for not checking my account thoroughly enough during July and August and noting that MLB.tv had charged me despite my not using the service.

Let's go Back in time a bit...

Last year when I signed up for Gameday Audio through MLB.com, I was enrolled in a subscription for Sports Illustrated despite the fact I asked them to not give me the free three months trial subscription. I got it anyway and cancelled the subscription after receiving my first magazine (I hate Sports Illustrated). The “good” folks at S.I. told me that they cancelled my subscription but that I’d continue to receive the magazine for the three free months. I said, “fine.” I have friends who have birds and they could use the magazines as cage liners.

Well, when the three free months ended, I was hit with a one-year subscription charge from S.I. for about $90-. It hit the same day that my XM radio renewal hit for $85 which, of course, threw my account negative and incurred another $50 in overdraft fees.

The process of recouping my costs was as excruciating as a non-anesthetized root canal. I spoke with countless “customer service” representatives at S.I. who all told me that I could not contact any managers or anyone in their finance department via phone – the only way they could receive a message from me directly was BY FAX! At least six different times I had to have a friend of mine who works at my bank send the finance department faxes of the transactions which caused my account to go negative as well as a letter on official bank letterhead explaining how to refund the money. SIX TIMES. I called Sports Illustrated EVERY SINGLE DAY trying to get this rectified – and while I was going through this fiasco which took close to three weeks to resolve, EZ-Pass hit me again and I got hit with another $25- overdraft.

The whole situation became comical. My brother suggested that after my fourth fax which they claimed the never received I should send one fax every hour which states, “If you feel you’ve received this fax in error – then give me my fucking money.” My friend at the bank theorized that the finance department was actually run by a group of people who all worshipped a worker droid that collected faxes off the fax machine and deposited them into the shredder.

Anyway, after about three weeks, Sports Illustrated finally gave me my money back as well as gave me $50- of the $75- they were responsible for in overdraft fees.

Needless to say, I recommend that everyone out there NOT subscribe to Sports Illustrated.

Fast forward to last week. I found the phone number for “customer service” at MLB.com and contacted them about my problem this year (in which they charged me four months worth of fees for one month worth of service). I spoke with a nice young man who went over the account with me and saw my login history and noticed that I stopped using the service when my one month subscription ran out and helped me put in the request for a refund. I also asked for the pie in the sky in the form of my $50- in overdraft fees which this transaction caused but I thought it was a stretch. He said he’d make a note about it, but frequently when the finance department of MLB.com issues refunds they do not refund overdraft fees. I said that I understood that but it would be nice to have that note in there.

We ended the conversation with him saying that I’ll get my $70 but that I’d have to wait and see what the finance department says about the $50-. I’ll receive an e-mail within 7-10 days regarding the refund.

Well, late last night – while I was watching the Phillies/Dodgers game - I got the e-mail which stated:

Dear Valued Subscriber:Your request for a refund in connection with your 2009
MLB.TV Premium Monthly Subscription subscription has been denied in accordance
with the terms of your purchase Should you wish to discuss your subscription
further, please contact Customer Support toll-free at
1-866-800-1275. Sincerely,MLB.com

So not only were they not going to give me my $50- in overdraft charges, they weren’t going to give me my $70- either.

I was a bit miffed.

I waited until they opened this morning and spoke with another “customer service” representative. I expressed my displeasure at the decision and she explained away by stating: “the box you checked was for automatic renewal of a YEARLY subscription and not the monthly subscription. The monthly subscription automatically renews and said so in the disclosure. You need to read it more carefully.” I then asked why they would even give me the option to check the box for non-renewal if I wasn’t signing up for the yearly subscription (when you sign up, you are asked on the front page which service you want, the monthly or yearly; after that you are taken to another page to process payment at which point you are offered the checkbox – so I again ask, why offer the option of non-renewal on the monthly page if your intent is not to offer it no matter what choice you make?). Her response? “I’m not sure, but I don’t work in billing.”

At this point I ask to speak to the person who made the decision not to refund my money. She says that those people don’t have phones or e-mail accessible to the general public. SOUNDS A LOT LIKE THE FAX-EATING DROIDS AT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED.

Exasperated, I asked “well, where do I go from here.” She informed me that she will make a separate request for a refund of my $120- and that I should receive an e-mail within 7-10 days. After that I asked what my options are when this second request is inevitably declined and she told me that I can call back and ask to speak with a manager. I asked if I could do that right now and she said none are available.

In the meantime, my account still sits negative. Luckily this is my travel account that I use for my play money so it’s not affecting mortgage payments or food or heat but it’s still pissing me off.

Sufficed to say, if there are any baseball fans out there who use MLB.com’s services and pay for them – I hope nothing ever goes wrong for you because getting through to anyone who can actually help you is darn near impossible.

MLB is a multi-billion dollar industry. For years there have been questions on whether or not the sport has lost touch with its bread-and-butter fan base.

I’d say these examples answer that question.

When Baseball Is This Bad - I Turn To College Hockey

The ECAC Makes a Bad Decision - And I'm Angry

Well it’s been a while since my last post and for very good reason: this baseball season sucks. The Nats were pathetic and the one team I am rooting against in the post-season (the Yankees) just swept their way past the Twins while the only club that could give them any competition whatsoever (the Red Sox) were swept by the Angels.

Because the thought of Alex ROIDriguez and Mark Te$$eira raising a championship trophy makes me want to vomit on my own shoes, I instead am going to focus on something that ordinarily makes me happy – college hockey.

If you recall from my very first entry, I reserve the right to not talk about the Nationals or baseball in general so that I can focus on writing something I care about when neither of those topics give me anything worth writing about.

I recently read on USCHO.com the pre-season predictions on how the college hockey season will play out in the 2009-10 ECAC season. Typically I follow the Clarkson Golden Knights and the Cornell Big Red.

I was excited to read the pre-season column looking at each school by USCHO’s ECAC correspondent Brian Sullivan. Sullivan’s been covering the ECAC for years now for USCHO and he generally has a good bead on the schools and he always manages to get great interviews with coaches because he’s got a good relationship built in.

It was a bit disappointing reading his wrap up of the Knights but it’s hard to argue with his reasoning – at least he thinks Cornell’s up for another great year.

So while it’s exciting for me that ECAC hockey is starting up, I did receive some sad news. A buddy of mine informed me that the championship rounds of the end of season ECAC Hockey Tournament is being moved from my back yard here in Albany, NY down to Atlantic City, NJ. I want the person responsible for that decision to tell me why they chose Atlantic City.

In the ECAC, you have only one school who’s fans travel really well: Cornell. So if Cornell makes it to the semis, you know you’ll have great attendance from them. Other than that, fans will travel modestly to get to the championships if their team makes it, but only one school from the ECAC (Princeton) is in New Jersey and Trenton is a hike from Atlantic City.

Of the 12 schools in the ECAC, six are from upstate, NY (Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Colgate, Cornell, Rensselaer and Union), one is from New Hampshire (Dartmouth), one is from Massachusetts (Harvard), one is from Rhode Island (Brown) and two are from Connecticut (Yale and Quinnipiac). So they move the championship rounds to NEW JERSEY?

Seems to me that if Albany, NY wasn’t central enough for them the least they could’ve done to maximize attendance would be to move it to Springfield, MA – that way the New England schools would travel a bit better.

Beyond that, you’re going to send college kids to a city that’s known for debauchery, gambling and prostitution? How’s THAT a good idea? I know most of these kids are Ivy Leaguers and the brightest minds out there, but they are still kids.

This just sounds like a really bad idea.

In March, I will purchase by tickets for the final season of ECAC hockey championships at the Knickerbocker Arena here in Albany and hope that Clarkson and/or Cornell is there. If not, I’ll still attend and watch some great college hockey – all the while lamenting that it will be my last opportunity to do so for at least three years; because I’m not driving six hours to Atlantic City for it.

2009 has been a colossal disappointment.

When is Spring Training?

Milton Bradley Embarrasses Cubs - Awesome.

I'LL SHOW YOU BALLS!

I must start by saying it’s been a while since my last post. My wife and I recently celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary and have been planning our 2nd honeymoon to Disney World with our three kids (we leave on Wednesday). Plus, lots of travel for work has left me bereft of free time.

That free time that I had? I certainly didn’t want to waste it writing about the disaster in DC. We suck; and my mom always told me that if I couldn’t say anything nice about someone I probably shouldn’t say anything at all. So I took a hiatus. But now I’m about to throw mom’s advice out the window.

Now what fun would it be to pile on the lowly Nats, though? Everyone knew we were going to struggle this year. That’s like giving the nerd in high-school an atomic wedgie - WAY too easy. Just once I'd love to see the nerd slip the smokin' hot cheerleader a rufee and nail her - thereby embarassing the high-school football team she's been laying pipe with. So instead of giving the Nats the atomic wedgie, I’d like to take a moment and once again laugh at the Cubs and nail their girlfriend.

After the 2008 season the Cubs were said to be desiring a RFer with some pop in his bat (an opinion I find curious since they really had an average CFer and a defensive hack in LF, but okay). They focused on Milton Bradley and Bobby Abreu. The Angels moved pretty quickly on Abreu once they stopped focusing on Mark “the Anti-Christ” Teixeira.

Once Abreu signed with the Angels the Nationals offered a contract to Adam Dunn for 2 years at $20 million. He begged the Cubs to match the offer and the Cubs instead decided to offer a three year/$30 million dollar contract to the often volatile Milton Bradley. Dunn ends up with the Nationals.

So the Cubs who were already in bed with one hot-head (Carlos Zambrano) added Bradley and all his baggage. Almost immediately – as could’ve been predicted by anyone with any common sense whatsoever – Bradley started lashing out at the Chicago media and the Cubs fan base. The big blow came in late August when he interviewed for an article by the Associated Press which include these clips:

"I'm talking about hatred, period. I'm talking about when I go to eat at a restaurant. I've got to listen to the waiters badmouthing me at another table, sitting in a restaurant. That's what I'm talking about. Everything."

"All I'm saying is I pray the game is nine innings, so I can go out there the least amount of time possible and go home,"

So does he regret signing with the Cubs, who are his seventh major league team?

"I don't regret anything," he said. "I regret that there are idiots in the world, that's what I regret."

Bradley is the idiot. I hate the Cubs; and even I wouldn’t say that the fans are brimming with hatred. Their fans don’t strike me as the types of fans who would “badmouth” him while at a restaurant with his family.

Lately, events transpired that led to a quick spiral into the abyss.

Bradley was pulled from his game early on in a double switch. Apparently, the move really angered Bradley and he pulled himself from the Thursday game with knee soreness. After the Thursday game Bradley had this exchange with members of the media:

Reporters: What happened with the injury?

Bradley: "I'm not talking about that. What else you got?"

Reporters: Why did you come out?

Bradley: "I got knee inflammation. I got two knee surgeries. That happens when you got knee surgery, in case you don't know. What else you got?"

Reporters: How long will you be out?

Bradley: "What else you got? Anything significant?"

From there, Bradley refused to play in Saturday’s game which precipitated a verbal argument with Cubs hitting coach Von Joshua. The following day (yesterday) Bradley interviewed with the Daily Herald. The following is an excerpt from that story:

Bradley claimed to have no opinion on where he bats - “In the lineup,” he said of his preferred spot - and the only time he became expansive at all was when he was asked if he had enjoyed his first season in Chicago.

“Not really,” he said. “It’s just not a positive environment. I need a stable, healthy, enjoyable environment. There’s too many people everywhere in your face with a microphone asking the same questions repeatedly. Everything is just bashing you. You got out there and you play harder than anybody on the field and never get credit for it. It’s just negativity.

“And you understand why they haven’t won in 100 years here, because it’s negative. It’s what it is.”

Asked whether he was talking about the fans, the media or even the Cubs organization, he replied: “It’s everything. It’s everybody.”

This finally led to Cubs GM Jim Hendry suspending Bradley for the rest of the season. The following is an excerpt from the Tribune quoting Jim Hendry:

Hendry mentioned the "issues we've all lived with during the year," referring to Bradley's publicized battles with umpires, fans and the Chicago media.

"The last few days became too much for me to tolerate," Hendry said. "I'm certainly not going to let our great fans become an excuse. I'm not going to tolerate not being able to answer questions from the media respectfully. Whether you feel like talking or not, it's part of all of our jobs."

There's a right way to do it and a wrong way. I'm not going to allow disrespect to other people in that locker room and uniformed personnel, and I'm certainly not going to let a player, as was mentioned in the article today, (talk about) negativity of the organization."

Hendry added the "only real negativity" was Bradley's production (12 HRs, 40 RBIs in 393 at-bats).

This leaves him only with the option of finding some sucker to actually give him more than a cup of coffee for Bradley. If the Cubs fail to find a trade partner for Bradley’s services, they’ll have to cut him and eat the contract.

They could’ve had Adam Dunn for the same salary with less commitment. Dunn has had a great year at the plate hitting nearly 50 points higher than his career batting average and hitting his usual 40 homeruns and 100 or so RBI. Ao they instead signed Bradley who caused problems with the fans, the media and the team all while hitting 12 homers and 40 RBI in nearly 400 at-bats. He embarrassed the franchise, embarrassed his manager and now forced his general manager to eat his contract.

It's sorta like we actually did nail the girlfriend AND we got to give the starting quarterback the atomic wedgie.

All of this while they’re trying to sell the team.

Hilarious.

Oh My Achin' Ass

Sorry Steve. I Wish It Were Different For You, But Alas, You're Hosed

You know who really angers me? The mainstream media. Part of what really annoyed me as a Yankee fan was the circus that followed players everywhere they went and the fact that their announcers were so overtly homeristic in their coverage that it made it impossible to listen to them and actually follow the game – you know? The reason we tuned in? Not to listen to your pathetic prattling over homerun calls and what Derek Jeter had for breakfast?

Well apparently Stephen Strasburg feels the same way. He had his first workout session in Viera on Monday and addressed the media that was covering him there. Do you know what Strasburg had the audacity to say?

"I thought I'd get a little bit of peace out here, but you guys are following me everywhere. It's something I guess I gotta deal with. I guess it just goes with the territory."

[sarcasm lock on] Oh my God! HE HATES BEING A PROFESSIONAL ALREADY!!! WHAT’RE WE GONNA DO?!?!?!? [/sarcasm]

Really – why is this such a big deal? He’s from Southern California and isn’t used to this sort of thing. He’s 21 years old and has a lot of stupid things he’s going to say ahead of him. In fact if you read it and imagine it being spoken, it sounds like he’s saying, “it’s really no big deal, I just didn’t think you guys would think that a throwing session would be newsworthy. Whatever.”

And you know what? HE’S RIGHT. This kid has more perspective at the tender age of 21 than these overbearing blowhards in the media have despite having more years experience than Strasburg has years of life. The kid’s 100% correct. IT’S A THROWING SESSION. Any baseball fan worth his or her salt understands this isn’t going to translate to a call-up on Friday and a no-hitter on Sunday. It’s really no big deal.

And if that’s not enough, he even made light of the whole fiasco by stating:

"Once I get into playing games and stuff, it should be able to die down. Hopefully it will die down sometime soon. . . . I'm just a baseball player. It's not like I'm the President or anything."

A - f’n - men. This isn’t a peace accord negotiation, this isn’t even a Major League debut. It’s a pitching session. The actual team is in San Diego. Why not spend your time with that?

The “outrage” on display by the columnists who are wasting their time talking about this act indignant. John Feinstein wrote about it yesterday. XM-175 and their morning baseball program is covering this thoroughly and while I fully appreciate the coverage, it would be nice to actually talk about baseball and not dissect this kid’s off-handed comments.

Honestly? Baseball This Morning's hosts are spending time comparing a 21-year-old freshly drafted Washington National to a player like Derek Jeter. Jeter was drafted by and brought up in a system that is world-renowned. The New York media is notoriously relentless. It’s not like the Washington sports media has a reputation – most people are dimly aware that there is a Washington sports media and the only columnist they can readily identify is George Will and he’s more of a political columnist than a sports columnist.

This kid was probably genuinely shocked that so many people cared about a throwing session that took place 3,500+ miles away from where the big-league team was getting ready to play a game.

In my heart of hearts, I believe these knuckleheads in the media are insulted by comments like these. When an athlete calls them out and asks them if they really don’t have anything better they could be doing it’s a personal attack. The audacity of some player actually telling them what’s news and what isn’t? Preposterous! I’ll write a column that’ll show him who’s decides what’s news and what isn’t!

Please. Leave the kid alone and cover the Nationals. This kid’s a minimum of three years away from positive contributions to the big-league club and you’re following his every move?

Wake up Washington sports media: YOU’RE NOT NEW YORK. There’s nothing endearing about the New York media to players or to fans that really follow the game. Shut up. Leave the kid alone and let him develop. Don’t you have any questions for Ryan Zimmerman – or anyone else actually on the team for that matter?

In all their angst, the columnists and op-ed folks apparently missed this little gem:

"I am going to take what's given to me. I know the organization has my best interest [in mind]. . . . When they feel my time is right, I'll go up there and pitch as good as I can. . . . This is the game I love. It's something I love to do."

But then again, it doesn’t help perpetuate their make-believe story.

AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!

Do I Really Need To Write A Caption?

What a great day to be a Nats fan and a Cub hater. Taking two-out-of-three from the Cubs has been one of the few bright spots in this season of discontent. Nothing makes misery tolerable quite like company.

The Cubs now stand at one game over .500 – a full nine games behind the Cardinals for the division and 7 ½ games behind Colorado for the wild card. Certainly not an impossible task with 37 games to play, but the way they lost those games and who they lost them to indicates that this team doesn’t have the moxie to pull it off.

J.D. martin was less than sharp yesterday and managed to get out with his hide. Martin allowed three runs (two homeruns) in only five innings of work. The Nats bullpen (that’s right, THE BULLPEN) bailed him out allowing only one run over the last four innings to hang onto the 5-4 win.

The night before, Livan Hernandez (more on him in a moment) allowed only 2 runs in six innings. Speaking of Livan Hernandez, I was on the road for work on Wednesday and had not heard about the acquisition of Hernandez until about a half-hour before game time. What the hell? First the Nats front office states they will NOT acquire veteran free-agent pitchers to supplement the rotation. Not only do they throw that plan out the window, they do it FOR LIVAN HERNANDEZ?!?!?! Should we expect Orlando Hernandez next? Perhaps Bert Blyleven would like to come out of retirement to bolster his Hall of Fame chances? Really? Livan Hernandez? I live in New York and I could’ve SWORN I saw Livan in the line to sign up for social security back in June. I swear it was him.

Tuesday night, Garrett Mock was less than perfect but when you get two homers from Josh Willingham and a grand slam from Elijah Dukes, do you really need to worry?

So the Cubs lost to Mock and Martin who are both still developing and hoping at some point to be major league-caliber pitchers. The only win came in the Livan game and that game may have gone to the Nats if Jorge Sosa (who someday hopes to develop into a major league-caliber bathroom attendant) didn’t allow 5 runs in ONE-THIRD OF AN INNING.

Random thoughts……

Say, you know who’s had a career year?

The Guy On The Right

The photo comes courtesy of Nationals Inquisition who represented at bloggers day and got a photo op with Josh Willingham’s gigantic guns (apparently Dangernat had his tickets to the gun show).

Willingham is hitting 25 points higher than his career average and has 21 homers so far – only five fewer than his career high for a season. If the Nats hadn’t wasted their time with Willingham toiling away on the bench early in the season, just think of how much better they’d be. This team benched him and then when they finally gave him his shot, they asked him to change positions – then after they traded away Nick Johnson and moved Adam Dunn to first, they asked him to switch back. All of this and he never moped, never complained and never publicly blasted the team. Instead, he went about his business and earned the job that probably should’ve been rightfully his to begin with.

If I had disposable income, I’d get me a Nationals “Willingham” jersey because these are the types of players worth rooting for.

F**k The Cubs

This Is The Word Of The Lord

Any journalistic integrity I have or may have had at one time in my life is going completely out the window today: I HATE THE CUBS.

And no, this doesn’t stem from Alfonso Soriano signing with the Cubs after his one ill-fated season with the Nationals. I’ve hated them since I was a teenager. I tuned into WGN (the Chicago Superstation) every day to enjoy watching the Cubs lose.

I never found Harry Caray to be charming, I think Ron Santo sounds like an alcoholic who masturbates during Cub radio broadcasts, I don’t feel bad for Ryne Sandberg or Ernie Banks or Cubs fans. I am contented when the Cubs are the Cubs.

You see, I always found it patently unfair that the Cubs had the right to broadcast their games to a national audience (for that matter, I guess that’s also why I hated the Braves so much) – and why did WGN pick the Cubs? THEY SUCKED! At least the White Sox were interesting; but no, they chose the Cubs.

The fans are terrible. They walk around like it’s their right to a championship and they’re rationale is that they’ve “waited long enough.” Really? I don’t think so.

Some things need to be a certainty; like death, taxes, the sun rising in the east, etc. We had the futility trilogy not too long ago: the Red Sox, the White Sox and the Cubs. Well both Sox are off the hook now and we just have to keep this Cubs thing going. It makes for a great story line and it makes me happy.


So what could make me doubly happy? The Nats really have a chance this week to put a hurtin’ on the Cubs’ post-season chances. The Cubs are currently eight games behind St. Louis in the NL Central and 7 ½ games behind the Rockies for the NL Wild Card (with San Francisco, Atlanta and Florida between the Cubs and Rockies). Plus, the Astros and Brewers are both just two games behind Chicago in the standings and both are below .500 . This could be a great week if only we didn’t face Zambrano and Harden in games one and two. Hopefully Mock and Martin can bring their A-games with them as they have their past few starts – each are 2-1 in their last three.

Please Nats. I haven’t really asked for much during this awful season, but can’t we just win 2-out-of-3 here and keep the cycle of Cub losing going? I plan on living until at least 80 years old and I hope the Cubs never win one in my lifetime. I want to die knowing that for 142 straight years, people lived, people died, people were taxed, people watched the sun rise in the east and set in the west every day and the Cubs still never won a World Series.

ESPN - Going The Way Of The Do-Do?

ESPN: The Total Sports Network (of areas surrounding Boston and New York)

The time has come. It’s time for “The New England/New York and NFL Network” – better known to some as ESPN – went away.

Did you know the Yankees and Red Sox played this weekend? Okay maybe you did, but do you know the outcome of any of the games? I sure don’t; and I attribute that in large part to having no access to ESPN anymore, and that’s voluntary.

With the advent of the networks for all four major sports, there really isn’t a need for ESPN anymore. For example, today I am listening to, as I always do, XM Radio’s MLB Homeplate (XM-175) for all of my baseball talk. Sure, they’re covering the Red Sox-Yankees matchup from this past weekend, but they’re covering lots of different topics. This morning they talked about historical improbable endings to baseball games because The Phillies’ Eric Bruntlett turned an unassisted triple play to end the Mets-Phillies game yesterday.

Also earlier today, Kansas City Royals manager Trey Hillman was on to discuss KANSAS CITY ROYALS BASEBALL. Do you think the super-mega-conglomerate which can’t be bothered with anything outside of New York or Boston (unless it’s the NFL) would ever consider spending anymore than a 30-second highlight segment on Kansas CIty unless it was of the Royals getting pummeled by the Yankees – and it not being about the Chiefs? If ESPN was your lone choice for sports information you would think MLB only had two teams (well, okay maybe three if you add the Cubs).

And in case you say, “well gee, that’s all well and good if you’re a baseball nut, but what about football? ESPN covers football.” To which I say, “why wouldn’t you watch the NFL Network instead?” It’s offered on just about every cable system there is. If you’re into satellite radio, Sirius offers an all-football NFL channel. The same is offered by the NBA and the NHL. Hell, even NASCAR and the PGA have their own radio networks and I know that The Golf Channel exists on television.

Why on earth would you ever rely on ESPN for any sports information anymore? Even if you are a fan of the Yankees or the Red Sox, there are 24-hour television stations devoted to those teams.

Maybe ESPN can put the “E” back into its name and move to a 24-hour network that provides just ports-based movies and mini-series. Sorta like an AMC of sports. They could keep the one useful network they have (ESPN News) and get rid of everything else.

With all of the information out there it seems time for these all-inclusive networks to rethink their strategies. Look at MTV and go back and look at where it was 25 years ago; or the Weather Channel. Wake up ESPN. Your days of pandering to a certain segment of your audience and forcing the rest of us to like it are numbered. If I want to hear about baseball that doesn’t have to do with Boston or New York, I can find it now. I don’t need you anymore and soon nobody else will either. I hope you enjoy a programming scheduled filled with World Series of Poker reruns.

Big Week In D.C.

He's Our Man

Despite getting swept by the Rockies this week, the Nationals as an organization are finally starting to look like a real baseball franchise.

The final block of the old MLB-run regime was finally replaced when earlier this week the Nationals named Mike Rizzo the permanent GM of the club. Rizzo has done an admirable job of turning chicken-s**t into chicken salad. Shortly after Jim Bowden’s firing, Rizzo went right to work patching up the bullpen by signing a couple of veterans (okay, so it wasn’t great, but they were literally all that was left after Bowden failed to address the issue) Joe Beimel and Julian Tavarez. He attempted to bolster the ‘pen by adding Logan Kensing from the Marlins – hey, as I said already, he really didn’t have a lot to work with.

He traded away JoeLOL Hanrahandout and troubled prospect Lastings Milledge for the Nationals new spark-plug, lead-off hitter and resident pimptastic “Tony Plush” errr….I mean, … Nyjer Morgan and a very solid bullpen addition of Sean Burnett.

Rizzo then drafted and signed Drew Storen with the #10 overall pick. Not only did he get Storen signed, he got it done quickly and Storen skyrocketed through the system already surpassing short-season and long-season A-ball and is now pitching in AA Harrisburg.

Rizzo’s best accomplishment to date (and probably the move that solidified his job) was staring down the barrel of a gun held by super-agent Scott Boras and getting the #1 overall pick Stephen Strasburg signed. Yes, it was a record-setting contract, but far from bending over for Boras’ initial demands of upwards of FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS.

Rizzo did what Bowden couldn’t do with last year’s first round pick Aaron Crow – and the rumor has it that as the deadline neared, Rizzo went into the conference room, alone, with nobody to watch over him and got the deal done. That’s trust in the man’s ability to do his job. As a result, the Nationals held a press conference yesterday to announce the “interim” tag would be removed from Rizzo’s title.

So now we have real owners, a real front office and now a hand-picked real GM. After a dismal start to 2009, perhaps things will turn around here and we can start playing some better baseball.

And speaking of press conferences, Rizzo’s top prize is slated for a presser of his own today when the Nationals announce to the world that Stephen Strasburg is officially a National.

But before then, Strasburg will be hosting a chat session on mlb.com where fans can submit questions for Strasburg to answer. My guess is, Mike Rizzo will be standing over Strasburg’s shoulder telling him what to and what not to write – call me cynical.

After all of this though, it’s difficult to be cynical because this really has been a great week to be a Nats fan because you can see the building blocks form the foundation.

Now it’s time to get to work and start winning some ball games. Milwaukee? You’re next.

Nationals Land Top Prize In Draft

Stephen Strasburg Signs A Record Contract With Washington

Well, there you have it. All the hemmin' an' hawin' over nothing really. In the end, Strasburg had no interest in being the pawn in Scott Boras's effort to tear down the MLB "First Year Player" Draft system. It was all about the money.

Well Mr. Strasburg, you got your money. Jersey's in your locker. Put it on and get to work you free-loader.

Oh and by the way? That San Diego State uniform looks stupid.

Today Is The Day

Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia. - Charles M. Schultz

Today is the day. Either he does, or he doesn’t – Stephen Strasburg, that is.

The deadline to sign the players that teams drafted back in the first-year players’ draft in June is upon us. 11:59 p.m., Monday August 17th. As Julius Caesar says in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged] : “Why, that’s today!” - in reference to being reminded to “beware the Ides of March.”

I’ve heard the arguments for why the Nationals should, nay, HAVE to sign him: they failed to sign Aaron Crow (the colossal dumbass) last year, the team needs to make a statement that says they mean business in terms of building a winner, the team needs to tell its fanbase that it cares, etc. But I think they’re being held over a barrel by super-agent Scott Boras who is hell-bent on destroying the draft system and a player who seems eager to act as a pawn.

Rumors are abound about how much the team has offered, but the Nationals’ front office has publicly confirmed that the figure is the highest amount of money ever offered to a number on overall pick. And isn’t that the point? Every year, the number one pick should drive the market up, and the Nationals have stepped up.

To me, this kid just ain’t worth the headache. He alone is not going to turn this franchise around. Baseball is a team sport and the Nationals have a lot more problems that can be addressed. They need to shore up the defense up the middle. Next year, they need a high quality 2B and they need to get a player in the system who can/will replace Cristian Guzman after next year’s trading deadline.

They need to determine whether or not Jesus Flores can not only stay healthy, but continue to be a productive major-league caliber catcher.

They need to clean up the bull-pen. Is Mike MacDougal really going to be your closer? Is he capable? Will 10th overall pick Drew Storen be your closer of the future? Can MacDougal set-up? What about long relief?

Then there’s the rotation: Zimmermann = DONE for at least a year (probably two and possibly forever). Stammen = Detwiler = Martis = Mock = Chico = Balester = 4th and 5th starters. They need a bona fide ace and a #2 or #3 to go along with Lannan and see who shakes out of the remaining prospects to fill out the rotation (and that assumes Strasburg signs).

If the Nats dump $17+ Million on Strasburg, the front office may be hesitant to add too much in the free agent market (plus, there’s that statement from Kasten indicating the team will NEVER address the pitching problems in the free agent market). For my money, I’d rather see what the Nats can do about getting a front-line starter via free agency and let Strasburg pitch in Indy ball or even in Japan.

In the end, Boras works for Strasburg and not vise-versa. If the dollar figure continues to climb and the kid still goes unsigned, I can’t blame the Nationals because they broke the bank for the kid; I can’t blame Boras for trying to get every dollar he can for his client (although filling Strasburg’s head with grandiose ideas can’t be in his client’s best interest). Nope, I blame Strasburg himself. Get in, get your money and GET TO WORK.

Look at Aaron Crow from last year. He’s already lost money and value by pitching in the Indy leagues and now he’s still holding out for more money from the Royals – HE STILL HASN’T LEARNED. He’s not going to come close to earning what the Nats offered him last year and HE’S GOING TO TRY IT AGAIN!?!?!?!?!?

If Strasburg is really going to be this stupid, then I’d rather the Nats move on and get someone with a good head on their shoulders and not someone who wanted to take some time off and enjoy a lengthy summer vacation while his agent did the “work” which got us to this point.

If the Nats don’t get Strasburg, it’s not the end of the world.

Oh No! We Suck Again!

We Are The Geeks Who Get The Swirlees

Well that was fun while it lasted.

The Nats returned from Planet Ecstasy and got right back to business: losing. After a short two-game sweep at the hands of the Braves, the Nats traveled to Cincinnati last night and got a beat-down in the form of a two-hit shutout by Bronson Arroyo (the self-proclaimed juicer).

Collin Balester looked terribly hittable, the offense looked woefully inept and the bullpen was predictably less-than-average (except Mike “The Klej” MacDougal who pitched a perfect ninth inning when absolutely nothing was on the line – why can’t he do that in save situations instead of pitching to induce ulcers?).

The one pitcher the Nationals had that could be considered a potential “front of the rotation” type – Jordan Zimmermann – had Tommy John’s surgery which ended his 2009 campaign as well as shut down any hope for anything in 2010. In fact, if the Nats manage to sign Stephen Strasburg, maybe Jordan Zimmermann will actually be ready to pitch like a #2 when “Stras” is pitching in the majors (probably 2012). Even if Zimmermann can pitch next year, he’ll never be fully recovered to the point of pitching effectively until two years after the surgery and rehab.

We just can’t buy a break and now we’re adding the humiliation of a potential four-game sweep at the hands of the Reds. Garrett Mock? J.D. Martin? At least we’ll have a chance on Sunday with John Lannan.

It’s tough being a Nats fan this year. You feel like the pocket-protector wearing high-school freshman dork who shows up every day and gets a “swirlee” in the boys’ locker room. You go through the year thinking, “this must get pretty old for them, too, so it’ll stop eventually.” Well, that eight-game winning streak was apparently the Spring Break that you receive in April and you return to school and get your “swirlee” again like it never stopped.

It’s getting pretty old for me and it doesn’t appear to be getting old for the seniors.

Wait....We Did WHAT?!?!

I Just Can't Take Any More Of This Winning Stuff!

I’ve been absent lately.

You see I recently checked out of St. Peter’s Hospital here in Albany, NY – I was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Nats just reeled off eight straight and I’m really not quite sure how to handle it. Every night this past weekend I awoke at 11:30 p.m. in a sweaty frenzy convinced the national media was out to make me insane because I kept seeing that the Nationals won a baseball game on the scrolling ticker along the bottom of the NYNESNEPSN Sportscenter score alert ticker. I mean, the Nationals even won a game that GARRET MOCK STARTED. I would start screaming uncontrollably – I would try to loosen the straps that held me to the gurney and the nurses would rush in and give me a high-dosage shot of valium to put me back to sleep. The madness has to stop.

After a series of tests, they released me this morning convinced that between the off-day and the upcoming series with the now red-hot Atlanta Braves, I should be okay for the next few days. It could be short lived as the Nats have an upcoming FOUR GAME series with the slumping Reds who dumped talent at the deadline then a three game home series with Colorado who is mediocre on the road and another three-game home series with Milwaukee who can’t seem to get it going. I tell you, I am getting the shakes right now thinking about our lead in the Division Of Suck.

The Nats have made up eight games – IN EIGHT GAMES – against the Pirates and five games in the last ten against Kansas City. Our lead is shrinking faster than the Republican’s hope of filibustering the Obama Health Care Reform Act.

SOMEONE GET ME MY VALIUM!

Hey Florida, F**K YOU!

It’s been a while since my last post. No, I haven’t gone anywhere I’ve just been knee-deep in my own baseball season. You see, our playoffs start on Saturday and I maintain the website for the league so my job is crucial as we near the end of the season. Managers want updated stats and standings so they can size up their opponents for playoff positioning.

With all of the rain we’ve had in the Northeast this year, it’s been exceptionally difficult to keep up with the schedule and in a league where you normally play one or two games per week, we have teams cramming five games into seven days. In fact, personally I’m in the middle of four games in three days (we played last night, we’ve a double-header tonight and then our final game tomorrow night before our playoffs start on Saturday). We’re talking 35 years or older and guys who work regular jobs. We’re gonna have some tired arms.

Anyway, last night I caught and hit at the top of the lineup. Tonight I am scheduled to make my first ever in my life start on the mound and then I am scheduled to catch game two. I’ll be quite fatigued but I will persevere and hopefully once we are eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday, I’ll be less “busy” and onto more important things – like this blog.

Anyway, after the last post (The Division Of Suck), the Nats dropped two straight to the AA Pirates but managed to secure a split of the four game series. The new contender for The Division Of Suck comes from Kansas City who now stands a mere 6 ½ games back and they’re falling fast.

In other news, Stephen Strasburg still hasn’t signed yet and Ryan Zimmerman is getting his shoulder examined after being struck by a ball. Austin Kearns has gone on the DL but I think that actually IMPROVES the team.

But the most important news happened last night – WE FINALLY BEAT THE F***ING FISH! WOO-HOO!!! Seriously though we hadn’t beaten them at all this year – including a three game sweep at Washington in which the Nats blew late inning leads in each of the three games (including my son’s first-ever major league baseball game which makes me hate the Marlins more than any other NL East “rival”). So it feels great this morning.

This really could prove to be a turning point for the Nats this year. They finally overcame a team that owned them for nine games this year – but it’s how they did it that makes it so special. The Marlins had their usual late-inning lead and a great pitcher in Josh Johnson on the mound. The score was 4-0 in the eighth and Josh Johnson runs into trouble – with nobody out he allows three straight singles by Willie Harris, Alberto Gonzalez and Wil Nieves to load the bases (these guys are the Nats 6, 7 and 8 hitters!). Then manager Jim Riggleman pinch hits for pitcher Ron Villone and brings up the oft-criticized “Fat” Ronnie Belliard. Belliard rips a two run double to pull the Nats to within two runs. Josh Johnson gets pulled without recording an out in the eighth and is replaced by some joker named Renyel Pinto (I’ve never head of him either).

Nats leadoff hitter, Nyjer Morgan gets an RBI groundout to second and the Nats are only down one.

Pinto gets pulled for Kiko Calero (is it me, or does that sound like the name of a doll you’d buy for your infant daughter?). Calero works a full count to Cristian Guzman and Guzman wins the at-bat with an RBI single. He then gets Josh Willingham to pop-out to first base.

Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez then brings in a lefty by the name of Dan Meyer (not to be confused with Lane Meyer of “Better Off Dead”) to face the Big Donkey. Adam Dunn takes a 3-2 pitch deep and the Nats have now scored SIX RUNS in the eighth to take the lead!

That’s where the score stood in the ninth when Mike MacDougal actually made it stick – although he did allow a walk and a double, but got out of the inning unscathed with a double play grounded into by Jeremy Hermida.

So we finally beat the f***ing Marlins and we beat them the way they beat us most of the year – in a heart-wrenching fashion. Hopefully the boys can keep it up and carry this momentum through to tonight. The Nats will send their “ace” John Lannan to the mound so they’ve got a great shot to ensure a series victory tonight – and in a season to forget, it would sure feel nice to stick it to the Marlins for a change.

Pirates Will Challenge Nationals For "Championship"

Wait, Who Plays 1B, 2B, SS, LF, CF, RF, SP, RP, Bat Boy For The Pirates?

There is an interesting “pennant race” developing that not many people are talking about: The Race For The #1 Pick In 2010. The Nationals looked like they had a stranglehold on this race, but recent events leading up to today’s trade deadline have the Nats in serious jeopardy of losing this race.

Here are the standings as of today:

Team..............................Record.........Games “Behind"

1. Washington Nationals . . . . 32-70 . . . . . . . . --
2. Kansas City Royals . . . . . . 40-61 . . . . . . . . 8.5
3. San Diego Padres . . . . . . . 41-62 . . . . . . . . 9.5
4. Cleveland Indians . . . . . . . 42-60 . . . . . . . 10
T5. Oakland Athletics . . . . . . 43-58 . . . . . . . 11.5
T5. Pittsburgh Pirates . . . . . . 43-58 . . . . . . . 11.5
T7. Baltimore Orioles . . . . . . 44-57 . . . . . . . 12.5
T7. Arizona D’backs . . . . . . . 44-57 . . . . . . . 12.5

While at first glance it looks as though the Nats have this one in the bag, in the last 10 games they actually “lost” ground in the standings by picking up one game on Arizona; two games on each of San Diego and Oakland; and three games on Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The only team they “kept pace” with is Cleveland.

We need to handicap this division and look at our chances here in “The Division of Suck”:

1. Washington Nationals. Current frontrunner and defending champions. The Nats have made losing an art form early this season. However, the lack of moves near the trade deadline gives this handicapper pause. Are the Nats serious about backing up their Strasburg pick with Bryce Harper or not? Seems to me they could be off-loading what little talent they have if they were.

2. Kansas City Royals. Perennial doormat. Always a threat in the Division of Suck and the only reason they are so far back right now was they had a torrid April going 12-10 and ending the month on top of the AL Central. In the end, I think the Royals can’t even LOSE the right way and end up a distant third in this race.

3. San Diego Padres. Pre-season favorites for the Division of Suck with the sale of the franchise up in the air and the pending Jake Peavy trade (that never happened). After a decent start though, Peavy ended up going down with an injury and hasn’t pitched since June. Now comes the rumor that the Padres lone offensive talent, Adrian Gonzalez, is about to be traded to the Red Sox. No Peavy + no Gonzalez = INSTANT CONTENDER.

4. Cleveland Indians. So much hope and so much promise. So little delivered. This team went into the season looking at the MLB playoffs, not the MLB PAYOFFS. The Indians have already traded Ryan Garko and now their ace Cliff Lee. Rumors have Victor Martinez possibly moving before 4:00 p.m. today. Can that be enough to make up 10 games in the Division of Suck standings? I think so.

5. Oakland Athletics. Well, they trade FOR Matt Holliday in the pre-season to avoid being in the Division of Suck. Now they traded AWAY Matt Holliday to win the race. Don’t know if they can make up 11 games though. They do play the Mariners a bunch of times……

6. Pittsburgh Pirates. THE DARKHORSE. Ladies and gentlemen, I challenge you to name all nine starters of Pittsburgh’s opening day roster. Go ahead. I’ll wait…… You only came up with four or five names didn’t you? Well, don’t worry, they don’t play for the Pirates anymore anyway. Any recognizable name that was on the Pirates earlier this year is now gone. Away: Freddie Sanchez, Jack Wilson, Tom Gorzellany, Adam LaRoche, that other guy you could name. Hell, even the Nationals got Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett. This team is my sleeper and YES I think they can make up a measly 11.5 games with Lastings Milledge playing LF for them now.

7. Baltimore Orioles. I think the O’s end up in last place in this division; in fact, if the Blue Jays trade Roy Haladay I think the Orioles move into the American League East and the Blue Jays move into the Division of Suck. The Orioles have way too much talent to win this division.

8. Arizona Diamondbacks. With the Rockies coming back to earth, I predict the D’backs move out of this division and into the major leagues again. Too much pitching to be here but the fact that Brandon Webb hasn’t pitched certainly helped them get here.

In the end, I still think the Nats wind up near the top. 8 ½ games clear of the next “best” team is a lot of ground to lose. Of the teams here I think the Pirates have the best shot and the Nats play the Bucs starting tonight. If the Nats can pull of the sweep of the team that apparently would sell their sister into prostitution if they could, I bet the Pirates can pull it off.

So, who do you root for here?

Collin Balester Gets Another Chance

Looks Like A Curveball - And Bally's Got A Good One

Here’s Collin Balester’s chance. He finally got the call-up last week and in his only appearance so far, he was the pitcher of record in the rain-delayed-and-shortened nightmare against the Cardinals last week. Tonight, he will not have to worry about the raindrops at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

Balester has a great shot at putting the Nats up 2-0 in the four game set because the Brewers counter with Carlos Villanueva who hasn’t made a start since last May and has struggled in 81 relief appearances since. Villanueva has pitched well against the Nationals in his career going 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA in five appearances but those were all in relief.

Balester should get help from the Nats’ big three in the middle of the order: Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham. Zimmerman is heating up as he’s 8-for-23 (.304) with three homers and five RBI over the last seven days. Read yesterday’s post about how white-hot Dunn has been but add to that a 2-for-3 night last night with a double, a walk and two RBI. Willingham is up to .298 on the season and has played better since being given the starting RF job. However, his last seven games have him on a blistering pace: 10-for-23 (.435), four homers, four doubles and 12 RBI including two grand slams in last night’s game. He’s slugging 1.130 over his past seven games.

It’s no wonder the Nationals have won six-of-eight with all of the offense being put up.

So it’s up to Balester tonight to keep it going. The Nationals are 6-7 since firing Manny Acta and 6-2 since interim manager Jim Riggleman took the team to task after losing five straight out of the gates following the All-Star break.

Hopefully Collin can get the fastball up around 94-95 like he’s been known to do early in his career. I believe the trick to holding the Brewers at bay is to mix the speeds of his pitches well. If his fastball is coming in at 94, it’d be nice to see if the stint in the minors had him working on his changeup. The Brewers have some serious pop in their lineup with the likes of Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun anchoring the middle of order. Braun and (especially) Fielder can be had as long as that changeup is working. And if “Bally’s” curveball is working and he’s throwing it for strikes, the Brewers could find themselves down 2-0 in the series.

Bally’s gonna have to be good because the Nats are going with Garrett Mock tomorrow (and he’s been awful since being called up) and J.D. Martin on Thursday (and he’s making just his second career big league start).

Here’s to you Collin Balester and here’s wishing you success in your start against the Brewers tonight. Make it good and give the Nationals a tough decision to make when Jordan Zimmermann comes back off the D.L.

Adam Dunn Is Good For The Nationals - Yeah, I Said It

How Much More Does This Guy Have To Do?

One thing’s for sure, if you’re looking for someone to pin the blame for the Nationals’ awful season, you really can’t look at Adam Dunn.

Dunn’s numbers this year indicate he is having his finest year as professional baseball player. I lifted the following examples from baseball-reference.com to indicate just how effective Dunn has been:

Starting with the basics, his batting average is the best it’s ever been for a single season. "The Big Donkey" carries a lifetime .249 average and in his best season (2004) he hit .266 for Cincinnati. Right now, he’s hitting .275 and that was after an awful May (.243) and June (.241). He’s on fire this month hitting .325 for the month of July.

His homeruns have dropped off since early in the season. He looked like a sure lock for the All-Star game with 16 homers through May, but he’s hit only 9 since. Still, he’s tied for third in the National League with 25 so far and he’s on pace for 43 homers this year which would be his second best output of his career (behind 2004 when he hit 46).

In the other “triple crown” category – RBI – he sits at 71 through 98 games which puts him on pace for around 108 which would also eclipse his highest total to date (106 in 2007).

His OBP of .402 would also be a career best, his OPS of .952 would be second best in his career (.956 in 2004) and he’s hitting lefties (.261 in 2009) better than he ever has in his career.

Plus, in the 11 games since the All-Star break he’s hitting a blistering .351 with 2 homers, 3 doubles, 6 walks and 9 RBI.

But enough about the offense, let’s focus on what it was that bugged me about Dunn’s signing in the off-season – his poor defensive play in the outfield.

I don’t necessarily agree with the defensive metrics out there, typically. I find it difficult to quantify a player’s defensive abilities with numbers and standards. When judging a player’s defensive abilities, I believe the best way to evaluate them is simply to watch them play.

Admittedly, I hadn’t seen much of Dunn before purchasing the MLB.tv package back in June, but I like what I’ve seen – for the most part – and Dunn, in my opinion, hasn’t been as bad as advertised.

Speaking with fellow Nats fans on WNFF.net, I have heard that Dunn’s defensive play has been less than stellar this season, but recently it has picked up. In one of the games this weekend, Bob Carpenter and Rob Dibble (the Nats television broadcast team) made mention of Dunn working hard with Nationals coach Marquis Grissom on his play in the outfield.

Dunn’s nickname isn’t “The Big Donkey” for no reason. He’s still a lumbering oaf in LF, but at least he’s not the train-wreck I thought he’d be. I’ve seen him play fundamentally sound outfield, mostly, and his defense certainly hasn’t cost the Nationals much of anything; plus, his offense certainly more than makes up for any defensive deficiencies he may have.

Lately, there’s been talk of what to do with some of the players since the trade deadline is rapidly approaching. It was mentioned that Dunn may be shopped and that some initial offers have come through; XM-175 reported last week that an inquiry was made by the Tigers for Dunn to become a DH and another quip came across from Nats beat writer Chico Harlan: “The Nationals are said to be demanding excessively high returns for Dunn. One source called the Nationals' asking price ‘painful.’”

I’d be in favor of trading a bunch of guys: Nick Johnson makes sense since he’s a free-agent at the end of the year, Cristian Guzman seems like he’s not interested in Washington any more, Josh Willingham may be able to fetch something decent and Ron Villone and Joe Beimel provide some veteran experience out of a bullpen, plus they’re lefties.

I don’t see how trading Dunn who’s having the best year of his life and is still under contract for another year and is in the prime of his career and is apparently committed to improving his defense is such a great idea. Seems to me the Nationals benefit from having his bat in the lineup and with Nyjer Morgan playing CF next to him, Dunn’s defense won’t be nearly the hindrance we initially thought it would be.

Seems to me that if the Nationals are serious about fielding a major league lineup to score runs for this young staff, a guy like Dunn would be valuable; at least more-so than a handful of marginal prospects. Let Dunn play out this year and see where we are as an organization next year. If we really have turned a corner, perhaps Dunn will stay beyond his two-year contract and the Nats can win with him here.

Hard to believe it, but I used to hate this guy.

Mets Prove Why They Will Always Be New York's "Other" Team

Can Someone Photoshop "ASS-HAT" Onto This Guy's Forehead For Me?

The Nationals may be playing out a lost season, but the New York Mets are a dumpster fire. The Mets just dropped their second straight game to the Nats last night, and in this blogger’s mind, have officially been eliminated from contention.

As bad as we are, teams who drop a series to the Nats should be automatically eliminated from the payoffs. The way the Mets played the last two nights, they deserve as much ridicule as they get. Power Alley (an okay radio show on MLB Homeplate, XM-175) is devoting much of their program to how the Mets can salvage anything in 2009. Right now, the callers who claim to be Mets fans seem to think the organization may need to consider keeping anything of value before the riots begin at Citi Field and the fans start tearing the new park apart.

Earlier this week, Mets Vice President of Player Development Tony Bernazard apparently went to Binghamton, NY where the Mets AA affiliate plays and challenged a bunch of players to a fight and used derogatory terms to call them out. What exactly is he trying to develop? I mean, other than a reputation for being a complete and total ass-hat? This comes on the heels of another accusation that Bernazard challenged Major League closer Francisco Rodriguez to a fight on the team bus after a game in Atlanta. Then there’s the case of the fan who killed his mother after the Mets lost a game to the Nationals a couple of years back.

What exactly is wrong with that organization? At least, so far anyway, we just kinda suck at playing baseball. The Mets appear to have a fanbase and front office that kinda sucks at life. Gain some perspective.

Collin Balester Called Up

Collin Balester Speaks To Fans At "Blogger Night" in September of 2008 - Say... Whose Sexy Elbow Is That In The Background?

The Nationals have recalled one of the fans’ favorite players from Syracuse. Collin Balester, whose candid opinions found on radio stations and on his blog, will toe the rubber tonight against the St. Louis Cardinals in the make-up game of a rain out from May 3rd.

Balester was 7-9 in 19 starts in AAA but he does have some Major League experience.

The move was made after Jordan Zimmermann was placed on the 15-day Disabled List with a tender elbow.

John Lannan is a Warrior

John Lannan Tosses Complete Game Shutout Last Night

It’s so simple, yet so many seem to struggle with it: throw strikes, stay ahead, win each at bat. That’s it. Simple formula for success yet so few pitchers can pull it off.

Last night, John Lannan threw his second complete game victory this year and his first career complete game shutout (at least in the major leagues). Lannan threw 106 pitches last night and a staggering 80 for strikes – that’s nearly a 4:1 strike:ball ratio.

Perhaps the most important thing he did last night was not succumb to fear. He pitched to contact and let his defense make the plays last night – including an absolute gem of a play in CF by Nyjer Morgan keeping the shutout intact in the third inning and a couple of well placed double plays to get out of trouble. In fact, of his 27 outs recorded, only one was by strikeout.

Now, the detractors will say, “well, yeah, but he did beat the Mets who are really beat up by injuries right now.” That doesn’t matter. The Nationals play in the midst of a lame-duck season and have absolutely nothing to play for – including apparently any pride whatsoever because it really looks as though they can’t wait until September is over. More importantly, though, that’s what good pitchers do – they beat the teams they are supposed to beat and they don’t let up just because the opponent is weakened. Lannan saw an opportunity to go for the kill and he took it.

Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. Stan Kasten and Mike Rizzo hung their hats on young pitching this year hoping it would pay off in the long run. These kids have to have the mentality to go seven innings at a minimum; and it has to start now. They need to learn to throw strikes, stay ahead and win each at bat above all else. They need to know they aren’t going to get sent to AA just because they get shelled on one night. They need to know that even if they give up a few runs, they need to keep throwing strikes; bull-dog mentality.

The Nationals are playing out what looks to be a lost season. Rather than focus on winning a few more games this year, let’s take advantage of this break we’ve been given and see if all our kids can do what Lannan did last night. He was handed the de facto “ace” tag earlier this year and he just showed you why. After an incredibly morose start, he’s pulled his record to 7-7 with a 3.38 ERA after last night; and playing for this team that may be the most admirable effort of any player in the majors this year (alarming note: John Lannan has won more than ¼ of all of Washington’s wins this year – UGH).

So take note Steve McCatty. Let your kids go out and get knocked around a bit. See what they’re made of. All of the trials and tribulations John Lannan had to overcome in his young career certainly seem to have paid off. Time to see if Jordan Zimmermann, Craig Stammen, Ross Detwiler, Shairon Martis, J.D. Martin, Colin Balester or any other kids you may have can do it. Start pushing them in AA and AAA so they’ll be ready for it when they come to Washington.

Oh, and cross your fingers that we can get a deal done with Stephen Strasburg.