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.
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