It’s a Beautiful Day

It was gray and raining this morning in DC with an 80 percent chance of rain for the afternoon game.  After starter Craig Stammen was hammered for six runs in the first two innings it was business as usual, but by the end of the afternoon the news copters were circling the stadium, U2 had broken […]

“It Hath the Primal Eldest Curse Upon It”

Polonius thought Hamlet had it bad, but that was before the Nationals.  New Washington manager Jim Riggleman went 0-for-4 against the Cubs at home this past weekend .  Then with the Mets playing sans Beltran, Reyes and Delgado, Riggleman pulled Zimmerman and Willingham to even the odds.  Cha-ching!!  Zero and five.  The only rational explanation […]

Shaking It Up

The rumored firing of Nationals Manny Acta is akin to shaking up the printer cartridge when the “Toner Low” light has been blinking for three months. It’s hard to believe much will happen when the new manager presses the print button, but why the heck not give it a try.

Strasburg–Some Numerical Reference Points

Last Tuesday the Nationals set off down the yellow brick road to Strasburgville where the wizard is Scott Boras.  But Ted Lerner is no scarecrow.  The senior owner of the Nationals responded when asked how much the economic downturn hurt him by saying, “I own buildings, not bullshit.”  He wants a six-year lease on a very real Stephen Strasburg and the man has […]

Nationals Can Do da Limbo Rock

In the ‘Limbo Rock,’ Chubby Checker asked the question back in 1962, “How Low Can YOU Go?”  That very year, the New York Mets under Casey Stengel answered with one of the lowest winning percentages–.250–in the modern era.*  Those Mets are the standard against which bad teams are measured.  The Washington Nationals are at .265 and have […]

Bullpen Love

Washington manager Manny Acta has a bullpen that only a mother could love, yet it is the busiest pen in baseball.  Why does Manny trudge head down to the mound more than any other skipper in the game?  Who has the answer, Lyndon Johnson or Jeff Polman? 

Looking for Follow Through

With Washington’s major league organization going literally from bad to worse, it is natural to look for relief–so to speak–in the minor league system. Team president Stan Kasten almost three years ago committed himself to building a world class organization modeled on that of the Braves. In baseball and many sports “follow through” is all […]

Crying the Tale of Two Cities

There have been two starts to the season here in suburban Maryland, one in Baltimore, one in Washington. One season began in Baltimore where the Orioles showed heart and class, their booing Mark Teixeira lustily every time he came to the plate while the team won two of three from the $200 million dollar, gold-plated […]

A Reason to Believe

Baseball legends that end in the top 100 have to start somewhere and Stephen Strasburg inches forward every Friday night as he takes the mound for Tony Gwynn’s San Diego State Aztecs. At the end of those evenings, the myriad scouts leave asking themselves when was the last time they saw anyone this good.

A View from the Capital–The Party’s Over

“The party’s over..” for Jim Bowden that is. “Turn out the lights…tomorrow starts the same old thing again.” Thank you Willie Nelson, but there will not be the same old thing again in Washington, DC tomorrow. Nor will things remain the same in Viera, Florida where spring training for the Nats may see some fresh […]

A View from the Capital–General Mismanagement

There is not much to recommend Jim Bowden in a baseball era dominated increasingly by successful General Managers with Ivy League pedigrees. The issue is not how many of the best GMs in the game are smarter than Bowden, it is how with so many capable candidates to choose from the Washington Nationals cannot find […]

Marriage of Convenience

Adam Dunn’s move to Washington has the freshness and surprise of new stuff in the compost bin, but it nonetheless has provided spark and spirit for the Nationals as spring training camps open next week.

An Inaugural View from the Capitol

The excitement that has gripped Washington for the past few days is difficult to describe. Change brought with it a concert by Bruce, Bono, Stevie Wonder and Garth Brooks, as well as a new president who is not a former owner. Yet as I stand listening to Barack Obama’s inspiring inaugural speech on the Capitol […]

2008 Viewed from the Capital–Take a Sad Song and Make it Better

Baseball’s newest franchise took one step forward in 2008 and then promptly took three to the rear. A Washington Post online survey rated the opening of the new Nationals Stadium as the top event for the team and the 102 losses as the second most notable event. That is a fair summary of how it […]

What Teixeira is Worth in the Capital

Mark Teixeira did not sign with the Red Sox when they drafted him out of high school. With Scott Boras already in hand and providing excellent career advice he ignored the $1.5 million dollar offer and went to Georgia Tech where he got seven times as much when he signed his first pro contract three […]

A View of Bailout Field from the Capital

Mets CEO Jeff Wilpon and CitiGroup demurred when asked if taxpayers–now part owners in CitiGroup after the federal bailout–could participate in re-naming the new Mets Stadium. The “public” in public financing of new stadiums has been abused for decades by MLB, Inc. It is a radical idea, but maybe the financial meltdown is a unique […]

Hot Stove from the Capital

Washington GM Jim Bowden has his own transition going on in the Capital. His ambitious trade with the Marlins stoked a DC hot stove that had been stone cold. Change is the watchword in Washington these days and it could be washing over the baseball fortunes of the Nationals.

A View from the Capital

Bad boy behavior disappeared as an issue in Washington with the departure of Jose Guillen whose tempestuous relationship with Frank Robinson and Brad Wilkerson became grounds for divorce in 2006. Guillen is a baseball archetype whose corrosive effects are tolerated only by teams in dire need of the talent they bring. Now GM Jim Bowden–who […]

« Previous Page