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The Official Washington Nationals March to .500 Thread

post #1 of 54
3/28/06 at 4:56pm
Thread Starter 
OK, gang, the regular season's almost upon us. I'll be at RFK w/my spawn on Friday night, and I'm trying to decide whether to set a bad example by booing Soriano.

Thoughts?
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post #2 of 54
3/28/06 at 5:05pm
I renewed my 20-game season ticket package, so I'm in it for the long haul. I'll be cheering Soriano, however, not because I agree with what he did, but because I despise Jim Bowden. And anything that makes Bowden look bad is aces in my book.

As for the team...Well, I think it's going to be pretty bad this year. Last year was a blast, and I expect to have fun this year as well, but the fact of the matter is that until we get an owner and a real GM, this team is going nowhere.

Still, there are things I'm excited about, especially Ryan Zimmerman. And booing Christian Guzman is always fun. And Frank is pretty much the coolest guy in baseball. Man, am I ready for the season to start -- go Nats! Angelos sucks!
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post #3 of 54
3/28/06 at 7:43pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe LeFors
As for the team...Well, I think it's going to be pretty bad this year. Last year was a blast, and I expect to have fun this year as well, but the fact of the matter is that until we get an owner and a real GM, this team is going nowhere.
Last year, it seemed like we were fat for pitching but short on offense. This year, things seem reversed. Given the circumstances, I'll be delighted if we make it to .500.

This Friday will be my boy's first big league game. I hope he enjoys it: I want to spend some time at the park this summer!
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post #4 of 54
3/28/06 at 8:30pm
My first game was in 1990.

Detroit - California Angels.

Yeah, Detroit won.
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post #5 of 54
3/28/06 at 8:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankCobretti
and I'm trying to decide whether to set a bad example by booing Soriano.

Thoughts?
Boo. He won't be on the team by August anyway. Horrible trade.
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post #6 of 54
3/29/06 at 9:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankCobretti
Last year, it seemed like we were fat for pitching but short on offense. This year, things seem reversed. Given the circumstances, I'll be delighted if we make it to .500.

This Friday will be my boy's first big league game. I hope he enjoys it: I want to spend some time at the park this summer!
I agree. And having a team skewed towards offense in the worst hitters park in baseball seems like a poor strategy.

Enjoy the game; it's good to know you're getting your kid started early!
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post #7 of 54
3/31/06 at 5:21pm
Fuck Bud Selig, Fuck Claude Brochu, Fuck that art dealer piece of shit who is now squat-fucking the Marlins and Fuck the Warshington Nationals. I hope they do as well as the Expos ever did, which is come close, but never amounting to anything but breaking my kids hearts.
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post #8 of 54
4/1/06 at 8:59am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by PatrickBateman
Fuck the Warshington Nationals. I hope they do as well as the Expos ever did, which is come close, but never amounting to anything but breaking my kids hearts.
Well, judging by their play last night, they're one their way to breaking kids' hearts here in D.C., too!
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post #9 of 54
4/3/06 at 11:43pm
Thread Starter 
Hey, waddya know? Soriano looked good out in left field today, and he delivered at the plate. I take my boos back. Go, Sory!
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post #10 of 54
4/4/06 at 10:27am
Its an old Montreal Expos trick. They go something like 20-7 in the first part of the seaosn, then its the good old fashioned tailspin, a set of streaksi n August to get your hopes up, then POOF!.

Then you say to yourself "Man, I can't wait to be treated like a piece of shit by them 'Spos again NEXT YEAR!!"

I know the inner workings of this franchise more than I do my wife.
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post #11 of 54
4/4/06 at 1:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PatrickBateman

I know the inner workings of this franchise more than I do my wife.
She is streaky with tailspins as well sir.

Great thing about Soriano. In my fantasy league I drafted him as a 2b. He will be eligible to score points as an OF in 20 games...but I have the option to keep him at 2b the entire season if I wish.
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post #12 of 54
4/5/06 at 4:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankCobretti
Hey, waddya know? Soriano looked good out in left field today, and he delivered at the plate. I take my boos back. Go, Sory!
So how was RFK looking? Did they spruce it up any in the offseason? I don't have a game until next Thursday (a glorious businessman's special against the Mets).
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post #13 of 54
4/6/06 at 12:40pm
Thread Starter 
RFK was looking rough. Thousands of fans got in late due to a computer foulup, the jumbotron is more like a tinytron, and the PA announcements are unintelligible.

And they didn't have a single ketchup packet in the entire stadium. The horror!

On the plus side, the Baysox are having their first Beer Dinner tomorrow night. They may be AA ball, but they know how to keep their fans happy!
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post #14 of 54
4/6/06 at 2:06pm
Glad to hear it hasn't changed, then!

I just hope they don't have mound problems again this year. For the first few months of last season, they'd spend 10 minutes in the middle of every game trying to get it right. It was really a comedy of errors.
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post #15 of 54
4/6/06 at 2:06pm
Oh, and that Baysox park is great. I'd go there more often, if it wasn't such a pain in the butt to get to from here.
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post #16 of 54
4/14/06 at 11:15am
Thread Starter 
I popped into Baysox Park for a couple of innings on Dollar Tuesday. You can't beat it. Back to our subject, though, does anyone think that bringing Church back will do any good at all? The guy's doing nothing in AAA - why would he do any better in MLB?

The guy we really need to send down is Mark Bowden.

And another thing: we all seem to believe that naming an ownership group will fix what ails the Nationals. I don't know that that's true. Has having an owner helped the Brewers much? The real question is, will the ownership group hire the right people to run the team?
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post #17 of 54
4/19/06 at 9:59am
I caught the businessman's special last thursday, and am going this Friday and Sunday as well to see the Braves. It's good to be back in season! And my seats are just as I left them: far away and cheap.

As for Church, I was talking about him to a friend last week and theorized that he needed to be in the bigs to perform well. So far, it looks like I've been right!

To the ownership issue: I don't think a new owner will necessarily cure all the team's ills, but it's a crucial first step. While the team may not succeed with a new owner, it definitely won't without one.

Did you see that Bowden got busted for DUI down in Miami? What a moron. Maybe he was drunk when he made the Soriano deal?
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post #18 of 54
4/19/06 at 12:27pm
Thread Starter 
Regarding the Church callup: Who knew? Crow tastes just like chicken.

Quote:
While the team may not succeed with a new owner, it definitely won't without one.
I'll buy that. I'm just trying to keep from getting my hopes up.

I think that DUI spells the end for Bowden. Maybe some of those Moneyball guys are available. They seem pretty smart.

I'm glad we beat the Phillies last night. Beating Florida's nice, but that's like beating a bunch of old ladies. Now if we can just string together a few more wins against respectable teams ...
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post #19 of 54
4/24/06 at 2:58pm
I'm headin to the Nats/Reds game tonight...thing big things...how bout 6 homers in one inning??

ehhh???
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post #20 of 54
4/29/06 at 12:26am
Thread Starter 
All right. Finally, a solid thumping, and on broadcast TV, yet.

Is it too early to start betting on Zimmerman for a Gold Glove?
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post #21 of 54
5/3/06 at 5:05pm
Zimmerman will probably be in the running, but he'll have to be otherworldly to beat out guys like Wright and Rolen as a rookie. I bet he'll have at least a few on his mantle by the time he calls it a career, though.
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post #22 of 54
5/4/06 at 4:20pm
Well, the Nats finally have an owner, and I think a good one. Lerner should be pretty good as the money man (I'd always prefer to have a team owned by one guy as opposed to a massive conglomerate). But the key person, at least from an operations standpoint, is Stan Kasten. I watched Kasten up close and personal for many years when he was president of the Braves, and, after John Schuerholz and Bobby Cox, Kasten deserves the credit for turning that franchise into the juggernaut it's become.

The problem with the team is that the farm system is pretty bare. But Kasten will hire a good GM, and then install good baseball folks throughout the organization. Hopefully, by the time the new stadium opens, the team will be competitive. It's going to be pretty bad for a few years, though, and probably needs to be.

I just hope Lerner doesn't try to make a "big splash" by immediately shelling out a lot of money for overpriced and aging free agents. Give Kasten and the new GM a few years to build the club from the ground up, build up some cash in the process, then bring in some great talent through free agency to compliment the kids in a few years.

(Hell, Kasten ought to just make me GM. I'd be at least 10 times better than Bowden...)
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post #23 of 54
5/5/06 at 9:12am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe LeFors
(Hell, Kasten ought to just make me GM. I'd be at least 10 times better than Bowden...)
Based on that post, I'm inclined to agree. I agree with you right down the line.
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post #24 of 54
5/6/06 at 10:49pm
For some strange reason, I've become kind of hooked on following the Nationals. I even went out and bought a t-shirt--the first piece of sports merchandise I've paid for myself--in honor of them finally getting out of last place.
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post #25 of 54
5/15/06 at 5:18pm
I'm really looking forward to this weekend, when the O's come to town. I'm working up anti-Angelos insults -- I'm hoping to have one really good one per half-inning. And if anyone near me screams "O!" during the national anthem, I'm going to douse them with warm beer.
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post #26 of 54
5/22/06 at 12:23pm
Nice to see the Nats take the series from the O's this weekend, despite a large contingent of extremely drunk and obnoxious Baltimore fans in attendance.

I went to the Sunday game, and aside from being unseasonably cool, it was a good one. Livan looked solid (he's got his ERA down into the 5s now!), there were a few good defensive plays, and the Chief nailed it down in the ninth. A nice afternoon at the ballpark.
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post #27 of 54
5/23/06 at 1:17am
Thread Starter 
Tom Boswell's blowing Soriano in the Post. Here's the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...referrer=email.

I'd planned to attend the Nats/Dodgers game on Friday, but I had to cancel. Glad you had a great time at the park! Speaking of great times at the park, I went to Sunkist Stadium down in Tampa to see the D-Rays play. What a beautiful, beautiful venue. It rivals Camden Yards,IMHO.

PS I had a popup trip to Asia and I'm going to try to catch the Tokyo Giants. Wish me luck!
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post #28 of 54
5/23/06 at 12:09pm
I saw that Boswell piece -- I have to say that Sori has really exceeded my expectations offensively. He sucks in the field, but as long as he keeps hitting and swiping bags, I won't complain too much. His trade value is really increasing, which is great news for the Nats.

Glad you liked the Tampa game. I try to catch a game whenever I'm in a MLB city, most recently Safeco in Seattle which is really, really nice. And yes, they actually do have sushi! I would love to see a game in Japan -- that sounds incredibly awesome. Let us know if you pull it off!
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post #29 of 54
5/28/06 at 12:09pm
Thread Starter 
Oh. My. God.

Yomiuri Giants vs. Chiba Lotte Marines at the Tokyo Dome.

Bleachers filled with people wearing team colors, singing each player's theme song as he takes the plate.

Cheerleaders.

"Beer guy"? Fuck that. "Whiskey chick"!

Non-stop noise and carousing for nine full innings.

Really, really incredible food. And plastic-wrapped hot dogs with the mustard applied just so.

Seats that are so small I had to move to an empty row just so I wouldn't annoy the people on either side of me. And I'm in good shape. (OK, so not absolutely every aspect of the experience was great.)

Joe, if you ever get to Japan during baseball season, you owe it to yourself to attend a game. I'll put up some photos when I get home, but for now be advised that a new high-water mark for the baseball experience has been set, and it's in Tokyo. I lived here, I'd be a season-ticket holder for sure.
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post #30 of 54
5/31/06 at 2:57pm
Damn, man, that sounds fantastic! One of these days I'll get out to Japan, and I'll be sure to go to a game. I've heard that the fans there are absolutely crazy, and your report definitely confirms it. Please do post a couple of photos when you get back stateside!
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post #31 of 54
6/10/06 at 8:32am
Thread Starter 
Here are some pictures from my Tokyo adventure.









We caught the game at RFK last night, but the rain delay pretty much guaranteed we wouldn't be able to see the whole thing. I fell asleep on my couch sometime around midnight - just in time to miss the big finish. Bummer.

Downside: the PA system is so bad that I couldn't even make out the National Anthem. How am I supposed to sing along if I can't even hear the music?

Upside: discovered the Red Hot & Blue in the stadium. From now on, I'm buying the cheapest seats in the house, then heading down to RH&B for food and a great view of the action! See you there next week, when we crush the Yankees like bugs.
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post #32 of 54
6/13/06 at 9:56am
That is awesome! I'm so jealous. The idea of cheerleaders at a baseball games cracks me up, and the whiskey chick idea is brilliant. Plus, it looks like she's really enjoying her job! And that banner is incredible -- I've never seen anything like that at a game over here, even in the World Series. Thanks for posting the photos!

I was at RFK last night, as well as last Thursday. The Thursday game was a good one -- Sori went 1 for 1 with a homer, 4 runs scored, and 2 or 3 steals. Last night wasn't quite as good, although the Nats made it interesting in the bottom on the ninth.

Supposedly, Lerner is supposed to spruce up the park on the upcoming road trip, so hopefully the PA problems will be resolved. I've been to 6 or 7 games this year, I guess, but haven't hit the RH&B yet. I will before the season is out, though...
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post #33 of 54
6/19/06 at 4:11pm
Great weekend for the Nats against the Evil Empire! That Zimmerman kid may have a future in this league...
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post #34 of 54
6/19/06 at 8:24pm
Thread Starter 
It's a pleasure to be present at the dawn of a new era.
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post #35 of 54
8/1/06 at 1:07am
Thread Starter 
I'm pleased as punch that they didn't give Soriano away for table scraps. I started the seasons foursquare against the guy, but now I'm in his camp.

What do you say, Joe: can Kasten & Bowden build a winning team around Sori, Zimmerman, Johnson, Schneider, and Cordero?
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post #36 of 54
8/1/06 at 8:09am
They need to sign him first. If they don't plan on blowing him away with an offer it was a dumb move.
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post #37 of 54
8/1/06 at 12:40pm
Thread Starter 
I think they're going to try to keep him, but I think they're going to try to do so with emotion rather than dinero. In today's Post, Boswell practically lubes up for the guy: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...referrer=email .
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post #38 of 54
8/1/06 at 5:08pm
Well, if they don't re-sign him, I think Bowden will have f'ed up royally. The Nats will get draft picks if he signs elsewhere, but I seriously doubt those picks will end up being more valuable than what Bowden could have gotten in a trade. But I guess time will tell.

I've also become a big Sori fan over the course of the year -- he started out in a tough situation not of his making, but it turns out he's a really good kid, and one hell of a hitter. I hope they can keep him, but I'm not optimistic given the kind of money he'll be able to command on the open market. Still, it's not like Lerner's broke...

I just have absolutely no confidence at all in Bowden's ability to build a consistent winner. He could prove me wrong, of course, and he did a fine job with the recent Cincy trade, but his track record is not pretty. Kasten obviously sees something he likes, though, and I do have confidence in him, so I'm going to try to keep an open mind.

And, yeah, Boswell is absolutely in love with Sori. It's kind of embarassing.
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post #39 of 54
8/11/06 at 2:36pm
Went to probably my 12th game of the season last night. And while the Nats lost, it was a fun one. Sori had a great catch and assist for a double play early in the game, and also blasted a homer that nearly reached the upper deck near my seats. The fans have really gotten on his side.

Not Austin Kearns, though. Damn. He got booed pretty relentlessly, and it didn't help his case that he sucked and didn't hustle at all. He failed to run on a dropped third strike, and I thought the crowd was going to rip him limb from limb.

Hughes came in for middle relief and was incredibly wild. A wild pitch and 2 hit batsmen. The Fish then retaliated by hitting Sori, prompting a long, angry round of boos from the crowd. It was a pretty bush-league retaliation as Hughes clearly didn't hit Cabrera on purpose.

Anyway, the Nats had a nice little rally to tie it at 6, then the pen gave up 3 in the 8th to blow it. Fun game, though. I'm going again Sunday afternoon, and also on Tuesday night to see my Atlanta Braves.
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post #40 of 54
8/11/06 at 6:53pm
Thread Starter 
Sounds like a fun game.

Assuming my wife doesn't give birth between now and then, we're planning to attend Sunday's game, as well. Shoot me a PM with your seat #, Joe, and I'll drop by and say hello.
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post #41 of 54
8/14/06 at 11:41am
Well, crap, I don't do internet on the weekends, so I didn't see this until right now. Hope y'all had a good time, though, and congrats on the impending kid! Great day for a game (of course, my seats were in the shade until the 8th -- I'm in section 535, LF, right in the front row of the yellow seats).

It was cool to see Sori's 200th homer, and I love the hell out of the new live-action President's Race. Whoever came up with that should get a raise.

The team did not look good, however, outside of Armas's great performance. Way too many stupid defensive lapses, and Zimmerman's baserunning blunder was especially egregious. It took all of my self-restraint not to boo him. (I make it a policy not to boo hometown players unless they're really atrocious. With Guzman out for the season, I've been relatively sedate this year, although I did boo Kearns last week for his failure to hustle).
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post #42 of 54
8/14/06 at 12:42pm
Thread Starter 
What a drag! We were in 537!

The Nats may have lost the game, but we had a good time anyway. We saw Sori hit his 200th from the RH&B deck, and we were caught up in things during the near-misses of the 7th and 9th.

About booing: so there I am, booing my lungs out, when my boy asks, "How do you think booing makes them feel, Daddy?" I felt like a heel.

We're probably going to attend only one more game this season - the Brewers in mid-Sep. I have high hopes for that one.
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post #43 of 54
8/16/06 at 7:58am
Thread Starter 

What a Great Game!

I took my son to yesterday's game on the spur of the moment. What a great time. Tickets (and decent ones, too) cost a mere $5 at the gate, and the woman who sold us our passes even gave my boy a Nationals cookie. How cool is that?

Once inside the park, we embarked on a quest for cotton candy on a paper stick, giving us the opportunity to explore the concourses (and the new food court - good thinking, gang). After striking out nearly everywhere, I saw a "Guest Services" sign and the friendly woman there literally walked us to the stand that sold my boy's favorite treat. What a marked improvement in service at the stadium!

OK, so now my kid's all hepped up on sugar and we settle into our seats, all ready to enjoy an evening of baseball as our Nationals lose yet again. What a surprise and delight to get to watch Astacio pitch a 2-hitter! The most impressive thing about the outing was the outstanding defense support the team gave him - I'll tell you, they didn't look like the same organization that made all those bonehead moves on Sunday. By the 8th inning, the crowd cheered every strike and moaned at every ball. We knew we were watching something special, and when Pedro walked to the mound in the 9th, we went wild. The organ didn't have to play, the signs didn't have to exhort us to cheer. That crowd, thin as it was, lit RFK right up.

When Pedro got the last guy swinging, it was as if we'd won the Pennant. The guy three rows down even put down his Post to clap and cheer.

From the friendliness of the staff to the excellence of the team, we had the kind of summer night that'll get a guy through a dreary February commute. What a great time.
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post #44 of 54
8/26/06 at 9:31pm
Thread Starter 
Wow, what a great game last night. We came into it around the third inning, then settled down to watch our boys lose. When the Nats actually clawed their way back into the game, then pulled safely ahead, we were ecstatic. (That wasn't so good, actually. My older boy yelled so loud he woke the baby.)

We got three solid innings of relief work before the wheels started to come off, but Rivera managed to hang in there and make the critical outs. Good for him.

On the down side, what a shame about Alex Escobar. Just as the announcers are discussing what a great run he's having and how he's really coming into his own, the poor guy dislocates his shoulder. He could be out for a while, and that's really too bad. I'd like to see him catch a break for a change.
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post #45 of 54
8/30/06 at 10:29am
Well, I was there for the drubbing last night. The pitching has really been piss-poor lately, and the defense needs work. Nick Johnson committed a really stupid error in the 6th that didn't help Gryboski at all.

I got to see Sori's 42nd homer, though, and it was a long one. I think I've seen about a dozen of homers in person this year -- seems like he goes yard every time I'm there!

As long as his homer was, though, it was nothing compared to Howard's blast in the 6th. It was an absolute moon shot that hit off the upper-deck facade in center. Astounding -- possibly the longest homer I've ever seen in person. I wasn't even mad; it was incredible!
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post #46 of 54
8/31/06 at 10:45am
Thread Starter 
You know you team's in trouble when you're standing in awe of the other guy's homers.

Did you read Boswell's e-mail column today? He drubbed the pitching rotation, calling it the worst he's ever seen. Given their recent performance, I'm not surprised. Nevertheless, I'm still going to try to get out a couple more times this season. It's hard with a newborn, but my older boy loves it so much.
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post #47 of 54
8/31/06 at 5:48pm
Didn't see that Boswell piece. The rotation isn't the worst I've ever seen (I grew up watching some Braves staffs that were spectacularly incompetent), but it definitely stinks. Having Patterson out hurts a lot, and Armas was woefully inconsistent until recently, when he's been consistently horrible. When you have to resort to Pedro Astacio to bolster your rotation, and he's actually one of your more dependable options (!), you know you're in trouble.

There's hope for the future of the franchise, obviously, but it's not going to come quickly. I just hope Lerner and Kasten have the good sense to ditch Bowden once the season's over -- I don't trust him to build a winner.

And I hope they get rid of Screech, too. Man, I hate Screech.
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post #48 of 54
9/5/06 at 7:26am
Thread Starter 
Yet another great day at the ball park.

My older son and I had settled comfortably into our seats, a respectable pile of peanut shells building between us, when I realized that Ortiz was well on his way to pitching a no-hitter. Now, the last time we'd come out for a game, we got to see Astacio pitch his shutout, so I was delighted that we were about to beat the odds two games in a row.

Then, of course, the Nats started putting some points up on the board and the whole stadium's energy level started to build. When Ortiz slammed that home run in the eighth, the crowd went absolutely bananas. It broke our hearts to see him give up that single and homer in the ninth, but we were still happy as could be to watch such a stellar performance.

Oh, and the trinkets they gave out at the beginning of the game? The Ryan Zimmerman dog tags? My boy wore it all night. I think he'll wear it to school today. Nice work, Nats! I sure will miss baseball when the season ends.
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post #49 of 54
9/5/06 at 10:20am
Oh, man, I can't believe you were there! That's awesome. I saw the highlights, and it looked like a great game. That 8th inning homer by Ortiz -- what a moment! I bet it was great. I'm glad you and your son were able to see it live.

I have tickets for tonight, but it looks like the weather might prohibit my going. I'm sure I'll make a few more games before the end of the season, though, especially since the Braves have one final (short) series in town.

I'll miss baseball, too. But at least college football is finally back. Go Dawgs!
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post #50 of 54
9/19/06 at 10:26am
Well, the season's winding down, and I'll be sad to see it go. I hope the Nats use the offseason to get the rest of the "new franshise wrinkles" ironed out. RFK is still basically a dump, but Lerner's basically gotten it up to snuff this year, so it'll do. It's already light years better than it was last year!

But MASN is a major problem. I know I'm spoiled by years of watching TBS telecasts (the best in the business by a long shot), but the production of the Nats games is pretty awful. I was watching last night, and there were so many camera/satellite jumping issues that I almost had an epileptic seizure. Replay angles and the like could also use some tweaking. Fortunately, these should be pretty easy fixes. Now that the games are actually on TV, there's no excuse not to do a good job, and upping the production quality should be a top priority.

Anyway, I'm headed to the park tonight (if it doesn't rain) and tomorrow to see my Braves for the last time this year. Tonight is the final game in my ticket package, but I may try to hit one more on the last homestand; we'll see.

And congrats to Sori on becoming a 40-40 man! I've become a huge fan of the guy -- I'm not at all optimistic that he'll stick around, but I hope he does.
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