To Put the Nats Struggles in Perspective

Gio Gonzalez of the Oakland A's gave up 11 runs (11!!!) in less than 3 innings... and did not get the loss (the A's rallied to win 14-13)

When the Nats fell behind 5-0, did anybody really think they could string together 5 runs to get JD Martin off the hook?

Yeah, me either.

Dibble's Comment on "Quality starts"

Rob Dibble talks out his ass for a few minutes out of each telecast, but it really what they pay him to do. And it is better that the team's color guy is a straight shooter than somebody who gushes over everybody and everything. He did make an interesting point about how MLB defines quality starts.

A quality start is defined when a starting pitcher pitches at least 6 innings and gives up 3 or fewer earned runs. He then went on to state his case that Jordan Zimmerman, despite his first inning struggle, made a quality start and got his team back in the game. Sorry Rob, just like how MLB defines wins, saves, etc., you can't argue quality starts... or any statistic for that matter. But the fact is, once he served up those balls for Kemp and Blake, he retired 16 of 19 batters, and even threw a double play ball in there to quell a rally in the 6th. Six runs is not insurmountable, and by working several quick innings, he lulled the Dodgers to sleep, and once Wolf was off the hill, the Nats' bats woke up. Even the ball Kemp hit out wasn't a bad pitch, low and away; Kemp is a beast and will occasionally do that.

The Nats are now 8-11-1 since sending Milledge down, with that 1 being in good shape to add to the 8 in a few months.

Dibble made one other observation about Angel Campos tightening up the strike zone once the game got close. I doubt it was a conscious decision, and I disagree with Dibble's assessment; the strike zone was fine later in the game. Some umpires will call a blowout more liberally just to keep the game moving, prevent tempers from flaring. It plays to the advantage of the pitchers, and the Dodgers relievers didn't seem to take advantage of the edges of the plate.

Good win... now let's dump all this steroid talk in LA for some old fashioned managerial turmoil in the desert. AJ Hinch is a smart guy. Oakland pitchers used to lobby Art Howe to get him behind the plate even though he couldn't hit a lick. Once the Big Three came up, they worked exclusively with Ramon Hernandez and Rick Peterson, and Hinch's baseball IQ was expendable. Should be an interesting series.

The Prologue...

First point of emphasis with this blog is that I should divulge that I am not a Washington Nationals fan. I am, in fact, a die hard Oakland Athletics fan, as well as an accomplished Yankee-hater. I have also invaded, raped, and pillaged the countryside of Red Sox Nation.

My reason for blogging the Nationals, amongst other outlets, is several-fold. First and foremost, baseball is my vice. I love college basketball and football (both varieties- let’s not get into that) as well, but baseball can be followed in so many different ways. Piles upon piles of Baseball Weekly would find their way stuffed into my room; when I moved away for school, they were the first to make their way to the recycling, followed shortly thereafter by Sport Illustrated 1987 through 1996. USA Today was readily available in college, and box scores would often be trimmed and pasted all over the place for no reason whatsoever. Fortunately, the Internet was invented, allowing me to wash the print from my hands and occasionally talk to a girl. Usually, it would be brief.

Second, it is almost impossible for me to effectively offer thoughtful and original analysis on the A’s, as all of my information comes from Susan Slusser, box scores at 7 am, and the occasional highlight off ESPN. The Nationals are here, their games are televised, and they even have uniforms and everything… it’s really neat. And apparently there are plenty of good seats available.

Next, my fiancé no longer likes being at the end of all my jokes, and the Nats are fairly easy targets… uh, let’s just move on.

Finally, it would be nice to be a part of their success. Right now, the Nats bandwagon looks like it just made a detour through Mexico. Sure, people “support” the team, but since the new stadium opened, so many of the casual fans were priced out the door, and the honeymoon looks over. I was excited when Washington was able to outbid premium franchise destinations such as San Juan, Monterrey, Las Vegas, and Branson Missouri, and even organized the legendary “F- the French, We Are Taking the Expos Back” bar crawl that may or may not have forced the rebranding of Biddy Mulligan’s as Bar Dupont. There were a lot of excited folks, and when they raced out of the gates in 2005, I suddenly felt dirty, as if I had stolen someone else’s prized pig and won the County Fair. The bandwagon mentality wasn’t for me or my Hubie Brooks Expos jersey. Then, Jim Bowden and the Lerners struck. You have thought that they would have been able to improve the condition of the franchise and its major league product over its previous owners, NOBODY. However, 59-102 apparently wasn’t rock-bottom enough, so they came back with an encore. At 4-15 last week, I felt that it was time to intervene.

Basically, the Nats need a bailout in the worst way, and here is my bucket. Actually, we’ll probably need that bucket temporarily as 1-3 inches more of rain is in the forecast. Use of the bucket comes with a few provisions and disclaimers:

1. No one is off limits. This includes Zimmerman (both of em), Dukes, Manny, Stan, the batboy, Teddy, and yes, even all those fans disguised as empty seats.
2. For every ill-fated barb or attempt at humor, some sort of constructive criticism or praise will be provided.
3. I will not be made fun of for applying for the open General Manager position.
4. Not all posts will pertain strictly to National’s baseball. Some will be in regards to Natinals baseball.
5. Most posts will be written sans pants.

That is all I ask in return for this bucket.