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Leather and Wood
Not-so-bad Nats
- Thirty-two games. Twenty percent of the season, give or take. Fourteen wins and eighteen losses. A winning percentage of .438. A better record than six other teams — including the reigning NL champions. Not great. Not good. Not horrible. And objectively, about where I thought the Nationals would be at this point (other than having a better record than Colorado).
- Thirty-two games. Twenty percent of the season, give or take. Fourteen wins and eighteen losses. A winning percentage of .438. A better record than six other teams — including the reigning NL champions. Not great. Not good. Not horrible. And objectively, about where I thought the Nationals would be at this point (other than having a better record than Colorado).
Nieves has the Wil to win
- Remember Jim Hegan? Chances are you probably don’t, since Hegan last played in 1960. Regardless, Hegan was a catcher in the big leagues for 17 seasons, mostly with the Cleveland Indians. For 10 of those seasons he was the regular catcher for the Tribe, handling a staff that featured a trio of Hall of Famers in its rotation: Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, and Early Wynn, along with 3-time All-Star Mike Garcia. Hegan is the name that frequently comes up when baseball people refer to catchers who are predominantly “catch-and-throw” guys, which is another way of saying they don’t hit much (Hegan batted .228 for his career), but their skills behind the plate are so superior, you really have to let them play.
Don’t panic yet
- I should probably know better, but every so often I fire up the computer and check out the Nationals-related message boards. I’m painfully aware that most Internet message boards, regardless of the topic, are largely populated by folks who know what they know, so please don’t confuse them with facts or logic. It’s as funny as it is frustrating most of the time, but particularly now, with the ballclub off to such a horrendous start.
Is it the Park?
- So, after seven home games at new Nationals Park, can we tell whether the place is playing any smaller than RFK?
Strong silent type
- Last week the Tampa Bay Rays signed pitcher Dan Wheeler to a contract extension, a 3-year deal through 2010 worth $10.5 million. There’s also an option for a fourth year worth $4 million, with a $1 million buyout. Set for life? You tell me.
‘The 21st Century Ripken’
- In the 2006 motion picture “Stranger Than Fiction,” Will Ferrell’s character begins to hear someone narrating his life. He is the only one who can hear the voice, which belongs to an author writing a book in which Ferrell’s role is the main character, whose words seem to foreshadow exactly how his daily life will occur.
Not a brick to be found, but that’s not a bad thing
- It’s not Camden Yards.
- It’s not Camden Yards.
New park feels like home already
- It’s funny how tastes change. When RFK Stadium — then called District of Columbia Stadium — opened in 1961, I was blown away. Of course, I was 10 years old, but America was a contender in the space race, and this structure looked every bit like something out of Buck Rogers. I was fine with it during the 1962-71 run of the expansion Senators, but when baseball returned in 2005, it had become an anomaly. A big, round concrete lump.
- It’s funny how tastes change. When RFK Stadium — then called District of Columbia Stadium — opened in 1961, I was blown away. Of course, I was 10 years old, but America was a contender in the space race, and this structure looked every bit like something out of Buck Rogers. I was fine with it during the 1962-71 run of the expansion Senators, but when baseball returned in 2005, it had become an anomaly. A big, round concrete lump.
Welcome to the offseason, Nats fans
- If the World Series ended a lot sooner than you anticipated, perhaps it’s time to throw a few more pellets into your wood-burning stove and prop up your feet.
It will be the Sox, not the Rocks
- Any way you slice it, Boston figures to win their second World Series title in four years.
- Any way you slice it, Boston figures to win their second World Series title in four years.
NLCS a good sign for the Nats
- Consider the National League Championship Series a preview of things to come for the Nationals.
- Consider the National League Championship Series a preview of things to come for the Nationals.
Expect Bowden, Nats to make significant noise in the offseason
- Out of 30 big league clubs, the Washington Nationals ranked 28th overall in player salaries with a figure of $37.3 million. Only the two Florida teams, the Marlins and Rays, finished behind them in that department. On the other side of the ledger, the Nats finished tied with Houston for 21st overall in winning percentage. The Astros, however, spent an additional $50 million for their 73 wins.
The new park will be welcomed, but RFK will live on in fan’s hearts
- At Sunday’s RFK Stadium baseball finale, some fans unfurled a long sign in the outfield that read vertically in three sections, “SHORT STILL STINKS.” Those of us who were around when the expansion Senators played their final game Sept. 30, 1971 recall a similar sign that night that read simply “SHORT STINKS.” There were other signs that night to be sure, but their messages can’t be repeated in a family newspaper.