the Washington Nationals are still a baseball team in 2012

i think

rick ankiel! mark teahen! lets do this

they could actually be not-terrible this year!

http://ckelly.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c562353ef016761e2f2a4970b-500wi

ugh, ugh, ugh (re: phillies invasions).

but, optimistic about the rotation and not too worried about the bats. missing out on fielder may have been a blessing in disguise.

i was gonna say "here's to getting as many free tickets to see the 2012 nats as i did the 2011 nats" but by the looks of it i've got nothing to worry about there

fangraphs seems to think highly of this team now, they're up through #13 on their org rankings and they haven't shown up yet

sounds right.

Curious to see what E-Jax will offer. Most interesting Nats signing of the offseason.

rany j likes it

i think they're being a bit overrated this year... the line up could get pretty thin and their rotation looks great until you consider their innings caps/injury potential w/ strasburg and zimmerman. but yeah they have one of the brightest futures in the league.

fangraphs has them at 11 in the org rankings.

kinda feel like they have a greater variance than most teams -- everything goes well and they'll contend; if not, they'll suck. obviously you can say that about a lot of teams, but considering where they're coming from, that's decent. especially since they'll only be better next year.

http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/mlb/players/full/4262.png&w=350&h=254

ian desmond, superstar

Ankiel threw a missile tonight.

Do yourself a favor and look it up.

maybe he should have pitched from there

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20672793&c_id=was&partnerId=aw-7437482702750431320-1047

Ankiel would be a great pitcher if he could just back up 90 feet.

9-3, 6 wins by 1 run

sry only 4 w by 1-run, i was counting 1-run loses

these guys are pitching out of their minds right now it seems

What it boils down to is the team giving up home runs at a historically low rate - only four so far, which is first in the league by a bunch (second place is the Pirates with 11). In contrast my team (Milwaukee) gave up four in their first game. That'll win you a lot of close games (especially since their offense as a whole seems pretty terrible)

dodgers have to face detweiler-stras-gio this weekend =(

Neyer expects regression, but around 90 wins

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/4/26/2977423/washington-nationals-pitching-projection

90 would be wonderful

Brad Lidge is hurt.

^abdominal wall, Dl

so Kershaw vs Nats shd be fun to watch

henry rodriguez is a menace

No pressure, Gorzeletc.

nationals have called up 1b/of tyler moore (31 minor league homers in both 2010 and 2011); dl'ed mark derosa, who is 3-for-37

today I learned gio gonzales pitches left and bats right

my uncle does that

wtf

Lincecum bats left and that kinda makes sense because if all you do is bunt it helps being closer to first but this is madness

batting left-handed always makes sense! it is clearly an advantage. (i mean in general, not as a pinch hitter facing a left-handed submariner reliever.)

but if you are naturally left-handed (as i presume most lefty throwers are), why would you bat righty?

it's a walk off

http://a.yfrog.com/img738/9779/7mypf.jpg

ughhh

hahaha

Nattitude, or is that today's crowd?

they should sign a beer deal with natty light

they could put up one of these while they're at it
http://www.pbcompliance.com/images/SDRYDPTE-10.jpg

Mike Rizzo, not shy:

“Players take care of themselves.... I’ve never seen a more classless, gutless chicken [bleep] act in my 30 years in baseball.

“Cole Hamels says he’s old school? He’s the polar opposite of old school. He’s fake tough. He thinks he’s going to intimidate us after hitting our 19-year rookie who’s eight games into the big leagues? He doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.”

“This goes beyond rivalry and all that stuff,” Rizzo said. “This points to, you take the youngest guy in baseball. He’s never done a thing. And then Hamels patted himself on the back. Harper’s old school. Hitting him on the back, that ain’t old school. That’s [bleeping] chicken [bleep].”

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/5/7/3004689/cole-hamels-throws-at-bryce-harper-purpose-pitch

http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/dc-sports-bog/StandingArt/natitudesandwich0512a.jpg

isn't there a T missing, btw?

i think they've got bigger fish to fry (so to speak) at "steak of the union"

but it's on all the NATITUDE signs.

Werth taken out 3 months with a broken wrist.

Dude had the same thing happen to him in 2005 when he was on the dodgers and he wasnt good again until he resurfaced with the Phillies in 2007.

Strasburg has 11K's through five innings. And he's losing 2-0.

pirates are clutch or something

THROW STRIKES

The Washington Nationals announced today that Dierks Bentley (June 2), The Wallflowers (July 21) and Third Eye Blind (August 18) will comprise the lineup for the NatsLive Post-Game Concert Series, three FREE concerts following select Nationals home games throughout the summer.

"I can't imagine anything that epitomizes summer better than baseball and outdoor concerts," Nationals Chief Operating Officer Andrew Feffer said. "Not only will Nationals fans get to watch great baseball, but now they can enjoy performances from multi-platinum selling artists for free, right here at Nationals Park."

guys do u think bryce harper has a gay fan club and do you think it's called harper's fairies?

are you quoting Rob Dibble or something?

No I came up with that I'm very proud

man, The H&S Show is doing well in the Fens.

6 innings, 13 K, 119 pitches. This story seems so precarious.

June 8th is Strasmas, though, the day for Strasburg to strike out a ton of dudes in honor of 6/8/2010's debut 14K in 7 IP.

Does Strasburg go every fifth day even if an off-day follows, or do they hold him back? Looks like he'll start in Toronto on Wednesday. I'd go for sure, except, wouldn't you know it, it's an afternoon game.

in six career appearances against the yankees before today, brad lidge's era was 14-something

now it is worse

^^^designated for assignment

i'm totally against god bless america at baseball games but the violin version was p charming and ken burns-y

must be the worst part of playing for the Nationals:

http://washingtonexaminer.com/george-will-unofficial-history-tutor-to-the-nats/article/2501979

ugh.

Steve McCatty says "Strikeouts are bullshit." His staff's performance seems to indicate otherwise.

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/7/12/3155427/steve-mccatty-nationals-pitching-coach-strikeouts

Strasburg now at .385/.448/.654 in 26 at bats, maybe after he reaches his inning limit for the year they should use him as a pinch hitter?

some good 2-2 2 out clutch hitting there in the bottom of the ninth

the return of john lannan on saturday

i can understand why he was pissed to be optioned in the spring, but his numbers in the il are not very good at all

Morse with the longest HR in Nationals Park history, 465'. It was pretty large.

Dropping a 9-0 lead. Bad weekend ahead.

Get in Espinosa

Extra innings tonight, doubleheader tomorrow. The Sunday game is going to look like Zombieland.

losing 11-10 from a 9-0 lead. cue up the inevitable TURNING POINT OF THE SEASON talk.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7px1snkeq1qzbwkjo1_1280.jpg

Members of the Nationals bullpen read passages from Fifty Shades of Grey
http://mlbfancave.mlb.com/fancave/video.jsp?content_id=23358021&topic_id=19224580&fbid=MnLnqAeUjR5

too scared to click

Nationals starters have a combined 1.01 ERA in the last 6 games! Relievers at 3.46 during the same stretch which certainly isn't bad but I wish Johnson would let pitchers throw complete games more often, I get nervous once the bullpen warms up.

Bandwagon itt.

i've been bandwagoning these guys since 2008 for some godawful reason but it's paying off now

I did not expect to suddenly find myself watching all these baseball games when I returned to DC but it's pretty compelling watching these dudes win all the time. And Ross Detwiler is cuet

12 home runs in the last 2 games with a couple innings left to play

Difference between the lowest and highest WHIP of their five primary starters (23-29 GS): .08

I almost always will watch these guys if they're on tv.

playoff berth clinched

hey morbz, u watching this?

16-1. something, huh?

My NBC programming was interrupted with the red banner on the screen normally reserved for severe weather warnings to tell me they clinched.

I have never lived anywhere in the US with a successful sport franchise until now so I'm excited.

Sure, I have my allegiance to the Giants and the Pirates but I would be genuinely excited for a "Capital" World Series.

~Barry

Mordy, don't be ruining other teams threads, or becoming as big a shit as Eisbaer

First playoff baseball in Washington since 1933; Senators finished seven games ahead of the Yankees in Ruth's next-to-last season in New York.

Morse HR was hilar

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/9/29/3430462/michael-morse-grand-slam-replay

http://gifninja.com/animatedgifs/316682/michael-morse-hits-fake-grandslam.gif

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congratz natz

Gio flipping out

'SPOS

teddy wins first presidents race

They should hire Bill Murray to participate as FDR for the playoffs.

We're at the point where the Nats will def sell out their LDS games, right? Otherwise I'd be tempted to hitch a ride down (pref while on my prescrip drugs).

They're selling standing-only tickets so I imagine they are selling out. Which only goes to show how much a town only cares about a winner.

Nats Amazing!

Michael Morse ‏@Dc_BEAST38
Watching blazing saddles .....