Apr 01
So here we are, three games in to the Nationals’ 2019 season, and the bullpen has already been identified as the team’s biggest weakness. To paraphrase Capt. Renault when he shut down Rick’s Café American, I am shocked – shocked – that there is lead-blowing happening on this ballclub. It’s doubtful many people would have …
Jul 17
Today is the 43rd anniversary of the date a Dodgers pitcher tore an elbow ligament, an injury that eventually made his name not only a part of baseball vernacular, but a household term. We learned over the weekend that Nationals pitcher Joe Ross will have Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, a procedure that one-third of …
Apr 04
Many Nationals fans are still feeling the sting of disappointment from 2015, when preseason World Series predictions dissolved in a cloud of injuries, disappointing performances and clubhouse dissension. The Nats finished out of the postseason and watched as the NL East rival New York Mets stole their division, playoff and pennant dreams. For all but …
Oct 12
After Chad Tracy grounded out to end the eighth inning and leave the score tied at 1-1 in Thursday’s National League Division Series Game 4, a friend turned to me and asked, “Deep down, in your heart of hearts, you really wanted a walkoff, didn’t you?” Who would want anything else? Didn’t every one of …
Jun 01
For Nationals fans, the only thing uglier than that rotating home run display in Marlins Park is the result of the series just concluded there: a three-game sweep that soured what had been a fine National League East road trip. With at least one series now in hand against each NL East opponent, the Nats …
May 21
The Nationals’ greatness was tested once again last weekend against the Baltimore Orioles, and once again they came up just short. But several more positive signs emerged during the 2-1 series loss, and now the team will hit the road for a key stretch of National League East games that will determine exactly where they …
May 15
Bryce Harper ensured his place in Washington baseball history even before he became the youngest major leaguer since 1998 to hit a home run. At 19 years, 211 days old, Harper isn’t even old enough to buy a drink to celebrate his more than 400-foot blast off San Diego Padres starter Tim Stauffer, which came …
May 05
It seems like all the talk from Philadelphia folks about spoiling the Nationals’ “Our Park” series was just that. From the perspective of the left field stands on Friday night, the campaign was an unqualified success. The announced crowd of 34,377 certainly included fans from both teams, but unlike years past, it was not the …
May 04
It’s showtime for the Nationals and their fans. While the atmosphere in the stands at Nationals Park has been more tepid than the team’s play on the field for the most part, all of that will change this weekend when the Philadelphia Phillies arrive for the first big division showdown of the year. The action …
Feb 26
“The face of the franchise,” Ryan Zimmerman, is now guaranteed to be a Washington National through at least the 2019 season. Zimmerman, the first draft pick after the team moved Washington in 2005 and its starting third-baseman for the past six seasons, agreed to a contract extension this morning worth $100 million over six …
