Friday, December 23, 2011

A matter of "Gio"-physics, I guess...lol

     I think I've gotten over my initial shock over yesterday's Christmas surprise from the Nats by now. To refresh your memory:
     Gio Gonzalez (assuming the "t's" are crossed and the "i's" dotted) should be the #2 starter for the Nats when Opening Day rolls around. To get him, though, it meant sending 4 prospects over to Oakland. Tom Milone, Brad Peacock, AJ Cole...
     ...and, Derek Norris?? Unfortunately, true. (This is where the shock came in, gang.)
     But then I realized it made sense--Derek thrown into the deal, I mean. I'll explain:
     Had he still been with the Nats, he'd be starting 2012 @ Syracuse backing up Carlos Maldanado (who the Nats re-signed the other day). Which meant it would've been 2013 or '14 before Derek would see time in Washington. As it stands now, he'll probably start the year @ the A's Triple-A...and maybe get to Oakland before the year is out (or '13).
     Now. as to Tom Milone and Brad Peacock...and again, I'm only speculating here...there's a possibility one or both of them could see the bigs this year. After all, Brad only gave up 1 ER in 12 IP in September. And who can forget Tom Milone hitting the very first pitch he saw in the bigs for a HR?
     So now (for the moment) Gio Gonzalez is penciled in as the #2 starter behind Stephen Strasburg--and ahead of Jordan Zimmermann. This'll work...lol
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     Speaking of early X-mas presents...nice to see my favorite Trolley Blogger decided to follow this little ol' blog of mine. Took your sweet time to do it, didn't you Mike? LMMFAO
     So to the rest of you...follow his lead, will you?? Oh, and Merry Christmas too!!
Gary

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

For God's sake...DO SOMETHING!! Please?

     The annual MLB winter meetings are happening this week in Dallas. And so far, I've heard absolutely NOTHING out of the Nationals' camp.
     All right, what's the fucking problem? ARE we going after Prince Fielder, or not? (And exactly how much is it gonna cost us?) Look, if the Marlins can throw around money for Jose Reyes and Heath Bell--not to mention offering Albert Pujols a 10-year deal--certainly the Lerners and Mike Rizzo can find a couple hundred million for Prince. RIGHT??
     I mean, now that we know Chris Marrero is out for spring training (and Adam LaRoche ain't the long-term answer @1B, and Michael Morse belongs in LF full-time...IMO), we need somebody to man the position. Am I right? So something has to be done. Right??
     Well, that and finding a CF. Or does Roger Bernadina figure in the Nats' future plans? We already know Laynce Nix is in Philly, so that option is off the table.
     So having ranted on the inaction in Dallas, let me move on to other matters. Namely, how Danny Espinosa got shafted for NL Rookie of the Year.
     You can NOT convince me Craig Kimbrel (or Freddie Freeman) of the Braves beats out Danny. Who are you trying to bullshit here? There's a bias here against either the Nats as a team, or D.C. as a baseball city. Either one or the other. What DO we have to do to get respect for the Nats?
     So there you have it. I've written yet another blog post here.
     Yee-ha.

     Gary

Friday, October 28, 2011

You know it just HAD to come to this, right?

     All right, admit it. You were trying to come up with Jack Buck references to go with how David Freese ended Game 6 of the World Series, weren't you?
     You know what I mean, right? Now me, I swore I could hear "GO CRAZY, FOLKS, GO CRAZY!!!" in my head as the ball took off towards center field. Could you blame me?
     I'm sitting home flipping between Game 6 and the Capitals game, and once the Caps game ended I turned my attention to Game 6. "Surreal" couldn't begin to describe what was happening. Just when I (and America) thought the Cardinals had nothing left in the tank--or, in extra innings, running on fumes--all of a sudden the Cards mount not one but TWO comebacks.
     And I'll go this far to say Albert Pujols upped his asking price in free agency (to about $200 mil, IMO) by delivering in the bottom of the 9th with a knock. But there are other heroes abound from last night...which leads us back to David Freese.
     Before he ended the game, he brought about the 1st comeback by tripling off the fence in right-center field to tie it at 7-apiece. (And I'm like, "Holy shit, what is this??") Then again, should we really be surprised at last night's game?
     10 1/2 games out of the wild card picture in August...and yet here we are tonight with a Game 7. At least I didn't lie on my YouTube channel when I said it was going 7 games...lol
     All I can say is, regardless of what happens tonight, it's been one hell of a year for MLB. Now if we can just get to the offseason--and what the Nationals do in the offseason--we should all sit back and have fun. PLAY BALL!!!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Man, WHAT a review (and what a year, too)!!!

     And now, as promised, my review of the 2011 Washington Nationals season (on the new home for this blog). My God, where do I begin?
     Well, for starters, I predicted the Nats would go 77-85. Boy, did I get proven wrong!! 80-81 for the year (with a rainout against the Dodgers). Even I'm amazed...
     But then again, why shouldn't I be impressed? What with watching all 5 starters go 5+ innings for 20-some-odd games in a row to start the year and all...that surprised me.
     Then to see (IMO) the NL Rookie of the Year in Danny Espinosa, knowing I had seen him in July of last year @ Harrisburg...and seeing what he did with his glove and bat...brought joy to Nats fans everywhere.
     But the REAL surprise of the season, was Michael Morse. Call him what you want--"Mighty" Morse, "Danger" Morse, or simply "The Beast"--let's face it, he made everyone bop themselves on the head with excitement!! How far, or how high didn't matter...the question now is, where will the Nats put him on Opening Day? LF or 1B?
     The bullpen did their part (at times) just as well. Tyler Clippard to set up Drew Storen for the kill...sorry, I meant save...worked their magic.
     And then there's the return of "Strasmas". Yes, boys and girls, Stephen Strasburg is BACK!!! (And what a way to close out the year--not to mention Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins/Land Shark/Sun Life Stadium--by getting 10 K's in the final win of the season against the Marlins. Yee-HA!!!)
     But I would be remiss if I didn't mention the rare down moment of the year came in June. That's when Jim Riggleman decided to bail on the Nats...while they were WINNING!!! All because he wanted a decision on extending his contract made by the end of June--and Mike Rizzo saying wait until the end of the season, and then talk about it.
     Instead of imploding, the team bought into Davey Johnson's way of things. The result, I just told you at the start of this entry. (The record...80-81.) Just in case Davey doesn't want to manage next year, there's one candidate out there as of today.
     Terry Francona. (Yes, let's talk about Wednesday night, shall we?)
     To see the Red Sox and the Braves BOTH go in the toilet the other night, had to be painful. (Hey, at least I can say the Nats had a hand in Atlanta's troubles...LMMFAO) So rather than suffer the indignity of being fired, Francona did the honorable thing and agreed to cut out on the option(s) for next year and 2013.
     (Which means if Mike Rizzo can get on the stick and call up Francona's agent, we can have a proven World Series-winning manager working with this young Nats team. I'm just saying...)
     You know, I said the Nats would finish better than the Mets and Marlins. And wouldn't you know it? I GOT PROVEN RIGHT, people!! Damn, I'm good...LMMFAO
     If the Nats don't contend next year, it's their own fucking fault!!! You heard it here first...

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Coming soon...

     Well, come October (or thereabouts) this will be the new home for my writing about the Nationals. Now, the reason why...
     When the lovely people at MLBlogs decided to change over from Movable Type Pro to WordPress a few months ago, so many people couldn't deal with the hassle and left. I'm holding on till the end of the season, before I make the switch.





     Till then, however, I'll still be writing over there @ WP. (You can find it here.) I'll leave you with some pics I took Saturday night (8/13) in Harrisburg, PA of Bryce Harper and some other Nats farmhands. (See above.) In order:
     1) Bryce Harper at the plate
     2) Bryce in LF
     3) The "Racing Presidents" doing some type of dance (PLEASE don't ask me what it was)
     4) Erik Komatsu, who came over in the Jerry Hairston Jr. deal from the Brewers
     5) The sign @ Metro Bank Park in Harrisburg, where the Senators (the AA farm team of the Nats) play
     6) Tyler Moore manning 1B
     So there you are. Until next time...