The Return Of The Washington Natinals

After the embarrassing failure two years ago by the Washington Nationals two years ago where they left the "o" of Nationals out of their jersey, so that Nationals read "Natinals," you would have thought that the Nationals would have learned their lesson. Well, not quite. You can now buy special Washington Natinals merchandise!

Yikes.  Is it safe to say that MASN will be throwing up "Jason Worth" graphics some time during the course of the season?

Jayson Werth: The $126 Million Man

Congratulations to Jayson Werth. To start 2008, he was in a platoon with Geoff Jenkins. By the end of 2008, he had won a World Series ring. By 2009, he was a full time starter. By the end of 2009, he had another NLCS ring. Now, Jayson Werth has decided to cash in on the only chance he'll have to be a very wealthy man. And boy has he ever cashed in. 7 years and $126 million from the Washington Nationals.

While some fans might be angry that he decided to sign with a division rival, I feel nothing but happiness for Werth. Werth has already won a championship, and has made it very clear that this off-season was about money for him, not trying to win another championship in Boston or New York. And money is what Werth got. He would have been stupid to turn down the Nationals offered as it is a pretty ridiculous overpay. To put it in perspective, the Phillies were offering Jason Bay money for Werth. If you are a Phillies thing, be very glad the Phillies did not match the Nationals offense. It may sting a bit now, but in year 6 and 7 of that deal and Werth is in his late 30s, it will be a huge burden on the Nationals. That being said, the Nationals could be scary good in a year or 2 if they make the right moves. Who knows what the future holds in terms of personnel moves, but Strasburg will return from injury at the end of the 2011 season and who knows when we will see Bryce Harper debut. I don't think 2012 is out of the question for him.

As compensation, the Philadelphia Phillies receive the Nationals 2nd round draft pick in addition to a "sandwich round pick."

And for those that ever wondered, this is exactly why baseball players hire Scott Boras to be their agent. Congratulations to Jayson Werth and I wish him nothing but the best with the Nationals. If there is not a standing ovation for him at Citizens Bank Park on May 3, 2011, I will be greatly disappointed.

Scott Barry Has Pulled This Stunt Before

I don't know when, but sometime during the year, Scott Barry was called up from the minor leagues to umpire MLB games. In the last 5 days, he has succeeded in being on the "hate list" of not just one NL East team, but 2 NL East teams. On August 19, 2010, when playing the Atlanta Braves, the Nationals had their own encounter with Scott Barry. From MLB.com's official write up of the incident.

Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and manager Jim Riggleman were ejected during the team's 3-2 loss to the Braves on Wednesday night.

The incident occurred in the eighth inning with the game tied at 2. After he struck out swinging to end the top of the eighth, Zimmerman threw his bat and helmet in disgust. He didn't say anything, but home-plate umpire Scott Barry ejected Zimmerman.

It marked the first time in his career that Zimmerman was tossed from a game. Riggleman then argued with Barry for about a minute before being tossed out himself.

[...]

According to Riggleman and Zimmerman, Barry believed the bat and helmet tossing from Zimmerman was directed at the umpire, but that wasn't the case. Zimmerman said he was simply frustrated at himself for striking out.

Let's see, player mad himself....lets frustration with self out externally....ejected by Scott Barry........Where have we seen this story before?

I mentioned above that Scott Barry was a minor league call up earlier in the year. Call me totally nutty, but I have a feeling that he is going to end up back in the minors in no time if this lunacy keeps up.

(Hat tip to The Fightins and Fightins commenter Phils Phan)

This Is Still The Major Leagues

4.1 IP 6 H 6 ER 2 BB 4 K 1 HR’s allowed

That is Stephen Strasburg’s stat line tonight against the Marlins. This is the first time Strasburg has had to face a team for a second time. What did he do the first time against the Marlins? 6 scoreless innings.

Welcome to the Majors, kid.

Follow me on Twitter @kt1000

Fun Things Everyone Should Try At A Ballpark: Intentionally Vomiting On An 11-year Old Girl

While I sort of danced around this point in the last post through way-too-easy jokes about bandwagon Caps fans, it holds more water in this much more serious offensive fan post: one drunken moron does not a fan base represent. I may have had some fun making fun of a Caps fan who got caught on Canadian national TV for harmlessly pantomiming the moon, but this bit of fan unruliness from the Nationals-Phillies game on Wednesday night is really a toss up between one of the following: despicable act at a stadium or most despicable act at a stadium.

Meet Phillies "fan" Matthew Clemens. His idea of a good time? Going to a Phillies game, shouting constant vulgarities, drinking way too much, and intentionally vomiting on an 11-year old girl. Wait, was that last one?

I hope Mr. Clemens has a heck of a good time in jail. Seriously......what on earth is running through your mind, even at levels of epic intoxication, that make you think, "oh, I think I will stick my finger down my throat and vomit on this 11-year old girl."

As far as the vulgarities and lots of alcohol go, I think you can expect that just about anywhere. I will make a point crystal clear that people in the mainstream media will likely fail to get: Matthew Clemens is a jerk, a dumbass, a doofus, and a douche bag all wrapped into one. Philadelphia fans are not Matthew Clemens.

Now that we've got that out of the way, I will now announce my plan to go to Yankees Stadium this weekend and urinate on a toddler. Who's with me?

(Hat tip to Big League Stew and NBC Philadelphia)

Phillies Opening Day Live Blog

Today is a officially a National Halladay. See what I did there? It's a big sports day.......Roy Halladay is pitching for the Phillies......and he is throwing against the Nationals. Hence, National Halladay. Get it now? Oh I kill me.

Congrats To The Newest Member Of The 300 Club, Randy Johnson!

My heartfelt congratulations go out to Randy Johnson for picking up his 300th win and will in all likelihood be the last to do so for quite some time. The only person who is close to him is Jamie Moyer who is at 250, but he is 46 years old and it seems unlikely that he will be pitching long enough in order to reach that 300 level, especially given the fact that he seems to be losing it a bit this year. Congrats again to the Big Unit and while he may be rather unpopular with the birds of the world, this was definitley earned and it is definitley quite a shame that this ended up happening in the middle of the day, on the road, in the rain, at Nationals Park where I would be shocked if attendance for the game was over 250.

Last Night Was Quite The Night For Ryan Howard And Austin Wood...

We were missing all of the action last night as we took in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. That is not where the epic took place as that was reserved for Philadelphia and Austin, Texas where in Philly, Ryan Howard hit a triple decker grand slam and in Austin, well, if you have not heard about it already, you won't believe what happened there. First off, here's Ryan Howard being the 2nd person to ever hit a triple deck home run (and this a grand slam as well) in Citizens Bank Park (Howard was also the first).



But that video and that feat is easily topped by the performance by Austin Wood. Don't know who he is? Well, that should come as no surprise as he is a relief pitcher for the Texas Longhorns. So why am I documenting him here? Because last night he pitched 13 innings, which 12.5 of which he went without letting up a hit! Wait, he played 13 innings in relief??? Well that fact is easily explained by the fact that the Texas-BC game last night went 25 INNINGS!!!!! It was the longest game in NCAA history. The game started at 7:02 PM ET and ended at 2:05 in the morning. For those that are not math majors, that is 7 hours and 3 minutes! Wood's effort was not in vain, though, as in the top of the 25th inning, Travis Tucker hit an RBI single that would prove to be the difference in the game as the Longhorns would hold on in the bottom of the 25th and win it 3-2. Here's an interview with Austin Wood.



Just incredible. And if Boston College defeats Army later today (could you imagine playing one day after you played a 25-inning game) they would face Texas again tonight! Could you imagine that??? My best goes out to both teams for just an incredible effort and I have found the 2 horses I am pulling for in this year's College World Series. After the Syracuse-UConn 6 OT marathon,, I read a quote somewhere that I am about to paraphrase here as I don't recall where I read it was that I read it, but he said there are times amd games in sports where it is no longer just a game but more of a test of human will and endurance. And if that does not describe the performance of both teams, and in particular Austin Wood who had the night of his life and then some last night, then I don't know what can.

Texas tops Boston College in 25 innings (ESPN.com)

Putting On A Tarp Is Hard

The Phillies have had known exploits before when it comes to putting the tarp on the field in a rain delay such as the now famous aiding of the Colorado Rockies grounds crew put the tarp over Coors Field, but I'm pretty sure that as far as hilarity goes, this one takes the cake. The Phillies apparently harbor some rather hostilities toward their division rival Washington Nationals as they did not help them here as hilarity ensued when the skies just opened up out of nowhere and started pouring down rain in Nationals Park.



Hilarious!!! I don't think I've ever seen them have to re-roll up the tarp like that before. Too funny. And of all teams, it had to happen to the Washington Natinals Nationals, the team that pretty much has been the punchline of Major League Baseball this year.

As far as the game went, the game never resumed, so the Phillies were credited with the 7-5 win as the rain came in the 6th and they had already played 5 innings, which is enough for an official game, if such a situation arises and the game can't be completed. And yes, there is an irony to the fact that the game that was intended to make up for last month's postponement by rain ended with rain...

The Washington Nationals Are Quite Desparate For Fans

There have been a lot of weird and unusual pleas by owners to get fans to come to their games, but this one might just take the cake. Washington Nationals GM Stan Kasten went on the radio this morning and pleaded for fans to come to the Nationals opening day. Well, what's so weird about this, you ask? Well, it just so happens that this was a Philadelphia radio station. Yep, that's right. The Nats GM pleaded with Philadelphia fans to come to the Nationals home opener! From a publicized conversation of the Philadelphia Inquirer columnists.

Did you hear Nationals GM Stan Kasten on ESPN-AM (950) with Jody Mac the other day? (It's a radio station. Yes, right here in Philadelphia.) He was actually urging - "begging" might be a more appropriate verb - Phillies fans to go down to Washington and attend his team's games with the Phils next week. "We have an opening day here Monday," said Kasten, "and we'd love for all our Philly fans to come down." Is he mad? I know that execs whose teams don't draw well probably secretly relish those occasions when opposing fans fill their ballparks. But to go on the radio in one of those cities and shamelessly market the fact that you can't fill up your own stadium strikes me as bizarre and damn near traitorous.

And that's how you know that your team is in the crapper for the year!

In all seriousness, though, baseball is the ultimate sport of where if you're team is doing good, fans will flock to the games en masse and you'll pretty much have fans begging and pleading for standing room only "seats", but if you're team sucks, well, at least it will be rather simple looking for any and all homerun balls.