"Lo mismo!"

Growing up in Puerto Rico, there used to be a TV commercial for a fast-food chain that featured identical hamburgers moving along a conveyor belt.  Throughout the commercial, they used the phrase "lo mismo," which means "the same old thing."  After studying yesterday's Nationals vs. Mets box score, the first thing that popped into my head was "Lo mismo!  Lo mismo!"  Why?  Because the game was a mirror-image of many of last year's games for the Nationals.  The starting pitching sucked, and the bullpen had to keep the team alive.  In 3 innings, Chad Gaudin allowed 5 hits and 2 earned runs, including a home run to the Mets' Angel Pagán, who is trying to take away the job of fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Beltrán (they're both from my island, so I don't really care who gets to start at center field at this point).  Luckily, the Nationals had plenty of offense, including 2 home runs by Michael Morse and 2 hits each from Ian Desmond, Roger Bernadina, and Wilson Ramos.  I must admit I don't like the fact that Wilson Ramos had a good game, because he's going to be sharing catcher duties with my man, Iván Rodriguez, and I don't want Ramos stealing the spotlight from the future hall-of-famer.  Yes, you're going to see a LOT of Iván in my blogs, because I think he is the best catcher ever (and yes, he's super handsome too!). 

So anyway...what else?  Oh, another game of note yesterday was the one between the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros.  The Braves won that one 13-3, thanks in part to multiple hits from Venezuelan shortstop Alex Gonzalez, first baseman Eric Hinske, and third baseman Brandon Hicks.  Could Hicks be the Braves' next Chipper Jones?  Oh, Larry Wayne Jones, Jr; how I will miss thee!  I remember back in 1999, halfway through the season, I predicted that Chipper would be the National League MVP.  And hey, I was right!  (Don't worry, I will also blog about many times in which my baseball predictions were wrong, like thinking the Texas Rangers would win last year's World Series).  But back to Chipper.  First of all, he's only 3 months younger than me, so he's NOT OLD!  Second, I think it's great that he didn't retire after his season-ending injury last year.  He, like Mike Schmidt, wants the fans to remember him as a good player, not as an injured one.  So hopefully he has rehabbed his knee appropriately over the winter and can be back at third base this season, even if at a limited capacity.

One last note from yesterday's action:  The Nationals' first round draft pick, 18-year-old Bryce Harper, had 2 at-bats and struck out both times.  Hah!  Have yourself a piece of humble pie, Bryce, and enjoy your time in the minors.  You're not going to move up in the ranks as fast as Strasburg did.  Wait a minute...Strasburg is still recovering from Tommy John surgery... sheesh!  Those Nationals have a lot of work ahead of them!