Hello, my friends! It's been quite a while since I've blogged to you all - it's been a crazy month of March trying to juggle my jobs, my family responsibilities, and my other blogs. I'm still blogging for http://www.prosportsblogging.com/, but I have also picked up a gig with our local paper, http://www.fredericknewspost.com/ (click on BLOGS and mine is the "Nationals Inquirier"). I am strictly a Washington Nationals blogger for both sites, so I'm glad I still have this space to myself, where I can bash, I mean, write, about anything baseball, not just Nationals-related topics.
So what's been going on in baseball land? Spring Training is winding down, and some teams are giddy with excitement over their new acquisitions. The Detroit Tigers are tearing up the Grapefruit League with a 13-3 record, and they like to brag about now having Prince Fielder on their team. The Los Angeles Angels are happy with their acquisition of Albert Pujols, and the New York Yankees have welcomed pitcher Andy Pettite out of retirement.
And how about players who return to last year's teams? Matt Holliday has been tearing it up this year, batting .484 with a nice little 10-game hitting streak to his name. Us Cardinals dis-likers hope that he's peaking too soon.
And what's a Mudville Mom post without a comment about the Phillies? They're struggling so far this year with injuries and they lost some players during the off-season - it seems like Roy Halliday is the only guy who wants to play this season. Let's hope they stink this year - I need a reason to trash-talk with Phillies fans!
In all seriousness, the headline that caught my eye this week was Atlanta Braves' third baseman Chipper Jones announcing his retirement at the end of the 2012 season. I have always liked Larry Wayne Jones - he is the quintessential franchise player who gave his all every day, and when people thought he was done after his 2010 and 2011 injuries, he insisted on not ending his career because of an injury. He will be in the Hall of Fame someday, along with all those other Braves greats like Dale Murphy, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Greg Maddux.
And in case you're wondering what's up with my dear Iván Rodriguez (what's a blog post without my mention of "Pudge!"), he's still technically a free agent, but no one seems to be interested in signing a 40-year-old catcher. The Kansas City Royals had shown some interest, but the last thing I read was that he was contemplating retirement. Poor guy - he just wanted the opportunity to try for 3000 hits, so he could share the honor with fellow Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente, but it doesn't look like it's going to be. If he doesn't get signed and does end up retiring, I guess we can make our reservations for his 2017 enshrinement in Cooperstown.
So the start of the 2012 season is less than two weeks away, and I'm getting excited. We have tickets for 4 Nationals games this year, including the home opener against Cincinnati and an inter-league game against the Yankees - I know, I've said before that I don't like inter-league play during the regular season, but who can turn down the opportunity to see Robinson Canó? Stay tuned for my insight as the season begins, and thank you as always for your support of my blog! :-)
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