Rip Van-Me Finally Woke Up!

So much has happened in baseball since I last posted on my blog!  The Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw notched his Major League-leading nineteenth win on his way to yet another Cy Young award (remember my previous post about being "bad-ass?"  Kershaw is definitely one of those!); the Houston Astros fired second-year manager Bo Porter; team owners elected a new Commissioner who will take over after Bud Selig retires in January (and they didn't pick me!); the Kansas City Royals inched their way closer to a playoff spot; and did you hear that Derek Jeter is retiring?  I know; I had no idea either!


Let's take a peek at the division standings and how things look playoff-wise now that I'm back to the grind (by the way, my husband and I went to two games at Nationals Park during my hiatus, so I was definitely paying attention!).  In the AL West, the Los Angeles Angels (which in Spanish means "the angels angels") became the first team to clinch a playoff spot and have the best record in the Majors.  People will watch them because of Albert Pujols and Mike Trout, but they should also pay attention to Matt Shoemaker, Howie Kendrick, and Erick Aybar.  They're surely going to have the AL West clinched by the end of the week, and people better start paying attention to these guys.


In the AL Central, things aren't so cut-and-dry.  The Detroit Tigers are only a game and-a-half above the Royals, who refuse to give up and are hungry for a playoff birth.  Some people are tired of the Cabrera-Verlander-Scherzer Tigers and want to see the Royals have a go at a pennant (they haven't amounted to much since the days of George Brett.  Pine tar, anyone?).  I would be happy with either team.  The Tigers are always fun to watch since they have such collective talent, but the underdog Royals would be a breath of fresh air.  And they have some cute guys on the team too!


As far as the AL East, it's Baltimore all the way.  They hope to clinch their playoff spot tonight (or may already have, depending on when you read this), and they've played some really good baseball despite injuries to key players.  Last year's home run leader, Chris Davis, has to serve a 25-game suspension for not submitting the appropriate paperwork to allow him to take his ADHD medication, but it's not like he was hitting anywhere close to last year, so the Orioles will be fine without him. 


On to the National League, where my mighty Nationals are also hoping to clinch a playoff spot tonight (if they can beat those annoying Braves).  Their lineup is solid, their starting rotation is strong (with Geo Gonzalez as the weakest link - who would've thought that would be the case this season?), and their bullpen is decent.  They fired Rafael Soriano as their closer and replaced him with Drew Storen, who was the closer when the Nationals lost to the Cardinals in the 2012 playoffs, but Storen has matured a lot and is better able to handle stressful situations.  Now if only I could afford to attend a playoff game...


In the NL Central, those darn Cardinals are in first place AGAIN.  Aren't we all sick of the Cards?  Really; give those Pirates a chance, will ya?  The Bucs are only 3 1/2 games out, and are technically still "in it."  Plus they have Andrew McCutchen, whom everyone loves, and a nicer ballpark and better fans.  Plus the "pirate" was my high school mascot, so there's that.  A lot depends on how the San Francisco Giants do (that whole Wild Card thing is a whole other story).


Lastly, the NL West belongs to the Dodgers, who have excellent pitching, a great manager in Don Mattingly, and an enigma named Yasiel Puig.  While an all-LA World Series would be boring to most casual fans, I would find it interesting and would actually root for one if the Nationals and Orioles are eliminated in the playoffs.  I could easily live vicariously through the LA fans but would have a hard time picking a favorite team (while I usually root for the National League team in the World Series, I like the Angels a little more than the Dodgers, so I would definitely be torn).  Yes, a "Beltway Series" would be super-exciting for those of us here in the mid-Atlantic, but a west-coast series would suffice.


So as you can see, there is still a LOT of baseball to be played and most playoff teams to be decided.  As for me, I promise to blog more, because I really missed writing while my life was busily filling up with family obligations, kids' activities, and the demands of my "real" (paying) job.  I'll be back soon with more predictions and more shallow commentary (sorry!), but in the meantime, keep rooting for those Nationals, Orioles, and Pirates! 

Twice as Nice for Bryce (even though I wasn't there to see it)

Opening Day of the 2013 Major League Baseball season brought a lot of fanfare (and fans!) to Nationals Park today, where the Washington Nationals shut out the visiting Miami Marlins by a score of 2-0.  And while it was my first time in several years not attending an Opening Day game at Nats Park (don’t cry for me, Nats fans – I will be there this Thursday afternoon with my family), I was able to catch all the action from the warmth and comfort of my living room.

The day started with the unveiling of the “2012 National League East Division Champions” pennant.  This particular sign is not pennant-shaped but rather rectangular and large, welcoming fans into the main center field gate of Nationals Park.  After the unveiling, players were presented, the National Anthem was sung by an Army quartet (sans the traditional fly-over, probably due to sequestration), and the 2012 awards were doled out.  Adam LaRoche received the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, Ian Desmomd and Stephen Strasburg received Silver Sluggers as well, Davey Johnson was given the 2012 Manager of the Year award, General Manager Mike Rizzo was awarded the Executive of the Year award, and Bryce Harper was given the National League Rookie of the Year award.  It was a ceremony that seemed to take forever – we were all definitely ready for some baseball to be played.  (As a side note, I wanted to indicate how they gave away baseball caps at the ball park today.  What are they going to be giving away when we go on Thursday?  Nothing!  But that's not why I go to the ball park, is it?  I guess not!)  Once again, I digress...

OK, back to Bryce Harper (I WAS talking about him, wasn't I?)  Well the kid ended up hitting two home runs during today’s game.  The first one was cool, but the second one was just unbelievable.  I found myself thinking “Are you freakin’ kidding me?  What does this mean?  Is this some sort of omen?”  It was kind of surreal, even though I wasn’t there to experience it.  We Nationals fans spent so many years watching mediocre baseball that it’s still hard for all this good baseball to sink in.  But we’ll take it!

And speaking of good baseball, the Nationals’ starter, Stephen Strasburg, pitched seven stellar innings, allowing only three hits while striking out three.  Strasburg threw only 80 pitches and did not walk a single batter - are they ever going to let him pitch more than seven innings?  Probably not.  He could have a no-hitter going and Davey would take him out of the game just because that's the way he's always done it.  Anyway, today Strasburg was replaced in the seventh inning (shocker!) by Tyler Clippard, who did not disappoint by giving us one of his usual stressful outings.  In typical Clippard fashion, he walked a guy and then took forever to get the next three batters out.  New Nats’ closer, Rafael Soriano, closed it out in the top of the ninth by striking out two out of the three batters he faced.  I found it odd that Soriano un-tucked his shirt as soon as he recorded the final out – I wonder if that’s his “thing” at the end of a game.  I’ll have to notice to see if that’s something he does when he earns a save – I honestly didn’t pay that much attention to him during his days as a Yankees closer.

Now the Nationals have earned their first win of the season and did not disappoint the 45,000-plus fans in attendance.  It was a very quick game – only 2 hours and 10 minutes, but they still found time for the traditional Presidents’ Race (with new member William H. Taft in the mix, though he fell over in the beginning of the race and was unable to finish).  They also played a little bit of “Take On Me” during the seventh-inning stretch as a little tribute to former Nationals’ outfielder, Michael Morse.  It was an “awww!” moment for me, especially when all the fans joined in the singing.

So what does today’s victory and Harper’s two home runs mean?  Nothing really, other than the fact that the Nationals are picking up where they left off last year, playing solid baseball (though it would have been nice if they’d had a few more hits), showing excellent team work (that double play in the seventh inning was anything but routine), and giving it their all at every at-bat.  I’m not putting all my eggs into the Nationals’ basket just yet (as much as I’d like to!); this was just one game of 162 – a lot can happen between now and then, but for now it’s nice to root for the team that is solidly in first place!