Not Just on the Fence, but WAAAY on the Fence!

I'm the type of person who can't always make up her mind about certain things.  At times, when my husband asks me where I want to go out to eat, I give him the dreaded "I don't care."  When he asks me where I want to go for a leisurely run, I'll say "I don't know; wherever."  That's not to say that I'm always indecisive - when I crave a certain food, that may dictate the restaurant I would like to visit.  Or if I can't decide between which two pairs of shoes to buy, I can usually make up my mind pretty easily (buy both pairs; duh!).  But this situation with Nationals' pitcher Stephen Strasburg has me in a real quandary.

For those of you unfamiliar with "Stras" and his current situation, here's a little bit of background:  The Washington Nationals drafted Stephen in the first round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft out of San Diego State University.  Stras had two years of collegiate pitching experience and was part of the 2008 US Olympic team that lost to Cuba in the Beijing Olympics.  He was the most closely-watched pitcher in draft history, and when the Nationals signed him ($15 million for 4 years), great things were expected of Strasburg.

So the kid gets to make his Major League debut in June of 2010 and is an instant sensation.  He struck out 14 batters in his debut on June 9 and 32 batters in his first 3 Major League starts.  The guy was practically unhittable!  Well, in August of that year, Stephen ends up tearing a ligament in his throwing elbow, which required Tommy John surgery (a procedure where they take a ligament from somewhere else in your body or from a cadaver and attach it to your elbow).  This surgery requires a lot of rehab - usually a year or so. 

So in August of 2011, Strasburg made his comeback by starting a rehab assignment with the single-A Hagerstown Suns (a game that my husband and I attended).  Stras made 5 other minor-league starts and moved up to the majors in September, where he pitched 24 innings in 5 starts.  Strasburg was doing OK; his elbow had healed nicely and big things were expected from him for the 2012 season.

So how has Strasburg done this year?  Pretty well, thanks.  The rightie is 15-5 so far, with a 2.85 ERA and 183 strikeouts in 145.1 innings pitched (leading the National League in Ks).  Stras was named to this year's All-Star team, and he has even had one home run as a batter.  Now here's the big dilemma:  Because of his recovery from Tommy John surgery, Nationals' General Manager, Mike Rizzo, has said since the beginning of the season that he is going to pull Strasburg after reaching a limit of 160 or so innings.  This is what they did to Nationals' pitcher Jordan Zimmermann last year after having had the same surgery in 2009.  Zimmermann was pulled last August and no one seemed to notice.  However, because the Nationals are in first place in the NL East and are more than likely going to the playoffs, this is, by far, the most heated debate going on in the DC area today (despite being an election year).

So is Mike Rizzo right in pulling Strasburg before the season is done?  (The way it looks now, Strasburg probably only has 2 or 3 more starts left).  This is where many ardent Nationals fans have their definite opinions.  I, however, ardent a fan as I am, am very indecisive as to what the right thing to do is.  Those who agree with Rizzo think that Strasburg is an investment that needs to be managed carefully (like that stock you may have bought in Facebook - don't you feel stupid now?).  If he pitches too much too soon after surgery, he could injure his shoulder or suffer from fatigue next year (Jordan Zimmermann, in this his first full season since his surgery, is starting to exhibit signs of exhaustion, and they will definitely need him during the playoffs).  The Nationals have plenty of pitching depth in the minor leagues, and with other excellent starters like Gio Gonzalez (who is having a Cy Young-type of season), they should be fine in the playoffs. 

On the other side of the debate are those (like my husband and my friend Bernie) who think it's preposterous to sit the guy out during the playoffs, an event that DC fans have been waiting for since the team moved here from Montreal in 2005.  If Strasburg is shut down and the Nationals don't make it too far in the playoffs, the 2013 season will be a long one, and it will be full of high expectations.  The Nationals will be under the type of pressure under which they've never been, and if they don't make it to the playoffs in 2013, a lot of the bandwagon and casual fans will lose interest.  It's a "now or never" attitude that many Nats fans have - pitch him now or we'll never ever be in the playoffs again! 

Some people have even opined that because the world is going to end on December 12 according to the Mayan calendar, he should be allowed to pitch because he's not going to be back next season anyway.  I had to laugh at that one!  Others have said that Strasburg should be shut down now and then brought back in October.  That may work for a veteran pitcher, but remember, this guy is only 24 years old and is still learning how to pitch in the Majors.  You don't just sit there for a month and then be expected to perform at your best right away.

So what do I think?  As a former Athletic Trainer, I understand Mike Rizzo's argument.  He has been crystal clear about Strasburg's pitch count since Spring Training, and he has not backed down from his decision.  He also gets credit for being up-front with the media and with fans, which is something that GMs are not normally known for doing.  But then again, I am a very competitive person (ask my husband, who knows how cranky I get when I lose in "Seinfeld Scene-It"), and I of all people really really want the Nationals to go on to the World Series.  Does one guy make a difference in a 25- or 40-man roster?  I'd like to think not.  Plus the Nationals have a very strong bullpen, so even if the starters can't get it done, the bullpen can save the day.  It's not like I'm neither here nor there about it - that would mean I didn't care.  I'm just weighing the pros and cons and just can't come up with a definite opinion.  I bet Stephen Strasburg will be shut down, and us fans are just going to have to accept it.  Here's to the last six weeks of the regular season, and to the Nationals hanging in there (with or without Strasburg) and making it to the playoffs.  The best of the season is yet to come!

Delay? What Rain Delay?

My fourth trip to Nationals Park this year turned out to be a long but exciting day.  When we arrived at the park on Sunday morning, the sky was ominous-enough that batting practice was canceled.  Around noon, the grounds crew brought out the tarp that covers the infield, because it had started raining pretty steadily.  After a 2-hour and 26-minute rain delay, Gio Gonzalez won his 16th game of the season -- a team record -- as the Nationals defeated the New York Mets, 5-2.  The Nationals improved their record to 75-46 and now have a five-game lead over the Braves, who were shut out by the Dodgers, 5-0, on Sunday. The Nationals next play the Braves in an important three-game series beginning Monday at Nationals Park.

But the rain delay wasn’t so bad, because it wasn’t raining too hard, so we were able to go to our seats in section 133 and take cover under our huge umbrella.  The Nationals people were nice enough to show the Braves-Dodgers game on the scoreboard screen, so we kept ourselves entertained watching that (at least I did, while my husband took a nap).  When Luis Cruz of the Dodgers hit a home run, everyone cheered.  I bet the Dodgers had no idea that they had thousands of instant fans cheering them on in DC!

And who doesn't find entertainment in watching the dozen or so groundskeepers rolling up the giant tarp?  They do it with such skill and precision it makes me want to have that job for just one day.  No more than that though; just one day.  I would trust those guys to fold up a camping tent, a giant road map, or even my fitted bed sheets when they come out of the dryer.   

When the game finally started, Gio Gonzalez took the mound.  It was not his best start (I think he was ready for a 1:35 game and was probably tired of having to stay warmed-up for so long), but he only allowed one run in 5 and 2/3 innings.  Gio is my favorite National this year - he's funny, light-hearted, and his hair always looks perfect.  Offensively, the Nationals’ Danny Espinosa hit a two-run homer that scored best-looking-Nationals-player-this-year Michael Morse, and previously-slumping Bryce Harper hit a solo one as well as a triple that scored Jayson Werth.  Harper scored after that triple thanks to a hit by Ryan Zimmerman.

The funniest part of the day was in the eighth inning, when Mets’ right fielder, Scott Hairston, decided to throw his glove down on top of something that was moving right next to him in the outfield.  We didn’t know what it was – a bird?  A mouse?  A snake?  The way he threw the glove down on that thing you would have thought it was a large creature with large fang-like teeth.  Then he removed the glove that was covering the creature and he tried to kick it.  Then he reluctantly picked it up with his glove, making sure the vicious creature did not inject him with a venomous and lethal bite.  When a Nationals official came to retrieve the creature with a big towel, we realized it was a praying mantis.  Yes, Scott Hairston delayed an already-delayed baseball game because of a praying mantis!  I bet you he’s not the one who empties the mouse traps in his house!

(Espinosa after his home run)

So our fourth visit to Nationals Park this year was a long one, but it had a positive result (You think THAT was a long day?  The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday in a 19-inning game that lasted 6 hours and 7 minutes!  With "last call" being after the seventh inning, that was probably a very long game for the fans at that ballpark!).  We will be back to Nationals Park for our fifth and final visit of the regular season in a few weeks, when the Nationals entertain the Milwaukee Brewers.  In the meantime, stay tuned for this week’s 3-game series against the Braves – it promises to be a very good one!

(Bryce Harper after his home run)

Another Reason to Hate the Phillies!

It's no secret that I am an avid Phillies-hater.  I have bashed them many times on this blog, and even though they're a million games out of first place this year and they have a great catcher about whom I've said some nice things (see "Is Carlos the New Iván" on 5/24/12), they're still doing things to piss me off (Can I say that on here?  I guess so; it's my blog!).

The Phillies' most recent move that has upset me (as well as many other Washington Nationals fans) has to do with Nationals' outfielder, Michael Morse.  For those of you who don't know Michael, let me give you a little bit of a background on him.  Morse (known to his teammates as "The Beast") came to the Nationals in 2009 from the Seattle Mariners.  Last season, he led the Nats in home runs with 31 and finished the year with a .303 batting average.  While normally an outfielder, Morse filled in very nicely at first base for the injured Adam LaRoche during most of last season.  This year, he began the season on the Disabled List and returned in June to his familiar spot in left field.   Morse is currently batting .301 in the 65 game he's played, with 14 doubles and 11 home runs.

So in late July, Morse started hitting regularly; every day, in fact, and had himself a nice 10-game hitting streak by the time the Nationals were to play the Phillies on August 2nd.  Morse got a hit at that game, and in fact has hit safely in his last 22 games!  That sounds like a pretty good accomplishment, right?  I mean, he's no DiMaggio, but it's still a respectable streak.  Well, this 22-game hit streak does not exist, because on August 10 (more than a week after that August 2nd game), the Phillies requested that Major League Baseball review Morse's only hit from that game.  The Phillies argued that it was not a hit off their pitcher, Cole Hamels (who already had a "history" with the Nationals, since he had intentionally hit the Nats' Bryce Harper with a pitch in a game earlier this season) and MLB agreed.  So Morse's third-inning single was switched to an error by Phillies' shortstop, Jimmy Rollins.  How lousy is that?!  What the heck were the Phillies trying to accomplish by asking for a review?  Are they that bitter about being in last place?  Such sore losers, I tell ya!  So not only does poor Jimmy Rollins get charged with an error (thanks a LOT, teammates!), but Michael Morse's hitting streak ended at 10 games on August 2nd.  Luckily for Morse, he's been hitting ever since, and now has himself an 11-game streak going (which like I said before, would be a 22-game streak if the August 2nd hit hadn't been reversed).  Let's hope Morse's current streak ends soon, because if it continues, the controversial reversal of August 2nd will keep looming over Morse and may overshadow the tremendous job that the Nationals have done so far this season.

Another Trip to the Ballpark!

The first-place Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins on Sunday by a score of 4-1, with pitching ace Stephen Strasburg pitching 6 scoreless innings while striking out 6 batters.  It was a much-needed win for Strasburg, whose last start only lasted four innings after allowing six runs against the Phillies.

It was a great day to be at the ballpark, this being my third visit to Nationals Park this year.   The attendance has definitely picked up (as seen by the longer lines at all the concession stands) and there seems to be a feeling of team pride and excitement that I had not really felt in previous years.  We sat next to a couple of very nice guys who probably don't eat at Chick Fil-A, and they were very pleasant and fun to talk to.  And this being Michael Morse Bobblehead Day, well what more could a fan want?  But wait!  What do my legally-blind eyes see all over the ballpark?  Men wearing khaki shorts, dress shirts, and loafers without socks!  Is that a DC thing, or are tennis shoes and Teva sandals being replaced by sweaty loafers as the footwear of choice for male baseball fans?  Eww!  Put on some socks, man!  And as hot and sweaty as I was by the end of the game, I can't imagine what their slippery-sweaty feet must have felt like (and smelled like!) with those sock-less loafers! 

Oh, here I go digressing again... So the game itself was fine – not super-exciting, yet it had enough action to keep us all engaged.  The Nationals scored all their runs in the fourth inning, when Strasburg and Adam LaRoche each drove in two runs.  For the Marlins, José Reyes improved his consecutive-game hitting streak to 24 games, second baseman Greg Dobbs drove in a run in the seventh inning, and Ricky Nolasco went 6 innings for the loss (8-11).  Those of us who were hoping that Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen would erupt into an expletive-filled tirade with an umpire were disappointed, though he did come out of the dugout once to question a call.

So Strasburg looked good both on the mound and at the plate yesterday, and Drew Storen looked very sharp in the top of the ninth inning to earn his first save of the year.  The crowd went wild, chanting “Druuuuuuuuuuuuuuu” as Storen so effortlessly closed out the game like he had done so many times last year (43 saves) before going on the disabled list and not returning until last month.  Storen looked like he had never missed a game, and Nationals fans were thrilled.  I, however, couldn’t help but feel bad for Tyler Clippard, who had been doing a fine job as closer while Storen was out with 22 saves so far this season.  But like last year’s “Clip and Save” combination, Clippard can go back to being Storen’s set-up guy and the fans will stay happy.

With a 160-inning limit (and 127 pitched so far) due to his recovery from Tommy John surgery, Stephen Strasburg will likely pitch into the beginning of September.  With a record of 12-5, an ERA of 2.97 and a league-leading 160 strikeouts, Strasburg is a far cry from being “pretty ordinary,” which is what Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune called him in a recent article.  Don’t be a Strasburg-hater, Phil; the kid is still just 24 years old and has not pitched a full season in the Majors yet.  Plus one guy does not a good ball club make – even when Strasburg has struggled, the Nationals have remained consistently in first place.  They will be in the playoffs with or without (OK, probably without) Strasburg, and if they end up playing the White Sox in the World Series (unlikely for either team), we’ll see what Mr. Rogers has to say about that!

I took this picture while Bryce Harper was doing his warm-ups.  Doesn't he look like George Banks doing his dance after he quits his job at the bank in the movie "Mary Poppins?"

Pitchers, or Wusses?

Whether you're a casual observer or a die-hard baseball addict like me, surely you've noticed that pitchers today seldom play for an entire 9-inning game.  Gone are the days of Bob Feller throwing 36 complete games in one season (he did that in 1946); Juan Marichal pitching 30 complete games in 1968; and Warren Spahn completing 26 games in 1951 (www.baseball-almanac.com).  Since the year 2000, James Shields of the Tampa Bay Rays has been the only pitcher who has thrown more than 10 complete games (he pitched 11 of them in 2011) in one season.  Why is that?

I pondered this question after last night's Nationals/Mets game, where Nats' starter Gio Gonzalez pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and was replaced for the eighth inning after throwing only 87 pitchers.  Granted, Gio was supposed to bat third in the bottom of the seventh, but why not let him bat with a 5-1 lead and let him continue pitching?  Nationals' manager, Davey Johnson, did not really have a good reason for taking Gio out of the game, especially since he's always saying how he wants to rest his bullpen (plus Davey is so old that he can put anyone to sleep during press conferences with his droning "my voice sounds like this because I no longer have a prostate" tone).  The day before that, Johnson pulled starter Jordan Zimmermann after only six innings, despite Zim's six strikeouts and four hits allowed.  Time for me to ponder...

One of the reasons that the complete-game pitcher is becoming extinct (Justin Verlander of the Tigers is the exception this year, with 5 complete games so far) is the fact that managers are getting hung up on pitch counts and assuming that high pitch counts lead to injuries.  As soon as a pitcher reaches around 100 pitches in a game, regardless of whether he's winning or not, the bullpen becomes active and the starter is soon removed (especially if a batter gets a hit because of a defensive error that is not the fault of the pitcher - I hate when they do that!).  Well let me tell you, a guy named Nolan Ryan (perhaps you've heard of him) pitched 807 games in his 24-year career, and 222 of them were complete games.  Ryan seldom missed a start due to injury, he never had Tommy John surgery, his shoulder never acted up (though his back did, according to his Advil commercials), and his fastball was sharp until his retirement.  Pitching injuries are due more to mechanics than pitch count; overuse injuries are a reality, but these can be minimized with proper conditioning and technique, not by pulling pitchers after they've thrown only 100 pitches (especially if they're pitching well; I agree when a pitcher is pulled early due to a bad outing).

Then there's the role of the bullpen specialists, the middle reliever and the closer.  One theory in baseball is that pitchers lose their effectiveness the second and third times through the lineup.  This is when they turn to the bullpen and put in a reliever for the eighth inning and a closer for the ninth (especially during a save situation).  Sometimes they even put in a guy to pitch to only one batter - the lefty-lefty matchup, for instance, and you can have two or three pitchers throw to two or three batters in one inning.  This brings a baseball game to a grinding halt, and it makes me very impatient.

Some people argue that pitchers are not allowed to pitch complete games because the season is longer than it used to be.  Yes, but starting rotations used to only have 4 pitchers and now they have 5, so I think they're getting adequate rest.  And don't tell me that Liván Hernandez used to pitch so many complete games in the 90s because his fastball was only about 80mph - Verlander's fastball is in the upper 90s and Roy Halladay (who completed many games for the Blue Jays and Phillies) has a 95mph fastball (OK, Halladay stinks this year, but he has had a great career full of complete games).

I have no sympathy for pitchers.  They make a ton of money, and they should be able to pitch a complete game in 120 pitches or so.  When I become Commissioner, I'm going to pay pitchers for each inning pitched, and if they go less than six innings in one game, I'm going to fine them.  They will also have money deducted from their pay for earned runs and intentional walks, but be given bonuses for strikeouts (sorry for you, ground-out pitchers!) as well as for complete games.  What do you think?  Is that a good idea?  Perhaps I should stick to blogging!  :-)

Halfway Done... :-(

Believe it or not, my friends, the Major League Baseball season is already halfway over.  The trade deadline is fast approaching, and before you know it, rosters will be expanded and the playoffs will soon follow.  But what marks the halfway point of the baseball season?  Well the All-Star Game and all its festivities, of course!
This year's "Midsummer Classic" was held in Kansas City.  Don't know why; other than the fact that it was an American League team's turn to host the game (and the fact that the Royals could use more fans in the stands).  Before the game was even played, there were a lot of exciting events going on - from the FanFest exhibits to the Home Run Derby (won by Prince Fielder) to the Legends and Celebrities Softball Game (Where else can you rub elbows with Rickey Henderson, Ozzie Smith, Rollie Fingers, and American Idol's David Cook?).  If the All-Star Game comes to DC in 2015 like the rumors are saying, I would definitely like to attend the softball game (especially if Iván Rodriguez is invited).  That just looks like a fun time.

So the game itself started after a 45-minute Fox-like pregame show, and no, I don't really like Fox Sports because I can't stand Joe Buck and his big forehead (which looks more like a five-head).  And poor Tim McCarver is getting way too old to be doing color commentary.  John Miller and Joe Morgan have always been my favorites - at least they have personalities and don't talk like they know everything (Joe Buck is second on my list of arrogant announcers I don't like - Bob Costas is number one).

So anyway, the pregame show included a nice segment about the Negro League, which was started in Kansas City back in the 1920s.  Greats like Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays started out playing in the Negro League before Major League Baseball was integrated, and it was a very informative little piece (I will definitely visit the Negro League Museum if I'm ever in Kansas City for some unknown reason).  Also during the pregame show, the National Anthem was sung by some Luke Bryan country singer guy, who stayed on pitch (a hard thing to do with that song) but he sang it WAY too slow.  I was like "Snap it up, dude; we want to watch the game!"  And today he admitted to having the lyrics written on his hand!  My husband suspected it, and I was like "Nah ah; who doesn't remember the words to the "Star-Spangled Banner?" forgetting about Cristina Aguilera in that one Super Bowl a couple of years ago!

After the player introductions (this year there were 26 first-time All-Stars), George Brett threw out the first pitch (Surprise!  Who didn't see that coming?) and the game finally began.  Poor Justin Verlander got roughed up right away, with the National League scoring 5 runs in the first inning.  The Washington Nationals were well represented in the bottom of the third, when Gio Gonzalez faced the minimum 3 batters (including the Yankees' Curtis Granderson, who whore high socks in honor of the Negro League).  Stephen Strasburg also had a scoreless inning, pitching in the bottom of the fifth. And of course there was the game's MVP, the Giants' Melky Cabrera (one of the 3 Cabreras for whom I voted) who went 2-3 with 2 RBIs.

If you went to bed after the fifth inning (like I did), you didn't miss a thing, because it was 8-0 at that point and that ended up being the final score.  I am sad that I missed Chipper Jones's base hit, since this is his last All-Star Game due to his pending retirement at the end of the season.  I have always liked Larry Wayne Jones, and it was nice seeing him giving the other NL guys a pep talk in the clubhouse before the game.

So what else was noteworthy about the game?  Oh, there was the Royals' Billy Butler, who got a huge standing ovation when he was introduced during the pregame show.  Royals' fans were upset that Butler was not included in the Home Run Derby the night before, so they showed their appreciation for Butler (who went 0-2 last night).
So that's my recap of the All-Star game - now there is no baseball until Friday.  I will actually have to find something else to watch on TV tonight (good luck with that one!) and hope that the second half of the season is as exciting and surprising as the first half (the Pirates in first place?  Who knew that was going to happen?).  So stay tuned; there are still two-and-a-half months of regular-season baseball to be played!

I Guess There IS an "I" in "Team!"

In baseball, I've always thought that one guy does not one team make.  If one player is struggling, it is up to the other players on the team to step up and play their best regardless of whether one guy stinks or not.  That is why I have always been perplexed when sportscasters and analysts say things like "Once so-and-so breaks out of his slump, the other guys will follow" and "So-and-so is not hitting well in the third spot because he's not gettingany support from the first two batters."  Shouldn't So-and-so's teammates still perform well even if So-and-so sucks?  It was pretty cut-and-dry to me two weeks ago, but now I'm not so sure.

If you're a regular reader of this blog or if you follow me on www.prosportsblogging.com or www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/blogs/ (scroll down to Nationals Inquirer), you've surely read my rants about how the Washington Nationals had not been producing offensively, especially for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th batters.  I've also written about third baseman Ryan Zimmerman's nagging shoulder injury, and the debate whether to place him back on the Disabled List or give him a cortisone shot and let him rest during the All-Star break.  Well, apparently they went ahead and gave him the cortisone shot last Sunday, and ever since then, he has been hitting very well.  His average went up from a lousy .218 to an improved .235 in the past week, which includes 2 home runs hit in Colorado (OK, I know that even I could hit a home run at Coors Field, but still...).

Well guess what?  As soon as Ryan Zimmerman started hitting, the rest of the Nationals' bats woke up as well!  Adam LaRoche and Tyler Moore also had 2 home runs apiece, and the team had 49 hits in their last 3 games.  So what's that all about?  I don't know - I was a Sports Management major, not a Sports Psychology one so I don't have an answer.  But it seems like it is indeed true - when a normally good batter is in a slump, the rest of the team seems to struggle too.  Let's just hope that's not the case for the Phillies, who just got second baseman Chase Utley back from the Disabled List.  He had been there all season due to chondromalacia in his knee (Don't we all have some degree of grinding in our knees?  I think Chase is just a wimp!).  But anyway, Utley hit a home run in his first at-bat since his return, and first baseman Ryan Howard is starting his rehab after rupturing his Achilles tendon in the last game of the playoffs last year.  So if Utley starts out well and Howard makes a comeback, will that spark the Phillies' bats?  Gosh, I hope not!