Welcome to 2008

Welcome to this blog.    Why did I plunk down $5 a month for the privilege of writing about my beloved Nats?  Well I was tempted to apply for one of those mlb.com job openings on monster.com, but I have a full time gig with the government which is not nearly as much fun but is paying the bills pretty nicely so I thought this might be a way to have the fun of one of those mlb.com reporter jobs without the pressure of it being a real job.   I’ll touch on a couple random subjects here on my first entry.

I read Bill Ladson’s opinions on the official MLB.com website, and often disagree with them.   I read the Washington Post, and Barry Svulga’s excellent Nationals Journal blog on their website.  I often imagine that I could do that my own way, and now I can.  I won’t present my opinion as fact (as Ladson does).  And I can discuss my favorite team without defending my newspaper/employer’s practice of pretending that all Washington area fans consider the Baltimore team to be our ‘home’ team (as Svulga does).  I love Barry’s blog, its a great resource of info, and I understand that publically criticizing your boss and your place of employment is not a good career move and in fact is in direct conflict with any definition of common sense that you may run into.  But I don’t have those considerations here.  The Washington Post seems to fail to understand that its sports coverage should favor teams that in Washington. Thomas Boswell may consider the Orioles ‘an area team’ but most native Washingtonians don’t.  Many of us were around when the Senators and Orioles were both in the American League, and more than a few of us didn’t take to Boog long before he had a barbeque.  How many writers from the Baltimore Sun are extolling the virtues of the Redskins as Baltimore’s "home team" in the NFL?   Michael Wilbon, another Post writer, was publically jubullent when the Nats lost Alfonso Soriano to the Cubs in November 2006, proclaiming on national TV  that "nobody cares about the Nats."   I guess I’m supposed to be understanding because he’s from Chicago and came to Washington to take a job from a local guy who may actually like the local teams.    Funny, I thought the Chicago area had newspapers who hire reporters too, and I sure wish he’d go back there.   Anyway, long story short (as if that were possible at this point), I’m going to be posting pro-Nats stories and opinions.  I’m a season ticket holder from day one, and an admitted big fan, so don’t expect me to be writing a story about what a joy it was to watch Jake Peavy shut out the Nats.  I’m also a recovering Cincinnati Reds fan, so I was partial to Aaron Boone, Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez, etc. when there was still major league baseball in Quebec.  You still may see some of those biases in my blog writing.

The Nats off season moves were not quite the overhaul some of us expected, but there were enough to keep people talking over the winter (as there will be any winter Jim Bowden is GM).  The big trade was the Ryan Church and Brian Schneider for Lastings "Bend Ya Knees" Milledge.   I was pretty criticial of this deal at the time but it looks a lot better with the Paul LoDuca and Johnny Estrada signings.  I think it may be a lose/lose trade to be honest.  I’m not convinced that Lastings Milledge is anything to write home about.   He wasn’t even starting over ex-Nat Endy Chavez at Shea Stadium. Those that like the deal note that he was offered up for Manny Ramirez, but that was two years ago and his stock hasn’t risen.  Then there is the matter of the "Bend Ya Knees", which, from all reports, is a pretty offensive rap song to women.  So, if nothing else, I suppose Lastings will give you something to chat about with your date when you go to Nats Park this summer.   But I honestly think that Brian Schneider was somewhat overrated.  I grew up watching Johnny Bench, so maybe I’m spoiled, but Schneider was not getting better and was a servicable but pretty ordinary major league catcher.  He was great throwing out baserunners in 2005 but was average at best the last two seasons.  He was not developing as a hitter, and it seemed like he grounded the ball to second base for an out (or two) every time the Nats had runners on base.  He was often credited for his excellent handling pitchers, but who knows how much of this was/is really pitching coach Randy St. Clair and Manny Acta?   You’d see Schneider looking in the dugout after every pitch, and, pop-ups aside, I’m not sure that the pitchers lost much when Jesus Flores was behind the dish.   LoDuca is a better hitter than Schneider (even without shooting drugs in his behind) and probably is going to handle the pitchers just fine. Ryan Church was a polarizing figure — there were many who loved him, and many who discounted him.  I was in the middle, I think he was a servicable outfielder, sort of a poor man’s Brad Wilkerson, but he probably was never going to get better here after being given a spot in left field and just doing ok with it.  He didn’t have much media savvy — he in fact issued a ‘no comment’ when a young fan asked him in 2005 whether he liked DC better than Montreal — but Church was very personable with the fans (as was Schneider as well) so those who encountered him developed a soft spot for him.  My guess is that three years from now, all the players in this trade (both on the Nats and Mets sides) will be somewhere else, or out. 

The Nats also traded for troubled outfielder Elijah Dukes.   This has me shaking my head.  They guy allegedly sent a photo of a gun to his girlfriend, threatening her life and the life of HIS child.  This isn’t a "mistake of judgement" like taking HGH or recording an off-color rap song, this is criminal behavior.  If Ryan Zimmerman says something this guy doesn’t like, is he going to shoot him in the clubhouse?   The Elijah Dukes trade is coming high on the heels of the Dmitri Young experiment, which everyone in Nats management pats themselves on the back for.   There are more than a few differences in their histories of course — Dmitri had health issues, and some minor brushes with the law, but nothing like threatening the life of his own child.  And just because Young pulled himself out of it, does that mean that the Nats are going to become the ‘Statue of Liberty’ team?  Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses?   They don’t use that phrase when collecting payment for tickets, do they? 

Another bad residual from the Dmitri Young experiment is that suddenly, although healthy, it appears that Nick Johnson has lost his first base job.   When did this happen and why?  All last year Manny would routinely point out that his lineup was incomplete because he didn’t have his starting first baseman.  Now suddenly Nick is on the bench.  Lets see, Nick is a better clutch hitter, better defensively, has more power, has a better OBP, is younger, and is cheaper.   Dmitri Young had a fine 2007 season, but he petered out at the end, and has very little power for the first base position.  How can Nick Johnson NOT be the starting first baseman?  Because they want Dmitri to mentor Elijah Dukes?  This is a major league baseball team, not a Hollywood rehab center.

See you next time.