TIMPLOSION!

"Nobody wants - you don't want to be in the situation where you wake up one morning and Johan Santana has won eight games all season and you owe him $150 million. That's the thing. You see a lot of guys for $150 million, but we're going to stick with what we're doing. We're going to take a lot of heat from you and everybody else, but I think you're starting to see it."
(Mark Lerner, via Nationals Journal, 7/13/2008)

Mets 7, Nationals 2: The good news is, the Lerner Family didn't wake up this morning with a $150 million ace on the payroll. Santana shuts down Nats; Redding stinks out the joint.

Brian Schneider gets his name in the paper.

Mets forced to choke post-season dreams away without help from Nats

Hey, we love The Tim Redding Journeyman Express as much as the next guy, but do they really have to go into 2009 with a #3 as #1? Open your checkbook, and bring us the big fat head of C.C. Sabathia, you cheap bastards.

Meanwhile...

• Call it what  you will: Tragic Number, Worst place, Strasburg Cup, Strasburg Sweepstakes, etc. etc. Does it make you a bad fan to be rooting for the Padres this weekend?
• Like Stan said, they got the attendance they deserve. Nats' revenues stink, too.
• God bless the headline writers over at Nationals dot com: "2009 should be exciting for Nationals". Love it. We've got goosebumps!
• Unfortunately, we won't be able to attend this afternoon's "State of the Nationals" event with Jim Bowden and Mike Rizzo at ESPNZone (which, for the record, has the distinction of serving the worst AND most overpriced food in the District). Here's one question we'd like to ask Jimbo: "Jim, are you the reason Stan Kasten hates his job?"
• More on Nats' AAA move to 'Cuse.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Comments

[Hendo]

"Does it make you a bad fan to be rooting for the Padres this weekend?"

Yes.

[The Nationals Enquirer]

OK, then how about *only* rooting for the Padres to win 2 out of 3?

[harper]

"Economic Research Associates, a consulting firm hired by the city, examined trends from other recently opened ballparks and concluded that the Nationals would sell 3.1 million tickets in 2008. "

OMG: "2.4 million - 2.8 million"
I'm better than an entire reserach organization! (but still wrong)