Nats Enquirer

Hammer as Silver Elvis

(Photo of TV/MASN by Nationals Enquirer staff. Josh Willingham donned the Silver Elvis wig on Friday night.)

Josh Willingham got to wear Nyjer Morgan's Silver Elvis wig for his efforts as Nationals' player of the game tonight against the Brewers. The Hammer went 2-2 with a HR, but more importantly doubled off Carlos Gomez at second after a diving catch in the 8th to put out a fire started by Blowtorch Brian Bruney. 

Even funnier than the sight of Josh Willingham in the wig was the sight and sound of Josh Willingham shushing his son during his post-game interview with MASN's Debbie Taylor. Fantastic. Hopefully MASN puts the clip online. Yes, here it is.

.500, again!

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The Curse of Youppi!?

 

(Photo by Getty Images. Anonymous sources say that Ex-Montreal Expos mascot Youppi!, now employed by the Montreal Canadians, put a curse on all Washington sports teams when the Expos left Montreal to become the Nationals in 2005. The Habs dropped the Caps 3-2 in overtime in Game One of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals last night. Uh oh.)

Habs 3, Caps 2.

"Capitals vs. Canadiens -- blood feud for Montreal fans -- the "Remember the Expos" series."
(Thom Loverro, via Twitter, 4/15/2010)

Will Youppi! have the last laugh?

Is it possible that more people in Montreal remember that there once WAS a baseball team called the Expos than there are people in Washington D.C. who remember that there IS a baseball team named the Nationals?

Meanwhile...

• Garrett Mock recalled from 'Cuse, sent to the 15-day DL due to a strained neck. Anonymous sources say Mock strained his neck watching those 2 HRs to Francoeur and Barajas last Friday night in NY.

• Godspeed, Jason Bergmann.

• Pittsburgh blog Title Tahn has some good photos/commentary from Strasburg's Altoona debut.

• Back to Ryan Zimmerman's pinch hit HR yesterday. During the broadcast, MASN's Rob Dibble recounted an incident that happened prior to Zim's heroics:

  "Well, I saw something when Scott Olsen was coming off the field, that I thought I'd never see. Ryan Zimmerman -- and this is what a team leader is all about -- Phillie fan was getting all over Scott. Zim got up and got all over the fan. Maybe that was just enough of what Zim needed to get him going."
  (Rob Dibble, via MASN, 4/15/2010)

  Great story. Anyone ask Zim about it after the game? Would love to hear Zim's take on the incident.

• A portion of every ticket sold through this link for the Sunday, April 25 game vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers will go to help Children’s National Medical Center build a new Diabetes Care Complex in Washington, DC. Here's the link, again: http://nationals.com/childrensnational

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Rule #1: Do not distract Mark Lerner while he is shagging balls during batting practice.

 

(AP Photo by Lawrence Jackson. Stan Kasten and Mark Lerner, looking forward to mingling with bloggers?)

Congrats to the five blogs selected by the Nationals to receive media credentials to cover the team. Here they are:  Nats News Network, Federal Baseball, Nats Farm Authority, Nationals Daily News (formerly Nationals Pride), and Nats 320.

An anonymous source with knowledge of the situation told the Nationals Enquirer that the team has issued a set of rules for these selected "Online Media Outlets", including:

• Do not distract Mark Lerner while he is shagging balls during batting practice.
• Do not engage in cocktail party suppositions.
• Do not make eye contact with Stan Kasten.
• Do not wake up Ted Lerner and/or ask him for money.
• Do not wear your Nats #1 foam finger while working in the press box.

Not surprisingly, the Nationals Enquirer was not invited to participate in this grand experiment; it seems that all these years of writing about Jim Bowden riding his Segway, Dmitri Young pregnancy rumors, and Ray King fat jokes came back to bite us. 

Got a few messages from readers asking us how we feel about not being included, so here it goes: we're not at all surprised or disappointed that we weren't invited -- at this point, we can't imagine a scenario where this blog would want or need that level of access to the team, nor the responsibility that comes along with it. So, thank you, Washington Nationals, for *not* asking. As a fan, not sure it will change our daily reading habits: we'll still rely on the pros: Zuckerman, Goessling, Ladson, and Kilgore as our primary source for copying and pasting quotes from the clubhouse. We'll still read the same Nats blogs we always read daily. Here are a couple of other interesting takes on the announcement.

So, it's a good, safe, first move by the Nationals to respond to a changing media environment. Good for the team, and good for the invited bloggers. But the bazillion dollar question is: is it it good for fans?

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Pinch Me

(Photo of TV/MASN by Nationals Enquirer staff. Hammy Time: Ryan Zimmerman's 2-run, pinch hit HR in the eighth inning gave the Nats a 5-4 lead.)

"It's encouraging, because I don't think we've played that good of baseball."
(Jim Riggleman, via Nats Insider, 4/15/2010) 

Nationals 7, Phillies 5: Welcome back, Olsen. Welcome back, Zim.

4-5: Encouraging, indeed.

Not to nitpick, but we're still trying to figure out why Riggleman didn't go with Jason Marquis to pinch hitfor Everyday Tyler Clippard in the 8th. Guess it worked out just fine with Zimmerman, but still.

Smokin' Scott Olsen delivered: 5.2 IP, 5H, 4ER ,3BB, 5K, 1HR, 91 pitches, 57 strikes.

Pudge comes through with 2 game winning RBI in the 9th: Is it too late to take back all those lousy carcass jokes we made back in December?

Matt Capps registers 5-outs for his 4th save. Respect.

Light hitting Adam Dunn now leads Wil Nieves in HRs this year by one.

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Insert Football Reference

 

(AP Photo via Daylife. Craig Stammen stunk it up in Philly Wednesday night.)

Phillies 14, Nationals 7: There's a touchdown joke ready for the taking, but we'll leave it alone.

Phillies have outscored the Nats 45-22  in 5 games so far. This also appears to be a good spot for a football joke. Maybe something about McNabb?

Craig Stammen (1.1 IP, 53 pitches, 7H, 7ER, 1BB, 1HR) vs. Kyle Kendrick (1.2 IP, 52 pitches, 6H, 6ER, 3BB): One for the ages.

Stammen actually had us wishing Garrett Mock would show up on an express bus from Syracuse and take the ball in the second inning.

Bergmann, Burnett, Bruney, Clippard: had us longing for the halcyon days of Julian Tavarez.

Anonymous sources report that Brian Bruney is still wandering around the streets of Philadelphia at this hour searching for his lost strike zone (23 pitches - 8 strikes). Maybe Bruney should've shown up for the Yankees World Series ring ceremony on Tuesday, and stayed there?

Riggleman proves he isn't concerned about Jason Marquis by pinch-hitting him in the fifth inning with the game tied at 5 and a runner on 2nd.

Zim out for third straight game; when's that trip to the DL coming?

Bernadina, down. Maxwell, up. Someone needs to leave town to make room for today''s starter, Smokin' Scott Olsen: Jason Bergmann: Another untimely bomb, 15.00+ ERA = odd man out?

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Welcome to NatsTown: Where the pitchers can't pitch, so they pinch hit.

(Photo of TV/MASN by Nationals Enquirer Staff. Jim Riggleman decided to try his luck with Jason Marquis as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning of a tie game and a runner in scoring position Wednesday night against the Phillies. Sure, why the hell not!)

Now I've seen everything.

Jason Marquis as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning of a tie game?

Sure, why the hell not!

We repeat: Jim Riggleman is losing his mind.

Is it 2011 yet?

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Panic Time: Alberto Gonzalez is not Ryan Zimmerman.

Hmmm... Something's wrong with this lineup, courtesy of Adam Kilgore/Nationals Journal:

1. Nyjer Morgan, CF
2. Willie Harris, RF
3. Cristian Guzman, SS
4. Adam Dunn, 1B
5. Josh Willingham, LF
6. Adam Kennedy, 2B
7. Ivan Rodriguez, C
8. Alberto Gonzalez, 3B
9. Craig Stammen, SP

Hoo boy. Zim's out again. We're breaking out the Panic Button. Time to head over to Nationals Fanboy Looooooser to join the Ryan Zimmerman DL Pool...

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Pat Listach vs. The Philly Phanatic (as Lady Gaga)

Enjoy the video above from the Phillies second home opener of the 2010 season: footage shot Monday at Citizen's Bank Park (not the one in D.C.). Nationals third base coach Pat Listach does a nice job ignoring the harassment from the Phanatic, who happens to be dressed up as Lady Gaga. Too bad Listach didn't give the ol' Phanatic the Randall Simon treatment.

Meanwhile...

• It'd be a real shame if both Jimmy Rollins AND Jayson Werth miss Wednesday's game.

• The Nats had no choice but to deny that they're favoring Bryce Harper, right? Last thing in the world Scott Boras needs is more leverage. Adam Kilgore catches up Nationals Director of Amateur Scouting Kris Kline:

  "I don't think that's etched in stone."
  (Kris Kline, via Nationals Journal, 4/13/2010)

  MLB.com's Bill Ladson's anonymous source was a little more emphatic:

  "Not true. No decision has been made." 
  (Bill Ladson's anonymous source, via Nationals.com, 4/13/2010)

  Obviously, they're going to keep scouting and keep options open until Mike Rizzo makes his final decision on June 7th. And on June 7th, the pick will be Bryce Harper. Rizzo will take the best player available and won't worry a bit about handing more bags of Ted Lerner's cash to Scott Boras. Right?

• Adam Dunn might the only person unconcerned about his lack of power since last September. NNN asks the bazillion dollar question.

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The Bryce Harper Watch: Counting down the days until another game of chicken with Scott Boras.

(Photo via Getty Images. Scott Boras, looking forward to taking more of Ted Lerner's hard-earned cash this summer.)

Rizzo vs. Boras II: Coming soon.

MASN's Ben Goessling reports that the Nationals are likely to select Bryce Harper with the #1 pick in the June 2010 First-Year Player Draft:

Barring an injury or a drastic change, the Nationals plan to take 17-year-old catcher Bryce Harper with the first pick in the June Draft, according to a source familiar with the situation. They see Harper as being head and shoulders above anyone else in the 2010 draft class and believe he could reach the majors within 2 1/2 years.

...[Harper] is currently playing at the College of Southern Nevada, where he is batting .422 with a .516 on-base percentage, .891 slugging percentage, 15 homers and 42 RBI in 39 games.
(via Ben Goessling/MASNSports.com, 4/13/2010)

Seems like a no-brainer, right? Unless the Nats have concerns about sign-ability?

Back in March, Matt Youmans of the Las Vegas Review-Journal speculated that Harper would be looking for a signing bonus "in the neighborhood of $10 million".

Assume the position, Mr. Lerner.

Meanwhile, on an unrelated note, we were pleased to read Bill Ladson's report on Nationals.com yesterday that Jermaine Dye has declined a contract offer by the Nationals:

"I'm sure it was as much as they could do. With the economy, they can only offer so much. I'm sure with that team and that payroll, what they had to offer was their best."
(Jermaine Dye, via Nationals.com, 4/12/2010)

 Hooray for the sputtering economy!

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Licked in Philly

 

(Photo of TV/MASN by Nationals Enquirer staff. That fat a-hole country singing umpire Joe West signals ball one. Home plate umpire Paul Schrieber called an automatic ball on Jason Marquis in the 4th inning after Marquis licked his fingers without wiping them. And it all went to hell after that for the Nats.)

"[Schreiber] said I didn't wipe to my leg, which I did. So it was a 'He said, she said' type of thing. I know I wiped my fingers and he said I didn't. ... So I'm going to look back at the replay, see if we have a camera angle on it and see what we have."
(Jason Marquis, via Nationals.com, 4/12/2010)

Phillies 7, Nats 4: Who sucked more? Jason Marquis (4.1 IP, 6H, 7R, 6ER, 2BB, 1K, 1HR) or the Umps? It's a tossup.

At this hour, MASN's Bob Carpenter and Rob Dibble are still bitching about the umpiring.

Jim Riggleman's 4th inning ejection after arguing the squeeze-job on Marquis was awesome. And yes, Manny Acta would've just stood there on the top step and taken it:

"I just felt like I needed to make a statement that we've got to get a little respect, too. That's the Phillies over there, who have earned a great amount of respect. But we've got to get some respect, too, so I felt like I had to say something."
(Jim Riggleman, via Nats Insider, 4/12/2010)

Mr. Riggles, channeling Aretha. But respect is earned, baby.

Pudge has a good excuse for that bad throw which contributed to the Marquis meltdown in the 5th: his back hurts. Good thing Jesus Flores has been cleared to begin throwing.

Raise your hand if you were hoping that early 4-0 lead would hold up and ruin the Phillies home opener at Citizen's Bank Park. Oh well.

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