Nats Enquirer

F.P. Santangelo is the New Rob Dibble

 

(There's F.P. Santangelo. Photo by beawslaiw/Flickr.)

The Nationals and MASN have reportedly hired former Expo F.P. Santangelo to fill Rob Dibble's shoes on MASN. Santangelo joins a fraternity of Nationals TV anlaysts which includes Ron Darling, Tom Paciorek, Don Sutton, Rob Dibble, and Ray Knight. Oh, and don't forget a couple of cameos by Paul LoDuca in the MASN booth back in 2008. So now Santangelo has even more in common with Lo Duca than just a mention in the Mitchell Report.

We're still left wondering what happened on New Year's Eve at the Playboy Mansion to cause Jose Canseco to challenge Santangelo to a boxing match.

Is there a more unlikely feud to start 2011 than Jose Canseco and F.P. Santangelo?

And so, we noticed that Jose Canseco had his email address displayed on his Twitter page, so we wrote him an email, asked him what happened. Here's all he had to say about it:

"He apologized for what he did let's leave it at that."

 

Okay, we'll just leave it at that, like Jose suggests. All is forgiven.

Good luck, and welcome, F.P. Santangelo -- and here's a little advice:  don't go on Sirius/XM radio and insinuate that Stephen Strasburg is a wuss.

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A potential Jose Canseco vs. F.P. Santangelo boxing match at Nationals Park?

(Jose Canseco vs. F.P. Santangelo? Screengrab via Twitter.)

So MLB.com's Bill Ladson reports that MASN and the Nationals have narrowed down their list of candidates for deposed MASN color man Rob Dibble, and will name his replacement soon. Three candidates named specifically by Ladson as finalists: Ray Knight, Joe Magrane, and F.P. Santangelo.

We're pulling for F.P. Santangelo. Because if Jose Canseco's Twitter feed is to be believed, something...strange...went down on New Year's Eve at the Playboy Mansion between Canseco and Santangelo, leading Canseco to challenge the former Expo to a boxing match.

It begs the question: If F.P. Santangelo gets the MASN gig, would the Nationals consider holding a Santangelo-Canseco boxing match at Nationals Park? Maybe during NatsFest 2011? Because that would be awesome.

On a related note, Mike Rizzo is still searching for starting pitching help (and Pavano is no longer in the mix?). Maybe he should give Canseco a call? Certainly Jose wouldn't turn down bags of Lerner money like Greinke did, right?

Anyway, here's how that little New Year's Eve tiff went down, according to Jose Canseco:

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Stephen Strasburg grows greatest beard in the history of mankind

 

(Stephen Strasburg grew a beard. Screengrab via Strasburg5K.com.)

The news that Stephen Strasburg has grown a beard following his Tommy John surgery spread like wildfire throughout NatsTown on Wednesday. Indeed, a bearded Baseball Jesus appeared in a video on the Strasburg 5K website promoting the Inaugural Stephen Strasburg 5K Walk & Fun Run with Tony Gwynn, which takes place in San Diego on January 15. That's a werid looking beard, but from this day forward all beards will now be referred to as "Strasburgs." Any questions?

Interestingly (or not really, but pitchers and catchers don't report for another 40 days, so we're grasping), Strasburg's beard looks eerily similar to the strange neck beard worn by current Nats' Ace Livan Hernandez during the second half of the 2010 season. Here, compare and contrast the image of Strasburg above with the following Associated Press image of Livo pitching in a September game against the Pirates:

 

(AP Photo.)

Those are a couple of weird beards, huh?

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"He would even drift off with thoughts of hunting while playing first base."

 

(Also, Adam LaRoche is an avid deer hunter. Photo of Adam LaRoche and a buck via BuckCommander.com.)

Adam Done

Nationals agree to 2 year (16 million bucks?) deal with Adam LaRoche

Maybe LaRoche can help Mike Rizzo hunt down and bag one of those elusive top of the rotation pitchers he's been chasing all Winter?

Last man standing!  And now, thankfully, let us safely put to bed all the talk about how a platoon at first base wouldn't be so bad for the Nats in 2011. Let's just leave all the glaring question marks to the starting rotation, okay? At least now pending a physical, there's no question about what the Nats will get out of first base the next two seasons: a good if not average bat, a good if not average glove. Vanilla. And that's good news.

If you liked how Manny Acta expressed emotion during his 2 year stint with the Nationals...well, you'll LOVE Adam LaRoche. And now, get to know Adam LaRoche (quotes courtesy of BuckCommander.com)!

• Biggest buck ever? "230 inches (gun) and 170" (bow)"
• Dream buck? "Any buck over five years old."
• When Hollywood makes a a movie about Adam LaRoche, who plays Adam LaRoche? "Matthew McConaughey"
• He's an old hunting buddy of Ex-Nat Ryan Langerhans.

Here's LaRoche's CamoSpace.com profile page, in case you're interested.

And then there was that time back in 2006 when LaRoche's ADD got the best of him in a game against the Nats. Let's let this 2007 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article describe the scene:

Did Bryce Harper change his batting stance? And other burning questions...

Happy New Year to you, dear NatsTown.

While you're sitting around waiting for the Adam LaRoche press release to be posted around the Natmosphere, enjoy the above video clip (via VegasScout/YouTube) of Bryce Harper hitting in the batting cages at Bat-R-Up in Las Vegas back on Dec. 22nd -- the same day Baseball America named Harper the #1 prospect in the Nationals' system to nobody's surprise. Ah, that swing is a thing of beauty, no? Interestingly (okay, not really) a minor dust-up breaks out in the comments section of the video on YouTube about whether Harper has modified his batting stance (or "stands" depending on the commenter) since the AFL.

If you're still reading this and/or clicked over and read the comments on the video and you're thinking: "Who cares?", well, we're right there with you. But this is January 4th, and we're looking for ways to kill time while waiting around for Adam LaRoche to sign.

On LaRoche, FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi reports Monday night that it is only a matter of time now:

A deal between the Washington Nationals and free agent Adam LaRoche wasn’t in place as of early Monday evening, but one person with knowledge of the talks said confidence is growing on both sides that the first baseman will end up in D.C.

“It’s such a good match,” the source said. (via Jon Paul Morosi/FOX Sports, 1/4/2011)

Sounds good. Now, how about Pavano?

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