"Sometimes it's good to have games like this. Because you need to get knocked around a little bit to see what you're doing wrong. I think I learned a lot from this outing." (Stephen Strasburg, via NatsInsider, 8/18/2011)
"Actually, he called that in the dugout. None of us believed him. He said he was gonna hit a bomb. And he went up there and...I guess the guy was pitching him fastballs in early in the count, and he said 'when he comes in there I'm gonna hit it out of the ball park.' So it didn't surprise any of us. I asked him if he got all of it. He said no, it kind of jammed him." (Davey Johnson, via postgame interview/MASN, 8/16/2011)
So if he'd gotten all of it, where would that poor baseball have landed? Half Street? Navy Yard Metro?
Still, Zim wouldn't fess up to calling it in his postgame meet-and-greet with the media. Amanda Comak of the Washington Times Tweeted:
Davey insisted that Zimmerman called his HR in the dugout. Zimmerman, ever humble, blushed but wouldn't say one way or another if he did. (via @acomak, 8/16/2011)
Nationals 6, Reds 4: Wang beats Leake. Wang goes 7 for the win, Storen nails down the save. Zim, Morse lead the offensive charge.
Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo talks on his cell phone before the Nationals' game against the Chicago White Sox on June 24, 2011 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. UPI/Brian Kersey
Done deals, down to the wire: Anthony Rendon ($7.2 million MLB deal), Alex Meyer ($2 million), Brian Goodwin ($3 million), Matt Purke ($4 million, MLB deal), Kylin Turnbull ($325K, a few hours earlier)
"This ownership group has allowed me to be me. To be aggressive and go after these guys, and get the best players available and worry about signing them later. What they showed me in that room tonight, I can’t put into words. It was great stuff. You talk about the trust in a staff — they don’t talk about it, they show it." (Mike Rizzo, via Washington Post, 8/16/2011)
Among the Nats' five top picks (all unsigned), three are Boras guys: Anthony Rendon (#6 overall pick), Alex Meyer (#23), Brian Goodwin (#34) all poised to go down to the wire. Assume the position, Mr. Lerner...
And then there's the curious case of Matt Purke. Curious, but only partially because Purke isn't a Boras client. No chance the Nats sign the TCU lefty, right? Not if Mike Rizzo has anything to say about it...
Oh, the humanity! Here's video (via DCGraphs) of Stephen Strasburg making his way out of Pfitzner Stadium Friday night with a police escort, and taking some heat from the crowd of fans and autograph hounds after failing to sign an autograph for each and every man, woman, and child waiting around for his autograph.
There's lots of noise aimed in the direction of Strasburg in the video as he makes his way to his car, but these voices stand out in particular:
"We've been waiting four hours!"
But mostly:
"Slothburg! Sloth!"
Hmm...pretty sure that conjuring up Strasburg's old nickname from back in the day when he was fat is probably not the best strategy if you're hoping to convince Stras to sign more autographs.
Apparently, it was a mob scene outside the P-Nats' clubhouse; that's exactly how The Washington Times' Nathan Fenno described it on Twitter, an hour or so after Strasburg left the mound in the third inning:
Mob scene outside Potomac's clubhouse. Four police officers block the door. Either Strasburg or The Beatles are inside. (via @nathanfenno, 8/12/2011)
And just for the record, Stras did sign for the kids:
Around 10:35 p.m., Strasburg...emerged from the clubhouse in front of 400-500 fans who awaited his autograph. He signed only for the children and made several kids’ dreams come true. (via insideNoVA.com, 8/12/2011)
So Strasburg apparently threw a side session on Sunday, and the location of his next start on Wednesday is TBD: Hagerstown and Syracuse are at home. Here's Strasburg's description of pitching in Woodbridge:
Several grainy videos made the rounds last night showing Bryce Harper's monster walk-off home run (and the aftermath) last night for Harrisburg. Up above, a really nice view of the home run (video via CSN Washington). It's refreshing to see Bryce Harper ejecting baseballs from Double-A baseball games rather than getting himself ejected, you know?
Not to be outdone by that *other* phenom currently working his way through the Nationals' minor league system, Bryce Harper hit a gargantuan walk-off home run Friday night at Metro Bank Park in Harrisburg, delivering the Senators to a 3-2 win over the Trenton Thunder. Video of the mob scene at the plate above.
