Nats Enquirer

Who's #1? Video: Bryce Harper singles against Gerrit Cole in Arizona Fall League

And there's the video (up above, via RMRism) of Bryce Harper (1st overall pick of the 2010 MLB draft, of course) ripping a line drive single against 1st overall pick of the 2011 MLB draft Gerrit Cole (Pirates) in his first AB during Arizona Fall League action on Thursday. Cole reportedly he hit 100 on the gun at one point during his debut last Friday and on this day went on to earn his first win as a professional.

Still, Harper won this first battle of former #1 picks in their 8-pitch duel on Thursday. So there! Would love to see the radar gun readings...

Busy week for Harper - 19th birthday on Sunday, and after a typical slow start is starting to heat up with the bat, even hit his first HR of the 2011 AFL campaign.

Meanwhile, the *other* Harper (Gordek, that is, over at Nationals Baseball, the best darn Nationals blog on the planet) throws a bucket of ice water on the Bryce Harper Hype Machine over at his place...

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Here's Jayson Werth signing autographs for Virginia Little Leaguers

Make that, Little Leaguer. We've no idea how many kiddos he signed for, or if it matters, but here's video of Jayson Werth signing autographs for at least one Virginia Little Leaguer this past Saturday. At least the rest of 'em got a "Sorry, guys" from Werth. (Werth's beard is looking strong, BTW.)

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MLB names perfect mascot for uninspiring MLB Taiwan Series All-Star team

(There's Screech. via NatsTown2K10 video.)

No offense to Michael Morse (or Ross Detwiler, for that matter)...But MLB has selected the perfect mascot to represent what is perhaps the most uninspiring collection of talent ever assembled as an "All-Star Team" in the history of All-Star teams.

Indeed, it is a very sad MLB All-Star team heading to Taiwan for the three-game 2011 Taiwan All-Star Series the first week of November (again, no offense to Morse or Detwiler). And Screech has been selected as the mascot. A less inspiring choice would have been Air Screech, of course:

 

Here's the press release from the Nationals, issued earlier in the day:

Somewhere, Bob Short is chortling

(Bob Short, left, the former owner of the expansion Washington Senators who delivered the Senators to Texas after the '71 season.. AP File photo, via Daylife.com.)

And so, for the second year in a row, the team formerly known as the Washington Senators is heading to the World Series. Wonder if Washington baseball fans who were around for the Bob Short Era in D.C. have forgiven the Texas Rangers yet?

Without further ado, let's just copy and paste our post on the subject last year. Short still stinks (originally posted October 23, 2010):

Video of Bryce Harper in full warpaint introducing the Marucci Black

What's more striking in this video featuring Bryce Harper and the new Marucci Black bat: Harper's eyeblack, or the PING! of aluminum meeting baseball? We're voting eyeblack.

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Here's video of Bryce Harper's first hit of the 2011 Arizona Fall League

While you're sitting around on pins and needles, lighting candles and saying the rosary while waiting for news from out West about Bryce Harper's second hit of the Arizona Fall League, below is the video (via MLBProspectPortal) of Bryce Harper's first hit of the 2011 AFL from this past Monday night.

As you can see from the screencap above (via MLB.com's Arizona Fall League front page), Harper is "stuck in a 1-for-19 skid" through five games. We'll venture a guess that he'll be okay.

Oh, look, Harper got his second Arizona Fall League hit last night...

 

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Video of that brawl between Nyjer Morgan and the Marlins back in 2010

There's the video, up above: watch as Nyjer Morgan (or was that Tony Plush?) nearly gets decapitated by a Gaby Sanchez clothesline in that infamous brawl against the Marlins last September.

And so, T dot is providing a  nice sideshow to these 2011 playoffs. In fact, Nyjer Morgan is to the 2011 playoffs what Brian Wilson was to the 2010 playoffs: bad boy cartoon character who will probably find himself as a spokesman for Taco Bell in no time. But unlike Wilson before him, we'll bet you a dollar Nyjer Morgan costs the Brewers a game before these playoffs are over. Tired of Nyjer Plush yet? Yeah, thought so.

In Tuesday's Washington Post, Dave Sheinin's contribution to the miles and miles of column inches devoted nationally to the Nyjer Morgan 2011 Redemption Story is worth your time, if for no other reason than for this shot taken by Nyjer against Jayson Werth:

“Even in my worst year [in 2010], I hit .253,” Morgan said. “What did [Werth] hit?” The answer to that rhetorical question, of course, is that Werth hit .232 in 2011.
(via Washington Post, 10/11/2011)

Ahhhhhhhh!

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Bryce Harper notches first hit of 2011 Arizona Fall League campaign

Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper hits during batting practice before a MLB spring training game against the New York Yankees in Tampa, Florida, March 5, 2011. REUTERS/Steve Nesius (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

 

Put away the panic button. After starting the AFL 0-13, Bryce Harper finally collected his first hit (and walk, and RBI) of the 2011 Arizona Fall League season last night: he's now 1-16.

There may be hope for his career yet...

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Nationals hope to be saved from crap MASN deal?

Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos stands above the atrium of the newly renovated Ed Smith Stadium before a MLB spring training game with the Tampa Bay Rays in Sarasota, Florida, March 1, 2011. REUTERS/Steve Nesius (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

 

"We definitely want them to succeed. We're partners in the MASN baseball network, and we have an excellent relationship with the Lerner family and with Stan Kasten, who is an old friend of mine..."
(Peter Angelos, via Baltimore Sun, 4/10/2008)

Of course, Peter Angelos still wants "them" to succeed! He pretty much owns 'em; that is, he owns the majority of the eyeballs watching on TV.

Let's let Adam Kilgore's Nationals Journal post serve as a reminder of how Bud Selig and his buddy Peter Angelos screwed the Nats on the TV deal in the DMV back in the day:

The Nationals’ television deal with MASN and the Orioles has been an intriguing subject since the franchise relocated from Montreal in 2005.

To convince Angelos to allow the franchise to infringe on what he deemed his territorial rights, MLB gave Angelos 90 percent of MASN. The Nationals held the other 10 percent, which grows at about one percent per year and now sits at 13 percent. Once the Nationals reach 33 percent ownership of MASN, their ownership stake stops growing.
(via Nationals Journal, 10/10/2011)

And so the Nats have reportedly hired a hotshot media consultant to fix things. Meanwhile, the Nats TV audience for 2011  was smallest in MLB (29,000); Orioles beat 'em out by ~2,000 viewers on average (31,000)...

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So sad.

(Aw, poor Phillies fans. Screen cap of TBS/TV)

The day after, and our hearts go out to all the broken hearted Phillies fans out there. Welcome to the offseason. There's always next year; although the future isn't looking so bright, eh? Maybe Jayson Werth had the right idea after all...

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