In a column from December 2007, in which he gushed about the Nationals signing 36 year old Paul Lo Duca, the Washington Post's Thomas Boswell declared: "Normal baseball will soon arrive in Washington." (Just two days later, Lo Duca would be named in the Mitchell Report.)
Who knew that "normal" meant "almost historically bad" and, specifically, two straight 100+ loss seasons (205 losses between 2008 and 2009 combined, but who's counting?). Then again, without taking those lumps, the Nats wouldn't be sitting pretty with a pair of phenoms in Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper in the fold.
So, with 2007 Boswell in mind, is it now safe to declare that "Normal baseball will soon arrive in Washington"? Better yet, how about: "Winning baseball"? After seven years of mostly losing baseball, it's about time.
Without further ado, here are the Official Nats Enquirer 2012 MLB/Nats predictions:
Nats record: 86-76, good for 2nd place in the NL East: or, 6 more wins than last year. Sadly, no #WSinDC, not parade through the District, and no playoffs,
Bryce Harper makes his major league debut on June 1, a Friday night at home against the Braves.
Here's how the NL East shakes out in 2012:
1. Phillies
2. Nationals
3. Braves
4. Marlins
5. Mets
MLB:
NL Wild Card: Giants beat Brewers
NLDS: Diamondbacks over Giants, Reds beat Phillies
NLCS: Reds beat Diamondbacks
AL Wild Card: Angels over Yankees
ALDS: Angels over Rangers, Tigers beat Rays
ALCS: Angels beat Tigers
World Series: Angels over Reds
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