Nats Enquirer

Ryan Zimmerman called his 5th inning monster bomb off Mike Leake

(Ryan Zimmerman's 5th inning home run off Mike Leake almost cleared the seats in left at Nationals Park. Screen cap via MASN/TV.)

Here's a link to video of Ryan Zimmerman's 5th inning bomb Tuesday night. Best of all, Zim called it. Or did he?

 
"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.

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Matt Purke's rec-specs

(Just like Clippard? Screen cap via TCUSuperFrog.)

So nearly 24 hours removed from the Nationals inking Matt Purke to a major league deal, and Purke's specs still don't have their own Twitter account like Clippard's specs? What's this world coming to?

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High Five!

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

 

Way to go, Rizzo! Nationals sign all five top picks

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)

And the only things missing from Mike Rizzo's late night victory speech were a pie in the face, Silver Elvis wig, and Stan Kasten: "We're the talk of the industry right now."

Thank you Mr. Lerner!

"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)

 

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