Whether it’s the lack of winning season, pre-mature post-season exits,
or injuries to star players, the Baltimore/Washington area has become all too commonplace
for these unfortunate results from their sports teams. For the past 20 years the area has not seen
consistent success from its teams, be it professional or collegiate and when
that little bit of success is reached and the expected impending doom is in the
air, it still comes as pure shock when the wheels fall off.
I’m a homer through and through. I love the teams in the DMV, all of
them. I hate when people say you can’t root for a Baltimore team or a DC team
because of where you are or are from. Why can’t I? Better than being a Cowboys,
Yankees, Steelers or Penguins fan. I was an Orioles fan for over 20 years
before the Nats arrived and finally got fully behind them 4 years ago while the
Ravens I didn’t fully get behind until 2000, the year before the Super Bowl
victory.
Since the Redskins won the Super Bowl back in 1992 we have seen about
4-5 good years of Orioles baseball back in the mid-90s which ended in 1997 when
that jackass Jeffrey Maier interfered with the ball, a decade of Ravens winning
in football, including a Super Bowl trophy; but they’re a team most in the DMV
don’t embrace unless they’re from Baltimore; Joe Gibbs come back to try and
bring his Midas touch to the Skins, the Terrapins Men and Women’s basketball
teams each win one championship, the Capitals tease their fans for the past 5
years with mediocre, at best, playoff performances after great regular seasons,
the Bullets/Wizards having about 3 good years in the late 90s and 3 in the
mid-2000s and none of that was with Michael Jordan playing for the team. We did
manage some wins with the CFL Baltimore Stallions and the indoor soccer
Baltimore Warthogs so there’s that right?
Every time the fans start to show up and teams start to look like they
could do something with the pieces it blows up. We’ve seen Gilbert Arenas go
from the hero Agent Zero to just a zero. Serious knee injuries sidelined his
career and guns in the locker room ended it. The Redskins have had as many head
coaches, quarterbacks and kickers as the Orioles have had starting pitchers.
Stephen Strasburg blew out his elbow and required Tommy John surgery, as did
Jordan Zimmerman.
It’s been just over 36 hours and the fans of the Washington Nationals
are still in shock over the team’s epic collapse at home against the St. Louis
Cardinals. This team was something special, this team was different from every
team the area has seen in decades outside of the 2008-09 Washington Capitals
team and yet both teams have striking similarities. Both teams were young,
energetic, led by star players, dealt with post-season controversy and were the
best team in their league only to be eliminated by a team with a lesser record
who was lucky to be facing them.
As I stated back when I did my season preview, this team was probably a
year away from contending. Instead the team nearly finished with 100 victories.
Bryce Harper was called up early in the season and despite some slumps and
over-eagerness he brought a jolt to the team and his stellar arm won the team
games with by throwing runners out at the plate or by holding them at 3rd base
for fear of being thrown out. The pitching was phenomenal and until the
playoffs was the team’s strongest facet of their game, I mean the staff strikeouts
rivaled the national debt. Stephen Strasburg was almost back to his 2009 form
and has given hope to fans and the organization hope for only better days
ahead. Gio Gonzalez, my Cy Young winner
this year, was dominant throughout the season, Jordan Zimmerman still didn’t
get his run support yet kept the team in ballgames. Ross Detwiler should have cemented himself as
the team’s #4 starter but will probably remain the 5th starter. Then
there is Edwin Jackson, the guy that frustrated me most because he’s a really
good pitcher but seeing him pitch in Game 3 of the playoffs, entering with a
losing record, he just leaves too many balls over the plate. The pen was
dominant till late in the season and I wonder if some of that was just the guys
being warn down. Tyler Clippard was
amazing in the first half of the season filling in for Drew Storen as the team’s
closer and then returned to the set-up role in September after he kept getting shelled
for home runs and Storen proved to be back in pre-surgery form.
The hitters had their lulls but not like in year’s past. Ryan Zimmerman
dealt with a lingering shoulder issue, which lead to some really bad throws and
costly errors, but he still provided the offense you’d expect from him. Adam LaRoche saved Zimm from quite a few
errors and managed to stay healthy the whole season. Roach ended up hitting .271 with 33 HRs and
100 RBIs and kinda putting the kibosh on my criticism of him in my earlier
blog. Espinosa struggled at the plate, striking out way too much and pressing
at the end of the season trying to reach the 20 HR plateau. Ian Desmond on the
other hand, whom I said was expendable for an upgrade, not only played well
defensively (by Ian Desmond standards) but really got it going at the plate
with a career high in HRs and making the All-Star team. It’s not that I didn’t
think Desi could do it, it’s that I felt the team was running out of patience
waiting for him to do it. In the OF my boy Ankiel got cut, Mike Morse (The
Beast) missed the first two months of the season and still ended up killing the
ball, Bernadina (The Shark) saw his cult following grow, Jayson Werth missed a
fair amount of time with a broken wrist but came back strong as a lead-off
hitter, and Bryce Harper only reached the 20 HR mark and nearly as many steals
to go along with 9 triples. Of course one of the main keys to a team is their
catcher and the Nats used about 89 of them because they kept getting hit with
season ending injuries so they went out and brought in a guy that I really
like, Kurt Suzuki who called a good game and had some timely hits the last
month of the season.
Come the playoffs though what you did in the regular season goes out
the window. The Nats entered the series against the Cardinals, who may have
been there only because of a terrible Infield Fly Rule call vs the Braves,
without Strasburg. Since Spring Training it was known that he wouldn’t be
pitching late in the year as the team planned to limit his innings, they just
never said what the limit would be. In early September they shut Stras down,
despite the criticism by many. I was back and forth on the issue. The team is
not guaranteed to be in this position again but long term its best to not
overwork the repaired area right away and they want to keep him safe and
healthy long term. In the end I became fine with the decision because this team
was good enough to still win it all.
Game 1 the Nats win, Games 2 & 3 the Nats get rocked. I was at Game 3 and the stadium got quiet way
too early. The fans wanted to fault Morse for his effort, mind you he has a
sore hamstring, but he was also being told to play the fielders incorrectly.
You have to play a hitter to pull and the righties were pulling the ball but
they had him closer to center and for lefties he was closer to the line. Maybe
I’m wrong about it but that’s how I was always taught to play. Also in Game 3
you had EJax, a #3 starter on some teams, a #4 on this team, really is more
suited for a 4 or 5 spot in my opinion, was going against a playoff tested
former ace. Despite not being what he once was, the Nats were not supposed to
beat Chris Carpenter. Game 4 the Nats tied the series in amazing fashion with
Werth hitting a HR during a 13 pitch at bat. In Game 5 the team was up 6-0
early only to lose in a fashion that was unlike any disaster that has been
witnessed in the area if not all of sports. One strike, all they needed was one
strike from Drew Storen and they’re hosting the San Fransisco Giants beginning
Sunday in the NLCS, instead they’re all headed back home. I’m not going to
write out the whole thing that happened if you watched the game you saw it, if
you’re like me it keeps replaying in your head, you don’t need to see ESPN to
break it down for you. A 9-7 loss and the season, one that had fans finally
filling the ballpark, is over and the second guessing can begin.
Throughout the series it was said they need Strasburg, but they didn’t.
He was struggling late in the year, his arm needed the rest because of how hard
he throws, and as great as the guy his, having him pitch once in the series
most likely wouldn’t have changed much if anything. Their starting pitching as
a whole wasn’t what it had been. Through the first 3 games the team had allowed
10 runs in the 2nd inning, that doesn’t help you win ballgames. Gio
had two bad innings of wildness, Detwiler had an inning, EJax left balls over
the plate in one, Zimm had some struggles, Ryan Matheus hit batters, and their
hitters weren’t hitting. Roach had two hits, both HRs in the first 4 games,
Bryce and Werth couldn’t hit with guys in scoring position the first 2 games
and in game three the Nats would get two guys on base but not until there were
two outs. The only bright spot was Ian Desmond both offensively and defensively
in the top of the 9th of Game 4. Then in Game 5 it was nothing like
the previous 4. They built off the Werth walk-off, everything was going right
and then collapse just happened. It wasn’t meant to be. I had already been
prepared to write “Welcome to the NLCS Washington” I just needed one more
strike and…well…it never came. Before the 9th inning collapse Britt
McHenry (@BrittMcHenry) had said she had a bad feeling like the Caps game vs.
the Rangers in Game 6…too true. The Caps become known as the Cardiac Caps
because of how they play close games and most come down to the final moments or
overtime, especially in the playoffs. I’ve dealt with their losses and felt the
emptiness after each series. I don’t think any of those can compare to how I
felt after the Nats lost.
Then again the Nats weren’t the only team from the area playing in the
playoffs. The Orioles made their return for the first time in 15 years and they
saw their post-season came to an end just minutes before the Nats game started.
They were the team that overachieved more than anyone and they were facing the
New York Yankees, they even had the Yankees on the ropes in Game 3 only to lose
it and eventually the series. So for me maybe their loss helped in the
emptiness but the way the Nats lost is what caused it to linger. Feeling you
had it won and mentally reserving your tickets for the next round only to get
gutted. Also the Wild Card team has this thing about going deep and even
winning the World Series, the Orioles and Cardinals were Wild Card teams. Once
the Orioles lost it kind of guaranteed the Cardinals would win right? Am I
alone in this thought?
I took to Twitter, as did many, to share my disbelief and even today I
see posts by fellow Nats fans and media still trying to get their minds around
what happened, this may be because we haven’t reached the water cooler the next
day so it could linger till Monday or Tuesday when you talk to people at your
office. On Twitter though Morse (@Dc_BEAST38) and Bryce Harper (Bharper3407)
mentioned their disappointment while thanking the fans for helping them with a
great season, my new favorite announcer; who I hope returns next season and
beyond; F.P. Santangelo (@FightinHydrant) tried to keep fans positive and
optimistic for the future, the biggest Nats fan I’ve come to find, Tori Hill (@Toribelle4)
tried to keep the NATITUDE and the fan base positive and shared her feelings as
well as others to all of her followers, while the DC media including Britt, Dan
Hellie (@DanHellie), Chick Hernandez (@ChickatCSN) and Eric Bickel (@EBJunkies)
all were in shock having never recalled seeing such a spectacle before.
Sports can bring a group of people together but also tear many apart.
Moments after the Nats lost Drew Storen began receiving death threats on
Twitter. Really? Over a fucking baseball game? This reminded me of the Bruins
fans or random assholes that went to Twitter calling Washington Capitals Joel
Ward a “nigger” or threatening him with death or any number of other boneheaded
comments that were sent his way. Its sports people! It sucks to lose! It’s
unfortunate how the season ended but to threaten a man’s life, to not celebrate
what was a great season, to understand that your team was just not good enough
and to blame it all on one person is ridiculous. To me it just proves that
evolution doesn’t exist because some people are too fucking stupid.
As I’ve believed every year with the Capitals I believe the Nats will
be back, I doubt the Orioles will be though. Again I said next year would be
their (Nats) year. They’ve gotten a taste of success and of failure and they’re
going to want it even more next year and hopefully the stands will be fuller
more too. I expect the Phillies to be better next year, I’m sure the Braves
will be competitive, and who knows what to expect of the Mets or Marlins but
hopefully nothing but bottom dwelling. So it won’t be easy, and it shouldn’t
be. I want a team that is tested and capable of winning when they need to over
a team that has an easy ride to the playoffs. Of course the team is in a tough
situation in regards to a few players. Roach is due for a new deal and contract
years are steroids to many players careers so will he be able to repeat this
production once he has that new contract? He filled the role of Adam Dunn’s bat
which is why they brought him in two years ago but the team needs to decide if
it’s worth keeping him for another year or two and a few million dollars more
or if it would be wiser to move Morse back to first and allow Tyler Moore or
Roger Bernadina to full-time outfield. Does the team keep or trade Store? He was on
the block in 2011, which I didn’t believe to be necessary. I think he’s a good
young pitcher and think having him and Clipp throwing in the 8th
& 9th innings is exactly what this team needs. EJax is up for
renewal too. I’d prefer to put Detwiler in his #4 spot and then maybe look for
a veteran or if you resign EJax make him your #5.
Regardless of it all, as disappointing as the season finished, this
team impressed me a lot. They won over a lot of people in DC. They beat the Redskins
and RG3 for much of the opening sports news. They don’t need to do much
tweaking. Maybe a new arm or two in the pen, decide on your first baseman and
if you need to bring in an OFer; rumor is they’re looking at Michael Bourne but
I don’t want him and I’d prefer Josh Hamilton but I know that ain’t happening.
They also have to decide who they’re going with at catcher. Suzuki is probably
certain to be here but Ramos and Flores are young and could be nice trade
assets. I’d stake a lot on the team allowing this to burn within them and come
back next year to not only prove it was no fluke but that they’re not this good
but even better. How much so? I’ll say it now the Washington Nationals will be
the 2013 World Series Champions.
