Bob Carpenter

Taking stock with 30 games to go

2011-08-30T02:00:44Z

The Nationals enjoyed a welcome day off in Atlanta today on the heels of a tough weekend series sweep in Cincinnati at the hands of the Reds.

All three games were winnable, but hitting with runners in scoring position just wasn't there and some good pitching from Chien-Ming Wang, Ross Detwiler and Jordan Zimmermann was wasted. The bullpen struggled Friday night but was very good Saturday and in the marathon game Sunday.

Wilson Ramos' home run bat has come alive again and he now holds the Nationals' team record for homers by a catcher in a single season. He surpassed that of Brian Schneider back in '05 and, I feel, will be a 20-plus home run catcher in the years to come.

While struggling defensively in his major league debut at first base, Chris Marrero showed us a live bat and collected his first three big league hits Saturday and Sunday. It's always exciting to see in person these young men we've been hearing about in the minor leagues, and Marrero's arrival was no exception.

September 1 is almost here and there will be more debuts in the days to come.

While we are all excited about the future, there are still 30 games to be played and the Nats need to take care of some business to make this a successful 2011 by the numbers:

* They have eight more games to win to surpass the 69 wins in 2010. That should be easy to do.

* 13 more wins gives the Nats 75 victories, a nice number if you're looking for significant improvement over last year.

* A 17-13 mark in these last 30 would give the Nats 79 wins, a 10-win jump over 2010 (and 20 more than '08 and '09).

* A 19-11 record in these last 30 games would make the Nats the .500 ballclub we hope to see as a springboard.

* And, of course, if they finish 20-10, they will make it over .500; no small task.

Whatever happens down the stretch, the Nationals are improved as a team over previous seasons, and can you imagine how much better they would be right now if the team batting average was higher than .242?

Or if they could hit even .250 with RISP? Or if Jayson Werth was simply reaching his last four-year averages of .284 with 24 HRs and 75 RBIs? Or if Ryan Zimmerman wasn't injured for two months? Or if there had been a bonafide leadoff hitter at the top of the lineup all season?

Yes, these last 30 games will be very revealing. With talent like Strasburg, Lombardozzi, Peacock and Milone about to reach the major leagues, there might be plenty of reasons, very shortly, to get real excited about 2012!

If you would have told me in spring training that ...

2011-07-11T12:47:31Z

If you would have told me in spring training that ...

* the Nationals would be 46-46 at the All-Star break, I would have taken that in an I-395 minute.

* the pitching staff would have the sixth-best ERA in the National League, I would have been ecstatic.

* the defense would be seventh-best in the NL, I would have bought stock in Rawlings.

* Tyler Clippard would make the All-Star team and Michael Morse should have, and Danny Espinosa and Drew Storen could have, I would have thought, "What about Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth?"

* Zimmerman would be out for two months, I would have thought our defense would be a disaster and our offense would be anemic. (Well, I got half that right.)

* Werth would be hitting under .220 and on pace for fewer than 60 RBIs, I would have thought he was the one on the disabled list for 58 games.

* Ian Desmond would be hitting just over .220, I would have thought you were crazy.

* Jordan Zimmermann would be our best starting pitcher but have a losing record, I would have thought he must not be in line for any run support (Right again!).

* the Nats would play, prior to the break, 37 one-run games and win more than half, I would have been giddy.

* the Nats would be 46-46 with a team batting average better than only the Pirates, I would have questioned your sanity.

* Jim Riggleman would walk away from a team that had won 11 of 12 games and was over .500, I would have thought "That's not the Riggs I know."

Yes, it has been an interesting and intriguing first half with unexpected twists and turns. You could say the Nats have won several games they should have lost, and lost a number of games they could have won with a sacrifice fly or some other little thing in the fundamental department.

One thing has been consistent: The Nationals have played solid baseball, seldom get blown out and have proven they can play with any team in the National League - well, maybe not the Phillies just yet.

The road trip starting Friday will be tough in Atlanta, winnable in Houston and uncertain in L.A., like everything else there. Then it's home to return to the NL East versus the Marlins, Mets and Braves.

Is there a playoff race ahead? Can the offense hit? Can the pitching staff keep on keeping on? Can the defense keep catching the ball and throwing it to the right place? The answers to those questions: Maybe, they'd better, I think so, I know so.

Brace yourselves for a second half that may bring memories of 2005 back, and bring them back in a hurry!

By the way, here the final interleague numbers:

AL 131-NL 121
AL East 50-40, AL Central 42-48, AL West 39-33
NL East 44-37, NL Central 37-56, NL West 40-38

The Nats went 8-7, a marked improvement over 2010.

Nats good, not great, as interleague wraps up

2011-07-01T16:45:55Z

Last year, the Nationals went 5-13 in interleague play. This year, they improved to 8-7, and it could have been much better had they been able to avert the three-game sweep at the wings of the Angels. This year's version featured a split of six games with the Orioles, a sweep of the Mariners at home and series win over the White Sox in Chicago. The Sox hadn't lost an interleague series since '08, so that was noteworthy, especially for the Nats to do that at U.S. Cellular Field.

Losing to the Angels was nothing to be ashamed of, as Los Angeles/Anaheim has racked up the best won-loss record of any major league team in the interleague era.

There are still some interleague games to be played this weekend, but here are some interesting numbers as the National League continues to make up ground on the American League:

The American League leads this year, but it's close at 107-103, the most even it has been in years. The AL East leads the way at 41-34, while the AL Central went 34-41 and the AL West 32-28.

The Nats' division, the NL East, has gone 37-32, the NL Central a poor 33-45 and the NL West 33-30. If you can draw any conclusions from all this, it appears the best clubs are in the East in both leagues, then the West, with the central divisions lacking success.

The belief has been for years that the AL would suffer in NL parks by losing the DH, while the NL would have the advantage in AL parks by adding the DH to their lineup and taking the bats out of pitchers' hands. It just hasn't worked out that way, as the AL has dominated by pounding NL pitching in all parks.

I'll have more detail in my next blog as far as AL-NL matchups with hitting and pitching, but at least the National League is no longer being embarrassed against the AL.

This 10-day, 11-game homestand may define the Nats' season. They play three beatable teams, though the Pirates are much better this year, doing it with pitching (most notably closer Joel Hanrahan) plus mediocre defense and hitting. The Cubs and Rockies follow, both clubs capable of big offense.

First, the Nationals need to get Davey Johnson a win, relax and go from there. They have played the fewest number of home games of any major league team, so it's now time to take these 11 games and charge into the All-Star break well over .500. An important trip to Atlanta, Houston and Los Angeles awaits after the break.

By the way, a third trip to the West Coast in just over a month, and the second to play just one Pacific time zone team while there, screams for some common sense when it comes to scheduling. The Nats just played the Angels after a trip to Chicago, then play the Dodgers after playing in two other time zones. Where's the sense in that?

In today's business world, everyone is trying to cut expenses and save money; that is, except for Major League Baseball. Why couldn't the Nats have played the Angels, then hopped on the bus for an hour to play the Dodgers? Instead, they paid for two extra cross-country flights, arriving home in the wee hours twice.

They could have played the Braves, White Sox and Astros together on a three-city trip, all with short flights in between. The Nationals also played teams from every division in the American League this year, making little sense. Interleague play has really messed up traveling and scheduling like never before.

But it is great to finally be home, and it's time for that early July run that could make things around here very interesting in August and September!

Offense comes and goes

2011-06-06T13:23:11Z

When the Nationals stepped off their charter plane Sunday night here in San Francisco, the temperature drop was around 40 degrees from Phoenix to the Bay Area. When they step on the field at AT&T Park Monday night, there will be no telling what the drop, or the leap, will be in hits and runs.

These 2011 Nats are easily the most inconsistent offensive team I've ever followed, but they do catch the ball and the pitching has been solid most of the year, and a ballclub can survive on that.

Sunday afternoon at Chase Field was an afternoon of missed opportunities, hitters on both teams hit by pitches, controversial calls and, ultimately, a big swing by Michael Morse that sent the Nats to Northern California with smiles on their faces.

I heard from a third party that the Arizona TV announcers ripped crew chief Gary Darling for his safe call on Roger Bernadina's high chopper, and replays showed they were probably right. They also took Wilson Ramos to task for his home run trot after he went deep in the eighth inning.

I have, from an impeccable source - me - that the Washington TV announcers took the umpires to task for their, as usual, strange handling of the pitchers hitting batters that happened throughout the game. Once again, the umps have to read minds and determine whether pitchers are intentionally throwing at hitters, and they get themselves in trouble when they warn both dugouts after a HBP (Werth in the 5th), then do nothing when Morse gets hit two batters later. They threw out Jason Marquis and Arizona's Esmerling Vasquez, the same numbers of pitchers from each team even though the Diamondbacks "out-hit" the Nationals three batters to one.

But I digress. The offense that was so dead last weekend at home against the Padres came alive against the Phillies and their vaunted pitching staff, sizzled for one night in Arizona, then went dead for 20 innings before scoring again. Flashes of excitement on the Ramos and Morse homers show once again how fleeting offense is this year, and how it goes bang, then fizzle, then back and forth again.

Catch the ball, throw it to the right bases and hit cutoff men, and pitch well enough to the tune of a 3.73 ERA and you have a chance to win games. It looks like the phony stats of the Steroid Era are now long gone and we're returning to a more pure brand of baseball, based on fundamentals and execution rather than artificial strength ... and I like it!

Now, if the commissioner's office and their umpires will let the players decide things on the field like men, we would really be onto something between the lines and not have the umps using ESP on top of their other tough duties.

Are we there yet?

2011-05-17T20:30:39Z

As we head north on the train out of Union Station on a Tuesday afternoon, it seems like we just unpacked our bags from a 10-day trip to Philadelphia, Florida and Atlanta. Now, after a short 2-2 homestand that featured plenty of action with the Marlins and Pirates, it's on to New York, Baltimore and Milwaukee.

In those four games, the solid Nationals defense made just one error and Roger Bernadina thrilled us with the best play I've seen at Nationals Park. The staff ERA went from 3.77 - 9th in the National League - to 3.65, good for 6th. The club batting average crept up from .222 to .225 as Jayson Werth showed signs of life by going four for his last eight, Laynce Nix continued to hit the ball hard, and Mr. Bernadina established himself as a bona fide leadoff man.

On the homestand, Bernadina went 5-for-16, walked three times, drove in three runs and laid down several
beautiful bunts. His on-base percentage is well over .400 with his batting average is in the .300 range, the kind
of numbers we're all looking for out of that No. 1 hole. And his defense ... wow! The great catch on Mike Stanton's drive got the nation's attention, and he threw out a Pirate at third base Monday night. Watching him in the outfield is a joy if you enjoy defense.

On a personal note, Bernadina is one of the nicest, most polite young men I've ever met in this game, and when you find a player whose personality and attitude match his talents, you're on to something special. In the last two weeks, he may have solved a major problem the Nats have been dealing with since Nyjer Morgan had that great second half in '09.

The subject of some of the conversation on the train today is Mets' third baseman David Wright, battling a bad back problem and about to go on the DL. He has always played well against the Nats, and his absence will be felt by the Metropolitans.

The Orioles have been better this year, and again this weekend we'll mix our MASN crews to include Jim Hunter and yours truly on play-by-play with analysis from F.P Santangelo and Mike Flanagan.

Then it's on to Milwaukee, where the Brewers are bolstered by the addition of Zack Grienke. The Nats were swept at Miller Park last year and swept the Brewers at Nationals Park in April, so these teams are gunning for each other.

So, it's "on the road again" for the Nats, and hopefully, a continuation of the solid baseball, or, as Jim Riggleman calls it, "clean baseball," they've been playing most of the 2011 season.

April showers bring ... ?

2011-05-02T13:02:11Z

It's May 2, and the Nationals have beaten the Giants for the second time in three games to get the month off to a good start. May will not be an easy month, starting with the world champion San Francisco ball club and continuing with a grueling NL East road trip to Philadelphia, Florida and Atlanta. After a short five-game home stand, the Nats hit the road again.

And all of this without Ryan Zimmerman.

The news of his impending surgery and loss for at least six weeks is sobering indeed. Third base will be a committee of Jerry Hairston, Alex Cora, Brian Bixler and possibly Michael Morse if Laynce Nix's bat continues to boom and Jim Riggleman has to get him in the lineup. Plus, if Adam LaRoche, the notoriously slow starter that he is, doesn't heat up soon, the Nats manager will have to consider Nix for cleanup like he did Sunday against the Giants.

LaRoche's defense has been spectacular at first base, and many of us in the press box and broadcast booths have him saving at least a dozen and maybe closer to twenty errors or opponent hits so far. He has to be in there, but it may not be in the No. 4 hole to produce runs and protect Jayson Werth.

April featured the Nats facing Derek Lowe, Tim Hudson and Josh Johnson in the first week, then winning a series at New York in the second. When they came back home, they ran into Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, then swept Milwaukee. A rain-plagued road trip to St. Louis and Pittsburgh produced four losses in six games, then a series loss to the Mets at home. But, Washington will gain at least a split with the Giants and have a chance to head for Philly with momentum.

I will remember April for several things; a new broadcast partner in F.P. Santangelo, who has worked very hard to get to know our team quickly; the emergence of Wilson Ramos, who got my vote for NL Rookie of the Month; and, first and foremost, the Nats' surprising and impressive pitching.

The staff set a franchise record for April with a 3.58 ERA, 8th-best in the National League, and were in the top two in the league in fewest home runs given up and fewest walks. Livan Hernandez and Jason Marquis each won three games, and Marquis' five-hit shutout of San Francisco on April 29 was the highlight of the month.

The defense, while still making errors, is obviously better, and Ian Desmond has played well as a new Dad after some unnerving times before the birth of little Grayson. Pudge has been spectacular behind the plate and his first 10 hits of the season produced 10 RBIs.

The offense? Here's the big question regarding this team for the next month and a half without Zimmerman, a clutch hitter throughout his first five full years in the big leagues. Who will step up and get hot? It needs to be several guys, and if the pitching keeps doing what it has been, May could be a nice month for our Nationals.

With all these road games in the windshield, this team needs to be hitting on all cylinders ... and very, very soon!

Waiting for offense, waiting for Zimmerman

2011-04-22T22:48:08Z

Baseball is a game of subtleties; a moved runner here, a played made there, and you can win some games by doing a lot of little things the right way. The Nationals, with a few exceptions, have done that for the first 18 games of the season and are holding their own against some solid National League clubs like the Phillies, Brewers and Cardinals.

But there's not a lot of offense right now, and there may be a very tangible reason. His name is "Zim."

When Ryan Zimmerman took that ill-advised head-first slide in New York April 9 and strained his left abdominal muscle, his .357 batting average, nearly .500 on-base percentage and presence in the No. 3 hole of the offense went with him. He was off to one of his best starts, and to lose him has been costly.

Back to that subtle thing in baseball. When you lose a front-line player, it may take a while to expose that absence in the lineup as other guys pick up the slack for a while and help generate runs. But, there comes a time after a week or so that you miss that presence; it makes your club easier to pitch to, there are fewer RBI opportunities and the hits which translate into runs are down.

And where would this offense be without Danny Espinosa?

The Nats scored 14 runs in the first two games without Zimmerman, but since, they've been shut out twice and held to four runs or fewer five times in eight games. While most of the individual batting averages started low and stayed there, Jayson Werth's was .259 when Ryan got hurt and is .209 now. Zimmerman, of course, was hitting behind Werth and providing a lively bat behind the No. 2 hitter.

Werth isn't getting that protection from Adam LaRoche, a career slow starter, who was hitting .179 then and just .211 now. The team is hitting .218, better than only San Diego at .217.

With the weather expected to be cold and rainy here in Pittsburgh all weekend, the offense, which we hope is about to explode, may be quiet for a while. But if these middle-of-the-order guys do what they've done throughout their careers, everything should shake out well and the pitchers don't have to be perfect every night.

By the way, how about that staff, especially the starters? The Nats sport a 3.63 staff ERA, seventh-best in the National League. The big three in the bullpen (Tyler Clippard, Drew Storen and Sean Burnett) have been outstanding and are all young with bright futures.

Now, let's get Ryan Zimmerman back and this club should be able to be even better!

So far, pretty good

2011-04-11T12:07:26Z

Not very often over the five-plus years I've been here have we been able to utter the words ".500 road trip," but we did this past weekend as the Nationals came from behind to capture the series in New York.

If not for two muffed fly balls, the trip to Florida and the Big Apple could easily have been 4-2 or even 5-1. Still, we'll take it as an early-season indication that the Nats are indeed better and can be competitive in the talented National League East.

Sunday's win at Citi Field was huge; the difference between a losing or break-even trip, and a game that probably would not have gone in the win column in years past. After being shut down by Chris Young for seven innings, Washington found a way to scratch out two runs in the eighth when Ivan Rodriguez led off with a ringing double to right-center, the Mets bullpen opened the door with a walk to Matt Stairs (whoever heard of a good pinch-hitter with four walks this early in a season, anyway?), Ian Desmond managed to bloop a single to center and Rick Ankiel had a grind-it-out at-bat to bring in another run.

From there, the bullpen was brilliant, again, as Tyler Clippard, Drew Storen and Sean Burnett shut down New York for the final four innings, and even Chad Gaudin had his wicked stuff in the strike zone.

Rodriguez delivered again in the 11th and Laynce Nix hit a long homer into the bullpen to ice the game and give D.C. the series.

How significant was the trip? We may find out in a hurry as the Phillies and Brewers bring their big bats into Nationals Park this week. Washington needs to beat Joe Blanton in Game 1 Tuesday with Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee to follow. The next road trip takes the Nats to beatable teams in St. Louis and Pittsburgh, and after a homestand against the Mets and world champion Giants, there's a true test waiting on the following trip.

Try this one on for size: From May 3-12, there are three games at Philadelphia, three at Florida and three at Atlanta. Now, there's a gauge for you!

When F.P. Santangelo and I interviewed Jim Riggleman after Sunday's win at New York, I could hear whoops and hollers coming from a happy clubhouse down the hall. This team seems to enjoy each other, and away wins are a thing to celebrate for a traveling road show that has had a few flat tires and phony mirages on the horizon in recent years.

If those celebrations are heard on the next two trips, we may really be onto something with these getting-better-all-the-time 2011 Nationals.

Think it's tough to get to the World Series? Try winning one!

2010-11-03T12:03:36Z

The Giants deserted upper Manhattan in 1957, and 53 years later they have finally rewarded their San Francisco fans with a World Series championship. They came close in 1962 against the Yankees, were swept by an earthquake and the A's in '89, then fell to the Angels in 2002.

It's not easy to get there, and it's even harder to win there.

We all have dreams about our Nationals winning the NL East, or the Wild Card, then making their way to the playoffs and the World Series and, of course, winning it all. Each team in the National League has its own story, and they are all interesting for their twists and turns in winning the big prize.

Arizona bought its free agent way to the World Series in 2001, beat the Yankees on a bloop hit and hasn't been close since.

Atlanta went to five World Series under Bobby Cox despite those 14 division titles and won just one in '95. They're in their third city and won the Series just once in each previous stop; 1914 in Boston and 1957 in Milwaukee.

Chicago, those poor Cubs, have gone 102 years without winning a Series and 65 years without even going to one. The "curse of the billy goat" and Steve Bartman have made people forget how good the Cubs were in the early 20th century, winning two straight Series in 1907-08 after losing in '06 and returning in 1910. Who would have thought electricity and the automobile would be invented between their World Series wins, and Halley's Comet would come and go - twice!

Cincinnati beat the infamous Chicago "Black Sox" in the 1919 Series, then didn't win another one until 1940. Thirty-five years later, the Big Red Machine started a two-year reign, and the Reds have won a grand total of one since, 1990. There have been long droughts for baseball's first pro franchise that dates back to the 1850s.

Colorado has been there once in 2007, a mere 15 years after they were born; pretty quickly when compared to other fledgling franchises.

Florida has done twice what Arizona did, signing big-name, high-dollar talent in 1997 and 2003, then dismantling both clubs and wallowing near the .500 mark in other rebuilding years. It will be interesting to see if the Marlins, soon to be renamed Miami, will make it with their young players.

Houston has been playing baseball for 49 years and has been to one World Series, the 2005 classic in which they were swept by the White Sox. Six other Houston playoff teams couldn't get to the final.

The Dodgers have been regular World Series participants throughout their history in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, with a National League record 18 pennants (with the Giants). But, as great as the Dodgers have been, they have lost 12 of those 18 Series and haven't won since 1988, 22 years ago.

Milwaukee, after moving from Seattle, has made it to one Series and lost to St. Louis in '82. They weren't even an NL team at that time, 14 years before they became the first team to change leagues in the modern era of baseball.

The Mets have, for the most part, been considered winners, even though they've been to the Series just four times since their birth along with Houston in 1962. New York gets overshadowed by their rivals in the Bronx, and it has been a while since that last dramatic win in '86.

Philadelphia was the first pro sports team to lose 10,000 games, so the Phillies are in a golden age of success right now compared to their non-winning past. It was a long time between WS appearances in 1915 and 1950's Whiz Kids, then 30 more years before they finally tasted champagne in '80 over the upstart KC Royals. They lost in 10-year increments in '83 and '93, then had another notable absence until 2008 when they beat Tampa Bay. Losing to the Yankees last year and failing to get to the Fall Classic this season have cooled off the Phils, but they have never had a run of success like the present one. Still, they've won just two World Series, ever.

Pittsburgh is actually Pennsylvania's best when it comes to October. The Pirates have won five Series and, despite their current futility, have a very proud tradition, having won all but two of their World Series. But in today's baseball marketplace, how will they ever be able to duplicate the class and success of those teams in 1960, '71 and '79?

St. Louis, with an NL-leading 10 world championships, has had a history of great success but significant droughts as well. They won World Series in 1926, '31 and '34, then dominated the '40s with wins in '42, '44 and '46. The '50s were dry; then they won 2 of 3 in the '60s, and nothing in the '70s. The '80s saw one title, none in the '90s and, when they beat the Tigers in 2006, it had been 24 years.

San Diego has been to the brink twice, but lost to the dominant Tigers in 1984 and the Yankee dynasty in '98. They have been solid more often than not, but making it to that top level is hard indeed.

Back to San Francisco, the team of the '20s in New York but little else. They've had some of the greatest players ever in Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal and Barry Bonds, but it took a bunch of hard-working role players and a dominant pitching staff to win it all.

Washington, last in the NL alphabet, is the only Major League franchise, along with Seattle, to never appear in the World Series, and now needs to step up, keep drafting well and build a winning team.

Yes, it's hard to get there and harder to win, but we can dream about it. A few years ago, the Nats were a lot like the Giants. In a few years ... who knows?

Is this the National League's year?

2010-10-29T19:37:52Z

The National League won the All-Star Game; Interleague Play was closer than usual; and now the Giants are dominating the Rangers through the first two games of the World Series. Is there finally a market correction taking place, as the NL brings things back to respectability?

It appears the "Senior Circuit" is tired of taking a beating and is fighting back. Now, all this Series talk could change by games 4 or 5 if Texas mounts a comeback, but for now, things are changing and NL fans should be pleased.

It may have all started in 2006 when the heavily favored Tigers were upset in the World Series by the Cardinals, breaking a two-year winning streak by the AL forged by the '04 Red Sox and '05 White Sox with their sweeps of St. Louis and Houston, respectively.

Detroit's pitchers forgot how to field their position and it cost them dearly, handing the National League a badly-needed win after not even winning a Series game since the '03 Marlins beat New York. After Boston came back to win in '07, the Phillies carried the NL banner in '08 versus Tampa Bay, only to be beaten last year by the Yankees.

At least the National League could boast winning two of the last four Series, softening the blow of losing 12 straight All-Star Games from 1997 to 2008, 12 of the previous 15, and a ridiculous 18 of the previous 21! After all, the All-Star Game is still an exhibition, right? Fox TV doesn't think so, with the outrageous caveat of an exhibition game deciding home field advantage in the World Series.

This year, the NL finally woke up, won the game, grabbed the home field and boy, what a difference it appears to have made!

No one expected the Giants to not only handle the Texas pitching staff like they have, but also completely shut down the Rangers' offense in games 1 and 2. You just don't usually see lopsided scores like these in the World Series where, like the playoffs, pitching rules and games are won by margins of a run or two.

History is on the side of San Francisco: teams winning the first two World Series games have won seven straight Fall Classics, 13 of the last 14 and 40 of the last 51. They held serve at home and now have to win just two of the last five games.

The Giants were a mere 7-8 in Interleague Play this year, and the Rangers were 14-4 while the AL was in the midst of going 134-118 versus the NL. The National League would have done better without these records from the bottom 4 teams: Nationals 5-13, Dodgers 4-11, Astros 3-12 and Pirates 2-13. The National League hit more home runs, 242 to the AL's 233, while the American League had lower ERAs by both starters and relievers, and more stolen bases.

So, yes, things are changing between the two leagues, and for those of us who love the NL style of baseball without the DH, it's about time!

Bob says "Thanks!"

2010-10-01T13:54:17Z

The 2010 home season has wrapped up - with a winning record of 41-40 after just 33 wins at Nationals Park last year - and it's time for me to say some personal "thanks" to those who make my daily experience at the ballpark a fun one:

Thanks to Cornelius and Kevin at the Nationals' clubhouse door, who let me in every day with smiles, high-fives and encouraging words.

Thanks to Mike, Javier, Dan and the all clubhouse guys for their hard work and for helping me gather baseballs and autographs for my annual charity golf tournament.

Thanks to Matt Rosenthal in the visiting clubhouse for the same reasons.

Thanks to Adam Dunn for always being friendly in that clubhouse and spreading good will to all.

Thanks to Ian Desmond for his personality and for being a great interview for such a young player.

Thanks to Jim Riggleman for his patience on our weekly MASN video blogs and for joining us live from the dugout on Wired Wednesdays.

Thanks to Rob McDonald for getting us to our road games and home again, always with patience and class.

Thanks to John Dever, Mike Gazda and Bill Gluvna for their help arranging interviews, for providing us with stats and game notes and for helping my family get the passes they need to spend time with me.

Thanks to usher Ron "Coach" Simms for his friendliness and class, though I'm still trying to get used to his Tom Jones routine on the dugout.

Thanks to usher Sue for always waving to me during the seventh-inning stretch.

Thanks to our MASN stage manager Joe Delpo for keeping us on time and organized in the booth.

Thanks to Ali and Cristian for always seeing to it that our microphones work in that booth.

Thanks to Rob Dibble for teaching me a great deal about pitching.

Thanks to Ray Knight for joining me under tough circumstances and doing a great job.

Thanks to Debbi Taylor for earning her nickname "Scoop."

Thanks to the MASN crew, the best TV production bunch I've ever worked with, led by producer Chip Winfield and director Doug Yalacki. You folks wouldn't believe how hard these men and women work every day for long hours to give you the best baseball coverage in the major leagues.

And last but not least ... thanks to you Nats fans for hanging with us season after season when there's no pennant race, no Wild Card possibility and no long winning streaks.

Your support means the world to us and makes our hard work worthwhile. We promise those good things will happen in the future, and after these tough and lean years, we'll be even more thankful when the Nats play in October.

From the bottom of my heart,

-BC

Septembers to remember

2010-09-24T15:19:21Z

Jim Riggleman told me this week on our MASN video blog that September can be deceptive when evaluating young players. If the Nationals aren't playing a contending team, like the just-completed Houston series, young hitters will face pitchers that are either young and inexperienced themselves, or older guys trying to hang on to a job for next season.

Playing the Phillies and Braves is a different story, as the Nats faced Roy Oswalt last weekend and will battle Tim Hudson and Derek Lowe this weekend. These veterans know how to take advantage of young hitters' weaknesses and make them "get themselves out" in late-season at-bats.

But, Jim said, September can tell you more than a couple of weeks of spring training games.

In my experience over the years, I've witnessed some Septembers that told the story of how successful a young player may be, but some others that were a bit deceptive and didn't turn out so great down the line.

Now, I wasn't alive for this one, but in September 1941, 20-year-old Stan Musial made it to the big leagues out of Donora, Pennsylvania and settled in immediately. Musial hit .426 with 1 home run and 7 RBI, going 20-47 with 4 doubles and 1 stolen base. It was a great start to a Hall of Fame career that would see "Stan The Man" hit .331 over 22 seasons with 475 homers and a then National League record 3,630 hits.

I was with the Cardinals in 1998 when J.D. Drew made it to the big club in September, and he was more dominant than Musial. Drew hit .417 with 5 home runs and 13 RBIs, going 15-36 with 4 doubles and a triple. He and I appeared at a banquet the following spring, and when I introduced him, he glared at me as I compared his numbers with the great Musial.

Injuries derailed his path to greatness and 12 years later, his career average is .281 with 235 homers and 769 RBI for several different teams. The Florida State alum is good, but not great, at least not as great as we thought he would be.

Fast-forward to 2005, and here came UVA product Ryan Zimmerman to the Nationals in September, less than four months out of college! He was good but didn't hit for home run power, though he did have 10 doubles among his 23 hits in 58 at-bats for a whopping .397 average and 6 RBI.

The rest, as we say, is history, as Ryan has gotten better every year and has a great chance to hit .300 for the first time in 2010, while his defense puts him in a special category whether he hits for high average or not.

Last September, it was Ian Desmond's turn, arriving from Syracuse and hitting .280 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI on 23 hits in 82 at-bats with 7 doubles, 2 triples and a stolen base. Offensively, he's having a great first full year, hitting 10 HRs with 62 RBI while dealing with the pressure of being a young shortstop.

He looks like he's destined for an outstanding career, and his leadership qualities remind many of a young Derek Jeter-type personality. The difference between Desmond, Zimmerman and Drew is that Ian was signed out of Sarasota High School and spent six years in the minor leagues.

And now this month, here's another exciting young player in Danny Espinosa, just two years out of Long Beach State. He is not hitting for high average, but his "pop" is amazing so far - 6 homers and 15 RBI in his first 20 major league games spanning 73 ABs. His extra-base hit power is impressive with 4 doubles and 1 triple, and his defense is nothing short of amazing for an infielder in his first Major League month.

He has already made two or three plays at second base and shortstop that are among the best, if not the best, I've seen in my five years here. His future looks bright, and how about that infield with Espinosa playing alongside Desmond and Zimmerman?

September can be tricky, but these young Nats look solid for a long time to come.

Spoiling the party

2010-09-17T13:03:14Z

Jim Riggleman doesn't like the term "spoiler" and neither do I.

I remember one season as a kid opening up the St. Louis newspaper, and reading the headline "Cards Could Be Spoilers." My boyhood team was out of the pennant race and I wasn't happy that they were relegated (did I know that word at that age?) to trying to beat hated rivals to keep them out of the World Series (before playoffs).

While the manager and the TV broadcaster don't like the word, it doesn't mean it's not a noble pursuit to win as many games as the Nationals can and damage the Braves and Phillies as much as possible down the stretch.

Part of that damage has already been done.

The Nats' series win at Atlanta this week was an example of how a team that most headlines identify as "lowly" can seriously hurt a team that's a contender - and it happened on their home field, where they've won more games than any other major league team this year. The Braves were an amazing 51-21 at Turner Field going in to the series and the Nats, after being shut out by Derek Lowe in game one, turned the tables in game two behind Livan Hernandez and the untouchable bullpen and won game three with Justin Maxwell getting his third career grand slam to back John Lannan's eighth win.

It was a loud and happy charter flight to Philadelphia and we all enjoyed a day off with 16 games to go and a chance to play the Phillies six more times and the Braves three more times.

Now, about those Phillies...

They have dominated the Nationals in recent years, winning 15 out of 18 last year, but "just" 7 of 12 this season. Citizens Bank Park is a tough park for visiting teams, from the Phils' bats to Halladay-Hamels-Oswalt-Lidge, their rabid fans, and the cozy confines of a hitters' park.

The Nats try their luck (and guts) here this weekend, then host the resurgent Astros next week at home for four and the Braves and Phillies again. If Washington brings its "A game," damage can be done and the Nats can finish the season on a high note.

None of us are happy with just 62 wins right now, but some key ones down the stretch against clubs trying to play in October would be a good growing experience for 2011.

Back to the future

2010-09-10T23:54:28Z

Last September it was shortstop Ian Desmond who made it to the Major Leagues, hitting .280 and making the good first impression that led to a solid rookie season in 2010. We all know, and so does Ian, that the errors have to be cut back considerably in 2011 for the Nats to have a "can't wait to see 'em together" left side of the infield that will prosper for years to come.

But, wait a minute! Will this September's infield newcomer Danny Espinosa give Desmond a run for his job at short, or settle in at second base?

Danny has made an indelible first impression of his own with great hustle, a live and loud bat, plus great hands and arm wherever he plays up the middle.

For a ballclub in the Nats' position, this is what September is all about; finding those gems in the minor leagues, getting them to the majors and letting them show what they can do.

There are differing views on whether baseball teams at this level should even be able to expand their rosters come September. Many baseball people disagree on whether the last month of the season should be played differently than the other five months, especially those clubs contending for postseason play.

Jim Riggleman shared an idea with me today that I think is brilliant regarding September. Go ahead and expand the rosters, he says, but every day name the 25 who will be eligible for that day or night's game, and play with the same number of players you do during the season. It's what hockey does every game and they make it work. I know it's some more daily paperwork for Major League Baseball, but doesn't this make things fair for contenders and non-contenders every day? I think so.

You could even add one spot and go to 26 in case of injury just before or during the game.

With Espinosa and Desmond looking solid for the future, plus arms like Jason Marquis, Jordan Zimmermann and Ross Detwiler making comebacks, 2011 looks solid as another step toward being a contending team. Sure, the loss of Stephen Strasburg hurts, but there are other young men on the way to help the Nationals take that next step.

It should be a fun walk!

Marquis excited about 2011

2010-09-05T19:29:22Z

Jason Marquis signed a two-year contract with the Nationals this past offseason, but has been disappointed in his first season in Washington so far.

Aside from struggling for much of the first month of the season, Marquis had his first surgery as a professional in 2010.

Bob had a chance to catch up with Marquis and they talked about the Nats' rotation for next season and the possibility of Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa in the middle infield.

For the whole interview, watch the video below.