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Gus Zernial died last week at 87. Maybe Zernial's name doesn't ring a bell, but he was a genuine slugger in the American League in the 1950s. He led the league in home runs in 1951 with 33, and in 1953 he hit 42 big flies, one behind league leader, Al Rosen of the Indians. For his career, Zernial hit 237 homers in 1,234 games
He's 32 and a .271 lifetime hitter, playing middle infield. He's a two-time All-Star. His resume is better than most, but Cristian Guzman can't find a job this off-season. Last year, he batted .282 with the Nationals - coincidentally, his average over five seasons and 550 games with Washington - and now finds himself waiting for his agent to find an opportunity somewhere, anywhere. Guzman
The Nationals have designated pitcher Shairon Martis for assignment to open a roster spot for Jerry Hairston Jr. The next Nat to be handed that bit of news will most likely be Alberto Gonzalez, who has competition for the backup infield gig with the club's signing of Alex Cora to a minor league contract. Martis is a .500 pitcher over two seasons and 33 big
Matt Capps on Tuesday signed a one-year, $7.15 million deal with the Minnesota Twins. Good for him. Capps, who signed a free agent contract with the Nationals last winter, was traded to Minnesota for catching prospect Wilson Ramos in July, and went on to complete his best season in the major leagues: 5-3, 42 saves and a 2.47 ERA. At Adam LaRoche's introductory press conference
As predicted in this space, the Nationals have agreed to terms with utility player Jerry Hairston Jr. on a one-year contract. Last week, sources indicated that Hairston's choices were down to the Nats and the Yankees, the team he'd finished the 2009 season with, earning a World Series ring. Hairston's decision to sign with Washington is another blow to New York, which has had little
R. Sargent Shriver passed away today in suburban Washington. The one-time vice-presidential candidate was 95. I didn't know Shriver personally. I met him once, in the late 1970s, at Memorial Stadium. He was an Orioles fan, having been born in Westminster, and could be seen at the ballpark from time to time. When I heard that he'd passed, I immediately thought of a scene that
Pending a physical, the Nationals have acquired left-hander Tom Gorzelanny from the Cubs in exchange for three minor leaguers, including outfielder Michael Burgess. Gorzelanny, 28, broke in with the Pirates in 2005, and was traded to Chicago - his hometown team - at the trade deadline in 2009. Primarily a starter, he's 36-37 with a 4.68 ERA in 118 games, including 95 starts. He's got
If you attended the Nationals' 2011 uniform unveiling last fall, then you no doubt noticed that reliever Drew Storen had changed from No. 58 to No. 25. It's something Drew had told me last summer he was planning on doing, since No. 58 is more of a linebacker's number. Tyler Walker wore No. 25 last season, and Storen had actually asked Walker if he'd mind
I'd heard yesterday from a club source that the Nationals had spoken with the representative for free agent pitcher Chris Young, and that they were hopeful of working something out by the end of the week with the ex-Padre. The Mets are also in the picture, and Young has expressed interest in the past in working in the Big Apple, so it may end up
Dave Sisler, an original expansion Washington Senator and son of Hall of Famer George Sisler, has died in St. Louis. He was 79. Sisler, a right-handed pitcher whose seven-year career was spent mostly in relief, was selected by Washington from Detroit as its fourth pick in the expansion draft. Sisler was coming off of his finest season in the majors in 1960, when he went
Ryne Duren passed away Thursday. He was 81 . Duren is remembered mostly for his years with the Yankees, and more recently, for being the inspiration for Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg's first name. The original Ryne threw very hard - he recorded 630 strikeouts in 589 innings over 10 seasons, mostly in relief - and for his poor eyesight, which resulted in 392 bases
There's an interesting debate surrounding new Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche. One the one hand, he's frequently described as the prototypical "average" big league first baseman, with his 162-game average of 26 home runs, 93 RBIs, and .271 average. On the other hand, his career similarity score of 940 on baseball-reference.com is the same as Adrian Gonzalez. That's a deceptive number, however, in that Gonzalez
Congratulations to Bert Blyleven and Robbie Alomar on their election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Well-deserved in both cases. Looking at the vote totals for the other candidates, I can't help but look at Rafael Palmeiro's meager 11 percent and wonder what's going to happen when Ivan Rodriguez's name comes up several years from now. Sure, Palmeiro suffered the ignominy of shaking his finger
To you, 1970 may seem like a long time ago. To me, it's like last month. I was one of the 12,818 fans on hand at RFK Stadium Friday night, June 5 that season to watch the Senators take on the Minnesota Twins, who were starting a 19-year-old right-hander named Bert Blyleven against Washington's Casey Cox. Cox gave up a run in the top of
While we wait on Adam LaRoche - or a first baseman to be named - I wanted to bring up a transaction that might have slipped past you. The Nationals hired Tony Beasley last month to manage their Double-A affiliate at Harrisburg. You remember Beasley; he was a coach for Frank Robinson with the 2006 Nats. More recently, he was the Pirates' third base coach,
