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Rachel Levitin: The developing Nats fan base

June 20, 2012, 6:55am

So a Red Sox fan, a Yankees fan, a Cubs fan, a Dodgers fan and an Expos fan all walk into a bar ... sounds like the start of a really messed up baseball joke, right? For as odd as it may appear at first glance, that was my Monday night. Only all those fans actually had something in common, they were all Nats fans. too. Some called it cheating, others call it a sweet affair. But at the end of the day, it really all boils down to a love for the game of Major League Baseball by charging their fan...

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Neal Shaffer: No need for debate, O's should be buyers

June 19, 2012, 8:59pm

Orioles

Neal Shaffer: No need for debate, O's should be buyers

Every year, as the trade deadline approaches, fans who are fortunate enough to find their team in contention get the luxury of engaging in a fun debate: Should our team be buyers? Should they, in other words, make a play for one or more guys who might take a group from pretty good to very good, possibly playoff good? Or should they stick with what they have and hope it's enough? As Orioles fans, we typically sit this out and instead engage in some deadline variation of "sell or do...

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Ted Leavengood: Not ready for prime time

June 18, 2012, 5:20am

Nationals

Ted Leavengood: Not ready for prime time

Win six in a row, lose three in a row. Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you. Such smug acceptance offers little consolation for Washington baseball fans. The six wins leading into the Yankees series only served to raise expectations. The idea was rampant going into the three-game weekend series that even the vaunted Yankees were fair game for the first-place Nationals. Only it did not turn out that way. The enthusiastic crowds that witnessed the Yankees series had playoff...

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Olivia Witherite: Sold on reacquiring Jeremy Guthrie

June 17, 2012, 6:24pm

Orioles

Olivia Witherite: Sold on reacquiring Jeremy Guthrie

Today, I told a co-worker that it might be nice to see Jeremy Guthrie back in Baltimore. I'll leave out all the details of her response, but it started with a harsh glare, followed by an "Are you crazy?" look. Granted, the former Orioles ace is not known for his great record or low ERA. But, could he bring some value back to the Orioles rotation if he was to leave Colorado? In Baltimore, the right-hander pitched to a 47-65 record with a 4.12 ERA over his five-year tenure. Beyond that losing...

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Marty Niland: Could Harper make an impact on All-Star Game?

June 15, 2012, 5:35am

Nationals

Marty Niland: Could Harper make an impact on All-Star Game?

With the Nationals still atop the National League East, there has been much talk lately about the All-Star Game and which Nats deserve to go. However, it's a safe bet that no one in a Washington uniform will be voted into the starting lineup, since none of the regulars is close to the lead at any position. That leaves pitchers, the team's main strength this season, and reserves. Their fate is up to NL manager Tony LaRussa and his staff. On the mound, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez...

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Matthew Taylor: Before last night, Bedard had been at his best in interleague play

June 15, 2012, 5:25am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: Before last night, Bedard had been at his best in interleague play

The Orioles tagged Erik Bedard for seven earned runs in 3 1/3 innings Thursday night, hanging a rare interleague loss on the former O's lefty. For his career, Bedard was 9-3 with a 1.86 ERA, 1.011 WHIP and 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings in interleague play prior to last night's game. Some of his finest interleague outings came in Baltimore, including a dominating run through the senior circuit in 2006. Bedard went 3-0 against the National League in 2006 with a 1.29 ERA, 0.714 WHIP, and...

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Anthony Amobi: Can the Orioles sustain their success in 2012?

June 14, 2012, 4:50am

Orioles

It has been an extraordinarily good week for the Orioles, as they have shone in interleague play, taking two out of three games from the Phillies and taking the first two in their series against the Pirates. The Orioles had struggled until the middle last week during a brutal stretch, but found a way to turn it on against Boston. As of now, they are 36-26 and trail the New York Yankees by a game in the American League East standings. The Orioles are off to their best start in many years, and...

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Neal Shaffer: Orioles are making a point in 2012

June 13, 2012, 4:11am

Orioles

Truly, there is nothing else like baseball. Countless sporting trends have risen and fallen since this game arrived in our popular culture. Boxing and horse racing, once huge, today fade even from the margins. Auto racing comes and goes in various forms. Tennis had a moment but can't really make a dent anymore despite the fact that three of the greatest players of all time currently ply their trade. Anyone want to take bets on skateboarding or motocross? Through it all, there has been...

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Will Yoder: Revisiting some preseason predictions

June 12, 2012, 6:50am

Nationals

Will Yoder: Revisiting some preseason predictions

Several days before the 2012 campaign, I wrote a post at The Nats Blog offering five bold predictions on the impending Nationals season. I said at the time that the week before the season was a wonderful time for bloggers because it marked perhaps the only time all year long that we would have yet to be wrong. Well, it's nearly 60 games into the season now, so I went back to see what my preseason predictions were, and unfortunately, I have not fared well so far. Let's review: 5. Adam...

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Heath Bintliff: 'Pen versus 'pen

June 11, 2012, 7:53pm

Orioles

Earlier in the season, I wrote about how great the Orioles bullpen was doing and in the weeks since, the relievers have not only kept it up, they have gotten even better. Heading into this evening's game, the Orioles have the best bullpen in baseball in terms of ERA. But what you may not have known is that the Pittsburgh Pirates come to town, and they are bringing the best bullpen in the National League with them, the second best in baseball behind Baltimore. So if you're going to do some...

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Ted Leavengood: A special place makes for a special weekend

June 11, 2012, 5:25am

Nationals

Ted Leavengood: A special place makes for a special weekend

As Bryce Harper pumped for all he was worth to score the winning run on Roger Bernadina's clutch double Sunday afternoon, the Fenway Park faithful had probably seen all they wanted of the Nationals and their young prodigies. Harper, Strasburg, and the rest of them. Espinosa, Clippard, Desmond, Gonzalez, they all had a hand on the broom that swept clean the old park on Lansdowne Street, "the little bandbox of a ballpark," as John Updike lovingly called it. With Yankee Stadium lost forever,...

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Olivia Witherite: The importance of bringing back Roberts

June 10, 2012, 7:42pm

As a young Orioles fan, I did not have the opportunity to grow up watching the legends that have defined the franchise. Jim Palmer, Frank Robinson, Rick Dempsey and even Cal Ripken Jr. unfortunately do not headline most of the memories that I have of the Birds. While I have grown up hearing and reading about them, I am what you could call Generation Y of Orioles fans. So although marked by many losing seasons that have included rotation struggles, errors, lack of situational hitting, etc.,...

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Matthew Taylor: Lynn's two-homer game memorable for fan reaction

June 08, 2012, 4:38am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: Lynn's two-homer game memorable for fan reaction

My baseball memory begins somewhere in the 1980s on 33rd Street. I can remember the first batting practice baseball I caught (Dante Bichette, Milwaukee Brewers), the nachos I helped spill during a rare visit to Memorial Stadium's blue box seats, and the lesson I learned about appropriate ballpark decorum by violating it with an obscene heckle. At its best, the ballpark can teach a kid a lot about the game. I got to thinking recently about the game I attended when Fred Lynn stroked two home...

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Dave Nichols: Nationals continue to look good a third of the way through the season

June 07, 2012, 4:56am

Nationals

There's an old adage in baseball that goes, you win 60 and lose 60, it's what you do with the rest that makes or breaks you. While that's not quite an even one-third split, we have reached that point in the season. With last night's 5-3 win over the New York Mets, the Nats have played 54 games, exactly one-third of the season. Hey, I'm all for a little analysis using arbitrary end-points, so here goes. The Nats are 32-22, first in the NL East by two games over the Braves and the Marlins....

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Rachel Levitin: Watching Harper play is just plain fun

June 06, 2012, 5:15am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Watching Harper play is just plain fun

If I were to keep it simple, I'd summarize watching Bryce Harper play baseball as fun because it is - whether it was his post-draft introductory press conference (where he took batting practice before the formal session), his home debut at Nationals Park, the time he stole home off Cole Hamels or Tuesday night's first career walk-off. I know I'll always kick myself for missing his first career home run. A friend and I were going to make it to that game too. We were planning on it, rain got...

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Will Yoder: In Giolito, Nats have another project with potential upside

June 05, 2012, 5:24am

Nationals

Will Yoder: In Giolito, Nats have another project with potential upside

They always say you can never have too much pitching. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo must be listening. In the first round last night's First-Year Player Draft, the club selected right-handed hurler Lucas Giolito out of Harvard-Westlake High School in California. That might strike some as odd considering the team currently has seven quality starting pitchers trying to fill five rotation spots. The Nationals' rotation continues to be the best in baseball, their trademark even, but...

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Olivia Witherite: Three reasons the O's should consider demoting Jake Arrieta

June 04, 2012, 5:11am

Orioles

Olivia Witherite: Three reasons the O's should consider demoting Jake Arrieta

It seems like Jake Arrieta is doing everything that he can to make people forget that he was the Orioles' opening day starter, who pitched a seven-inning gem on April 6. Although the Birds' ace by title, the struggling right-hander is pitching himself out of the rotation, let alone the No. 1 spot. Currently, Arrieta's WAR (wins above replacement) is -0.2. For the team's supposed ace, I can tell you one thing: That's no good. Although I was somewhat a proponent of letting Arrieta work...

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Ted Leavengood: Build it and we will come

June 04, 2012, 6:16am

Nationals

Ted Leavengood: Build it and we will come

For years now the fans of D.C. have been whispering, "Build it and we will come," in response to questions about attendance. In 2005, when the Nationals were the newest thing on the block, they drew 2.7 million. When Nationals Park opened in 2008 and there was another new toy, attendance went back up to 2.3 million despite a woeful team. As the team has fallen, attendance has as well. Which has left the guys in the press box questioning why there are no local fans. But they got their answer...

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Marty Niland: Losses to Marlins tough to swallow, but Nats have bigger fish to fry

June 01, 2012, 4:59am

Nationals

Marty Niland: Losses to Marlins tough to swallow, but Nats have bigger fish to fry

For Nationals fans, the only thing uglier than that rotating home run display in Marlins Park is the result of the series just concluded there: a three-game sweep that soured what had been a fine National League East road trip. With at least one series now in hand against each NL East opponent, the Nats have an 11-6 overall division mark - 4-2 against Philadelphia, 2-1 against the Mets and 3-0 against Atlanta. The only blemish is a 2-3 record against the new-look Marlins, continuing the Nats'...

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Anthony Amobi: For O's, a rough patch or time to panic?

May 31, 2012, 5:55am

Orioles

Anthony Amobi: For O's, a rough patch or time to panic?

Last night, the Orioles got swept by the Toronto Blue Jays in their three-game series up north in Canada and lost their fifth straight game. We all know that the Birds have had quite an remarkable run during the first two months of the season. To say that they have surprised everyone - fans, the local and national media alike - is an understatement. However, at this point, are the Orioles collapsing, or is this just an extraordinarily lousy stretch? They have gone 2-8 in their last 10...