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Joe Drugan: Be wary of April standings

April 17, 2012, 6:19am

The Nationals are off to the best start since their arrival in D.C., and there is a lot to be excited about, including one of the best pitching staffs in baseball and a team full of young talent. If you look at the standings this morning, it's easy to get even more elated to see the Nats in first place. Before you do get too amped about it, there are just a few things you should consider. * Today is April 17. The Nationals have just finished their 11th game of the season, which means they...

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Heath Bintliff: Nolan Reimold and other delights

April 17, 2012, 3:47am

Orioles

Heath Bintliff: Nolan Reimold and other delights

At this time last season, I was keeping vigil for Orioles outfielder Nolan Reimold. Reimold had been exiled to Triple-A Norfolk after a very good spring in Sarasota (.315/.448/.537) and, after a wretched 2010 campaign, finally looked healthy, fully recovered from offseason Achilles tendon surgery that cut his 2009 season short and ready to build upon the .831 OPS he put up during his rookie season. That was not to be. During the 2011 offseason, O's executive Andy MacPhail decided to shore up...

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Ted Leavengood: Always springtime in D.C.

April 16, 2012, 5:54am

Nationals

Ted Leavengood: Always springtime in D.C.

The flowers remain in full bloom, the weather as gorgeous as a quad full of coeds and the Nationals took three of four from a good Cincinnati team over the weekend to move their record to 7-3. There was a billboard near the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta for many years that read, "It's Always Springtime at Bulldog Bonding." Always springtime? I think I could learn to like that. Ross Detwiler pitched well Sunday. His fastball was sitting at 94 mph and there was plenty of life to all his...

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Olivia Witherite: Andino is more than a utility guy

April 16, 2012, 5:33am

Orioles

Olivia Witherite: Andino is more than a utility guy

I'm glad to see Robert Andino at second base. Flash back a year, and I can assure you that the previous sentence would never come out of my mouth. But with injuries and gaps in the roster, the utility infielder has been upgraded to an everyday role. So what can we expect from the almost-28-year-old this year? This 2012 season is Andino's to seize. With the chance to finally play pretty much every day, Andino has the chance to show what he can do not only at second base, but also at the...

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Marty Niland: The Nationals' two-hit starters

April 13, 2012, 5:17am

Nationals

For Nationals fans - and fans of great starting pitching - the past three games may seem like days in heaven. From the beginning of Tuesday's win over the New York Mets, the starters have been on a roll, racking up a string of 18 scoreless innings in the team's three-game winning streak. In their respective starts, Ross Detwiler on Tuesday, Stephen Strasburg on Wednesday and Gio Gonzalez on Thursday showed good control, overpowering stuff and the ability to pitch out of what little trouble...

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Matthew Taylor: Examining the legend of Dylan Bundy

April 13, 2012, 4:52am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: Examining the legend of Dylan Bundy

It's fitting that the surnames Bundy and Bunyan are so similar. In two brief minor league outings, 19-year-old pitcher Dylan Bundy is burnishing a legend among Orioles fans that's roughly equivalent to Paul Bunyan's place in American folklore. However, there's a distance between the developing Bundy legend and the actual Bundy reality I witnessed firsthand this week in Kannapolis, N.C. (You can see photos and video of Bundy's start on Roar From 34.) Let me be clear from the outset that...

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Matthew Taylor: It wasn't love at first sight for me and Camden Yards

April 06, 2012, 4:56am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: It wasn't love at first sight for me and Camden Yards

I was among the first paying customers to step inside Camden Yards, and I initially wasn't sold on the place. That's not the sort of thing you expect to read on opening day, particularly at the outset of the 20th anniversary season for "The Ballpark That Forever Changed Baseball," but to state otherwise would be dishonest. A little background is in order. The first game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards took place April 3, 1992, an exhibition contest versus the New York Mets, and the team...

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Anthony Amobi: This season is critical for Adam Jones

April 12, 2012, 7:40am

Orioles

Anthony Amobi: This season is critical for Adam Jones

During the offseason, one the biggest names on the Orioles - Adam Jones - was a target of trade rumors, specifically talks with the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Jair Jurrjens and infielder Martin Prado. Baltimore didn't wind up trading Jones, as we all know; however, will he stay with Orioles throughout his career or move to greener pastures and go to a winner? Jones' profile has risen in the game, and he has steadily improved over the past few years. One would think that considering the...

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Dave Nichols: Enjoy Nats' good start while it lasts

April 12, 2012, 3:02am

Nationals

Dave Nichols: Enjoy Nats' good start while it lasts

Not since 1951 has a Washington baseball team enjoyed an above-.500 start to a Major League Baseball season after a mere six games. Uncanny, isn't it? You would think, in the next 20 years after that, before the city lost baseball, or in the seven since it has returned, it would have happened once. It's not that hard to do. Teams have winning streaks all the time. Just not in Washington at the start of the season. It's great that the Nationals were able to take advantage of lesser teams...

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Rachel Levitin: Nats making inroads into national consciousness

April 11, 2012, 5:18am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Nats making inroads into national consciousness

About a month ago, I found myself at Reagan National Airport talking baseball during March Madness. My fellow bar patrons gathered around the television sets with pints in hand, agonizing over the first round of their bracket selections. It was during that time that a few of us faithful broke off into our own conversation about baseball. Here I was, stuck - caught between a Cardinals fan and a guy who claimed that we was simply a fan of the game. Do I admit I was born and raised in...

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Neal Shaffer: "No expectations, just baseball" - O's fans' mantra for 2012

April 10, 2012, 12:08pm

Orioles

Neal Shaffer: "No expectations, just baseball" - O's fans' mantra for 2012

Those of you who follow me at my regular baseball home, The Loss Column, have seen me discuss this at some length. I don't want to repeat myself too much, but I've also never really offered up a dedicated explanation of my thinking. The uniqueness of this forum seems a good place to do that. To wit: I have worked out a way - possibly not the best way, but a way nonetheless - to enjoy the Orioles in 2012 despite their dim prospects for success. No expectations, just baseball. What do I mean...

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Heath Bintliff: Looking back on Brian Roberts

April 10, 2012, 3:23am

Orioles

Heath Bintliff: Looking back on Brian Roberts

Nobody will say it. Nobody wants to say it. Nobody wants it to be true. But it's time to face the fact that we may never see Brian Roberts play meaningful time for the Orioles again. He hasn't played even more than 59 games in the last two seasons and his injuries, now concussion-related, have seemed to linger longer as he gets older. The odds of him playing more than half a season for Baltimore again seem slim with only two seasons left on his contract. So as his playing career in...

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Will Yoder: With Storen out, we may finally get a good gauge of his value

April 10, 2012, 3:51am

Nationals

Will Yoder: With Storen out, we may finally get a good gauge of his value

What is Drew Storen worth? It's a question that has been debated pretty heavily since the Nationals used their No. 10 overall pick to draft the talented reliever in 2009. In fact, it's fair to say that Storen, the team's 23-year-old stopper who recorded 43 saves last year, has been one of the more divisive characters on the team's roster among pundits, bloggers, and fans since he made his major league debut in 2010. The issue has been raised several times as the team's stopper has been...

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Ted Leavengood: Cardiac kids take Chicago

April 09, 2012, 4:47am

Nationals

Ted Leavengood: Cardiac kids take Chicago

Three tense and tightly contested games yielded two road wins for the Nationals in Chicago, thanks to surprising late-inning magic. Call them the "Comeback Kids," the "Cardiac Kids" or whatever you will, but the Nationals scored nine times in the last two innings during the three-game set in the Windy City. The late heroics produced both wins and they almost pulled off a third Sunday for what would have been a sweep. Keeping Kerry Wood out of Sunday's game may have been the difference...

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Olivia Witherite: No better month than April

April 09, 2012, 4:25am

Orioles

Olivia Witherite: No better month than April

I don't even remember a winning season. Ever since I became a fan of the Orioles and of baseball in general, I have watched the team play to a sub-.500 record. The last time they had a winning season, it was 1997, and I was much too young to process or remember it. However, the game is so much more than wins and losses. While obviously I will be completely enthralled when the team makes it into a pennant race, I still am just as loyal today as I will be when that day comes. And to be an...

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Marty Niland: Little things mean a lot in Nationals' win in opener

April 06, 2012, 8:17am

Nationals

It wasn't just big hits and the clutch pitches that gave the Nationals a 2-1 opening day win over the Chicago Cubs. For the past six weeks, the team has focused on fundamentals - little things that translate to success or failure over the long haul. They came to fruition Thursday in Chicago, contributing to the Nats' first win and setting the stage for future success. Here are three little things that not only keyed the win, but should give Nats fans confidence that the team will come out on...

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Dave Nichols: High goals and lofty expectations

April 05, 2012, 5:30am

Nationals

Dave Nichols: High goals and lofty expectations

Well, here we are, at the outset of another baseball season. Only this year, for the first opening day since the franchise arrived from Montreal in 2005, there are real expectations for this team. We're not talking about pie-in-the-sky predictions of barely major league players and castoffs surprising everyone (including their mothers) and playing out of their heads, either. We're talking about real live, honest-to-goodness expectations that this, at long last, will be the first good...

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Guest blog: Hope accompanies centennial of Washington's golden baseball age

January 11, 2012, 5:42am

Nationals

Guest blog: Hope accompanies centennial of Washington's golden baseball age

One hundred years ago, in January 1912, the Washington Nationals were owned by the principal publisher of the Washington Star, Tom Noyes. Noyes has assumed ownership of Washington's new American League team in 1904, but had despaired of ever seeing a winner in D.C. after a decade of cellar-dwelling teams. Then, in November 1911, serendipity linked Noyes with a giant of the game, Clark Griffith. Known as "The Old Fox," Griffith saw in Washington a unique opportunity and took the managerial...

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Daniel Moroz: Would free agent frenzy help O's to compete in 2012?

September 28, 2011, 5:23am

Orioles

Daniel Moroz: Would free agent frenzy help O's to compete in 2012?

With a guaranteed September record of at least .500 (they're 14-12 going into today's game, despite being outscored by 13 runs in the month), the Orioles have managed to avoid losing 100 games. That that almost counts as a victory says a lot about how the 2011 season has gone for the Birds. Sure there have been some bright spot - J.J. Hardy, Matt Wieters, Zach Britton - but overall it's been a disappointing year (especially after how expectations for many were raised with the strong finish...

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Rachel Levitin: Respect in hand, Nats look to 2012

September 28, 2011, 4:48am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Respect in hand, Nats look to 2012

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times and, now, the Nationals' 2011 season comes to a close. Moments of loss, like the end of Jim Riggleman's time as manager in Washington, made way for Davey Johnson to take the helm and lead the team to their most successful season in recent memory. The triumph of a 31-homer season for Michael Morse begs the question, "Is this a fluke, or is that guy as good as his 2011 numbers?" Drew Storen matured in both age and pitching prowess to earn...