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Mark Hornbaker: A season to remember

September 27, 2011, 5:00am

With only two games remaining for the Washington Nationals and the team making one last run at a .500 record, it is hard not to be excited about the 2012 team. The 2011 team will go down in history as a team that never gave up on themselves. On three different occasions this season, the Nats have looked like they were going into a free fall in the standings. On May 18, the team had a record of 18-18 and wasn't playing all that great but they were able stay around .500 level. Over the next 12...

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Lauren Tilley: Taking a look ahead

September 27, 2011, 4:48am

Orioles

With the season winding down and the last game of the regular season (and the Orioles' season) tomorrow night, it's time to start analyzing and getting excited for next year. Although the Orioles only improved by a few games this year, we've seen some great potential out of young guys and we've learned a few not-so-great things about other guys. In my last guest blog of the season, I want to take a look at who will be the core group in this team, who will make the team, who will not make...

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Matthew Taylor: Recalling Steve Stone's curve and 25-win season in 1980

September 26, 2011, 7:16am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: Recalling Steve Stone's curve and 25-win season in 1980

With their 6-5 victory in Detroit on Saturday, the Orioles denied Justin Verlander the opportunity to become baseball's first 25-game winner since Bob Welch went 27-6 for Oakland in 1990. Thanks to Bill Pemstein, I spent time this season reading about the Orioles' only 25-game winner, Steve Stone. Pemstein, a former Orioles employee turned Midwest sportswriter, chronicles Stone's magical 1980 season in his self-published effort, "A Stone's Throw." The book provides abundant game details...

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Dave Nichols: Dawn of a new era for baseball in the District

September 26, 2011, 7:28am

Nationals

Dave Nichols: Dawn of a new era for baseball in the District

Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson has been in this business for 50 years. He was a world champion as a player and again as a manager, and has specialized in taking teams on the precipice and pushing them over the edge to greatness. So he's seen this movie before from the inside. This season has had plenty of storylines, but the biggest story of all to emerge might just require hindsight to see it after a couple of years - years that Nats fans hope are filled with deep playoff runs. ...

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Jenn Jenson: The last homestand

September 23, 2011, 5:40am

Nationals

Here we are at the last homestand of the season. For me, it's bittersweet. On the one hand, today's game begins a sort-of-sad countdown: three games left, two games left and before you know it, the last home game will be over. It's an end of sorts because every baseball season is a little different. The players change, the coaches change and the fan experience changes. Sure, these things are changing all the time, but transitions are bigger during the offseason. The end of the season will...

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James Baker: Playing the spoiler

September 23, 2011, 5:15am

Orioles

Ross Perot, Teddy Roosevelt, Ralph Nader - all spoilers. Now the Orioles have the opportunity to ruin another team's hard-fought season and crush the spirits of one of their hated rivals. I have stated in private company that I like this prospect. I have been known to say, "The tears of Red Sox fans sustain me" Or something along the same lines. I have been seen in public, reveling in the crowd shots of dejected Bostonians, clutching their pre-worn faux-vintage Red Sox hats in their...

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Heath Bintliff: Smoke, mirrors and a late-season surge

September 21, 2011, 4:34pm

Orioles

Heath Bintliff: Smoke, mirrors and a late-season surge

After being completely inept for most of the season, the Orioles entered September hit with injuries and facing some of the toughest competition of the season. The team was fielding a Triple-A lineup on most nights and the losing looked to get out of hand. That may not have been a bad thing. Instead, the Orioles have taken their spoiler role seriously and gone 10-10 in September and 10-4 since Sept. 7. How? Although the team as a whole has not played well, there have been some guys who have...

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Daniel Moroz: Matusz's nosedive has been historically horrible

September 21, 2011, 5:02am

Orioles

Daniel Moroz: Matusz's nosedive has been historically horrible

To say that Brian Matusz has had a rough season is probably an understatement. The injury to start the year; the June return and subsequent shellacking, resulting in a trip down to the minors; the August call-up and subsequent shellacking. It was all capped off by his recent starts in New York and Boston (wasn't there a way to work Matusz in so that he wasn't facing two of the majors' best offenses on the road?) in which he didn't get out of the second inning in either start and allowed...

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Rachel Levitin: Arrive early, stay until the end

September 21, 2011, 4:43am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Arrive early, stay until the end

There's a lesson I learned while I was kid watching ballgames at Wrigley Field: Get there early and stay until it's over - no matter what. That lesson tried my patience for years. Non-baseball fans would ask me, "Why watch such a boring game, especially if the team you're watching isn't making a run for a playoff spot?" Years later, watching baseball in Washington, I know why getting to a game early and staying until it's over (no matter what) makes sense. The game on the field is the...

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Mark Hornbaker: Nationals are heading in the right direction

September 20, 2011, 5:29am

Nationals

With the 2011 season winding down, the Nationals find themselves in a battle with the Mets and the Marlins for third place in the National League East. Most Major League Baseball fans would not be too excited if their favorite team was seven games under .500, but Nationals fans have a lot to be happy about with the 2011 team. At the beginning of the season, I told anyone who would listen that a successful season for the 2011 Nats would be placing higher than the Mets in the standings....

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Lauren Tilley: The O's woes

September 20, 2011, 4:43am

Orioles

The Orioles have been playing like a playoff team lately, winning back-to-back series for the first time since May 21-26, which included taking two of three from Washington and sweeping Kansas City in a three-game set. Not only is that a major feat in itself for this team, but these consecutive series wins came against two teams vying for a postseason berth: the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Angels. This past week has been pretty impressive in Baltimore and it seems like it's going to...

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Matthew Taylor: Revisiting O's distribution of power

September 19, 2011, 5:02am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: Revisiting O's distribution of power

Orioles fans anticipated a power surge in the lineup in 2011. The offseason acquisitions of Vladimir Guerrero, Derrek Lee and Mark Reynolds gave the Birds three players who had hit 30 or more home runs a combined 14 times. Here's how things have played out this season with 11 games still remaining. Reynolds became the Orioles' first 30-home run hitter since Aubrey Huff stroked 32 in 2008. Overall, only 15 O's players have recorded 30-homer seasons, led by Eddie Murray who did it five times....

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Dave Nichols: Will Wang be part of new dynasty in Washington?

September 19, 2011, 4:52am

Nationals

Dave Nichols: Will Wang be part of new dynasty in Washington?

Sunday was just the latest chapter in the comeback of Chien-Ming Wang. Until he tired in the seventh inning, Wang dominated the Florida Marlins for 6 2/3 innings. The last batter he faced, backup catcher Brett Hayes, lined a sinker that didn't sink into the stands in left field, but up until that point he'd allowed just one earned run on five hits. Wang struck out five and, most importantly, did not walk a batter. Wang was sharp from the very beginning, using his always-present sinker to...

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James Baker: Wieters on the perpetual cusp

September 16, 2011, 6:58am

Orioles

James Baker: Wieters on the perpetual cusp

Is there a more aggravating player than Matt Wieters on the Orioles right now? He is so good, and it appears that he is on the verge of breaking his season, and career, open at any second, but he never seems to take that final step. As of this morning Wieters' slash-line looks like this: .262 /.323 /.449 /.772 That .772 OPS is good enough for third in the American League among catchers. Detroit's Alex Avila is having a ridiculous season, but Wieters has hit more homers and has struck out 30...

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Heath Bintliff: Lose, baby, lose

September 14, 2011, 5:17pm

Orioles

With the recently concluded series with Tampa Bay and seven games with the Boston Red Sox over a two-week span in such close proximity to one another, it has led some Oriole fans to root against their own team. For some reason, the O's laying down for the Rays and playing tough against the Red Sox is the desired outcome, hopefully allowing the Tampa Bay to catch Boston and claim the American League wild card lead. Why would I ever root against the Orioles? So that one division rival can oust...

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Ted Youngling: MLB releases 2012 schedule, but was timing right?

September 14, 2011, 7:47pm

Nationals

Ted Youngling: MLB releases 2012 schedule, but was timing right?

It's never too early to think about next season, especially if you're a Washington Nationals fan. Major League Baseball released its 2012 schedule Wednesday morning to the delight and disdain of several fans across the country. Of course, it seems a little odd that the league would release next year's schedule when this season is still happening, but for the 20 or so teams who are out of contention, this means they are one step closer towards the hope and optimism spring training and April...

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Rachel Levitin: A look back before NatsTown becomes a ghost town

September 14, 2011, 4:44am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: A look back before NatsTown becomes a ghost town

We're about halfway through September now, which means baseball in Washington is nearing an end for 2011. Things will start to quiet down around the Navy Yard. Patrons' use of the Green Line Metro Station near the ballpark will decline. Street vendors won't be trying to handout hats during the evening hours and no one will be out on Half Street selling cheap water and peanuts. Live music won't wail from the tiny corridor of The Bullpen beer garden. In short: NatsTown will become a ghost...

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Daniel Moroz: Johnson's new role can't save O's from ill-advised signing of Gregg

September 14, 2011, 4:33am

Orioles

Daniel Moroz: Johnson's new role can't save O's from ill-advised signing of Gregg

Jim Johnson now has as many saves in the last week as Kevin Gregg has since the beginning of August. That gives me a great excuse to bring out two of my favorite hobby horses: Despite what many people say (including some allusions by the Orioles themselves), Johnson is perfectly capable of being the team's closer, and signing Gregg was not a good move. Johnson once blew a save (or two), which resulted in some people deciding that he didn't have the mentality of a closer, or something like...

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Mark Hornbaker: A game to remember during Washington's last pennant race

September 13, 2011, 5:17am

Nationals

Mark Hornbaker: A game to remember during Washington's last pennant race

On this day in 1945, a large crowd of more than 24,000 fans turned out to Griffith Stadium to watch the visiting Cleveland Indians play the red-hot Washington Senators. The Senators went into the game having won eight of 10 games and found themselves only one game behind the American League-leading Detroit Tigers. With such a big game in the nation's capital, it would only be fitting that both teams would be starting pitchers who were World War II veterans. The Cleveland Indians' started...

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Lauren Tilley: Rooting against the O's?

September 13, 2011, 4:57am

Orioles

This is a very rare and difficult blog for me to write. I had a discussion with some friends today asking what in the world I should write about. I've discussed the endless pitching problems in many articles, as well as my problems with the management and entire front office, coaching, and training staff. What's next to complain about? As James Baker discussed in his recent guest blog, why do we even watch anymore? I've never thought of that question, just like many of the people he...