The fuse running toward the 2013 baseball season has three weeks left. And then the powder keg of anticipation that has built since Jayson's Werth's walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Cardinals will explode into the 2013 season.
History always provides a good lens for viewing the present, and a century ago, at the end of January 1913, Walter Johnson was still working on the family farm in Kansas. Lifting hay bales and doing the chores around his father's farm made...
Nick Johnson finally hung up the spikes this week, according to MLBTradeRumors.com. Only 34, Johnson will be remembered as the backbone of the first Nationals team in 2005, and to those of us who wore his name proudly on the back of our first Nationals jerseys, he was the heart and soul of that team.
The article highlights Johnson's ability to get on base, his "keen eye at the plate" that helped him achieve a "15.7% walk rate" that the article notes is "the 29th-highest mark of any...
The Nationals' depth is evidenced by a bench that you would feel comfortable starting if the need arises.
Guys like Chad Tracy, Steve Lombardozzi, Tyler Moore, Roger Bernadina and Kurt Suzuki (or Wilson Ramos) all can start, whether to give another starter a day off or as an injury replacement.
One player trying to crack into that rotation is a still young and yet very experienced Carlos Rivero.
The 24-year old right-handed-hitting third baseman had his best season as a pro in 2012 with...
A bombshell has been dropped on the Major League Baseball community this morning, as a report in the Miami New Times details a number of major league players who are linked to a Miami-area anti-aging clinic called Biogenesis, which allegedly supplied massive amounts of performance-enhancing drugs.
Among those players is Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez, a Hialeah, Fla. native, who won 21 games last season and finished third in the National League Cy Young voting.
Also named in the New Times...
The Nationals do not want to have to go into their 2013 defense of the National League East crown without left-hander Gio Gonzalez.
This week, however, Gonzalez's name was linked to a South Florida company that allegedly distributed performance-enhancing drugs to pro athletes.
If, in a worst-case scenario, Gonzalez is suspended for any period of time, what kind of options do the Nationals have as a choice for a possible sixth starter?
Free agents Javier Vazquez, Jonathan Sanchez, Joe...
The Nationals have released their 2013 spring training broadcast schedule, which begins Feb. 24 against the Miami Marlins with a radio game on 106.7 The Fan.
The first televised game is Feb. 28 on MASN as the Nationals battle the New York Mets.
Five games will also be broadcast on CBS Sports Radio 1580 AM, the first on Feb. 26 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., against the Atlanta Braves.
MASN previously released its television schedule for spring training 2013. You can access that schedule here....
The Miami New Times has released images they obtained from the notebooks of Anthony Bosch, an alleged distributor of performance-enhancing drugs, images that appear to connect Gio Gonzalez and his father Max to Bosch and his anti-aging clinic, Biogenesis.
The images show the five times that Gonzalez, a 21-game winner with the Nationals last season, appeared in Bosch's records, and the according to the New Times, all five references come from the notebook marked "2012".
Gonzalez's name...
Washington Nationals broadcast partners Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) and 106.7 The Fan will broadcast a total of 13 Nationals Spring Training matchups throughout the weeks leading up to the start of the 2013 regular season. The Nationals 2013 Grapefruit League schedule features six games televised by MASN and five games airing on 106.7 The Fan, with five broadcasts on partner station CBS Sports Radio 1580. In addition, ESPN will broadcast the Nationals-New York Mets contest from Viera,...
When I woke up yesterday morning, my initial intention was to lead off my morning blog entry writing a couple lines about Nationals infield prospect Cutter Dykstra and former "The Sopranos" actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler getting engaged.
Then something slightly (just slightly) more important went down.
Yesterday's news that six major leaguers had been linked to an anti-aging clinic called Biogenesis that was heavily involved in the dealing of performance-enhancing drugs shocked the baseball...
As spring training nears, the question has to be asked: Would it be spring training without a performance-enhancing drugs controversy?
Major League Baseball and the federal government are investigating a clinic in South Florida that links several players, including the Nationals' Gio Gonzalez and the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez, to possible use of PEDs, but depending on the evidence, baseball could be in a difficult position. It would be difficult to suspend players without a positive drug test....
Entering spring training, every Nationals player - every player in the major leagues, for that matter - has the same goal for 2013.
That goal is to be holding the World Series trophy at the end of the year.
Pretty simple stuff, really. Nothing too groundbreaking.
Beyond that, however, there are individual goals that many players set for themselves, goals that, if accomplished, will help their team get closer to the overarching goal of winning a World Series title.
Ian Desmond goes into the...
June and July are the heart of baseball season, as the weather is really optimal. A lot of memories of baseball games gone by are from those summer games and the Nationals have another great summertime schedule.
The Mets arrive for three games from June 4-6, all at 7:05 p.m. The first weekend series of June will be the arrival of Denard Span's former team, the Twins, June 7-9. The game on Saturday, June 8, is a 4:05 p.m. start.
After a road trip to Denver, Cleveland and Philadelphia, the...
NatsFest is over. At least I'm pretty sure it is. The media work area in Salon D is windowless and removed from where all the action was earlier this afternoon. But a lot of the ushers and greeters and helpers have been parading through the adjacent room, and that's a sure sign the paying customers have departed with a bunch of new curly W merchandise and Nationals memories to tide them over until spring training starts in a few weeks.
Before I head over to a happy hour at Bobby Van's...
A day after NatsFest, an event which was so popular that some fans unfortunately were held back from entering for an extended period because the Walter E. Washington Convention Center was filled to capacity, there are still plenty of tidbits to pass along from conversations with a number of Nationals players.
First, a few more injury notes.
Jayson Werth says that his left wrist, which he broke early last May, is not completely healed, but feels good enough that he can play and still be...
Bryce Harper won't enter spring training this year with all eyes on him, like they were last year. He won't enter spring training trying to impress manager Davey Johnson or trying to win a spot on the 25-man roster, like he did last year.
This time around, the 20-year-old outfielder will just go in trying to get himself in the best shape possible to be ready for the start of the regular season, when he'll play left field and likely hit somewhere in the top third of the Nationals' batting...
Drew Storen's elbow feels fine, and his psyche shows no scars from a meltdown in Game 5 of the National League Division Series that the right-hander would probably prefer to permanently file away, never to be remembered.
A London vacation after the premature end to his season helped Storen unwind and begin the process of moving on past extremely personal disappointment.
"It's harder because you don't have that game the next day to fix it," he explained. "That's why you look at Game 6...
Ready for some good one-liners so far from NatsFest?
Jordan Zimmermann on possibly increasing his innings this season: "The way it looks, I'm going to have to throw five innings and the bullpen should be able to handle it."
Ian Desmond on having some more "daddy strength" after the birth of his second son earlier this offseason: "Yup, double dose this year."
Bryce Harper, sarcastically, on having all the fans cheering for him here at NatsFest: "Well, Strasburg's not here, so...
There will be changes for first baseman/outfielder Tyler Moore in 2013. For starters, he's ditched the offensive lineman's No. 57 that used to be on his jersey. Instead, he's returned to a more familiar No. 12.
"I've always had it," Moore said at NatsFest, "all through the minors."
The last player to don No. 12 for the Nationals? Pinch hitter deluxe Matt Stairs in 2011.
The number on his back won't be the only change Moore will deal with for 2013. With the trade of Michael Morse to...
The Washington Nationals announced today that William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States, has been named the fifth participant in the GEICO Presidents Race. "Bill" is scheduled to be introduced to the public today at a press conference during NatsFest at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Fans will also have the opportunity to meet and take photos with the newest Racing President following his introductory press conference.
Bill will join George, Tom, Abe and Teddy...
Danny Espinosa still has his beard, and it's still fierce.
Never say I don't bring you all the important updates.
Mike Rizzo took part in a fan Q&A session here at NatsFest at bit ago, and at one point was asked about the chances of the Nationals and Washington D.C. getting to host an All-Star Game.
Rizzo's response? "We deserve the damn All-Star game, I'll tell you that," he told the fans, who broke out in applause.
The Nationals would have loved to have been selected to host the...