ST. LOUIS - Hello from Busch Stadium, where both the Nationals and Cardinals will spend today taking part in team workouts in advance of tomorrow's NLDS opener between the two teams.
They've done some quick work around here getting the stadium ready for playoff baseball. Bunting is hanging from the facade of all the different decks, (there's bunting everywhere) and Major League Baseball's postseason logo has been painted on the grass down both the first and third base lines.
I'll admit...
The Nationals are going to St. Louis. We think.
In the first game of the new wild card era, the Cardinals beat the Braves 6-3, and will move on to the National League Division Series.
They'll host the Nats for Games 1 and 2, which will be held Sunday at 3:07 p.m. and Monday at 4:37 p.m., respectively.
The topic that everyone will be discussing tomorrow, however, was the incredibly bizarre play in the bottom of the eighth inning when Aldrelton Simmons' fly ball to shallow left was ruled an...
Throughout much of the first half of the season, Ryan Zimmerman wasn't himself. Inflammation in the AC joint in his right shoulder sapped his bat speed and quickly increased his frustration level.
After yet another 0-for-4 in a game against the Orioles on June 23, Zimmerman was hitting .218 and slugging a lowly .305.
"I don't miss fastballs like I've been missing fastballs," Zimmerman said that night. "If things keep going the way they have been going, we're going to have to do...
Major League Baseball has announced the start times for the first two games of each Division Series.
And the schedule they've gone with might leave some D.C. sports fans a little frustrated.
The Nationals will start their first postseason game in team history (and the first playoff game in D.C. baseball history in 79 years) at 3:07 p.m. on Sunday. Monday's Game 2 will start at 4:37 p.m.
Both games will air on TBS.
This means that Game 1 will start sometime just after halftime of the...
The results of the National League Cy Young award voting won't be released until the postseason has come to a close, but Gio Gonzalez has already earned himself some hardware.
Gonzalez was named the winner of the 2012 Warren Spahn Award today, an award given out to the best left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball based on a pitcher's wins, strikeouts and earned run average.
"I'm honored to even be mentioned in the same breath as Warren Spahn and the past winners of this award. I...
First the good news: By virtue of the best record in baseball, the Nationals have the home field advantage in a best-of-five series against Friday's wild card winner. Now the bad news: By virtue of the best record in baseball, the Nationals have the home field advantage in a best-of-five series against Friday's wild card winner.
How's that?
The half-baked playoff system that Major League Baseball came up with this year means the Nats will take to the road for two games in either Atlanta...
"It was a pretty good season, all things considered," said outfielder Jayson Werth after the Nationals' 5-1 win over Philadelphia on Wednesday. "We had a lot of injuries and things to overcome. The fact that we ended up here, it really came down to the last game for the best record. We showed up again today.
"I like where we are sitting heading into the postseason. This is what it is all about. This is what you play your whole life for. We got a chance to do something special here. We...
This is uncharted territory for the Washington Nationals.
They've played 162 games, yet their season isn't over. The goodbyes, tee times and trips to tropical locations will have to wait.
For the first time in team history, there's postseason baseball to be played.
With yesterday's action in the books,
The Warren Spahn Award board of directors announced today that Gio Gonzalez of the Washington Nationals is the 2012 Spahn Award winner.
The Spahn Award is presented annually by the Bricktown Rotary Club of Oklahoma City and the Jim Thorpe Association to the best left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball based on a pitcher's wins, strikeouts and earned run average. Farmers Insurance is the presenting sponsor of the award, named after the Oklahoman and national Baseball Hall of Famer Warren...
So you can't watch the Nationals' postseason run unfold on MASN.
That doesn't mean we'll be going off the map until next season.
MASN will still be here for as long as the Nationals stay alive in the postseason to provide you with plenty of coverage, even though the games will be aired nationally.
For starters, tune into MASN HD the night before the Nats open the National League Division Series - whether that be Saturday or Sunday - for "Nats Xtra: Playoff Preview." Time will be...
October baseball is different, but not in the way most think. This isn't about the added pressure, how much brighter the spotlight is, or how some players can dig deep and find a special clutch ability they lacked all regular season. This isn't about the age old clichés. As The Boss will tell you on the commercials, October is the land of hope and dreams, but it is also the land of small sample sizes.
There are a few weaknesses with the Nationals that can be exploited. First off,...
The Phillies wrapped up a .500 season today with a loss to the Nationals.
The year didn't go as the Phils had expected, as they relinquished the NL East crown and failed to record a winning record for the first time in 10 years. But Jimmy Rollins feels his team would have prevented the Nats from winning their first division title in team history if key guys on the Phillies' roster (Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Carlos Ruiz, Placido Polanco) had spent less time on the...
The Washington Nationals Dream Foundation is excited to announce that The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation has committed $250,000 in support of the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.
In appreciation of this gift, the Marriott Foundation will be recognized as a Founding Partner of the Youth Baseball Academy and will receive naming rights for one of the facility's three new baseball fields. In addition, the Foundation will receive prominent recognition throughout the...
Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman hit his 25th homer of the season Wednesday in a 5-1 win over the Phillies, marking third time in his career he has it 25 or more homers in a season. He also hit 24 homers in 2007.
He is a part of a Nationals team that has the most wins in major league baseball and has won its division. He said that is all nice, but the ultimate goal is a world championship.
"It is quite an accomplishment," Zimmerman said. "Winning the division was a goal and now we...
With two outs in the top of the seventh inning, someone popped out of the Nationals' dugout, walked to the mound and got the ball from starter Edwin Jackson.
That person wasn't manager Davey Johnson, but bench coach Randy Knorr.
My first thought at the time was that Johnson was just having Knorr handle the managerial duties late in the game, given that it was the last day of the regular season. But when the Nationals' skipper wasn't out on the field for the postgame handshakes after the...
Teddy Roosevelt winning the Presidents' Race was the highlight of the afternoon for many Nationals fans.
Ryan Zimmerman does not fit into that group of people.
"I am so glad Teddy won so we can stop talking about Teddy," an exasperated Zimmerman said after today's 5-1 Nats win. "People get more excited for a mascot race than a game."
Zimmerman then gave a massive eye-roll and cranked the sarcasm meter to the limit.
"Yes, I'm excited Teddy won," he said. "I'm ecstatic."
Jayson...
Game 162 is in the books. All that's left now is the postseason run.
By way of this afternoon's 5-1 win, the Nationals have earned the No. 1 seed in the National League and at least a tie for the best record in the majors.
Even if the Reds win tonight, finishing in a tie with Washington with an identical 98-64 record, the Nats will get the top seed in the NL because they won the season series between the two teams.
That means the Nationals will play the winner of the Braves-Cardinals wild...
Yes, the losing streak is over.
As my colleague Byron Kerr wrote, Teddy won the Presidents Race today.
Print Byron's story out. Frame it. Tell the grandkids about this moment one day.
The crowd got all riled up by Teddy's big victory, and apparently the players did, too. (Either that, or they just got better pitches to hit and put the barrel on them. One of the two.)
The first three Nationals to come to the plate after Teddy's win - Ryan Zimmerman, Michael Morse and Tyler Moore - went...
It has happened.
No, not the Nationals winning the division.
No, not the first playoff game in D.C. since 1933.
It is the larger-than-life fourth-inning hero, the legendary former president, represented with oversized clothing from his bygone era and a huge melon head, steel-wire rope spectacles and neon green running shoes.
Teddy Roosevelt has won the race he had lost 525 times in a row.
Forget 61.
Forget 2,130.
Try 525.
It is over.
In the most amazing of races, Roosevelt crushed his...
It's been widely assumed that the Nationals will go with a postseason rotation made up of Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Edwin Jackson and Ross Detwiler, though not necessarily in that order, as the starting pitching spots for Games 3 and 4 have yet to be determined.
It's possible, however, that John Lannan finds himself in the playoff rotation, as well.
Lannan has gone 9-5 with a 3.20 ERA in 16 career starts against the Braves, and he held Atlanta to two runs over seven innings in a win...