Ted Youngling: Strasburg's return creates late-season buzz in D.C.

Ted Youngling: Strasburg's return creates late-season buzz in D.C.
He's baaack! Stephen Strasburg will be making his 2011 debut Tuesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. This will mark his first major league appearance since last Aug. 21. I can't say I'm surprised by the announcement, but a part of me was convinced he would sit out the remainder of the season. All of a sudden, we find ourselves in a situation similar to June 8, 2010, with a week of anticipation that sees ticket sales jump and Nationals baseball dominate D.C. sports talk radio. Whether you...
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Rachel Levitin: Inflated expectations on home team's new mascot?

Rachel Levitin: Inflated expectations on home team's new mascot?
These days, there appears to be a solid distinction in the way baseball fans - in Washington, D.C., especially - view the game. They watch the game and pick its intricacies apart with either a conservative, progressive or moderate lens. Nation's capital puns aside, it's a dichotomy that gets the Nationals' fan base riled up inside the ballpark, via Twitter or in the blogosphere. The baseball conservatives are traditionalists who tend to abide by the unwritten rule book. They say that fans...
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Lifehouse to perform at Nationals Park

Lifehouse to perform at Nationals Park
For those fans with a ticket to the Nationals' September 3 game against the Mets, you're in for a special treat. As part of the Washington Nationals Grand Slam Labor Day Weekend festivities, popular rock band Lifehouse will be on hand to perform a postgame concert on the field at Nationals Park. The concert will be immediately following Saturday's 7:05 p.m. game and is expected to last about an hour. Lifehouse has had several hits over their time on the music scene, including such songs...
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Mark Hornbaker: Can Nationals' progression match 1920s Senators?

Mark Hornbaker: Can Nationals' progression match 1920s Senators?
Even with the Nationals in the midst of a six-game losing streak, I feel like this team is heading in the right direction overall. The Nationals organization is doing a very good job putting together the nucleus of a solid and soon to be a winning baseball team together in the nation's capital. I believe this team is on its way to become a team to reckon with in the National League East. I think during the next season or two we could find the Nationals contending for a playoff spot....
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Dave Nichols: Time for a glimpse at Nats' future

Dave Nichols: Time for a glimpse at Nats' future
It's getting to be the time of the year when folks start turning their attention away from baseball and on to other pursuits. The kids are going back to school, football season kicks off next week and, before you know it, it's going to start getting chilly and hockey and basketball will begin again. With the local teams out of the pennant race, it would be easy to ignore their September progress, but real baseball fans will want to stay tuned. The Washington Nationals could be on the cusp...
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Jenn Jenson: If you're really lucky, you can play baseball for a living

Jenn Jenson: If you're really lucky, you can play baseball for a living
One of the things I like about baseball is the opportunity to watch people who are living their dream. It makes me happy, and on some days it also reminds me to count my blessings and focus what I might achieve in my own life. Of course, there's more than one professional baseball dream, from being drafted, to stepping on the field for a major league debut, to winning the World Series and everything in-between. I'm sure a lot of major league players pinch themselves every day and say,...
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Ted Youngling: The legend of Livan Hernandez continues

Ted Youngling: The legend of Livan Hernandez continues
How is it that a 6-foot-2, 245-lb.,36-year-old can be one of the game's most consistent starters? That is the question on everyone's mind as Livan Hernandez puts together yet another incredibly dependable season. Amazingly, Hernandez has started at least 30 games in each season dating to 1998. Despite bouncing around the league having pitched for seven different clubs, Hernandez may be best known for his time with the Nationals/Expos franchise. For a team that has been anything but steady...
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Second blood drive set for Saturday, August 27

Second blood drive set for Saturday, August 27
Here's the deal, folks: You've got blood, lots of it, enough to spare, and the Nationals have tickets to come see them play. Basically, the Nats are looking for a straight up trade. You give your blood, they'll give you two tickets to a game. Sound fair? I've got a bag filling as I type (not really, that'd be kind of gross). But as someone who has given blood in the past, I'm proud to announce the Washington Nationals' second blood drive of the season to be held this Saturday, August...
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The Road Back: Chronicling Stephen Strasburg's return to the major leagues

The Road Back: Chronicling Stephen Strasburg's return to the major leagues
On June 9, 2009, the Nationals selected Stephen Strasburg with the No. 1 overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft. Strasburg, a right-hander from San Diego State University, was one of the most highly touted draft picks in recent memory and from his first day in the Nationals' organization, caught the eye of baseball fans around the country. Nearly one year later, amid flashbulbs at a sold-out Nationals Park, Strasburg made his major league debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates, going seven...
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Rachel Levitin: Quake can't shake fans out of baseball routines

Rachel Levitin: Quake can't shake fans out of baseball routines
Tuesday was no average day in Washington, D.C. Residents, tourists, visitors and members of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Nationals felt a 5.9 jolt from the earth beneath their feet. The tremor was shallow, at just 6 kilometers underground, and was felt from the epicenter in Virginia to a widespread portion of the East Coast. While the earthquake has nothing to do with baseball itself, baseball as a game did play a role in getting D.C. back to its normal pace. The game between the Diamondbacks...
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Danny Espinosa's post-baseball career is in marketing

Danny Espinosa's post-baseball career is in marketing
When Danny Espinosa's playing career is over, the rookie second baseman has a bright future as a marketing executive to look forward to. On the heels of today's 5.9 magnitude East Coast earthquake, Espinosa sent out the following tweet, figuring there might be a few workers sent home earlier than anticipated as a result of the temblor: "If you get out of work early today because of the quake, come to the Nats game tonight!!!" The tweet came after Espinosa turned to the social media...
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Mark Hornbaker: Ryan Zimmerman is Nats' Mr. Clutch

Mark Hornbaker: Ryan Zimmerman is Nats' Mr. Clutch
Since his first full season in 2006, Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman has shown a real knack of hitting walk-off home runs. His latest walk-off happened Friday evening. The Phillies and the Nationals were tied 4-4 and the bases were loaded with Nats when Zimmerman hit a two-out grand slam off Ryan Madson. For Zimmerman, it was his second career walk-off grand slam and his eighth career walk-off home run. The 26-year-old Zimmerman, who is in his sixth full season with the Nats, has hit...
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Dave Nichols: On the verge of something pretty good

Dave Nichols: On the verge of something pretty good
The Washington Nationals start play today with a record of 61-64. They eclisped a milestone of sorts last week without anyone recognizing it, which I guess should be taken as a good thing. Two seasons ago, in 2009, the Nationals won just 59 games. In years past, the mere fact that the Nats moved past a previous year's win total with so many games left to play would have been cause for celebration. Last season, they picked up 10 wins for a total of 69 victories. Barring an historical collapse,...
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Back-to-school drive

Back-to-school drive
Fans attending this weekend's series against the Philadelphia Phillies will have a chance to donate new school supplies for students in the surrounding area of District of Columbia Public Schools. Before both Saturday's 7:05 contest and Sunday's 1:35 series finale, fans heading the Nationals Park can stop by the Center Field Gates from the time gates open until the end of the second inning and do their part by donating supplies. All donations are welcomed, but supplies being requested...
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Jenn Jenson: Here's to my season ticket group

Jenn Jenson: Here's to my season ticket group
When the Nationals sent a message to season ticket-holders earlier this week, urging prompt renewal in exchange for a 5 percent discount, I thought about my season ticket group - a collection of baseball fans who started out as the means to help me buy better seats than I might otherwise and have become a bigger part of my life. So if I might, I'd like to tip my cap to the 27 Nationals fans and one Mets fan who are or have in the past been members of my group. Yes, there are 28 of them total....
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Ted Youngling: Patience is the key with Werth

Ted Youngling: Patience is the key with Werth
Jayson Werth is suffering through arguably one of the most disappointing seasons for any player in Major League Baseball right now, as Dan Uggla seemed to turn his around, stringing together a 33-game hit streak. Werth cashed in this past winter, literally jumping from the best to the worst team in the National League East. It's hard to blame him - I mean, what would you do in that situation? Lots of people have been ragging on him because of his dismal performance so far in 2011, where in...
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Rachel Levitin: Patriotic lids would have capped off perfect military salute

Rachel Levitin: Patriotic lids would have capped off perfect military salute
It was announced Tuesday afternoon that the Nationals would honor America's fallen heroes, more specifically the service members involved in the deadly Aug. 6 helicopter crash, with pregame activities. The Nationals honored our servicemen and women in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Navy (including the SEALs division), Marines and all military reserves before the game by donning caps bearing the insignias of the various branches in addition to wearing their patriotic uniform for batting...
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Mark Hornbaker: Bullet Ben's cup of coffee with the Washington Senators

Mark Hornbaker: Bullet Ben's cup of coffee with the Washington Senators
Since April 2007, I've been writing stories mostly about Washington D.C. baseball history at Nationals Daily News. A lot of my stories are based off of a date in time in D.C. baseball history. Today's story is about a pitcher, Allen "Bullet Ben" Benson, who made his Washington Senators debut this week in 1934. What makes this story so different than any of my other stories is the way I learned about Benson. It happened a little less than two years ago when I received an e-mail from a...
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Another homestand means more offers for fans

Another homestand means more offers for fans
It's hard to believe it's already mid-August, but here we are, with the Nationals set to begin another lengthy homestand. This 10-game stand will welcome the Reds, Phillies and Diamondbacks to our nation's capital and, as usual, there are plenty of offers and events for fans to enjoy at the ballpark. On Tuesday, as the Nationals open a three-game series with Cincinnati, the Nats will honor local military veterans as part of the "Give a Veteran a Piece of the High Life" program. The...
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Dave Nichols: Signing day brings intrigue to Nationals Park

Dave Nichols: Signing day brings intrigue to Nationals Park
The deadline to sign draft picks from June's First-Year Player Draft is midnight tonight. As of this post, the Washington Nationals still have not signed their top five picks from this year's draft. It's not an unusual scenario, due to Major League Baseball's antiquated rules governing the draft and the slotting system the league recommends for draft pick bonuses. Even though it's a yearly ritual by now, it still brings hand-wringing and hair-pulling until the clock strikes midnight and...
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