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The Mets invade Nationals Park for a huge three game series this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I will be at each game with my son Dylan and we are psyched to see such important games in person. All three games start at 7:05 and you can expect Gary, Keith and/or Ron to complain about the placement of the TV booth atop the Washington Monument.
Three games, three parts to this KTE.
1. The Ramblings
The Washington Post wants fans to tweet during the game: “[I]f you're at any of the games this weekend, it would be fantastic if you Tweeted a few times before/during/after (especially during) with these two hash tags attached: #natswp and #[section number]. Example: ‘The beer guy is offering half-price Miller Lite right now! #natswp #230’"
This is a good idea as most Nationals fans are on their mobile phones during the game. We can look forward to such tweets as:
* “Where’s Frank Howard?”
* “The line at [url]http://www.benschilibowl.com[/url] is so long that we might miss two innings. Let’s go!”
* “When do the Redskins open camp?”
* “When’s the President’s Race?”
* “Should I leave in the 7th or 8th inning?”
* “Why don’t they let Teddy win?”
* “When do they stop selling beer?”
* “Isn’t that handsome guy wearing a ‘Faith & Fear In Flushing’ shirt?”
And of course, a reminder that Chico Harlan, the Nationals beat writer for The Washington Post, hates sports.
2. The Standard Stuff
Do you really want me to do a thorough analysis of the Mets and the Nationals? Other than Edgy? I thought not.
Monday night’s matchup is Livan Hernandez (RHP, 5-5, ERA 5.10, WHIP 1.58) v. J.D. Martin (RHP, ML Debut, AAA: 8-3, 2.66, 0.966). Livan should have been DFA’d after his last two starts but the Mets, having so many smart guys in the front office, must have remembered that Hernandez beat the Nationals twice this year, only giving up one run in 16 innings.
Martin is 26 and, as you can see from his WHIP, is a control pitcher. He is a former first round pick and has had an “injury plagued career.” Even though he is 6’4”, he doesn’t throw hard. One website [url]http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/jd-martin-deserves-a-shot[/url] said that he “pounds the strike zone” (sounds like my honeymoon!). The excellent [url]http://www.firejimbowden.com[/url] says this about Martin: “His best pitches are a curve and a cutter. He also throws a sinker and a four-seamer. His fastball sits in the 89-90 range.”
Martin was clobbered in his last outing (4 IP, 6 ER). Given that it was against minor leaguers, there’s no limit to what a major league lineup like the Mets can do!
Tuesday, it’s Oliver Perez (LHP, 2-2, 7.99. 2.11) v. John Lannan (LHP, 6-7, 3.64, 1.38). Ollie got clobbered by Washington on April 26, giving up 7 ER in 4.1 IP. It’s good that we won’t have to see Perez after this season. (“What? 2011? You’re kidding? You’re not? ARGH!”). Lannan pitched a complete game shutout against the Mets on June 6, like that’s an accomplishment. He lost to the Mets on May 25, lasting 5 innings and giving up 5 runs, including a 3 run HR by Gary Sheffield.
Wednesday features Mike Pelfrey (RHP, 7-5, 5.07, 1.51) v. Craig Stammen (RHP, 2-5, 4.46, 1.22). Pelfrey, who a polite person would say is “struggling” at the moment, beat the Nationals on May 25, going 5.2 IP giving up 2 ER. Stammen lost to the Mets on May 26, 5 IP, 3 ER, 7 H. I enjoyed his work in “Full House.”
Jim Riggleman is the current Nationals manager. He was an interim manager last season as well, with Seattle. Since we’ve seen the Nationals, they traded for Nyjer Morgan—he wears his hat crooked, plays LF, is hitting .290 and has 26 steals. I bestow upon him the title of One to Watch (sponsorship pending). Mike MacDougal is now the closer although that’s not etched in stone. According to The Washington Post, “Riggleman said he planned to use something of a closer-by-committee approach, not settling on one pitcher in late-inning situations. Rather, Riggleman said, he would let the situation and circumstances dictate which pitcher would be brought in from the bullpen.”
3. Your Favorite Nationals Fan
This season has been filled with disappointment but I won’t let you down: please welcome back dcbatgirl!
1. So you filmed a commercial for the Nationals? How'd that happen, how'd did it go, and when will your fans see it?
Actually, it never happened, but it almost did. Short story is that the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) had an open casting call for their “Defining Moments” advertising campaign. The idea is to have enthusiastic fans talk about a play or series of plays that were defining moments for a player or the team. MASN has been running Defining Moments ads for the 1st half of the season and wanted to add some fresh material for the 2nd half. They were not looking for stuff like this: “It was the top of the 9th with my Nats up by 5. Bullpen pitcher #1 walked the leadoff hitter, the next batter was hit by a pitch, and so on, with the Mets coming back to win by 2.”
Anyway, I was enthusiastic in the casting call, and think I also fulfilled a demographic need for middle-aged batgirls. I was selected first for camera testing at Nationals Park, and later for additional green screen testing in Baltimore (as the Orioles basically control the Nationals broadcasting rights). In Baltimore, one of the scripts I read was a “love poem” to Ryan Zimmerman. Uh, this batgirl would not be right for that. They had other scripts and I also brought my own suggestion based on an amazing 9-2 force out that led to a Nationals win over the DBacks, and included both glory for ex-Met Jesus Flores, and frustration for ex-Nationals-malcontent, Felipe Lopez. The “2” part of this scenario is important because dcbatgirl has a thing for catchers, and therefore can be very convincing in her enthusiasm about a great defensive play by a catcher.
But I ramble. Heard back only once after the Baltimore filming, which was maybe a month ago. I’m beginning to wonder if they’ve ditched the original plan, given that most of the defining moments this year have not been stuff to cheer about. I haven’t seen any new ads with fans, and the other finalists I know also have heard nothing.
2 Riggleman in, Acta out... good move?
This is a no-change sort of move. Both are nice guys and players’ managers who could use more ballplayers. Neither Acta before nor Riggleman now can catch fly balls in left field for Adam Dunn, or get strikeouts in the later innings. I feel bad for both of them; talk about stress!
3. The local press can't stop with the comparisons to the '62 Mets. Do you see any improvement?
So what do y’all think of the comparisons? Do you hope for more of the same from the Nationals in the 2nd half so that baseball will have a new definition of futility?
On improvement, if you mean since the manager change, it’s too early to say. The Cubs series was pretty unpleasant, but last week was a shock to everyone, even if Manny’s dismissal was not a big surprise. I believe the Nationals will improve, if for no other reason than it’s hard to imagine things getting much worse. At the same time, I’m still having fun at the Park. You can find a glimmer of hope in every game, if you’re looking for that. I love Nyjer Morgan and it has stopped raining, which are big improvements over Lastings Milledge and building an Arc. And I’ve made a bunch of new baseball friends this year who add a nice family element to all of it.
And because this is a Mets board, I have to tell you that last time your team came to DC, I led a ballpark tour that included 2 Nats fans, 1 Red Sox fan, 2 Yankees fans and 15! Mets fans. We all agreed on one thing: Boo Phillies!
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