The Nats Are Hopelessly Mediocre
This series with the Reds is the final straw for me. All my hopes and dreams of a season to remember, a season of historical wretchedness...out the window. No chance. Statistically impossible.
To get back on 121-loss pace, the Nats would have to lose between 24 and 25 consecutive games. Never gonna happen. I'm not the only one feeling hopeless. The Nats Bad Blog ("Potential to be the worst team in the history of baseball. Let's follow their ineptitude together!") hasn't been updated in almost a month.
I just can't stop thinking about what might have been.
Here, though, is the most damning evidence of thoroughly boring mediocrity. On April 11 the Nats were 1-8. They had a solid stranglehold on last in the East. They were already 6.5 games back. The pursuit of history was on.
Since then, the Nats are a disgustingly average 17-21. That means if the season started on April 12, the Nats would now be within four games of the wild card. That means that, over a stretch of 43 days--no mere statistical blip--the Washington Nationals have put together a better record than the following supposedly non-historically awful clubs: Cincinnati (13-25), Texas (14-24), St. Louis (13-21), Toronto (15-22), Tampa Bay (15-22), Pittsburgh (15-21), Kansas City (16-22) and Colorado (16-22).
Further, the Nats have the same record as the Twins over that span. They're a half-game behind the Marlins and the Yankees over that span, and just one game behind the Cubs, Diamondbacks and Astros. I have now named 50 percent of the teams in Major League Baseball. To be within one game of half your competitors is the very definition of "mediocre." Of boring. Of blah.
A few reminders of what we've lost, of what we were hoping for back in the perpetually optimistic days of March and April, when anything seemed possible.
Florida Today: "They're talking history in Washington, D.C. and it has nothing to do with our country's presidents."
The Bergen Record: "A team positioned as the greatest threat to challenge the struggles of the 1962 Mets - the Washington Nationals."
The Stuart News: "Spring training is over, so are the Washington Nationals mathematically eliminated yet?
New York Post: "The Washington Nationals...are going to make a real run at the 1962 Mets' record 120-loss season....The Nationals have very little chance to get better as this season goes along. On the contrary, they are woeful now and should get worse."
Sigh.
By Dan Steinberg |
May 24, 2007; 10:01 AM ET
| Category:
Nats
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Posted by: Chest Rockwell | May 24, 2007 10:17 AM
I've got your pride in losing right here:
http://www.celebrate10000.com/home.asp
They need a 7+ SEASON winning streak to get back to .500 baseball lifetime.
Posted by: Kim | May 24, 2007 10:21 AM
I said it before and I am saying it again. The Nats are 10 games over/under last year's record. I am not saying 62 Mets' record is safe, but a team is going to have to try and lose that many games; and frankly the Nats are doing the exact opposite. Give the O's 2 more seasons of over spending on over-the-hill talent and then maybe Angelos will set his sights on something he KNOWS his ball club can do... LOSE GAMES!!!
Posted by: J-Mart | May 24, 2007 10:30 AM
Chest: Every game at RFK is $5 tickets night. $3 for some groups.
Posted by: WFY | May 24, 2007 10:40 AM
Nats are hopelessly mediocre through no fault of Matt Chico. Matt Chico's grit, moxie, spunk, savvy, and sticktoitiveness have led the Nats to a 6-4 record in games Matt Chico starts. I blame the mediocrity solely on Levale Speigner.
Posted by: TP | May 24, 2007 11:09 AM
WFY has potentially changed things. I was under the impression that tickets didn't get lower than $10. I'm not sure where I got that idea from.
Still, RFK for me is where I go for soccer, and has been since 1993 (US Cup, Brazil-England). Seeing baseball there would probably be unsettling.
Posted by: Chest Rockwell | May 24, 2007 11:55 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
I am now almost certain to not go to a Nats game this year.
Monumentally awful? Here's my money. Just regular old bad? Go to hell.
Unless the Nats want to do a $5 college night promotion like the Orioles do, I will continue sneaking whiskey into Camden Yards and keep RFK a soccer-only venue in my mind.