Archive: February 25, 2007 - March 3, 2007
Welcome the newest National
This news just popped in via text message: Tatum Elizabeth Schneider, 7 lbs., 14 oz., 19.5 inches, born at 10:03 a.m. Brian and Jordan Schneider had kept the name of their first child under wraps, so as to not be...
By Barry Svrluga | March 3, 2007; 12:42 PM ET | Comments (16)
Who is Ruddy Yan? And other key questions of spring.
Jorge Arangure, our (absent) Orioles beat writer, has left me his squad to cover today as well. And leading off for the Baltimore Orioles would be none other than Mr. Yan. Some debate about how his name is pronounced, like...
By Barry Svrluga | March 3, 2007; 11:57 AM ET | Comments (1)
Rain? On Opening Day?
Opening Day in Viera, anyway. Pretty cloudy. Tarp on. Rain earlier this morning. Not sure about later. Here's the lineup against the Orioles and Daniel Cabrera. Felipe Lopez 2B Cristian Guzman DH Ryan Zimmerman 3B Austin Kearns RF Ryan Church...
By Barry Svrluga | March 3, 2007; 8:22 AM ET | Comments (0)
There goes that winless season
Sorry. Been in the clubhouse out in right field for a while. Final: Dodgers 12, Nationals 7 (but don't worry about that pitching staff, right?) Former Oriole Larry Bigbie went deep twice, once off Chris Schroder and once off Emiliano...
By Barry Svrluga | March 2, 2007; 4:14 PM ET | Comments (0)
Welcome to spring, Zimm
Ryan Zimmerman? You familiar with him? He just hit an absolute bomb of a two-run homer to center. Hit way up the screen that serves as the batter's eye. Wind is blowing more across than out, now. But: Wow. Thought...
By Barry Svrluga | March 2, 2007; 2:14 PM ET | Comments (0)
Robinson to Commish Office
So just talked to Jim Bowden about Frank Robinson's new position. (Chris Michalak on the hill for the Nationals, relieving Shawn Hill. Already has allowed a run in the bottom of the third. Two down, runners at the corners.) Here's...
By Barry Svrluga | March 2, 2007; 2:04 PM ET | Comments (0)
Who had D'Angelo Jimenez in the pool?
That would be who delivered the Nationals' first RBI of the spring. Nook Logan reaches on error in top of the third. Felipe Lopez walks. Jimenez hits a crisp single to center. And ... Zimmerman's first RBI of the spring...
By Barry Svrluga | March 2, 2007; 1:43 PM ET | Comments (0)
Two innings in
Ryan Church led off the top of the second with a double to the gap in right-center off Schmidt. A well-struck ball. That brings up Escobar. Keep in mind this battle for an outfielder's spot between Escobar and Chris Snelling....
By Barry Svrluga | March 2, 2007; 1:24 PM ET | Comments (0)
One in the books
So Shawn Hill on the Hill. He's a sinker-baller, and a good pick to be the No. 2 or 3 starter this year. Finally feels healthy, he says. And on his first batter of the spring, Wilson Valdez, he gets...
By Barry Svrluga | March 2, 2007; 1:13 PM ET | Comments (3)
Mia? Mia?
One reason to come to Dodgertown these days is to see if Mia Hamm shows up to watch hubby (tabloid term) Nomar Garciaparra play first for the Dodgers. She's pregnant with twins, so I haven't seen her yet. Felipe Lopez,...
By Barry Svrluga | March 2, 2007; 1:06 PM ET | Comments (0)
Play ball!
(Original, huh?) Actually, we just had the national anthem. I'll give you the first innings when it's in the books. Among the things to note: Wind blowing way, way, way out today. Could be a long one. "I might as...
By Barry Svrluga | March 2, 2007; 12:56 PM ET | Comments (0)
An Hour From Now ...
... actual Grapefruit League baseball begins. Sights here: HofF Don Sutton in the house, preparing to begin his Nationals broadcasting career on MASN tomorrow with play-by-play man Bob Carpenter, who should be here shortly. Charley Steiner, Dodgers radio man, XM...
By Barry Svrluga | March 2, 2007; 12:04 PM ET | Comments (0)
Spotlight: Ryan Zimmerman
Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman discusses being the face of the franchise, weighs-in on whether he should have won the NL Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove awards and professes his love for TiVo. var movieSrc = "http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/player/player2.swf?whichMode=normal&justify=center&playad=yes&mediatype=stream&postdir=sports&postvideo=022807-3v&cuesfile=none&autoplay=no&starttime=0&endtime=0&largerver=none&image=022807-3v_427&playlistxml=none";//URL OF...
By Jonathan Forsythe | March 2, 2007; 10:30 AM ET | Comments (0)
Welcome to Dodgertown
Is there a better place to open the Grapefruit League season? Just walking in makes you sad that the Dodgers will depart this old place for Arizona (I believe after next spring). The palm trees are just beyond the outfield...
By Barry Svrluga | March 2, 2007; 10:07 AM ET | Comments (0)
And the Oscar goes to ...
So I went down to ask Zimmerman, after he finished his at least 90-minute shoot for the MASN ads, what he thought of the whole thing. (Keep in mind, he had wiped his brow with his sleeve (as if he...
By Barry Svrluga | March 1, 2007; 4:46 PM ET | Comments (0)
No news is ...
... good news? Nah, just a boring day. Final workout of spring ended a couple of hours ago. "Thank God," was Ryan Church's response. Now, let the games begin. (Zimmerman, by the way, is still -- STILL -- filming one...
By Barry Svrluga | March 1, 2007; 2:26 PM ET | Comments (0)
Spotlight: Austin Kearns
Nationals right fielder Austin Kearns discusses team leadership, fishing and his favorite country music artists. (Are there any he doesn't like?) P.S. - on an unrelated note, for those of you who missed it: Maryland 85, Duke 77. var movieSrc...
By Jonathan Forsythe | March 1, 2007; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (0)
Airhead
Quotable: "Let's check out the replay on that one." -- Johnny Pesky, while doing a radio broadcast So I forgot to stick a couple things in the actual ink-and-paper newspaper (only $.35) yesterday. First baseman Travis Lee has a slightly...
By Barry Svrluga | March 1, 2007; 8:07 AM ET | Comments (0)
Nationals 6, Nationals 2 (10)
There is, perhaps, nothing better than Bonus Intrasquad Baseball (BIB), but because Artie Munoz (who looks as much like a clubby as he does a left-handed pitcher) needed to get an inning in, that's exactly what we got here at...
By Barry Svrluga | February 28, 2007; 3:03 PM ET | Comments (0)
Among the things I didn't expect to do see today
Ladies and gentlemen, that was Nook Logan, Nationals center fielder, ripping a three-run bomb to right field off of Anastacio Martinez. And he did it (drumroll .................................................. ) from the left side of the plate. For the unitiated -- Hello,...
By Barry Svrluga | February 28, 2007; 1:15 PM ET | Comments (0)
And after the stretch ...
I was in the clubhouse conversing with baseball players (again, have to remind myself that that's my job) while about four innings passed. The scoreboard (and again, I have no idea why they're running the scoreboard) has the Nationals 3,...
By Barry Svrluga | February 28, 2007; 12:58 PM ET | Comments (0)
Spotlight: Ryan Church
Nationals left fielder Ryan Church talks about manager Manny Acta's enthusiasm, the competition for playing time in left field and his golf game. var movieSrc = "http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/player/player2.swf?whichMode=normal&justify=center&playad=yes&mediatype=stream&postdir=sports&postvideo=022807-1v&cuesfile=none&autoplay=no&starttime=0&endtime=0&largerver=none&image=022807-1v_427&playlistxml=none";//URL OF WHERE .SWF MOVIE IS PUBLISHED var movieWidth="427";//FLASH MOVIE AND BACK-UP GRAPHIC WIDTH...
By Jonathan Forsythe | February 28, 2007; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (0)
Simontacchi sizzles
This is it for play-by-play. Simontacchi, who has a very good changeup, just got Robert Fick, Darnell McDonald and Chris Snelling on either fly outs or pop-ups. That was six up, six down for Simontacchi, who is a serious contender...
By Barry Svrluga | February 28, 2007; 11:56 AM ET | Comments (0)
You can't count on this the whole game. Really, you can't.
Top 3: Jason Simontacchi on the hill. Pitched in Australia. Pitched in Italy. Pitched in independent ball. Now adds intrasquad thriller to his resume. 1-2-3 inning getting Castro and Escobar on pop-ups and Belliard on a grounder. To short. (No...
By Barry Svrluga | February 28, 2007; 11:44 AM ET | Comments (0)
Two innings in the books
Top 2: Darnell McDonald single to left, Chris Snelling hit by a pitch, D'Angelo Jimenez flies to center field, Frank Diaz flies to center field, Juan Brito (who badly missed a pop-up in the previous inning in foul territory) grounded...
By Barry Svrluga | February 28, 2007; 11:31 AM ET | Comments (7)
An inning in the books
Jerome Williams started for the home team, and he allowed a seeing-eye-single from Bernie Castro (who was erased trying to steal on an exceptional throw from Rule 5 catcher Jesus Flores) and then Rafael/Ronnie Belliard followed with a bouncer to...
By Barry Svrluga | February 28, 2007; 11:17 AM ET | Comments (0)
And now, the lineups
I still can't believe I'm doing this. But here are the lineups for Intrasquad Game 2. (Yesterday, I labelled them "Home" and "Away," I think. Actually, they're "Red" and "Blue," even though they're both wearing the exact same uniforms. I'd...
By Barry Svrluga | February 28, 2007; 9:05 AM ET | Comments (0)
MASN and other thoughts
Today's quote on the whiteboard, provided by Nats assistant to the assistant to the P.R. folks Mark Rogoff, is the following: "Barry S!" -- Dick Vitale We'll get to that in a second. (It's basically just Rogoff reading the Journal,...
By Barry Svrluga | February 28, 2007; 7:54 AM ET | Comments (0)
P.A.-gate
OK, finally a few minutes to address the item I posted on the Journal last week, and then put in my notebook in the actual Washington Post print edition newspaper (which I actually still write for, I think, though I...
By Barry Svrluga | February 27, 2007; 5:13 PM ET | Comments (21)
M*A*S*H comes to Viera
There is currently a helicopter getting ready to land on the field here at HSCS. It is, apparently, a rehearsal for something that's going to happen before the team's game on Sunday here against the Dodgers. There is a promotion...
By Barry Svrluga | February 27, 2007; 2:53 PM ET | Comments (0)
Spotlight: Jerome Williams
Nationals pitcher Jerome Williams discusses the competition for a spot in the rotation, his love of computers and his extensive shoe collection. var movieSrc = "http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/player/player2.swf?whichMode=normal&justify=center&playad=yes&mediatype=stream&postdir=sports&postvideo=022307-8v&cuesfile=none&autoplay=no&starttime=0&endtime=0&largerver=none&image=022307-8v_427&playlistxml=none";//URL OF WHERE .SWF MOVIE IS PUBLISHED var movieWidth="427";//FLASH MOVIE AND BACK-UP GRAPHIC WIDTH var...
By Jonathan Forsythe | February 27, 2007; 2:00 PM ET | Comments (0)
Kissing your sister
Final: Nationals 4, Nationals 4. (Quotable on the whiteboard the other day was something like, "If a tie is like kissing your sister, then a loss is like kissing your grandmother with her teeth out." Can't remember who it was...
By Barry Svrluga | February 27, 2007; 1:55 PM ET | Comments (8)
Hitters ahead of pitchers?
Michael Restovich, trying to win a job as a bat off the bench, hit a solo homer off Matt Chico, who is now done. Rafael/Ronnie Belliard just hit a two-run line shot to left off Beltran Perez. For some reason,...
By Barry Svrluga | February 27, 2007; 11:40 AM ET | Comments (1)
And we're under way
One inning in the books here. No fans allowed in the park today. Construction still going on at HSCS. Joel Hanrahan got out of the top of the first despite allowing a two-out single to Kory Casto. Matt Chico not...
By Barry Svrluga | February 27, 2007; 11:20 AM ET | Comments (5)
Sue me
Yes, I wrote Rafael Belliard in the lineups section. No, he does not play any more. Yes, he is the cousin of current Nationals infielder Ronnie Belliard. No, he is not playing in today's game. Yes, Ronnie will be at...
By Barry Svrluga | February 27, 2007; 10:51 AM ET | Comments (0)
More MASN
So here's how the TV arrangement has been explained to me. MASN produces all the broadcasts of Nationals, but a contract signed last year has 30 games on Channel 20 locally. Here's the link to those games: http://www.wdca.com/whatson/nationals_schedule.shtml (Thanks to...
By Barry Svrluga | February 27, 2007; 9:32 AM ET | Comments (4)
And now, the lineups
So I know you all have been waiting for this. I also know that no one can find the Journal now as it's not listed at the top of the sports page despite the fact that this is my third...
By Barry Svrluga | February 27, 2007; 9:10 AM ET | Comments (9)
MASN update
Hey, sorry about the rapid-fire posts here. Small news. MASN is going to announce the Nationals' TV schedule for later today. It breaks down like this: 99 games on MASN. 62 games on the new MASN2 1 game on FOX...
By Barry Svrluga | February 27, 2007; 8:07 AM ET | Comments (4)
Spotlight: Jon Rauch
Nationals reliever Jon Rauch discusses the new skipper, the challenges of fatherhood and his love for golf and fishing. var movieSrc = "http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/player/player2.swf?whichMode=normal&justify=center&playad=yes&mediatype=stream&postdir=sports&postvideo=022307-7v&cuesfile=none&autoplay=no&starttime=0&endtime=0&largerver=none&image=022307-7v_427&playlistxml=none";//URL OF WHERE .SWF MOVIE IS PUBLISHED var movieWidth="427";//FLASH MOVIE AND BACK-UP GRAPHIC WIDTH var movieHeight="300";//FLASH MOVIE AND...
By Jonathan Forsythe | February 27, 2007; 8:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
Quotable
There's a haze hanging over Viera this morning, but a beautiful sight is before me right now, the image of a lone groundskeeper raking the dirt by third base at historic (hysteric?) Space Coast Stadium. Intrasquad game is only three...
By Barry Svrluga | February 27, 2007; 7:39 AM ET | Comments (1)
The tarp's on
That must mean something official's going to happen here, right? Nine blissful innings of intrasquad games at Space Coast Stadium tomorrow at 11 a.m. If we're lucky (and who's kidding, if YOU'RE lucky) I'll be able to maybe post some...
By Barry Svrluga | February 26, 2007; 5:46 PM ET | Comments (2)
Picture Day With Nook Logan
Nationals centerfielder Nook Logan makes his way through the gauntlet that is picture day on Sunday at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Fla. var movieSrc = "http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/player/player2.swf?whichMode=normal&justify=center&playad=yes&mediatype=stream&postdir=sports&postvideo=022307-6v&cuesfile=none&autoplay=no&starttime=0&endtime=0&largerver=none&image=022307-6v_427&playlistxml=none";//URL OF WHERE .SWF MOVIE IS PUBLISHED var movieWidth="427";//FLASH MOVIE AND BACK-UP GRAPHIC WIDTH...
By Jonathan Forsythe | February 26, 2007; 2:00 PM ET | Comments (1)
Is this guy Wile E. Coyote? Or Pig Pen?
So Alex Escobar was standing near the batting cage this morning when Tony Blanco stepped in to take some hacks. (You remember Tony Blanco, right? Rule 5 pick from a couple years ago. Stayed on the roster all of 2005,...
By Barry Svrluga | February 26, 2007; 1:13 PM ET | Comments (12)
Just another Manic Monday
Man, did I hate the Bangles. Hope everyone had a good weekend. What's the weather like up there? In the 70s all weekend here. Kinda cloudy today. Some talk about rain. Bummer. Eventful weekend. A garter snake found its way...
By Barry Svrluga | February 26, 2007; 8:12 AM ET | Comments (4)
Svrluga's Spring Training Outlook
The Washington Post's Barry Svrluga outlines the major spring training storylines for the Nationals. var movieSrc = "http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/player/player2.swf?whichMode=normal&justify=center&playad=yes&mediatype=stream&postdir=sports&postvideo=022307-5v&cuesfile=none&autoplay=no&starttime=0&endtime=0&largerver=none&image=022307-5v_427&playlistxml=none";//URL OF WHERE .SWF MOVIE IS PUBLISHED var movieWidth="427";//FLASH MOVIE AND BACK-UP GRAPHIC WIDTH var movieHeight="300";//FLASH MOVIE AND BACK-UP GRAPHIC HEIGHT var backupGraphic="no";//...
By Jonathan Forsythe | February 26, 2007; 8:00 AM ET | Comments (4)
