Archive: March 9, 2008 - March 15, 2008
Dodgers 6, Nationals 1
Odalis Perez was more pleased than his line -- 4-1/3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K -- would indicate. I don't blame him. He threw the ball well, got squeezed on one call on a...
By Barry Svrluga | March 15, 2008; 6:15 PM ET | Comments (10)
Kasten: Go Metro!
Stan "Go Metro!" Kasten and Mark Lerner met with the gaggle of DC reporters who shack up down here during spring training and talked all things ballpark. (Go Metro!) They answered questions about the parking situation. (Go Metro!) They discussed...
By Barry Svrluga | March 15, 2008; 2:13 PM ET | Comments (24)
Injury updates, the lineup -- and Casto optioned
Kind of a slow, groggy morning around here. Coaching staff and some others did double duty yesterday with the day-night, home-away split. But there are some injury updates. * Ryan Zimmerman will not play today or tomorrow with lingering soreness...
By Barry Svrluga | March 15, 2008; 9:22 AM ET | Comments (15)
Late night West Coast action
Good morning. The split-squad Nationals traveled 90 minutes to Winter Haven last night -- all for 5-1/2 innings of rain-shortened baseball. Indians 3, Nats 2, salvaging a day-night split for the Tribe. Jason Bergmann: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R,...
By Barry Svrluga | March 15, 2008; 7:52 AM ET | Comments (4)
Opening Day tickets
Almost forgot to mention this. The Nationals have announced a plan to make a "limited amount" of tickets for Opening Night available in the fashion outlined below. (Apparently, there had been an unlimited number of tickets to the March 30...
By Barry Svrluga | March 14, 2008; 5:47 PM ET | Comments (28)
Dukes: I'll be ready in a day or two
Elijah Dukes said he doesn't think his strained hamstring is that bad. "It was almost like a little strain, cramp almost feeling. Maybe it came from just sweating a lot. I don't know what it actually came from. I know...
By Barry Svrluga | March 14, 2008; 3:33 PM ET | Comments (11)
Dukes goes down -- hamstring strain
Those of you listening to Charlie Slowes and Dave Florida already know this, but Elijah Dukes just slid hard into second and came up grabbing the back of his right leg. He walked off the field very slowly, with Manager...
By Barry Svrluga | March 14, 2008; 1:53 PM ET | Comments (41)
Pena likely out a month
The results from Wily Mo Pena's MRI are back, and they reveal what many in the organization suspected yesterday. It is a Grade 2 strain of the left oblique. A club spokesman -- delivering the report from the medical staff...
By Barry Svrluga | March 14, 2008; 12:54 PM ET | Comments (30)
Official Predict the Roster Post
I was going to do this on Sunday, which is two weeks from the opener, but Web traffic is notoriously slow on the weekends, so I figured we'd do it today, which is two weeks before the off day which...
By Barry Svrluga | March 14, 2008; 8:47 AM ET | Comments (73)
Nats combine for no-hitter!
Uh, well, not quite. However, Tim Redding just finished off his fourth inning against the Marlins -- and please, listen to Charlie Slowes and Dave Florida on 3WT if you can. The Nationals haven't scored, but Redding has been impressive....
By Barry Svrluga | March 13, 2008; 7:51 PM ET | Comments (19)
Personnel issues
... which, of course, are different than personal issues, which I'm sure you don't want to hear from me. But a few things. * Dmitri Young will get three or four at-bats tonight, then play tomorrow in the home game....
By Barry Svrluga | March 13, 2008; 4:12 PM ET | Comments (21)
Hot dogs and baseball -- and Dmitri Young in the lineup
Tonight, at Historic Space Coast Stadium, it is "Celebration of the Hot Dog" Night. Hot dogs, of course, are good. In Viera, even better. Dining guide addition: Goombay's on A1A in Satellite Beach. Haven't been there myself, but comes highly...
By Barry Svrluga | March 13, 2008; 2:06 PM ET | Comments (35)
Your 2008 Nationals Journal Dining Guide
So with the Nationals home Thursday night against Florida, Friday against Cleveland (and in Winter Haven for the other half of a split-squad outing), Saturday against the Dodgers, then in Fort Lauderdale Sunday against the O's before returning Monday against...
By Barry Svrluga | March 12, 2008; 9:24 PM ET | Comments (91)
Austin Kearns finally heard from
Mike O'Connor settled down after a shaky first inning in which he walked the first two men he faced, leading to a pair of runs, and the Nationals broke out with three runs in teh fourth and three more in...
By Barry Svrluga | March 12, 2008; 3:46 PM ET | Comments (69)
Blue Heaven -- and a chat!
First things first, and I should have mentioned this yesterday, but I have a chat at 1 p.m. this afternoon -- right when the game is starting. Please join me. The clubhouse is still buzzing about Joel Hanrahan's performance last...
By Barry Svrluga | March 12, 2008; 11:16 AM ET | Comments (53)
Joel Hanrahan awesome, Zimmerman removed
Before we get to the Joel Hanrahan stuff, a quick update: Ryan Zimmerman was removed from tonight's game against the Braves here at Disney with right hip flexor tightness. The club said it was a precautionary move. Zimmerman, I believe,...
By Barry Svrluga | March 11, 2008; 9:17 PM ET | Comments (63)
Shawn Hill: Opener unlikely
Hung out at HSCS for a couple hours before heading over to Disney this afternoon, waiting to -- drumroll -- watch Shawn Hill play catch. Somebody's got to do it. Hill took two sets of 25 tosses from 60 feet...
By Barry Svrluga | March 11, 2008; 4:31 PM ET | Comments (51)
Video: Endeavour Launch
I would like to tell you that this is the sight I saw last night, sitting huddled on the balcony. The Kennedy Space Center is, after all, all of perhaps three or four miles from my hotel. I had...
By Jonathan Forsythe | March 11, 2008; 8:03 AM ET | Comments (85)
Endeavour: Launch hours away
So if you spend more than a month on the Space Coast, and the space shuttle is going to be launched while you're here, and the stadium you work at on a daily basis is called "Space Coast Stadium," and...
By Barry Svrluga | March 10, 2008; 10:48 PM ET | Comments (18)
Nats reassign Balester, Mock, 16 others
So here's the list: Right-handed pitchers Collin Balester, Rob Bell, Bobby Brownlie, Adam Carr, Brian Sanches, and Dennis Tankersley; lefties Eude Brito and Jason Stanford; shortstop Ian Desmond; outfielder Jason Dubois; catcher Javier Herrera; first baseman Luis "Little Papi" Jimenez;...
By Barry Svrluga | March 10, 2008; 5:05 PM ET | Comments (30)
Actual baseball update
First off, all the candidates in the Nick Johnson's Hair poll appreciate your support. It appears lightning bolts shaved in the side of his head has a comfortable lead, though I'm not sure what the delegate count is, and how...
By Barry Svrluga | March 10, 2008; 3:27 PM ET | Comments (43)
Nick Johnson's Hair
I wrote today about the friendship that has developed between Nick Johnson and Austin Kearns, players who will always be linked by that collision two summers ago. What didn't make the story was the fact that after Johnson, Kearns, Ryan...
By Barry Svrluga | March 10, 2008; 7:31 AM ET | Comments (91)
Nats sign crane, insert him immediately
In the top of the first, with Jason Bergmann on the mound and two outs, Cleveland's Franklin Gutierrez hit a ball to center field that Lastings Milledge dove for, but it fell in. Just as Gutierrez was chugging into second,...
By Barry Svrluga | March 9, 2008; 12:32 PM ET | Comments (116)
Odalis Perez: More minor league action
Veteran lefty Odalis Perez threw again on the minor league side (where Dmitri Young also got five at-bats) for the second time. He went four "innings" (didn't record three outs every time, but they wanted him to sit down and...
By Barry Svrluga | March 9, 2008; 10:49 AM ET | Comments (21)
Split-squad Sunday
Just a few minor things on a daylight savings time, split-squad Sunday morning. * Aaron Boone is in the lineup in a Grapefruit League game for the first time this spring after building strength in his surgically repaired knee. *...
By Barry Svrluga | March 9, 2008; 7:17 AM ET | Comments (36)
