Mark Lerner stated that ownership was not going to take any operating profit out of the team for ten years and that the $30 million they spent on stadium upgrades in 2007 would be available for payroll upgrades in 2008, now that the Nats have over $40 million in operating income, the highest in the league, where's the payroll? The numbers don't lie, Lerner does.

I'm fine with Rauch as the closer. Do what you gotta do, TheChief, just get back that old form.

I'm going to give CC the benefit of the doubt this time, but not next time. There was a communication error and he wasn't properly warmed.

What this bullpen be needing, however, is a Cordero/Colome hybrid .. speed AND location.

Chico does it again: great through four, implode in the fifth.

Bats? Hello, Austin Kearns! Hello, long fly outs!

Rauch '07 model would have been fine as a closer. Rauch '08 not so much.

To be a Nat and have unused options is a curse (Schroder, Flores, et al.)

506: your response to "Paul L" a couple posts back echoes my sentiments, as usual. That is, welcome to the fray, Paul. Thanks for joining.

Paul L: If you can shed some light on the situation in the clubhouse for us, that would be great. Also a few paragraphs about what "calling a game" really means to the team as a whole. I've been a hater to this point, but if you'll be so kind as to block a few balls in the dirt, throw someone out at second, and rack up some RBI I could be convinced.

* sigh *

I think Lenny Harris is out of his mind.

Hanrahan has potential as a closer. However, I thought he was throwing 97mph in spring training and I could have sworn he was only throwing 90 or so in his last outing. I could be wrong. He clearly has location issues, but again, he has potential. Also, the Nats office must be kicking themselves with the lack of trade bait they have. All they needed was a couple of guys playing like they are capable, (Cordero, Young, Lu Duca, Lopez, Rauch etc..) and right now they appear "stuck" and unable to continue their "rebuilding" process they started 3 years ago. Good luck getting anything in return for anyone other than Johnson.

I find it interesting that the Guardian UK newspaper had a feature on Milledge. I think they may provide more features than the Post.

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-7465190,00.html

Lenny Harris reminds me of Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf (former Iraqi Minister of Information): "Now even the American command is under siege. We are hitting it from the north, east, south and west. We chase them here and they chase us there. But at the end we are the people who are laying siege to them. And it is not them who are besieging us."

GoNats: That Guardian story is from the Reuters wire. They were likely just using it to fill space (not that any newspapers over here would ever do that with a story about cricket....)

I get what you're saying, but don't give them any more credit than they deserve.

FIRE LENNY!!!

PowerBoater 69,
You are telling it like it is. Where is that $43 million in operating profit going? And why isn't the Post asking them about it?

i wonder who the top overrall pick next year is gonna be.

Lenny Harris doesn't decide not to pursue free agents who can hit.

You would think that at least our pinch hitting would be good under Lenny. Maybe we can put him in uniform. Whatever happened to the player/coach?

Really, they will keep Lenny until they find a replacement but either way he is not long for this world.

I just hope that another bad year doesn't hurt Zimmerman or Milledge and make them not want to stick around in the end.

People should stop assuming that the Nats will eventually sign Zimmerman to a long term deal -- just like they assumed that the Lerners would spend money on free agents for the new stadium in 2008. (And that includes you, Tom Boswell.)

Wake up folks: These guys do not spend money. They amass it and they keep it. They are very smart and they are very cheap.

And everyone is assuming the "plan" is Stan's plan. Stan submitted the only plan he knew would be approved by the cheap Lerners.

Personally, if Chad Cordero had more outings like that I'd be thrilled for him to top out at 82 mph for the rest of his career. It was much less panic inducing than usual.

JimBow loves players with "tools." Unfortunately one of things a lot of those players don't do consistently is to put the ball in play. How often this season have some of the big righthanded swingers - Zim, AK, WMP - failed to execute simple things like scoring a runner from third with less than two outs via fly ball or grounder? I still say there are too many of the same kinds of hitters in this lineup guys with big swings who aren't good situational hitters.

LAC, this is the third time I will have asked you this. Assuming you have persuaded everyone that the Lerners are cheap, now where do we go from here? What's the next point after acknowledging that the Lerners are cheap?

The P-Nats have won ten in a row. Detwiler's pitching tonight.

Pope Benedict is on TerraNatsa today. Does he come with bearnaise sauce?

First time commenter here (btw these Nats Journal comments are awesome - so nice to find the only blog in America that's loaded with friendly commentators instead of jerks and repetitive, ad hominem attacks). I'm a new fan (fell in love with the Nats last year)...so, I have a few questions for those who know better than I do:

1. Was Zim's at-bat the low point of last night's game? I thought that was unacceptably bad - Zim chases the first pitch with a weak swing (why's he swinging on a first pitch?! I understand that Smith had just come into the game for the Mets, but shouldn't he be taking the first pitch? Or at least swinging solidly?). Then he watches the next three pitches, including the second and third strikes. A backwards K - woof! And it seemed like the most critical moment of the game: we're down 5-2, but we've got 2 guys on and the chance to score a few runs in the 7th. His 1-19 with RISP is brutal, and it struck me as a mental error more than anything else. Am I missing something?

2. Were you satisfied by WMP's hitting last night? Sure, those towering flies were caught, but was I wrong to be pleased that he was hitting it hard and deep, if not in play or over the fence? Am I missing something? Also, was his base-running maneuver in the 4th good running or good luck?

3. Did you feel better about Wednesday's game than about Tuesday's game? I sure did - I thought we were working Maine pretty good in some spots (e.g., 1st and 4th innings). Seemed like an easier loss to swallow.

I'm not so sure about the warming up excuse. They noticed his lack of velocity back in spring training.

Chief's been on the trading block for a long time now, and he's gone downhill every year, so losing him one way or another won't be a huge surprise.

I'm okay with Rauch being closer. Maybe once all of our pitching is settled into a routine Rauch will close better.

Like I said in the last post, I'm just grateful Manny and Randy are being honest for once about concern over Cordero.

Unlike Lenny Harris who, like Zim the other day, is looking at 0-for-A-LOT and saying, "Really? I think they're doing okay." Give me a freakin' break.

Yeah. John Rauch. Our closer. Very scary thought. He can't even close the refrigerator door, let alone a close baseball game.......uggghhh

"Hanrahan has potential as a closer. However, I thought he was throwing 97mph in spring training and I could have sworn he was only throwing 90 or so in his last outing."

I am pretty sure he was 93-94 and 96 on that strikeout on Reyes. He is still striking out a lot of people but it seems like things just haven't clicked yet. I still think he COULD be a closer someday but not yet. I am willing to write off the Marlin outing as just bad stuff and a tough situation to come into. The Phillies game wasn't as bad as the numbers would suggest and he looked great against the Braves and Cardinals. It will certainly be interesting to see what he matures into as the weather warms up.

Way things are going, at home and away, domestically and abroad, may have to update that old saying, "Washington, last in war, last in peace and last in the National League East."

gnushound.blogspot.com

"And everyone is assuming the "Plan" is Stan's plan"

Plan rhymes with Stan. Park rhymes with Mark. No rhyme, no reason.

I agree, at least they hit the ball hard a few times last night. Zimmerman is obviously pressing, he and Milledge are still young guys who will go through long slumps.

I also agree with 506, let's move on from the Learners are Cheap stuff. Maybe they are, maybe they arent, but there is nothing fans can do about it. As they say in Baltimore, you can't trade the owner

Another tough one last night. A couple of quick comments before I meet some family for an early lunch. First, I am having to have someone type these entries for me b/c of obvious reasons. Second, Bergie told me and some other guys about this board.

About shedding light on calling games. This is a situation with a lot of moving parts that effect what goes on. It's early in the season and there have been injuries, new players, pitchers changing their mechanics, etc. Calling a game doesn't just fall to the battery. It starts with advanced scouts and then works its way into the clubhouse, through the coaching staff and down to the pitcheers in catchers and everyone has an opinion. And, you know the old joke about opinions. Bottom line...everyone needs to work harder and play to their potential.

Question for you guys...where can a guy get a good Italian meal in D.C.?

I was about to say why not give Hanrahan a shot at closing because he seems to be the only pitcher in the bullpen who doesn't rely on contact to generate outs. But seeing that this is his first stint as a reliever, I don't know yet if he has the mindset to be a closer. Some guys - like Colome - can pitch decently when the team is either way ahead or way behind. Don't know how Hanrahan would react if he was suddenly thrust into being the man at the end of games.

Nat Gas Futures, with snark like that you're welcome any time! Gotta admire this rookie's raw talent, eh gang?

1. You've summed up my feelings about Zimm well. But what is it that's getting to him. Will he always be a slow starter (he was his two previous seasons)?

2. I, too, was very pleased with WMP, but I want to see him also get back those killer opposite field singles that did most of his damage last year.

3. I posted something to this effect last night, that was a much, much better loss than we've seen in a long time, I'm with you on that.

Nat Gas -- Welcome!

So many low points to choose from, but the Zim AB you refer to can certainly be counted among them. He swung at the first pitch because he was guessing fastball. Not a tragedy but he sure looked bad, and he knew it. Smith threw some pretty filthy stuff and got at least one favorable call from the prosecuting attorney (dum-dum-dadum-dum).

They probably called up WMP too early. He was way off in his first game so I agree last night represented progress. Hitting it where they aint is an art not a science.

Easier loss to swallow? I don't know. You can point to some positives, but they're looking like variations on a theme at this point, and the theme involves letting mediocre opposing starters off the hook by failing to hit with RISP, having our own starters implode in the 5th inning and our Shaky Strength (bullpen) continuing to look shaky.

Anyone watching CNN? The pope mobile is taking the same course as the racing Rushmores!

oh no. we are officially in "good loss" territory.

Paul L, You've hit upon the one topic enjoyed more on this blog than ad hominem attacks. Food recommendations.

I'm partial to Tutto Bene on Glebe Rd in Ballston. A friend of mine from Rome swears by their carbonara, and it's never done me wrong. It's a family restaurant that's been a northern Virginia staple for decades. On top of it you have the old guy who plays the violin and sings Italian songs while you eat that has been there for approximately 24,537 years. My parents remember him from when they used to go on dates.

I thought that The Weapon, WMP, had a rathr good game. He appears to be finding his swing after the long layoff. He took the ball deep twice -- at least one of those would have gone out had the wind not been blowing in so much. He had a decent game in the field and hustled on the bases. Go Wily Mo!

SluggerWily.com

Oh, and thanks for more details about game calling. Does Manny Acta call pitches from the dugout often, situationally, or rarely?

Interesting, I guess there are more people skeptical of the Lerners than some of the kool-aid drinkers around here realize, huh? Section 506, rest assured I'm not responsible for any of the earlier posts today, no pseudonyms from me. I would echo PB69's comment that the Lerners promised they wouldn't take any of the profits out of the team--so where is the operating income going?

Where do we go from here? Well to start, I think you are playfully giving me credit for something that hasn't happened as a rhetorical tool, but playing your game anyway, who knows? Someone I admire is famous for having said that sunlight is the best antiseptic. Shining a little light on the Lerners and their cheapness is a good thing in and of itself. Maybe it will get them to change, probably not. Maybe they will realize that they got in over their head buying the Nats, that Kasten is a slimy snake oil salesman who knows nothing about execution, and they will sell the team or at least get rid of Kasten. Maybe at least it will make them a bit uncomfortable in their cheapness, maybe it will make them look bad, and maybe there will be fewer kool-aid drinkers roaring their approval. Maybe the Post's hard-hitting columnists will start criticizing the Lerners. Again, who knows? We'll have to see how this plays out.

I'm ok with Rauch closing. Let him prove himself.

We really do have to work on the hitting. So, Barry, what exactly does the coaching staff do to "work on the hitting?". Get the whole team up early on a Saturday and have them practice swinging the bats? Have a Sunday morning DVD "Batting with Willing Mays"? Team building motivational seminars with Pete Rose?

What to do Lenny.. What to do Jimbo.. What to do Manny... Time to shake things up.

Paul L--
Not in DC but in Fairfax there is la dolce vita.....doesn't look like much on the outside but its my favorite.

"We really do have to work on the hitting. So, Barry, what exactly does the coaching staff do to "work on the hitting?". Get the whole team up early on a Saturday and have them practice swinging the bats? Have a Sunday morning DVD "Batting with Willing Mays"? Team building motivational seminars with Pete Rose?"

Hopefully not have them play "The Bigs" on the Wii. I went to visit my family the other day and my little brother begged me to play with him and he kicked my [opinion] all over the basement. Little middle school jerk was toying with me the whole time. So I told him Santa was a lie.

So, Cordero can't warm up in the cold - I'm tossing the BS card. Harris has no concerns about the .227 team batting average - BS card again. If we are destined to lose, why don't we get the prospects up here?

To my knowledge, the best Italian meal in DC is in Philly or New York. I used to work near Boston's North End and mist being able to walk down Salem, Prince, or Hanover and just go anywhere.

The news about Chad is pretty sad for him and the team. I hope he recovers his speed. Those who have criticized Chad's performance in the past based it on fly ball tendencies, expanding WHIP, declining Ks, etc . . . I don't remember anyone pointing to arm issues.

At $6+ million, I'm not sure the Nats can offer him arbitration (3d yr, right?) unless he can close. They can only offer a 20% pay cut. Just not reasonable, regardless of whether you believe LAC. He'll lose a ton of money, which I would not deny a guy who performed well in the Show. From a team building perspective, we will not get anything for him (picks, prospects) if we do not offer arbitration.

Don't worry, I'm not slitting my wrists over this, but I'm hoping this is just something that he can work through.

Cordero should have been traded at the deadline last year! Bowden was asking too much (see also: A. Soriano, 2006), and now he is stuck with a closer with a high school fastball. (Actually, most decent high schoolers can hit 80 these days). Bowden should be taking the heat for this debacle that is the Nats roster.....

Paul L.? Paulie? Is that really you? I could use some Nationals stationery.

What would you guys expect L Harris to say to the public? Nothing. What did he say? Nothing.

"Bowden should be taking the heat for this debacle that is the Nats roster....."

Hahaha, best unintentional pun of the day.

I'm devastated. That's all I can say. I don't know how else to react to every single horrid factor that is plaguing us. I can deal with losses, no problem. It's the way we are losing, the lack of effort, our management, our pitching, our hitting (SPECIFICALLY WITH MEN ON BASE AND 1 OUT, YET NOT BEING ABLE TO BRING A SINGLE GUY HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), we don't even hustle to run out our bases!!!! Just look at the lackadaisical attitude between innings coming off and going back on the field. It's like we literally expect to loose every day and winning is simply pure luck and a not so welcome surprise. As far as our ownership?????!!!! I can't even go there. I've suffered too much with Snyder (over paying bums and pretending to be a GM) to deal with the exact opposite attitude/same results Lerners (refusing to pay a dime and not caring about winning.)

As I started this post. I'm devastated!

You guys! You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!

Alright, so I am not so sure that Paul L is actually Mr. LoDuca, but can we show some class just in case?

We have to develop a positive reputation as a fan base if we want premium players to come to play in DC. Of course we can share our opinions, but we are not ballplayers so lets remember that. These are human beings, albeit it is frustrating at times, but lets treat everyone with respect.

Another plug for Tutto Bene is that on weekends they have delicious Bolivian food. Expand your horizons, Paulie!

For me, the worst potential thing about Cordero's velocity is that, unless he snaps out of it, this may also eliminate any chance of trading him. Bad enough that our fireman sometimes looks more like an arsonist, now his velocity is down 7-8 mph? Yikes.

do not bring up the prospects and subject them to a full season of loser attitude. i'd prefer the minors get used to playing with each other and develop a winning attitude.

it is not far fetched to imagine zimmerman = scott rolen in philly. i see some clear parallels. this thing is gonna play out very slowly.

That might have flown under everyone's radar, Bob, but good play.

Only, to nitpick, it's hollandaise sauce.

And, for the record, I'm more concerned about what happened in Acta's office in Shea last night than I am in what is happening in Acta's office at Nats Park today.

-----

Pope Benedict is on TerraNatsa today. Does he come with bearnaise sauce?

Lollygaggers!

Paul, is it true that the guys in the locker room refer to us folks as Nerds Journal?

Or Nuts Journal?

Here's two Italian restaurants to try:

Prima Piatti
2013 I St. NW

And our local favorite (And close to Nats Park!):
Trattoria Alberto
506 8th St Se

there is definitely some nerds in here but nats are fully in last place.

i'd like to know what they see when they look in the mirror?

506 et al., thanks for the responses. Also, re: Mr. Acta calling pitches, I spent a lot of time last night watching the dugout and 1B/3B coaches with my binoculars, trying to get a sense for the communication between the dugout and the field, and I couldn't notice anything. I'm sure it's subtle, but I was surprised.

Bowden is a clown. Now he is trying to save his job and protect his reputation by publicly ripping the team that he put together--check out Ladson's article interviewing him yesterday (sorry, I'm not able to include the link right now). Of course JimBo bears no responsibility for the team he put together. I'm sure he wouldn't take any credit either if they were 11-4 right now.

Paul L.

Call me naive but, I'm going to assume it's really you. Thanks for communicating with the Fans and for the insite on game calling. Hopefully your hand heals up and you get back real soon.

As for Italian food, try the Alpine Restaurant
4770 Lee Hwy
Arlington, VA 22207
(703) 528-7600

Nats Park attendance...

3/30 Nats vs Braves: 39,389
4/7: Nats vs Marlins: 20,487
4/9: Nats vs Marlins: 23,340
4/10 Nats vs Marlins: 24,549
4/11 Nats vs Braves: 28,051
4/12 Nats vs Braves: 32,532
4/13 Nats vs Braves: 29,151
4/17: The Pope: 46,000

Key things to consider: The Nats seem fond of saying, well, the Marlins aren't exactly a big draw. But the Pope has essentially no opponent (unless you count things like sin and evil, which are not exactly on the field today). And this is a Thursday day appearance! Possibly the Nats should allow fans to sit on the field (Stan could probably get $30-$40 bucks a seat). Certainly no need to worry about fan safety when the Nats are batting.

From the Proof of Barry's Prescience Department, I bring you the following:

http://tinyurl.com/5hcqlf

A quick hit from the March 3rd article:

"Harris came in and slid seamlessly into the pregame card games that help wile away hours in the clubhouse on the road. He laughed and hooted and hollered with his charges. The change was a departure from the approach of Page, who spent hours in the cage working on mechanics.

Harris's approach rankled some in the organization who thought a person in such a position -- essentially the offensive coordinator -- should put in more time in the video room, more time learning the particulars of each hitter's swing. Harris, though, said he handled the job precisely how he wanted to."

Everyone (Barry included) needs to pay a little more attention to the brilliant insight that's posted down here in blogland. As flynnie explained a few blogs back:

"Randy St. Clair was "crazy like a fox" in allowing the mis-information about Chief to circulate, the better to surprise the opposition"

So you see, there's really nothing to worry about with Chad. And the "keep Chad's 100 MPH fastball a secret" conspiracy is even wider than you suspected, flynnie, since the stadium gun operators at Shea are in on this scheme as well.

Good call. Do you think the Nat's supposed lack of hitting is a similar smoke-and-mirrors operation? Maybe Manny's deliberately keeping our bats quiet, the better to surprise the opposition later on. Crazy like a fox, baby!

Missed the end of the game last night, but I've been advocating replacing or trading Cordero for a while. A modern closer just cannot depend on a mid-80s fastball. If he can't get it throwing any fast than that, then Corder needs to go to DL, go back to extended spring training and build up arm strength.

Unless there was a mitigating factor last night (what, did have a mexican dinner and have heartburn or something?)

Rauch, despite his early season jitters, is a far better option at closer. Hanrahan is a horrible option, for all of you above who think he's great. His WHIP numbers from last year were awful. If Rauch fails, go with Ayala. He's nasty, has great stuff and is very difficult to hit. Schroeder still has great numbers but is caught in the options game (but will get yanked up immediately given another DL stint for Cordero).

SitLeft: King
Long relief: Hanrahan, Colome
7th inning: Rivera, Schroeder
8th inning: Ayala
9th/closer: Rauch

works for me.

Suicide Squeeze, I think you meant to say that sin and evil are the Pope's opponents so long as they are not perpetrated by priests. As to sin and evil not being on the field today, well, how many priests are there on the field today?

for italian food, luigis on 19th street between L and M.

Acta to Cordero "why are you only throwing 79 mph?" Cordero, "there is nothing wrong, I feel fine." Acta, "well major league pitchers who are healthy do not stay major league pitchers if they only throw 79 mph, we are releasing you immediatly." Cordero, "my arm hurts like heck coach, please put me on the DL."

Argue!

http://xkcd.com/406/

If consistent 78 mph fastballs aren't scary enough, Don Sutton said during the Nats post-game show that Shea uses the fast guns, which register 4-5 mph higher than they should.

The lack of warm-up time sounds real weak considering he started the 8th. Same with implying that the colder weather had something to do with it. Since he's obv not in the long-term plans, looks like 1. Jimbo should've traded him last year and 2. he's going to have to build his trade value up again.

"I would echo PB69's comment that the Lerners promised they wouldn't take any of the profits out of the team--so where is the operating income going?"

Why does it have to be going anywhere? The team made $43 million last year, according to Forbes. (BTW, that's just a guess. They don't know any more about the Nationals' finances than you or I do. They're not a publicly-held company. Only they and the IRS know what's really going on there. You really think the Yankees lost $47.3 million last year like Forbes says they did? Give Hank Steinbrenner a call and he'll gladly sell you the Brooklyn Bridge to help cover that deficit.) If the Nationals didn't spend that $43 million they supposedly made last year, they still have that money available to spend in the future, along with any investment income they make from it. There's nothing to lead us to believe that they won't spend that $43 million next year or the year after that on free agents, just as they have said they will.

Money does not have to be spent in the year it is made. It doesn't just evaporate on December 31st evey year.

You gotta give Angelos credit for at least this. As cheap as he is, he's never sold naming rights to OPACY. The Lerners will, and the way it's looking, it'll be Al's Pizza Park.

I know he is not the sterotypical hard thrower that would fit the closer mold but, what about Saul Rivera? The guy just gets people out and has done so for 2 plus years now. He keeps the ball down and doesn't give up the long ball.

Did anybody remind the Pope to bless Manny's office? Come to think of it, maybe an exorcism is what we need.

If Paul LoBumsauce is really on this blog, here is my comment to you Paulie.

You better either get back on the juice or find another baby sitter soon! I cannot fathom why we pay you money to play this game. I LOVE your intensity after the ball games, screaming up and down the locker room and at reporters, but please try to apply it on the field and bring in some runs and call good games.

Sorry for the rant, I need a win sooooo bad in my life.

Thanks for the anecdotal evidence, Nat Gas Futures. Did you notice anything else in your peering?

I hope they call us Nerds Journal, that's pretty amusing. I'd rather not by Nuts Journal, though. Do you think baseball has the biggest gap of any sport between the jocks that play it and the nerds that love it?

The key to the pitching staff last year was Brian Schnieder he was a calming effect on the young guys and the vets alike he was knowledgeable,did his homework(about opposing hitters) and generally made Randy St.Claire look like a genius.Jimbo obviously underestimated his value(stunning huh!!!) Ryan Zimmerman has to learn to be paitient, but he is under pressure to deliver based on his numbers over the last two years,this is where Manny might be lacking as a manager since he didn't have a long stint in the majors.Ryan needs a little help with his confidence this is where an exprerienced voice might be helpfull,this team needs help!!!.

"I LOVE your intensity after the ball games, screaming up and down the locker room and at reporters, but please try to apply it on the field and bring in some runs and call good games."

My guess is that he's not trying to apply it at all!

That's friendly snark, it seems like you're aware that you're a bit win-deprived and being a little extreme. I've been known to rant too.

My only comment about attendence: check the attendence figures in other cities where they have a new park and the team is losing. They aren't any better than ours.

Damning Washington as a baseball town on the basis of one homestand in a new park when the team hasn't won a game at home since opening night is reactionary and unfair. People here are like everywhere -- they've seen new parks, this isn't 1993, they're everywhere.

Also putting Pope attendance figures along side Nats attendance is just plain stupid. The Pope tickets were free and controlled by the Catholic church. The only connection is that the events are held in the same place.

Man, this losing stretch is depressing. Here are a couple of random thoughts after reading today's posts:

1. Chad's situation is very worrisome. Not being able "to get loose" is often a pre-cursor to a serious injury. When you couple that with declining velocity, well ... if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.

2. On the other side of the coin, if you're looking for a "modern" closer who did it with a mid-80's fastball, I recommend looking at the stats for Doug Jones. He closed for years with a very mediocre fastball and a devastating change up. Don't confuse him with Todd Jones, who did throw hard.

3. To all of you who are calling the Nats lollygaggers because they don't hustle on and off the field, I ask how long you've been watching MLB baseball? Nobody hustles on and off the field at that level. It drives me nuts, but it's the truth. I've found that complaining about that sort of thing with professional baseball players is usually directly proportional to the team's BA with two outs and RISP.

4. At the beginning of the year I posted here that I thought predictions that their offense would be better were ill-founded. People jumped on me for it. Not to say "I told you so", but I'm afraid I'm being proven correct. The one guy who I think will eventually turn it around is Zim. He's proven over two years that he can drive in runs. You don't just suddenly lose that at age 24.

there is a hitch in Zim's swing that is preventing him from getting balanced. when he falls over to the first base side, its because of the hitch. watch his swing in slow -mo and you will see that he coils his hands on delivery. when he makes good contact, the hands are back in position. when he doesnt make good contact, he has to hurry the swing and that makes him lose balance.

lenny harris, you are a mlb baseball hitting coach. you need to see this. its baseball 101.

LAC, I'm not sure they can get rid of Kasten, even if they wanted to. As you no doubt recall, he was part of a different ownership group bidding for the team, and the commissioner more or less obliged them to merge, to get the team. As they say in B'more, you can't fire an owner.

responding to #4. A 75-78 mph fastball is a batting practice fastball, not a mediocre fastball. What he had before all of this (at 85-88 mph) was mediocre.

OK, Mister Wise-guy Theraph, but how are you at gin rummy? Huh?
Thought so.

I can't put my finger on it but something is missing with the NATS. My gut feeling is the chemistry is out of sorts. I don't think we can underestimate what Schneider brought to the pitching staff. When you take out a core player with a surprise trade I think you undermine the chemistry of the team. It seems everyone is playing as individuals rather than as a team. Mentally the team looks flat and it shows on the field. Young appeared to be the glue which inspired his teammates. We need him to get well and put some fun back into playing baseball. I know everyone wants to keep an even keel but somehow the passion seems to be missing. Last nights game was difficult to watch, and I am such a big fan, but obviously something is missing. Hopefully a few wins will loosen thing up. I think players are afraid to make a mistake and it shows.

The post I responded to mentioned that you cannot close with a "mid-80's" fastball. I agree that if he stays in the 70's, he obviously done. Let's remember though that when he's healthy he's 89-91.

"4/17: The Pope: 46,000"

That's not paid attendance there - unless they pass the collection plate, that is. (And as I recall from attending the last Papal mass in Washington - JP II on the Mall in 1979 - they didn't.) Even the Marlins might pull in 46,000 on a nice day if you let fans in for free and offered a free Nationals commemorative cardboard communion wafer to the first 15,000. (Most teams would offer more than that, but aside from being cheap the Lerners are also Jewish.)

Now here's a question I've not seen asked anywhere else. (Not that anyone here would be able to answer it, but maybe if Barry sees it he could look into it.) My understanding of how the suites work in Nationals Park is that you basically buy the right to use the suite anytime you want, for anything you want to, whether there's a game on or not. (Which also means that anyone in a suite doesn't get counted in the attendance totals for the games, either.) So, if someone bought one of the Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln Suites and they decided they wanted to go to the Pope's mass today, could they just waltz on in without having to go through all the church administration red tape that others had to do to get tickets?

Well, one thing I noticed last night when studying the dugout...I've spent my whole life thinking, "Wow, to be a Major League Ballplayer...that would be the best occupation in the world - I'd do it for free." Then I watched the Nats dugout, which is about the saddest-looking bunch of cold, miserable dudes you've ever seen, and I thought: "yeah, no wonder they insist on getting paid - that looks unpleasant." Morale counts for a lot - maybe those card games serve a purpose...with the worst record in MLB, it must be tough to maintain an even strain.

Will be interesting to see how the Shea crowd reacts if Red Ass finally plays tonight...the boos for Milledge just don't let up.

So, either Chief gets some velocity back, or he doesn't. If he does, he's still the closer, until he it goes away again. If he doesn't ... does he have a third pitch? Can he go 100+ pitches? Probably not--he's been a closer since, what, high school? If he can't close, and he can't start, that only leaves two options: middle inning mop-up, or learn to play the outfield, like Ankiel. Except Ankiel always could hit.

But it ties in with Lo Duca's squirrel theory of playing. :)

---

I'd rather not by Nuts Journal, though.

Re: attendance. Can we get the Pope to come back next week for the homestand?

It really doesn't matter who closes if we don't have a lead going into the 9th!

Nelson, I don't think the Secret Service cares what they bought from the Lerners.

I could always hit thanks to an assist from HGH (wink wink, nudge nudge).

Paul L.

Try La Perla in the west end at 26th & Penn., NW. Great food and it's dark enough so you won't be recognized.

If Paul L. really is Paul LoDuca, I say welcome, and keep the fire burning. The last thing the team needs is to get so far down it is hard to pick yourselves up.

You guys will pick it up, and we will have happier conversations.

Though I've been a fairly big skeptic regarding the Chief's abilities as a closer (see my dumb luck comment a few posts back), it was absolutely PAINFUL watching him last night. There's no way this is a matter of just not being warmed up enough.

I'll reserve wondering if that's the real PLD or not until we get some Barry confirmation, but my favorite traditional Italian food in the city is at Pasta Mia. Usually you have to wait in line to get in, but maybe the owners could work something out to accommodate a celebrity guest. :)

More upscale and a bit more modern delicious Italian fare: Locanda on the Hill and Obelisk in Dupont Circle.

Whether or not "Paul L" is actually Nats #16 can be debated, but this article tells about the "real" LoDuca.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2008/04/15/2008-04-15_paul_lo_duca_returns_to_shea_but_mouth_i.html

When I'm at games, I just pretend all my season ticket $'s are going into Nick Johnson's pockets and not Captain Red A**'s.

Mr. Delusional, do you work for the Lerners or something? Why do you keep distorting my posts as part of your misguided efforts to "prove" that the Lerners aren't cheap?

The money has to be going *somewhere*--even if that somewhere is into an investment account for expenditures in future years as you suggest (though that would be an unusual accounting practice, I suppose it is possible). All I asked was *where* it was going. I'm sure you don't know what the Nats' Partnership Agreement requires as to payments to limited partners, do you? When do they get paid out? Can the Nats carry a profit on their balance sheet and not distribute to the LPs? Do you know? Again, all I asked was where the money is going. You, on the other hand, again had to create an unfounded hypothetical to support your misguided argument. Why don't you try relying on facts for a change.

As to the Yankees, if you knew anything about their finances, you would know that YES's books are separate from the Yankees. It is entirely possible that "the Yankees" lost money last year as Forbes reported, while the Steinbrenner family came out quite nicely.
_________________
"I would echo PB69's comment that the Lerners promised they wouldn't take any of the profits out of the team--so where is the operating income going?"

Why does it have to be going anywhere? The team made $43 million last year, according to Forbes. (BTW, that's just a guess. They don't know any more about the Nationals' finances than you or I do. They're not a publicly-held company. Only they and the IRS know what's really going on there. You really think the Yankees lost $47.3 million last year like Forbes says they did? Give Hank Steinbrenner a call and he'll gladly sell you the Brooklyn Bridge to help cover that deficit.) If the Nationals didn't spend that $43 million they supposedly made last year, they still have that money available to spend in the future, along with any investment income they make from it. There's nothing to lead us to believe that they won't spend that $43 million next year or the year after that on free agents, just as they have said they will.

Money does not have to be spent in the year it is made. It doesn't just evaporate on December 31st evey year.

Posted by: Nelson | April 17, 2008 10:28 AM

A bit off topic, but noteworthy nonetheless...

From: http://squawkingbaseball.com/?p=102 (via Forbes)

"On a somewhat related note, the teams that were most profitable were generally low revenue teams. The Nationals set the pace with a $43.7 net income, followed by the Marlins at $35.6 million. The Rays, Rockies, Twins, and Padres also reached the top ten (although the Mets and Braves peeked in there, as well)."

...stop being cheap. Could've had Livan Hernandez, oh wait he's too expensive (and pitching with a 3-0 record and 3.00 ERA). Could've had Torii Hunter, oh wait he's too expensive (and hitting .316, 4 HR). Could have more people going to games, oh wait you're going to charge an arm and a leg for tickets.

When it comes down to it, it's on the players to get the job done. But at the same time, sometime it seems this group is set up to fail.

New York Daily News is the finest newspaper in the country.

.

CE, I've thought about that, but since Kasten is a minority owner, my premise was that the Lerners would buy him out; or, alternatively, as the majority owners, they would strip him of any operational authority, even if he refused to give up his ownership stake.
_________________
LAC, I'm not sure they can get rid of Kasten, even if they wanted to. As you no doubt recall, he was part of a different ownership group bidding for the team, and the commissioner more or less obliged them to merge, to get the team. As they say in B'more, you can't fire an owner.

Posted by: CE | April 17, 2008 10:46 AM

OK, I was (and am on record here as having been) one of the Livanistas during spring training. But that was based on him as a player people would come to see, and as a clubhouse (ahem), not any expectation he would be 3-0, 3.00 after four starts. (Now watch him go win 20 games.)

that should read "clubhouse LEADER (ahem"

Through 15 games:

2008:
4-11, 4.97 ERA, 130.1 IP, 139 H, 62 BB, 88 SO, 1.54 WHIP

2007:
5-10, 4.63 ERA, 136 IP, 135 H, 71 BB, 88 SO, 1.51 WHIP

Not that much of a difference to me that shows that Schneider made that big of a difference with our pitching staff.

The problem so far this season has been hitting.

With runners on base: .217 -- last in the NL.
RiSP: .238 -- 9th in the NL
Scor. Posn, 2 out: .175 -- 12th in the NL
Bases Loaded: .143 -- 11th in the NL

if you don't score runs, it doesn't matter how good or bad your pitching is.

You got a problem with Nuts?
________________________
I'd rather not be Nuts Journal, though.

Posted by: Section 506 (Before moving) | April 17, 2008 10:35 AM

"The money has to be going *somewhere*--even if that somewhere is into an investment account for expenditures in future years as you suggest (though that would be an unusual accounting practice, I suppose it is possible). All I asked was *where* it was going. I'm sure you don't know what the Nats' Partnership Agreement requires as to payments to limited partners, do you? When do they get paid out? Can the Nats carry a profit on their balance sheet and not distribute to the LPs? Do you know? Again, all I asked was where the money is going."

The answer to your question, then, is this: None of your business. They're a private corporation. Unless and until they do something illegal and end up in court, neither you nor I nor the Washington Post nor even Forbes magazine will ever know one thing about their internal financial dealings. You call me delusional, but you base your entire mindset, argument, and even your screen name on undocumented speculation from the likes of Forbes magazine. Yet somehow if speculation or even truth is printed that's contrary to your mindset, you ignore it or deny it. And you call me delusional? Right. Ha ha!

...stop being cheap. Could've had Livan Hernandez, oh wait he's too expensive (and pitching with a 3-0 record and 3.00 ERA).

Posted by: Hey Lerners | April 17, 2008 11:07 AM
-----------------------

Don't forget that last year Ramon Ortiz was 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA in April for the Twins. Oh yeah, he ended up 4-4 with a 5.14 ERA for the season for them.

No, ma'am! Sorry, ma'am!

"if you don't score runs, it doesn't matter how good or bad your pitching is."

I was subjected to some of the Sox-Yanks match up last night and boy is that ever true. Their staff ERAs can't be that good the way they abuse each other and yet no one is freaking out about either team.

Oh wait, they are, but that's because they're spoiled, privileged brats who think they have the right to win.

I see one upside to Cordero's velocity troubles. If he's not the closer, there'll be fewer heart attacks in the region.

As for the attendance for the Pope's visit, you can see the Nats play 81 times a year, every year. You can see the Pope once maybe every 10 years or so, and who knows if he's going to hit D.C. again on his next visit? Of course that's going to be a big draw.

How about Weaver? We wouldn't have spent a lot of money for him and the Brewers picked him up with basically a no risk contract! I mean common, GIVE US SOMETHING, SOMEONE, ANYONE!

DEVASTATED!

I am going to state upfront that I like Manny as a manager. I think he did such a great job last year when expectation were so low. I have to admit when I heard the reaction that Manny had to the reporter about how he felt about breaking the losing streak, it was uninspiring to me as a fan. To him it seemed like just another game, and the excitment I felt about finally breaking out was muted. Baseball to fans is emotional and for the manager of a team to be so matter of fact left me a little cold. I had the feeling if the manager would'nt feel enthusiastic why should we. Manny, I know you care but it sure didn't show in that interview. I know you have passion about baseball but being so uninspiringly flat takes the fun out of watching the team. As a fan who goes to a game you want to have a feeling the outcome is immediately important not just one more grind in a 162 game schedule. I sure picked a wrong time to stop drinking!

So again, Mr. Delusional, I tear apart your argument and get you to admit that you're just making things up (such as your investment account hypothetical), and in response you go after me personally rather than my argument. As to your "none of your business they're a private corporation" response, not even the Lerners would be so bold to talk like that to the general public. Maybe that's the way they think--which would in fact be consistent with my point that they are cheap as they try to maximize profits. But as to their public statements, that is not what they say. Mark Lerner has said that he believes owning the Nats is akin to owning a "public trust." But is that how he is operating the team in reality?

In any case, owning a public trust is much different from owning a "private company." Now you can't even parrot the company line as part of your misguided defense, it appears.
_________________
"The money has to be going *somewhere*--even if that somewhere is into an investment account for expenditures in future years as you suggest (though that would be an unusual accounting practice, I suppose it is possible). All I asked was *where* it was going. I'm sure you don't know what the Nats' Partnership Agreement requires as to payments to limited partners, do you? When do they get paid out? Can the Nats carry a profit on their balance sheet and not distribute to the LPs? Do you know? Again, all I asked was where the money is going."

The answer to your question, then, is this: None of your business. They're a private corporation. Unless and until they do something illegal and end up in court, neither you nor I nor the Washington Post nor even Forbes magazine will ever know one thing about their internal financial dealings. You call me delusional, but you base your entire mindset, argument, and even your screen name on undocumented speculation from the likes of Forbes magazine. Yet somehow if speculation or even truth is printed that's contrary to your mindset, you ignore it or deny it. And you call me delusional? Right. Ha ha!

Posted by: Nelson | April 17, 2008 11:27 AM

Question for you guys...where can a guy get a good Italian meal in D.C.?

---------------

Spezie.

1736 L Street, right next to the Farragut North Metro Station.

Me and wifey went there for our anniversary. excellent food.

Even if the pope charged for seats, they couldn't cost more than to see our abismal Nats.

Not to engage too much in psycho-babble, but I think there is one huge factor that people have discounted about this team in comparing it to last year's group. It is much easier to perform when people have extremely low expectations. The Nats' opponents weren't taking them seriously last year. Fans were happy as long as the team wasn't an embarrassment. The bar to jump over was just much lower.

This year, people thought the Nats might be .500 or even play-off contenders. In addition a guy like Zim knows he's playing perhaps for a contract. Expectations are much higher. That puts a new pressure on guys that they must adjust to. Here's to hoping they will soon.

LOL at that!

You got a problem with Nuts?
________________________
I'd rather not be Nuts Journal, though.

Posted by: Section 506 (Before moving) | April 17, 2008 10:35 AM

Posted by: NatsNut | April 17, 2008 11:26 AM

LAC, I'm going to adopt the same line of reasoning as 506(BM) here. What's the point of arguing that the Lerners are cheap?

Assume we all agree. You manage to convince us all that the Lerners are cheap and are screwing the Nationals fanbase out of quality baseball because they refuse to pay for it. Then what? We all go out to lunch?

I know there are some who bristle at the arguments made by Coverage is Lacking, but you have to admit that his beef isn't just spewing opinion with no purpose. He points out missteps to an end of hopefully seeing improved Nationals coverage at the Post. On top of that, he also frequently makes very good baseball-related points that have nothing to do with coverage.

What's your goal? For us all to hate the owners of this baseball team? If they are, in fact, cheap, is our acknowledgement of their frugality and the anger that subsequently comes with it going to change anything?

I don't get it, man.

Il Radicchio and Village Bistro are two great Italian restaurants on Wilson Blvd. in Arlington between the Courthouse and Roslyn Metro stops. Also try Rays the Steaks next door to the Village Bistro.

Il Mulino, 1110 Vermont Ave. NW

#4 I think you hit the nail on the head. Its all about handling the new and higher expectations.

Not to be too high school girlish, but, OMG stop arguing about the cheapness! Let me summarize the arguments:

LAC:
1. Team is not winning
2. Team has low payroll after neglecting to significantly expand it through free agency.
3. Team made profit last year.
THEREFORE: Lerners are cheap.

Nelson (and others):
1. There is a Plan that calls for only spending money on talented free agents when they're the last piece needed to win.
2. The Nats weren't close to contending this year.
3. The Lerners will spend that money when it's time to win.
THEREFORE: The Lerners aren't cheap.

You're never going to reconcile those points of view, because they have different postulates. The truth is we don't know if the Lerners will have good judgment in the future or not. We don't know if the team could have won this year with Livo or someone else. Why must this pointless battle continue?

Nats=class, I thin I would have been more devastated if the Nationals HAD picked up Weaver. Buying for the sake of assuaging public concern is bad business and bad baseball.

And DBrown, stop...drinking?

506 said it better than I did.

Post of the day.

Moving on.

A good point, #4, as always. It's worth noting that fifteen games in last year, the Nats were 5-10, this year their 4-11.

this is for you and your monkey, LDO: http://tinyurl.com/4cwy5a

"Why must this pointless battle continue?"

Because you've chased away all those folks who used to talk about the Post's baseball coverage, and there's nothing else to talk about on O's Exec's day off?

I was more partial to your version, John in Mpls. I challenge your nomination of me by nominating you!

I already responded to Section 506 about what my goal is. The Lerners should be on a short leash. And yes, I do think that if enough of the fanbase becomes angry about how cheap they are, it might have an effect.

Last year the team's entire marketing campaing was "Pledge Your Allegiance so you can get awesome season tickets at the new ballpark." This year it is "Come out to the new ballpark and check out the awesome new HD scoreboard (that we can't even figure out how to use) and all of the awesome food concessions." The focus is never on the team--not surprising, since the product on the field is a piece of junk. It is an insult and embarassment to the fans. As long as that remains the case, I am going to keep pointing out how cheap they are, in the hope that others start paying attention and stop drinking the kool-aid.

I didn't chase them away, I made peace with them a couple months ago. I felt I was carrying on fairly well with Coverage and 419.

"I am going to keep pointing out how cheap they are, in the hope that others start paying attention and stop drinking the kool-aid."

I appreciate activism on whatever people care about, I really do, even if I disagree. But please also remember some people have payed attention to you and decided on a different conclusion.

Because, as your own thought experiment ("Stipulate to cheap. Now what?") well illustrates, it's not about that. It never was. It's about winning, and ego, and presumably grown men with nothing better to do. And then there's the baseball. It isn't good.

***********
Why must this pointless battle continue?
Posted by: Section 506 (Before moving) | April 17, 2008 11:52 AM

I think I even got 506 to agree the other day that the Post's columnist coverage of the Nats should be beefed up.

On that front, does anyone want to take bets on when Boswell's next baseball-related (i.e., not ballpark or attendance) Nats column will be published? Does anyone want to bet whether his total of Nats' baseball-related columns for the '08 season exceeds his total of Skins' columns for the '07-'08 season?

Yeah, that's worked really well in B'more.

*********************
It is an insult and embarrassment to the fans. As long as that remains the case, I am going to keep pointing out how cheap they are, in the hope that others start paying attention and stop drinking the kool-aid.

Posted by: Lerners ARE Cheap | April 17, 2008 12:00 PM

I liked this one from 220's post above re: Chad:

"our fireman sometimes looks more like an arsonist"

Pic of the papal mass. Wow!

http://tinyurl.com/5f8ljs

As Mo Udall once quipped, "Everything has been said, but not everyone has said it."

I can't even take solace in my favorite AL team right now, given that CC Sabathia was absolutely SHELLED by the Tigers last night.

One thing I'll say for Nats fans--I don't think we'd ever cheer when a visiting player gets hit by a pitch as the Mets fans did last night about Milledge. I was appalled.

I second Jennx's recommendation of Locanda on the Hill.

Sheesh they can't even fill those "Red Porch" seats...

Yeah, they tried to get the Pope to throw out the first pitch before Mass, but he said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Well, then, I nominate your nomination!

-----

I was more partial to your version, John in Mpls. I challenge your nomination of me by nominating you!

Did you all hear? About half-way through the Mass, 12 foot tall representations of the most famous popes in history emerged from behind center field and raced around the alter.

Were they chasing an altar boy?

Ladson says Dmitri has good days and bad days, but that yesterday was a good day. Evidently he was able to get off the picnic bench and eat from both sides of the plate.

f you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off following some other team. In this park, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle. This is because not very many happy things happened in the games of the Washington Nationals. Zimm, Guzzie, Chad, and Nick were intelligent players, and they were charming, and resourceful, and had pleasant facial features, but they were extremely unlucky, and most everything that happened to them was rife with misfortune, misery, and despair. I'm sorry to tell you this, but that is how the story goes.

I take this not as an implication of frugality on the part of the owners, but rather on Kasten's emphasis on Nats Park being an entertainment venue.

Barry has pointed it out, and CiL has also mentioned it. The Nationals do not have baseball people working for them. Marketing and sales folks have come in with backgrounds in other sports. It's not baseball-specific, and I think many would argue that, at least for folks who were fans prior to the new park opening, the entertainment message is falling on deaf ears.

Maybe Build-A-Bear is a microcosm of this effect. I don't know. But Kasten has focused on entertainment to lure new fans to the park. His argument is that non-baseball fans aren't just going to show up, even if the team is winning.

-----

The focus is never on the team--not surprising, since the product on the field is a piece of junk. It is an insult and embarassment to the fans.

Paulie - Whatever you do. Don't go to Cafe Milano. They're going to tell you that it's good and they're lyyyiing.

"On that front, does anyone want to take bets on when Boswell's next baseball-related (i.e., not ballpark or attendance) Nats column will be published?"

The real bet should be on whether or not Boswell will be taking the Post's current buyout offer. From dcrtv.com: "FishbowlDC's latest Washington Post employee buyout budget cutting update. Yes: Eve Zibart, Richard Harrington, Tamara Jones, Susan Schmidt, Tim Page, and Maralee Schwartz. Maybe: Annie Groer, Gene Weingarten, Tom Ricks, Dan Balz, Keith Richburg, Desson Thomson, Marc Fisher, and Lois Romano." Boswell has been at the paper as long as or even longer than everyone on that list. Leonard Shapiro (who shared the Post's Masters coverage duties recently with Boz) and George Solomon (who columnizes at about the same rate that Boz does now) took the LAST buyout from the Post. If they offer Boz an out, would he really want to hang around just so he can continue to get into Orioles games and the odd Nationals game for free, at the cost of having to cover the Redskins again? (His Gibbsology degree is useless now. He'd have to become the Zornmeister!) They'd probably offer him the same deal they gave Shapiro and Solomon, i.e. the opportunity to write occasionally under contract and still get paid when he does. In effect, he could retire and still call his own shots if ever there is an event he really wants to cover. I predict we will soon be seeing even less writing from Boz, not more.

Apparently some restless kids were running the basepaths late in the mass, prompting the Pope to say "Thou shalt not steal."

"Sheesh they can't even fill those "Red Porch" seats...

"Posted by: OldGuy | April 17, 2008 12:30 PM"

That's deceptive, what you can't see is all the people at the bar in centerfield.

Thanks, Bob L. I swear that sometimes when watching games on TV, when Chad comes in, my dogs leave the room, or cover their eyes with their paws.

In all seriousness, though, I don't think Chad's got a bad injury history (anyone correct me on this?) I would hope that this is just a lingering problem from tendinitis, and that he'll work his way back up to high 80s stuff soon. Still, though, for the Nats to have any chance of dealing him at the deadline to a team desperate for bullpen help, he needs to get right in a hurry, no?

"Sheesh they can't even fill those "Red Porch" seats..."

That's because today the bar is only serving communion wine. Ever had that swill? No one in their right mind would pay ballpark prices for a glass of it! (Wait, is that LAC I see bellying up to the bar in that photo?)

I expect that if it is the real Paul L posting here, he would know to stick to the original Cafe Milano in the Village, which is really really good. My sense from the question posed is that Paul L, whoever it is, is looking more for "mom and pop" Italian places as opposed to gourmet Italian places, anyway.
______________________
Paulie - Whatever you do. Don't go to Cafe Milano. They're going to tell you that it's good and they're lyyyiing.

Posted by: DottDC | April 17, 2008 12:47 PM

"...what you can't see is all the people at the bar in centerfield.

Section 506 (Before moving)"

Or the people in the Beer^B^B^B^B Sacramental Wine Pen...

(Said in best C3PO voice): 419, it is you, it IS you!
--------------
"On that front, does anyone want to take bets on when Boswell's next baseball-related (i.e., not ballpark or attendance) Nats column will be published?"

The real bet should be on whether or not Boswell will be taking the Post's current buyout offer. From dcrtv.com: "FishbowlDC's latest Washington Post employee buyout budget cutting update. Yes: Eve Zibart, Richard Harrington, Tamara Jones, Susan Schmidt, Tim Page, and Maralee Schwartz. Maybe: Annie Groer, Gene Weingarten, Tom Ricks, Dan Balz, Keith Richburg, Desson Thomson, Marc Fisher, and Lois Romano." Boswell has been at the paper as long as or even longer than everyone on that list. Leonard Shapiro (who shared the Post's Masters coverage duties recently with Boz) and George Solomon (who columnizes at about the same rate that Boz does now) took the LAST buyout from the Post. If they offer Boz an out, would he really want to hang around just so he can continue to get into Orioles games and the odd Nationals game for free, at the cost of having to cover the Redskins again? (His Gibbsology degree is useless now. He'd have to become the Zornmeister!) They'd probably offer him the same deal they gave Shapiro and Solomon, i.e. the opportunity to write occasionally under contract and still get paid when he does. In effect, he could retire and still call his own shots if ever there is an event he really wants to cover. I predict we will soon be seeing even less writing from Boz, not more.

Posted by: Nelson | April 17, 2008 12:48 PM

Sorry, my brain is somewhere else today. I read Cafe Milano and thought Il Mulino, because the Il Mulino here in DC is not very good either. But I agree, Paul, stay away from Cafe Milano also. You wouldn't like the age demographic there much either.
* * * *
I expect that if it is the real Paul L posting here, he would know to stick to the original Cafe Milano in the Village, which is really really good. My sense from the question posed is that Paul L, whoever it is, is looking more for "mom and pop" Italian places as opposed to gourmet Italian places, anyway.
______________________
Paulie - Whatever you do. Don't go to Cafe Milano. They're going to tell you that it's good and they're lyyyiing.

Posted by: DottDC | April 17, 2008 12:47 PM

Posted by: Coverage is lacking | April 17, 2008 12:56 PM

all the nats need to do is win tonight and we'll all be happy for another day.

If you're looking for some place fun to go with a vaguely Italian flavor, Vapiano's is good. It is certainly not traditional Italian, but it's a fun noodle-bar/Italian fusion sort of place that makes good food with Italian food names. Best thing is everyone has a card that they scan to put your meals on so that when it comes time to pay the tab, it's easy to split the bill.

Weingarten just won a Pulitzer for the Post. You really think they're going to buy him out now?

Fellas,

PLEASE keep the Pope jokes coming. I'm LOVING THEM and relaying them to my co-workers. It seriously has helped me get through this day (12 losses in 13 games, OUCH!)

Paulie,

I've got a list of great italian restaurants for you. It's called Little Italy, in Manhattan. Have at it. While you are there see if the Mets will take you back.

I didn't read all the above comments, but to answer the question of how do I feel about Chad's velocity, Rauch being the closer, etc...

I don't care. Honestly. I don't care about lineup changes. I don't care about the idea of Felipe Lopez in left or Elijah dukes in right. I don't care about Belliard batting 2nd, Milledge batting 5th, or Zimmerman being 1-19 with RISP.

Does any of it matter right now? Does it matter if Zimmerman bats 9th and catches? Does it matter if Rauch is moved to the rotation and Chico is made the closer?

Not really.

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Sigh.

question...

why does Zim have the golden ticket? he is clearly, fundamentally, not with it. and yet he never gets criticized for under performing. someone mentioned the other day that it is because of his previous history of clutch hitting. i get that.

but to echo what 506 posted yesterday: "arrgghhh i posted a perfectly legitimate and serious baseball observation of why Zim SUCKS GRAVY right now and no one even repsonds to it. its called playing baseball and having a firm understanding of the game. do it before you post about such things."

seriously though. why does he get a pass? im curious to know everyones reasons.

Check out the Navy Yard Webcam at 12:40. That's A LOT of people...

http://oxblue.com/pro/open/?webPath=clarkconstruction/55mst

On the LAC issue: At least some of the $43 million went into the Stadium this year. I think I saw that they put $50 million into add ons beyond the city's $611.

Also, how much money did they pay to going over slot for draft choices? It's not Rowand/ Hunter money, but it adds up. LAC, Swanni, PB69 - one of you I think cited figures a while back on that. Other than Smiley, I don't remember them makng any big international signings.

I still think that the amount of money they are spending on the major league payroll is not out of line with what teams that are rebuilding and have recently relocated are spending. I've seen one (Eric Van's on SoSH in November) and heard of another analysis (in Hardball Times) of payrolls, and a large amount of payroll correlates with how long a team has been in town. That figures, because most new to town teams are either expansion or unsuccesful and stripped. Payroll tends to grow as your stars move through arb years and you bring in the final components as free agents. Payroll gets really big when you start to overpay your lesser players because either you are deceived by your record into thinking everyone is above average or you reach to try to maintain a declining club. Nats are in the early part of the cycle.

Don't mistake LAC for Lerners Don't Know What It Takes (LDKWIT). Stan seems to have corrected some of JimBo's worst tendencies, but the Duo still mistakes. They overplayed their hands on Soriano in '06, Cordero last summer, and Lopez this off-season. But giving Lopez arbitration, signing DYoung, and a few other contracts probably are not indicia of cheapness, just bad judgment.

"Weingarten just won a Pulitzer for the Post. You really think they're going to buy him out now?"

Apparently he's considering it, at least according to this source. Wouldn't surprise me if he took it, either. If he keeps writing for the Post under contract (as many of the buyout recipients from the last round are doing) and wins another Pulitzer, they'd still get to take credit.

If it's a traditionally-structured buyout, JiM, it is based on time in service and time until standard retirement age, and they can't tweak it that specifically. But the Post isn't all that impressed with Pulitzers, figuring they have up-and-coming writers in the minors, or can get a top free agent.

Nominated for Oxymoron of the Day:

*****************
PLEASE keep the Pope jokes coming. I'm LOVING THEM and relaying them to my co-workers.

Posted by: Nats=Class,class,class

seriously though. why does he get a pass? im curious to know everyones reasons.

Posted by: theraph | April 17, 2008 1:17 PM

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Because people like him. Nick Johnson is .256 and dropping and you don't see him trashed here either. No hate for Mackowiak or Harris either (maybe because they're considered insignificant).

I agree with you he should be treated the same. I don't think any of them should be banged on so hard this early in the season. A 15-game slump happens.

"seriously though. why does he get a pass?"

theraph: Because Zim's consistently produced since he's been here. Players that get hammered (Kearns, Lopez, etc.) haven't.

Plus, he's ours. Not from another team; not even from the Expos. He's the original Nat.

And he doesn't really get a complete pass -- people were getting on him about his throwing problems last year.

"But the Post isn't all that impressed with Pulitzers, figuring they have up-and-coming writers in the minors, or can get a top free agent."

The Post's version of up-and-coming writers is those dozen or so readers they now have contributing to their Grounds Crew blog, combined with whatever they can pull off Nats Journal and Redskins Insider comments and repackage as "Best Reader Comment on..." every day. Their version of a top free agent is an AP report.

Sad, but true. (And of course none of this applies to their sacred cow Redskins coverage.)

Blog it:

http://natsconstituency.blogspot.com/

Wow. I had no idea.

Congratulations, kids!
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The Post's version of up-and-coming writers is those dozen or so readers they now have contributing to their Grounds Crew blog, combined with whatever they can pull off Nats Journal and Redskins Insider comments and repackage as "Best Reader Comment on..." every day.

Posted by: Nelson | April 17, 2008 1:35 PM

And they aren't even pay us, er, them.
_________________________

those dozen or so readers they now have contributing to their Grounds Crew blog

Posted by: Nelson | April 17, 2008 1:35 PM

At last! Someone sees the truth!

******************

The Post's version of up-and-coming writers is those dozen or so readers they now have contributing to their Grounds Crew blog, combined with whatever they can pull off Nats Journal and Redskins Insider comments and repackage as "Best Reader Comment on..." every day. Their version of a top free agent is an AP report.

"And they aren't even pay us, er, them."

Well they might, if you could only put together a grammatically correct sentence. But they sure aren't gonna pay for any editors to clean up your copy when they can have me do it for free, are they?

Paul L. - Mamma Lucia's (White Flint, other branches in MD) is the closest you'll find to NY pizza in the area. One of original owners is from NYC, and taste / crust is pretty much correct. Rest of menu is okay. Pines of Rome (Bethesda) and offshoot restaurants come pretty close to an NYC menu. Otherwise, hard to find NYC-style Italian food here any more. Too few Sicilians. Can forget about real clams oreganata, and don't even think about scungilli. (ex-Brooklyn speaking here)

We are the worst team in baseball. I hope the Pope did some good and blessed anything and everything. At this point I would take a blessing from the Ayatollah if it would stop this skid!

"Check out the Navy Yard Webcam at 12:40. That's A LOT of people."

Is that the line of people leaving, or the line for an after-mass Ben's Chili Bowl half smoke?

Wait, 506 ... did you just use the word POSTULATE? This is a forum for poop jokes (no, wait, that's Weingearten's area ... here we make pope jokes)...

Oh, and Bob L. ... I laughed so hard at that "both sides of the plate" joke made people look over the cube wall to see what was so funny!

JennX, thanks for the link to the pic. I've never seen the President's and Diamond sections so full!

But,

on Zimerman:

Theraph, we don't pick on Zim because he a) still dazzles (well, relatively) in the field and b) even though he's not tearing it up at the plate like we wish he would, his hits have been winning games. I mean, if you had to pick the least bad clutch hitter on the team, that would be it. There's so many "lower hanging fruit" to pick from The Tree of Why the Nats Stink there's just no reason to go after that one yet.

Also, 506, you made a very, very optimistic comment listing all the bright spots about the Nats yesterday. As a rainy-day optimist I really appreciate that. We could talk about all those good things for fifteen minutes (that's a reference to Barry's gamer today where he points out that there's an hour-long conversation about each of the bad things). Ok, that's a little bit snarky but I actually do mean it.

And about the nydailynews article mentioned here (wow what an [average Mets fan] that Ziegel guy must be).. I have to wonder if Paulie wasn't so fired up when he was a Met because he was on teh durgs. That crap tends to screw with one's hormones. As do very young girls. Or so I'm told.

Chiming in on Barry's question:

It bothers me that Rauch will be the closer. The Chief's injury shows two things: first, a closer's mentality is hard to come by. I don't think the Wookie has it. Hanrahan definitely does not have it. He strikes me as a bit soft. He loses his mechanics quickly. The good closers come and throw strikes consistently without allowing bad breaks to faze them. Sure, Chief blew some games, but not in bunches. He came out the next night pumping strikes. Second, a bullpen's chemistry is in a delicate balance. When everyone is forced up one slot - middle guy to set-up, set-up to closer - the whole thing is thrown out of whack, hurting everyone's performance. It could take a month or more to sort itself out. I don't expect Chad back at full strength anytime soon.

Haha, I understand, i hate walks. I decided it's worth posting positives and negatives when responding to the game, because there's no point in handicapping myself into one specific viewpoint. On the whole, I am optimistic, still, because I'm a stats-geek, but it's been a bit frustrating.

you bully. i can right good.

"And they aren't even pay us, er, them."

Well they might, if you could only put together a grammatically correct sentence. But they sure aren't gonna pay for any editors to clean up your copy when they can have me do it for free, are they?

Posted by: Nelson | April 17, 2008 1:43 PM

couple of other thoughts for italian.

for a neighborhood southern italian joint, try the espositos near fairfax circle in... well... fairfax.

for good pizzas/subs, try the italian store in arlington (lyons village shopping center, corner of lee highway and spout run). i bring my new yorker relatives and friends there and they rave about both the pizza and subs.

Oh Lord, how could I forget the Italian Store? It makes me cry with goodness.

I'm not much on the restaurant front, but I would recommend Vace's Italian Deli at Connecticut and Macomb NW. It's got the best pizza in DC.

I feel like the "wheeling and dealing" Jim Bowden sat on a tradable commodity way too long - again. They should have dealt Alfonso Soriano in 2006, they should have dealt Dmitri Young in 2007, and they should have moved Cordero long ago.

I've been impressed with a lot of Bowden's moves, but you can't hit a home run every time like he did with Milledge. Sometimes you have to take what's given to you.

Geez, you really thing that, Nelson? Just when I think the egomania in Nerds Journal has reached a peak, it goes to a whole nother level.

Obviously, for purposes of amusement or on slow work days, I read this and Redskins Insider, and I think that the vast majority of comments are people that don't know what in the world they're talking about, trying to make themselves come off as experts. I don't get this feeling when I read the hard copy newspaper.

There's also a Little Italy in Baltimore. I offer similar advice about what to do while you're there.

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I've got a list of great italian restaurants for you. It's called Little Italy, in Manhattan. Have at it. While you are there see if the Mets will take you back.

The Post has a Plan!

I offer a challenge to the Post and Mr. Kasten. The first plan to work wins. If a minor league writer wins a Pulitzer before the Nats win a pennant, Kasten takes that writer out to lunch.

If the Nats win first, Kasten gets to name the Nats beat writer for the Post.

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But the Post isn't all that impressed with Pulitzers, figuring they have up-and-coming writers in the minors, or can get a top free agent.

The Lerners are lacking!
And coverage is cheap!

"Obviously, for purposes of amusement or on slow work days, I read this and Redskins Insider, and I think that the vast majority of comments are people that don't know what in the world they're talking about, trying to make themselves come off as experts. I don't get this feeling when I read the hard copy newspaper."

And you have totally missed my point. As buyouts and cutbacks continue at the hard-copy Post, have you not noticed how much more of the daily copy there consists of reprints from the blogs and chats on the website, compared with what it was one year ago, two years ago, five years ago? There's a definite trend there. As real writers leave the hard-copy Post, the space they have filled there is being taken up by reprints from the Post's website. Eventually, probably sooner than we think, that's all there will be in the hard-copy Washington Post. "Best of the web." Sad, but true.

A few weeks (months?) back, Sports Illustrated ran a piece on all the closers in the majors, and the surprise candidate for replacing them. The Nationals'? Saul Rivera. So. Something to think about.

(I did actually try to dig up this article for y'all, but my googling skills aren't that good.)

For what it's worth, I don't Rauch is up to closing for an entire season. But for a couple weeks, while some things get worked out? Yeah, why not. And if not, I heard that Bill Bray (also touted as a potention Closer of the Future way back when!) might be looking for a job.

Yes. That's supposed to be "I don't THINK. . . "

Verbs are helpful.

"Verbs are helpful."

Well, at least auxiliary verbs are.

Best pizza I've had in the area is Giuseppi's Pizza Plus in Rockville right next to the Regal 768 (or however many screens they have nowadays).

OH, bada bing, bada boom! :)

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Well, at least auxiliary verbs are.

See, this is why folks think you all are nerds.

Gnu Pauxst

See, this is why folks think you all are nerds.

Posted by: Nick Johnson | April 17, 2008 3:23 PM

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Wrong. This is why we ARE nerds.

Maybe one of the construction workers buried a Peter Angelos photo in the concrete while they were building Nats Park.

So kill me, I typed a g instead of a k.

You wouldn't be so mean if I was posing as one of the Nationals. Nerds.

If I WERE posing.
Subjunctive mood, there.

"I've got a list of great italian restaurants for you. It's called Little Italy, in Manhattan.

Posted by: Nats=Class,class,class"

===

fyi, what was once known as "little italy" in NYC has pretty much been annexed by chinatown. there's very little "italian" in little italy any more.

Atlanta - actually, the guy Baseball Prospectus has the more praise for in our bullpen is Chris Schroder. They think Rivera may be too much of a fly ball pitcher and see his severe home / road splits from last year. They are worried about Rauch having been overworked.

Remember when we were talking about moving middle relief in the off season?

IT'S NICE TO HAVE THE SENATORS BACK!!!