Is it just me, or are both Milledge and Dukes showing signs of improvement? Especially Dukes...

Is it just me or does this team need a stronger word to describe it than "snakebit"?

Is it time to get excited about having the #1 pick in next year's draft? Injuries and underachievement killing the chances of generating some positive vibes.

On a different note, if Zimm goes on the DL, do you let Boonie play at third or call up Casto and let him have a shot? (is he still playing third in the minors?)

Whatever happened to benching guys who don't hustle? Stephen Drew's throw on Wily Mo's grounder pulled 1B Chad Tracy off the bag, but Tracy was able to tag out Wily Mo because he wasn't running hard to first. If there was ever a guy who would be easy to bench for not hustling...

If WMP is not taken out after that jog down to first ACTA has no guts or control over who plays when.

You tell me which it is if he is still in left field after when they come back after the commercial break.

uh, why is it so dark there?

So here is my June 1 analysis:

Just to extend the discussion, I'll focus on the manager.

After 200 games it is easier to see both the good and the bad regarding Acta's management style. His tendency to go by the stats/book is stabilizing, but limiting too. Bunting more often mught be useful. Platooning would be helpful, but he is limited by personnel. His 6-inning starting pitching tendency seemed like a better strategy when the relievers were working at peak efficiency. His lack of emotion is probably helpful, but I thought we would see a few more flashes of intensity by now. I think that intensity is lacking teamwide. His loyalty to his coaches is to be admired, but better 3B coaching decisions and better results from his hitting coach would be helpful. It would be interesting to see how much better he would perform if he had more talent. The question that keeps bugging me is does Manny's approach lead to too much complacency among the position players. I'm not loving the same old lineups. Again limited by talent, but shake it up more often.

I'm very, very sorry I taught my mom in Phoenix about "one-ring" taunting.
That's all I'm saying about this series.

the nats lineup today has a collective batting average of .238. 2 hundred and thirty eight!!!
and its only that high because of the inflated average of one jesus flores.
seriously when is enough is enough. get rid of the so called batting coach if the team actually has one. and start sending people down. the peeps in the minors cant do any worse. this is a freakin joke.

You know that things are bad when Charlie and Dave are making fart jokes and it's only the third inning. Too bad JimBo isn't in AZ to fly back to DC with them.

But I'm wondering how long can one guy be "day-to-day" without so much as sitting in the on-deck circle as a pinch-hitter?

Patience, yes, stoicism, yes, up to a point. But come on, some changes should be made. Is there any reason why Kory Casto shouldn't be on the major league roster in place of Rob Mackowiak? He can also play 3B of course.

I enjoy Charlie and Dave's humor, too. The laughs are particularly appreciated during some of the more, uh, futile matches. I wonder who will sit next to Dave on the long ride home. Perhaps Jimbo will. That way, he may pick up some new material.

OMG. I am still shaking. Whew.

Posted by: DKNatsFan | May 15, 2008 3:34 PM

CIL - I'm glad it's not just me that enjoys the humor of our broadcasters. We ar so lucky to have Charlie and Dave. I have not heard their equal in MLB. There is not a trace of arrogance in either of them. They relax and really enjoy the broadcast.

Dave: What's that sound in my ear?

Charlie: It's snap, crackle, pop!

Dave: What time is it here? It's afternoon!

Charlie: Cereal is an always an excellent between-meal snack. Snap, crackle, pop was the first magic trick my parents showed me.
Dave: Just add milk. Well folks, breakfast is being served here in the pressbox. Meanwhile, I had a better idea, and went off-campus for a Monterey chicken burrito from the main concourse.

Charlie: You say that now.

Dave: It is a long flight home. You usually sit next to me. Are you making other arrangements?

Charlie: You may have an entire row to yourself.

we are only in the beginning of june and i cant even watch this team anymore. its really a disgrace. kasten, bowden, acta, harris. man heads should freakin roll.
this team stinx!

In the Diamondbacks, we are looking at the Nats of the future. We even have the director of scouting who assembled them. We have the pitching in the minor leagues. In the meantime, enjoy Charlie and Dave pouring milk on the rice crispies for all of us out here in radioland.

Patience dk. Brian Sanches looks good, and remember that afternoon game when the Nats beat the Mets 2-1 and your post was: "What a game-I'm still shaking!" We'll have more moments like that this season. We're due.

dude, lol, omg, cn u b my bff?

Patience dk. remember that afternoon game when the Nats beat the Mets 2-1 and your post was: "What a game-I'm still shaking!"
Posted by: flynnie | June 1, 2008 6:50 PM

thanks for tryin to put some weird words in my mouth.
if some1 actually remembered any post from me that would be pretty scary. i cant even remember half of what i said.
and i didnt even know we played an afternoon game against the mets so you can go make somethin up about some1 else.
i was never shakin.
now start sending these goofballs down and bring up some real minor leaguers. the nats as currently constructed probably cant even hit minor league ptiching.

btw just as i thought, there was no 2-1 afternoon game. nice try though. yea still shakin. right.

Any word on why it was so dark at 1pm? Am I missing something here?

OMG. I am still shaking. Whew.

Posted by: DKNatsFan | May 15, 2008 3:34 PM

I also enjoy the humor of Charlie and Dave. The laughs are particularly appreciated during the more, um, futile games. Wonder who will sit next to Dave on the long flight home. Maybe Jimbo will. That way, he might pick up some new material.

"Any word on why it was so dark at 1pm? Am I missing something here?"

The roof was closed. Charlie and Dave mentioned how dark it is in that stadium when they do that.

OMG. I am still shaking. Whew.
Posted by: DKNatsFan | May 15, 2008 3:34 PM
Posted by: NJ archivist | June 1, 2008 7:43

wow. did some1 really go look that up. some people here gots 2 much time on their hands. btw that game was 5-3, not 2-1 and the poster was some1 else. ive never been fan. just simple ole dk. sorry.
now like i said, fire some of these loser chumps! including posters who cant even keep their info stra8.
plain ole dk signing off.

I still enjoy reading this discussion, of course, but after a number of games like this, I can't help feeling that "the one guy missing from it" is Chris doing Capitol Punishment.

Someone needs to step up for an additional voice. I know I can't.

It is good to remember the 5-3 win and, to me, the best post ever, for which I thank the NJ archivist - there will be more moments like this.

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

OMG. I am still shaking. Whew.

Posted by: DKNatsFan | May 15, 2008 3:34 PM

Why not have an MRI done? Am I missing something, it's not like having an MRI itself will hold him back. Maybe the FO is just dreading the results of the MRI.

IMO, might as well get the MRI done & over so that a DL move could be done sooner than later so that we have 25 ready to play, but I'm not in the medical field, so maybe I might be missing something...

hey JayB - your wish came true. go check out the "other" blog whenever you get a chance.

i am officially considering becoming a fan of the nationals pitching staff only, for this season. until further notice i do not care what the offense does, at least until the offense consists of something more than it does now. i want to win every game 0-0.

(i am kind of kidding of course, i will be at the park three times this week with daughters and friends in tow. but i am also kind of not kidding. 506, have we been snake-swallowed? last i checked the airspeed of an unladen snake-swallowed swallow was just about what our rpg are right now.)

I second what Positively Half Street says. The experience of being a Nats fan took a serious hit when we lost CP.

And I still believe that if the Nationals were showing any signs of life whatsoever that Chris would still be doing it.

To paraphrase Kasten, the Nats are getting the blogosphere they deserve. And pretty soon it's going to be SBF and nothing else.

New post.

OT.

Dinger, Ryan Church.

In terms of being duped, I think many of us looked at last year's team as a 73 win team and figured and improvement could bring us to 77. Maybe closer to the truth is last year's team was 3 or 4 wins worse on ability than their record ended up. IIRC the Pythag formula, it is RS squared over the sum of RS squared plus RA squared. If I've got that right then last year's expected wins were 69. Maybe we are better or, more likely, worse from a lower baseline.