What in the name of voodoo dolls is going on? Never have I seen or heard of such a run of bad luck as this team is in the midst of. Just when you think the worst has happened, surprise, you aint seen nothin yet. If ever a team should get a break in 09, it's this one. Of course, that is what I thought about this season after last season. Just unbelievable.

Holy Cow! Although I have to say I suspected news this bad when I saw Elijah grimace.

Heal quick, Elijah. We need your energy on the field.

good lord Jesus man.

this team is snakebitten.

Thanks for the update, Chico.
Just when you think the lineup cannot get any worse, another injury happens. This is just awful.

I'm almost afraid to recommend that they bring up Mike Daniel for fear, well, you know. Even the top OF prospect (Maxwell) is hurt.

On the bright side--the Mariners, Pads and Rockies won--we now have a 3 game lead on the race for #1.

Get well Mr. Dukes.

Worse than a strain, better than a torn ACL.

And Stan thinks people will pay big bucks to come see this masquerade of a major league baseball team?!?
He should be ashamed to charge more than what it costs to enter the gate at Potomac Nationals park. After all, it's the same quality baseball.

There better be some amazing players available in the draft by the time we pick #1 or #2. By the same token, Bowden better unload every Odalis Perez, Aaron Boone, Felipe Lopez, Paul LoDuca and even Ronnie Belliard or Willie Harris that he can. Improve the chances of the high pick, and overfill the low minors. We won't get any higher-level players for any of them.

I don't see how it makes sense to unload Tim Redding. The team wins when he pitches, usually, and he is still under team control for another couple of years, due to his lack of MLB experience. He is a solid pitcher, if not an innings eater. Someone would in fact have to give us a more solid deal to trade him.

I will still be watching and rooting for the team. As in the past 2 years (2005 was different, of course), I will find other ways to enjoy the team other than by counting victories. I can't be shaken from my devotion, but I will have to take deep breaths to keep from demanding Bowden's head or that the Lerners give in immediately to the demands of every draft pick from June.

This is devastating news. With Dukes 's luck it had to be a tear and not a strain. The only that will make this team somewhat bearable is if we truly bring up some of the prospects to see how they perform. I cannot bear to watch some of our aged veterans that are just taking up space. For instance if Rhinehart keeps hitting he should get a shot. If Maxwell gets better he should be brought up. Can anyone tells where Maxwell is? I know he got hurt but he has been gone at least six weeks with a sore wrist.

What a game! Our Nats fought their hearts out and gave us the professionalism and heart that make each game a must-see. It took two miraculous catches, one by Junior Griffey looking like Willie Mays, to beat Our Nats. Christian Guzman's grab to his left and then 360 spin on his knee to make the out to first (shades of Robbie Alomar! showed all-star quality fielding. Young Charlie Manning striking out Junior Griffey. Tying the game in the top of the 9th showed heart, and this after Willie Harris was prevented by the infield shift from a game-winning single. Nifty fielding by Dmitri. This team will always be an underdog and will never give up. It's why they are so easy to root for-like Winston Churchill in the beginning of WWII. May their indomitable spirit in this, their darkest hour, be rewarded, first by being recognized and appreciated by us.

After watching last night's contest, I thought our young beat writer got it wrong when he described what we saw last night as a "demoralizing." I didn't see a demoralized team on the diamond, and the word dishonors their professionalism.

The veteran beat writer for the Times, Mark Zuckerman tells us what it was like in the clubhouse without the accusation that the team was "demoralized":

"The sting of another heartbreaking defeat was tough enough for the Washington Nationals inside a silent clubhouse at Great American Ball Park. Add another injury to a key position player, and the mood of this snakebitten team was downright disconsolate Saturday night."

It's a tribute to Elijah Dukes and Manny Acta that we would be so sorry to see him go - certainly not what was predicted of Elijah when Mr. Bowden signed him. The Rays who let him go are now in search of right-fielder who can hit. They must regret giving up on him too soon. Tim Redding spoke eloquently of the high esteem he enjoys from his teammates. He was going all out when he got injured. Now it's up to the Nats and Elijah to show that he's mature enough to handle a difficult rehab without incident. Mickey Mantle came back from a worse knee injury when medical science offered far less help than it does now. Keep making us proud, Elijah!

4-6 weeks is very optimistic. A meniscus tear plus the deal with the patella won't put him back on the field in two months. More like the rest of the year.

"Elijah Dukes rammed into the left field fence while drifting back to catch a Jay Bruce fly ball. When his right leg hit awkwardly against the padding, he fell to the ground, where he lay for several minutes."

Chico, how about checking the replay monitor in the press box, Dukes injured his knee while cutting back toward the ball on the warning track. The collision with the wall only happened after he got hurt. Also, Dukes hit the scoreboard, not the padding. These are small facts, but you are supposed to get them right.

Definitely snakebitten. I didn't have the same reaction as you to the "demoralized" qualifier, flynnie, but maybe it has different connotations for each of us. Like you, I was impressed with the Nats' comeback to tie the game after Dukes was injured. They did show a lot of heart, I think. Go Nats, stay healthy.

Guess that I should have said, "Go Nats, stay/get healthy." Wishing a full recovery for Dukes and the rest of our MASH unit residents and continued health for the other players. (oh, and some wins ;))

"more at bats for Wily Mo Pena." **Sigh**

when do the lerners and stan roll back ticket prices for the 4-A squad they're fielding?

Time for the Nationals staff to break out the old Susan O'Malley/Bullets marketing plan ... "We know we stink, but please pay to come see our opponents."

Time for Wily Mo to relax at the plate and bust his way out of this unnatural slump! He's showing signs, and there's no time like the present!

Hey Denunzio! MLB Sunday online is AWESOME! So crisp and professional. It's now my favorite thing to read on Sundays. I get the dead-tree version, but (sorry) I ignore it and go straight online.

"In a sequence that deflated an already shriveled roster, Dukes crashed into the outfield wall, crumbled to the ground and left his teammates to fight through a demoralizing 3-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds."

"Redding needed only to wave his bat a few times to end a demoralizing inning."

I'm demoralized by Chico Harlan's demoralizing lack of creativity in selecting adjectives. If he doesn't invest in a thesaurus soon, I'll be further demoralized - perahps enough to quit reading his demoralizing newspaper.

Or perhaps they could print a full-page pull-out poster, titled "The Many Moods of Chico Harlan." A couple dozen photos of Chico with varying facial expressions, all with the same label: Demoralized.

flynnie

I agree with you on Pena. I suggest Acta move him up to maybe the 4 spot so he gets better pitches (at least try it for a game or two). He will see nothing in the 7 or 8 spot. Knowing Acta he will move up Kearns instead. This guy has not hit since he came to Washington. I really think he would prefer to be back with the Reds and close to his mom. Please move Bernadina down so there is less pressure. Just trying to be constructive.

What ever happened to Alex Escobar? Is he available (not that he's an iron man eaither)?

I just read where Bill Ladson of MLB states that Acta, notwithstanding the injuries, is still staying positive. For instance he cites that there are a number of long term pieces in place. One of the pieces mentioned is one Austin Kearns. I get livid when I read stuff like this. I can live with the team losing but anointing players like Kearns as part of the future is irresponsible and insulting to the fans. I get very discouraged when I read stuff like this. Speaking of Kearns I am curious why Pena gets crucified by a number of the posters here but Kearns gets basically a free pass. Yes Kearns is a better defender but he also a more inferior hitter.

No more ranting on my part until after the game.

I am praying that Maxwell gets called up as soon as he is back.

Mr. Gut - A welcome burst of laughter, and needed this morning! mjames-a bold strategy, worthy of Nelson's, "Never mind maneuvers-go straight at 'em!" I'm interested in your thoughts on Bill James' conclusion that hitting is random and unaffected by the batter's place in the order. I think the article is called Describing the Fog.

With this many injuries to starters / critical players, it's exposing the lack of depth in the high minors. I suppose Casto is the consensus callup & hope that Zimmerman is ready to go after the All-star game. Waive Estrada once he clears his rehab assignment, move Dukes to the 60DL & clear two roster spots for either trades or (gulp) callups.

Just terrible luck. Hopefully the team will use up its bad luck this year since the season is a loss.

mjames - you must not have been here a month or so ago, when Kearns was getting crucified before he got hurt.

the reason why Kearns "gets a pass" (your words, not mine) is because most of us pretty much forgot about him when he got hurt.

Wow. How long until someone gets euthanized on the field?

gnatsgnation.blogspot.com

No such thing as luck. All the injuries this year will have no barring on next year. Hill, Young, Johnson, Kearns any others in this organization have a long history of getting hurt. It is not luck it is the players make up. If we learn nothing from this, we will be talking about Hill being a major component of the team in 2009 yet again; same with Johnson; time to learn from our mistakes. Some players can not be counted on as building blocks. Talking about good or bad luck is pointless.

"bearing," not "barring."

I am praying that Maxwell gets called up as soon as he is back.

Posted by: mjames | July 6, 2008 11:03 AM
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You asked about him earlier, he's still on the DL, and has been since May 19th.

This is so sad.

Ill add to the chorus. They really clawed their way back into the game last nite.

Why all the bad vibes for Kearns. He had a really nice shot last nite.

You're right on the players you mention, JayB. But Zimmerman, Dukes, Milledge, Chief are indeed all bad luck, these guys shouldn't be hurt - not all at once, at least. A torn labrum is a little more of a complicated thing, so there's a chance those can be blamed on bad training and overuse, but Dukes and Milledge were both flat out accidents. I might call them freak accidents, but we have Johnson on this team...

Hey Denunzio! MLB Sunday online is AWESOME! So crisp and professional.......I ignore it and go straight online.
Posted by: NatsNut | July 6, 2008 10:32 AM
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NatsNut, do you have a link? My bookmarked page keeps bringing up one from a month ago. Believe it or not, a search for "MLB Sunday Online" on the post website brings up nothing.

It would be great if the Post could do an article about why the Nats are "snake-bitten". Are they doing something different than other teams? Are these guys overtraining? Eating well?

What do alumni like Ryan Church, Brian Schneider, Vidro, etc, think?

It's easy to armchair quarterback here and I admit I don't know the whole story, but I'm at the point where I'd like to see the Nats overhaul their entire training program. I'm sure they have competent staff, but they need more than competence. These players are like christmas tree ornaments. They need leaders in the field here.