2008-05-15T18:36:14Z tag:blog.washingtonpost.com,2008:/nationalsjournal//89 Copyright (c) 2008, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive 2008-05-15T18:36:14Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-15:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/does_a_blog_mention_curese_a_n.html

We'll find out, I suppose. Mike Pelfrey hasn't allowed a hit through six innings. He's faced only three batters more than the minimum. Mind you, this is a guy who's allowed 46 hits in 33-1/3 innings this year. Thankfully for the Nats, Bergmann is matching Pelfrey zero for zero....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-15T16:31:46Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-15:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/lineups_from_shea_1.html

Series finale. Nats go for three out of four. Washington Lopez - 4 Guzman - 6 Zimmerman - 5 Boone - 3 Milledge - 8 Kearns - 9 Mackowiak - 7 Flores - 2 Bergmann - 1 New York Reyes - 6 Castillo - 4 Wright - 5 Beltran - 8 Church - 9 Delgado - 3 Castro - 2 Anderson - 7 Pelfrey - 1...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-15T15:43:41Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-15:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/johnson_out_46_weeks.html

That's the latest. Nationals are putting their first baseman on the 15-day DL. An MRI this morning revealed a tear of the tendon sheath in his right wrist. The injury problems for Johnson continue. Dmitri Young will rejoin the club tomorrow to take his place. Here's what Manny Acta said about the news. Q: Thoughts on Nick? A: I feel bad for him because, as always, we want to see him play a full season....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-15T12:56:10Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-15:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/the_only_real_solution_is_a_ma.html

Mega computer problems last night. About nine minutes before 11:30 deadline, my laptop pulled a Palmeiro-in-Congress and lost all memory of its past. When I rebooted, the story I'd been writing entirely vanished. Wasn't on the desktop. Wasn't in some temporary folder. Wasn't recovered by some miracle MS Word mining expedition. Though I'd saved the story frequently, it left no residual trace. Gotta admit, as I started rewriting something to make midnight's deadline, I kept...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-14T22:35:08Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-14:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/johnson_status_update.html

Injury update on Nick Johnson. He's heading back to DC this evening for a wrist examination that will determine the extent of an injury he sustained in his final at bat yesterday. The team is still saying he's day-to-day, but it seems like Johnson is concerned. He left the clubhouse today with his right wrist wrapped in a splint. "I hope it's nothing serious, but today it's pretty sore," he said. "Last night I couldn't...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-14T19:41:37Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-14:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/unabridged_minor_league_report.html

The heavy reading, for those interested. (This comes courtesy of Nats PR man Bill Gluvna.) I'll paste it below. --- NATIONALS MINOR LEAGUE REPORT VINCENT VANALLEN: LHP Cory VanAllen is a combined 5-0 with a 0.68 ERA (3 ER/ 40.0 IP) in 7 games (6 starts) with Double-A Harrisburg and Single-A Potomac...among starters, the 23-year-old leads minor league baseball in ERA and ranks 2nd with a .137 (16-for-117) batting average against...VanAllen was selected as both...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-14T13:41:28Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-14:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/chat_reminder.html

One thing I managed neither to fit into the game story nor the notebook was the incident that opened last night's game. Because it involved a hit batsman one night after tensions ran high over the cheerleading episode, many -- at least in the press box -- interpreted John Maine's first pitch as the signal for a saucy night. After all, before facing lead-off man Felipe Lopez, the Mets' pitcher had faced 181 batters this...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-13T22:36:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-13:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/thoughts_from_manny_and_a_line.html

Manny Acta's (brief) take on the Figueroa/cheering/clapping circus. Q: Do you have a reaction to what happened yesterday regarding Nelson Figueroa? A: I don't. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, and we live in a world nowadays where everything you do and say, you're offending somebody. So I really have no reaction to it. Q: Specifically he said if the coaching staff allowed that to continue, it's unprofessional. Is there any response to that?...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-13T19:25:41Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-13:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/life_on_the_back_pages.html

Until yesterday, I'm guessing, Nelson Figueroa was largely irrelevant -- and perhaps entirely unknown -- to the casual New Yorker. But last night's Figueroa-led controversy at Shea proves that a little smack-talk, at least in this town, is still the most direct path to ignominy. Both the Post and the Daily News made entirely unsurprising decisions to fillet Figueroa on their back pages. The Post headline: SOFTBALL GIRLS The Daily News headline: SIS BOOM BLAH...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-13T13:42:28Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-13:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/any_idea_requires_just_six_wor.html

There's a theory drifting out there that any decent idea can be summarized in six words, which, by the way, I said directly above in six succinct words. A cursory Google search of "six words," in fact, reveals that Hemingway once authored an entire short story in this format. ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn.") For reasons that only reveal my demented bookish side, I get a kick out of this stuff. Anyway, allow me...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-13T00:17:50Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-12:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/nick_johnson_a_modest_apprecia.html

Quick note here after watching Nick Johnson draw a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. Johnson's .223 average is unsightly, sure, but he entered the game with a .413 OBP, just outside of the league's top-10. Here's a large reason for that discrepancy: Right now, Johnson leads MLB in the percentage of pitches taken. Exactly 69 percent of his pitches he simply watches. (Albert Pujols, by the way, ranks second in this statistic.) Johnson's at...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-12T23:39:52Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-12:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/they_wait_all_of_one_inning_at.html

Meet the Mets! Meet the Mets! Please, don't interpret the link as a suggestion to click. Meanwhile, a Mackowiak sac fly to center drives in Nick Johnson, who'd reach on an error. One-one game, and the strongest side on the field is still Mother Nature....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-12T22:10:38Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-12:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/lineups_from_shea.html

When Svrluga and I walked into Shea today, we passed about four or five security guards near the entrance. Not a single person bothered to seek our credentials. We just walked right in. I'm guessing that by now, most people are figuring that nobody comes here unless they absolutely have to. An hour before the first pitch, the wind is whipping. The line of American flags atop the stadium are flapping so hard, they sound...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-12T14:19:13Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-12:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/an_introduction_2.html

Substantive or not, I found it unavoidably ominous, and just a tad funny, that on the day I moved to Washington, D.C., to prepare for a new life covering baseball, a Washington Post headline in the bottom corner of the Sports front read, "Chico, Nats, Struggling To Get the Job Done." So there -- I figure we've already gotten the best Matt Chico coincidence out of the way. My name is Chico, too, and from...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Chico Harlan 2008-05-12T15:41:29Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-11:/nationalsjournal/2008/05/a_dozen_things_ill_miss_about.html

Some wrap-up thoughts following a miserable sweep by the Marlins. Manny Acta - Every day is a good day for the Nationals manager. That, of course, makes the life of a beat writer better. This is a job in which you root for yourself - for a good story, a good quote, and for people that don't make your life more difficult. Acta never makes things more difficult. "The Main Event" - What does it...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Barry Svrluga