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Monday, May 18, 2009

Thank you to my wife

for being sick yesterday.

OK, that came out wrong. My mind is a mess. I didn't mean it like that. It's just that, if she hadn't been sick, we would have been in the house (do I have to say 'in the hizzee' now?) for yesterday's disaster and that might have been the end of me.

As it was, I could just curse real loud, turn off the TV and head to Target to pick up some dog food.

I haven't played the game in nearly 40 years. And I didn't exactly play it at a high level. So I have no clue what went wrong when Jesus Colome threw a ball RIGHT OVER THE BAG on a play where the Phillies were trying to make an out. Anderson Hernandez clearly moved to get out of the way. OK, we know he's not afraid of the ball. Apparently, he didn't expect it and this sudden missile appearing startled him.

He was looking for Zimmerman to throw it and it was Colome instead (probably his best throw of the day). What confuses to me is why that matters? It's not like they were 10 feet apart and not both in his field of vision. They were awfully close, close enough that there was some initial confusion about who actually made the throw. Shouldn't Hernandez have been looking for a ball period?

Of course, if Tavarez manages to throw a strike or two, maybe it doesn't matter. But we all know "relievers" and "strikes" don't often get used in the same sentence where the Nationals are concerned, unless "not throwing" is also in the mix.

Great line from Rob Dibble yesterday when they were discussing Halladay's eighth win. At what point does Halladay catch the Nationals? My guess is three more starts.

One notable thing about this 11-25 mess is the team is showing us there are levels of low we never knew existed. Just when you think it can't get worse or nothing more amazingly bad can happen, something indeed happens. I think any manager in baseball would take his chances with a promise of at least five runs in every game of a four-game series. I'd wager a lot that most teams would fare better than 0-4.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stumbled across your blog and I am a huge Adam Dunn fan from Cincinnati. Now live in the DC area and I have launched a campaign to have Adam Dunn read my blog and send me to a game for free. Been following him for awhile now and love to update my blog readers about him. It silly fun, but do you have any ideas or contacts to help make this happen? Thanks for any help you might have.

www.sunshinemeg.blogspot.com

Ryan said...

Hey Meg...

In case you haven't heard, a 10-month-old baby draws better than the Nats these days. Unless you've got but 10 cents to your name, I'm pretty sure you could afford a ticket.

Good luck, though.

An Briosca Mor said...

If Colome was close enough to the ball and to Zimmerman that there was confusion over who made the throw to first, shouldn't Colome have realized that Zimmerman was the one to make that play in the first place? Aren't pitchers taught to yield to an actual infielder wherever possible? Maybe it was a great play and throw on Colome's part, but really he bears as much blame as anyone on that play - and I'm sure that behind the closed doors of the clubhouse he heard as much from Zimmerman, Acta and the coaching staff.

MikeHarris said...

I don't argue that - that was Zimmerman's play to make. I still don't understand Hernandez not knowing a throw was coming until it was right on top of him.

El Rey said...

OBSERVATIONS FROM SATURDAY'S NIGHT GAME:

I personally witnessed the ineptitude of the National's grounds crew on Saturday as they attempted to cover the infield with a tarp when it started to rain. If it wasn't for a bunch of civic minded Philly fans who ran onto the field to assist the grounds crew, the tarp would have never have been properly placed. I have seen enough; the Nationals are an unmitigated disaster from the ownership on down. Even the Presidents Race has become stale. Speaking of Philly fans, they outnumbered Nats fans by 2 to 1 by my estimation. As I walked from my "reserved" parking space at the Navy Yard onto M street, I felt like I was in Philadelphia. There were Philly fans everyway. I was just glad I was wearing my South Park hat instead of my Nats hat because I might have gotten beaten up. The parking lot across from the Navy Yard was full of drunken Philly fans tailgating. Jeez, Stan should just build a Gino's or Pat's cheese steak kiosk at the stadium for them. During the game, I was serenaded by two drunken Philly gumbas singing Queen's "We are the Champions" all night long. I hate that song. Queen's Fat Bottoms Girls is much better :O)! Baseball's return to D.C. has become a bad dream.

MikeHarris said...

Teddy may have more wins than the Nats by the end of the season.

Ryan said...

Wait. They let Philly fans onto the damn field to help unroll the tarp?

An Briosca Mor said...

On the replays I saw, Zimmerman went through the motions of making a throw, clear up to the point of releasing the ball - except that he double-clutched and didn't, because Colome scooped up the ball instead of him. If Hernandez was expecting Zimmerman to make the play - and he clearly should have been the one making the play - then he was probably focusing on Zimmerman and never saw Colome make the throw. One replay I saw had an angle where Hernandez was clearly lined up to receive a throw from Zimmerman. Whether he stepped aside to make way for the runner, thinking no throw was coming, or because he didn't catch sight of Colome's throw until it was too late, we'll never know unless he says something. But really, it's a moot point. It was Colome's error all the way.