My day:
I get on my JetBlue flight from Fort Lauderdale, scheduled to leave at 12:20. Hook up my walkman and turn the DirecTV to ESPNews to get updates on the scroll.
It's 3-2 Nats late in the flight, after the rain. It's 3-3 Marlins as I leave the plane.
I get to the car and get XM turned on just in time to hear, "And there's another hit. That makes it 5-3 Marlins."
The Marlins. Jeezzzzz. The MARLINS? 0-9 vs. the MARLINS? This is a team that beat the Yankees two out of three. Beat the Red Sox once. It has even beaten the Phillies twice. And it can't beat THE MARLINS once? No knock on the Marlins. Never had anything against them and I like a lot of their players. I like Fredi Gonzalez. But I'm becoming convinced the Nats exist to give the Marlins someone to beat.
None of that has anything to do with my current question. JimBow heartthrob Milledge sent down never to return. Traded to the Pirates, the long-term version of the Nats. New (acting) GM isn't as in love with him as previous GM.
JimBow heartthrob Dukes sent down. Yeah, he's struggling. Probably not the worst thing in the world but there are others who I fear more when they bat - how 'bout the Kings of Double Plays Belliard and Kearns? Even my wife, a non-Dukes fan, was dumbfounded.
Will he ever return? Will he be dumped on the first willing taker, priced be damned? Is the (acting) GM not as in love with him as the previous GM?
And while I'm venting, going back to a previous post: Orioles rally from 10-1 down, beat the Sox. Nats swept by Marlins. Hopefully I will forget that by the time I re-evaluate my loyalties.
Also, read this take in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for some rather different quotes from Morgan than what we read in the D.C. media today. Mr. Ladson did not ask him about those comments in this cute Q&A today. Happy Birthday Nyjer! What a gift you got.
6 comments:
"Will he ever return?"
It's up to him. If he pulls a Milledge while he's down there, or has other issues, no he won't be back. If he gets his game straightened out and his head on straight, he'll be back. True, it would be more satisfying to see Kearns or Belliard go now. That would improve the team short-term, but gain nothing long-term. But by sending Dukes down instead, they improve the team short-term (because face it, he's been terrible the last two months) and long-term (presuming he figures things out while down there).
"Will he be dumped on the first willing taker, priced be damned?"
If he screws up in SYR, yes he will. Just like Milledge was.
"Is the (acting) GM not as in love with him as the previous GM?"
Obviously. The Bowden man-crushes do not get the interim tag.
JimBow had some crushes, didn't he?
I can see falling in love with Dukes the player, though I have no clue how he carries himself in the clubhouse, etc. Does he still have his baby-sitter? Does the poor guy have to go to Syracuse? If so, he should demand a raise.
How is your wife taking the Lastings trade? I know she was a big fan...
Re your new favorite team, all is not sweetness and light in BirdLand. Indeed, swap out the names in this article and it sounds an awful lot like NatsTown, doesn't it?
And at the same time the Nats were losing again to the Fish, the Birds blew a 5-1 lead in the ninth and lost to the Red Sox 6-5 in 11. Go ahead, drive the 50 extra miles to load up on another helping of that!
Uh, yeah, no thanks. If I want my heart broken regularly, I'm already on board with the perfect team.
As for my wife, she's dealing. She hasn't had much chance to see him this season anyway. She also looks on the bright side.
"I don't have to watch Hanrahan pitch anymore," she said.
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