Who would have thought the team leading the National League this year would be those lowly Nationals? This team started out as the Montreal Expo’s in 1969 and moved to Washington in 2005, much to the delight of syndicated columnist, Charles Krauthammer. I had no idea he was into baseball until I read a column he wrote back in September, 2011, about his beloved Nats. Titled “The Best Game in Town“, here’s an excerpt:
“Now, when mortals throw a ball, they give it arc to gain distance. That’s how artillery works. Ankiel is better than artillery. He releases the ball at the top of his throwing motion, the ball rocketing out as if tracing a clothesline. It bounces five feet from third base, perfectly on-line, arriving a millisecond before the batter and maybe 20 inches above the bag. Quick tag. Batter out. Game saved. (Blown five innings later. But remember, it’s the Nats.)”
This is great stuff. And then in December, 2010, we wrote this post “The Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg, Miracle or Mistake?” and, as predicted, Steven Strasburg has returned in great form after his Tommy John surgery. In addition, the Nationals organization brought a few weapons on-board to help things along; Jayson Werth and Mark DeRosa. Shortly after I heard about the Jayson Werth acquisition it was rumored the Nats were in serious talks with Cliff Lee. It was a heart-stopper and now I’m starting to pay really close attention to the 2012 Washington Nationals . Cliff Lee didn’t end up a Nat, but with Jayson Werth and Stephen Strasburg on the roster, it seemed inevitable that good things were going to happen. And they did.
Today the Nats are leading the National League in the Win-Loss record. Okay, I know it’s still early in the season, but now that they’ve added the 8# Strasburger to the menu at Nationals Park anything can happen!
I can hardly wait to see what Krauthammer’s going to write next about all this. Stay tuned . . . . .
Related articles
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- Strasburg Outpitches Mets In 4-0 Nats Win (washington.cbsradio.stats.com)
- Strasburg Outpitches Santana; Wright-Less Mets Drop Second Straight (newyork.cbslocal.com)
- Crasnick: Nationals believe they’re a legitimate contender (espn.go.com)
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