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Why the Washington Nationals Will Make the Playoffs in 2012

Posted on June 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

We’ve been following the Nats faithfully, especially since the return of Strasburg and with the addition of Jayson Werth and Mark DeRosa. I like the enthusiasm Bernie Olshansky has for the Nats and he just might be right!

Related articles

“What’s up with those Washington Nationals?” (garlicfriesandbaseball.wordpress.com)

Are the Washington Nationals World Series Contenders? (bleacherreport.com)

Can Nationals Still Make Deep Playoff Run with Stephen Strasburg Shut Down? (bleacherreport.com)

MLB Reports

Thursday June 21st, 2012

Bernie Olshansky: The last time the city of Washington D.C. saw a World Series trophy was in 1924. That was the work of the Washington Senators with the help of Walter “Big Train” Johnson. Although this year’s version of the team doesn’t have a veteran baseball legend, they do have a couple budding superstars. First is Stephen Strasburg. The first-overall pick of the 2009 draft, Strasburg made an enormous impact in his first career start and most of the 2010 season, but ended up on Dr. Lewis Yocum’s table towards the end, and missed most of the 2011 season. Thankfully for the Nationals, Strasburg is back and better than ever, posting an 8-1 record and a 2.45 ERA (before Wednesday’s win versus Tampa Bay: 7IP 5H 2ER 10K and got the win). Unfortunately for the Nationals, Strasburg is on an innings limit this…

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“What’s up with those Washington Nationals?”

Posted on April 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

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!