Nats Roundup: Statistically Insignificant
The Nationals have gone 5-5 over their last ten games, which has to be considered an achievement. Their record is a Major League worst 49-85. With 28 games left in the season it doesn't look like they will get to 63 wins, thus staving off 100+ loses, or get out of last place in the whole league. This isn't a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to the team this year, but judging from the recently released radio listener numbers, no one is paying attention. The fun stat from the study is that more people go to one game on average, 29,990, then listen to the Nats on the radio in a week, 26,500. For those that doubt the validity of the numbers, take heart in this quote: "the microscopic numbers reported by the rating service might be too low to be statistically valid."
Steven Hunter thinks that hate is the cure for the ailing Nats fan. While he does make some compelling points, his conclusion that we should direct our scorn at the President's Race is clearly misguided. In Steven's defense, he did write that article before Teddy Roosevelt raced in a Manny Ramirez do-rag. Honestly, after Zimmerman's walk-off homerun to start the season, this is probably the greatest moment of the season.
That said, last night the Nationals completed a three game sweep of the Dodgers, with Cristian Guzman hitting for the cycle, making him the 7th player in franchise history to accomplish that feat, and Elijah Dukes hit two home runs. The Dodgers were a team that had post-season aspirations, but after being swept by the Nationals they have to be thinking about disbanding the franchise. According to the rules of this season, someone in the Dodgers organization has to be fired.
Rick Eckstein
The first person to be called up from the minors is coach Rick Eckstein. Eckstein is the AAA Columbus team's hitting coach, and was just a coach for the Olympic baseball team. The team is allowed to add one coach in September when the rosters are expanded. Eckstein's addition does not bode well for Lenny Harris. Harris, the current batting coach, has received a lot of criticism this year based on the Nationals offensive performance this year. The team is last in the National League in Batting Average, OPS, OBP and Slugging, and has actually looked worse than their statistics indicate. It looks like Lenny needs to get his resume in order.
Instant Replay
The big news in baseball is that instant replay made its Major League Debut last night. From now on, replay can be used to determine if a ball was foul or fair, a home run or not, or if there was fan interference. The limited use of instant replay has been debated for years, but numerous wrong home run calls finally prompted the league to make the change. The Nationals are reportedly happy about the addition, although it was not available last night because the Nationals were in the middle of a series. The Nationals should remember the example that Frank Robinson set, and not be too hasty in supporting this decision. Although, given that the way the ball is flying out when the Nationals are pitching, some of those home runs have to come back right?
Bergman Watch
Jim Baker over at ESPN has a good article on Jason Bergman's futility at the plate. Honestly, seeing if he can go the whole season without a walk, being hit by a pitch, getting a hit, or having a sacrifice, is the only interesting story line left this season.
Game of the Week
The game of the week is August 30 when the Nationals host the Braves. This is the game of the week because the Braves are sending Jo-Jo Reyes to the mound, and that is a great baseball name. Also, Reyes is 0-6 with a 7.60 ERA in his last eight starts, so the Nationals have a chance to actually score some runs.
Briefly Noted: Nationals infield prospect Esmailyn Gonzalez won the Gulf Coast League batting title... Shawn Hill's season is officially over... Elijah Dukes wants to hit 20 home runs this year.
Photo by Flickr user bullnext.