Who says the Washington Wizards didn’t improve over the offseason? Last night DCist made our first trip down to the Verizon Center this season and noticed plenty of changes; fancy new press credentials (now with marketing slogans!), shiny, new flat screen monitors in press row in section 104, that snazzy $50 million scoreboard that puts a whole new spin on the Kiss-Cam and a new red carpet themed video set to Kanye West’s “Bigger,…

Though opening day is still a whole winter away, looking at Scott Ableman’s photos of the Nats’ stadium near completion makes our mouths water for peanuts, hot dogs, and beer. If all goes as planned, come late March we’ll be enjoying dogs and beer in what Thomas Boswell called “A Thing of Beauty.”…

If the DCist Flickr pool is a good indication, many of you decided to spend part of your Labor Day weekend the good ol’ fashioned American way — at the ballpark. Flickr user Scott Ableman perfectly caught Ryan Zimmerman’s game winning RBI against the Giants on Sunday night, in a nail biting moment with the count full in the bottom of the ninth. The Nationals inched out for a final score of 2-1….

Last week the Washington City Paper unveiled a redesign featuring “more color and a new convenient size.” Paper pushers were even out in force at several Metro stations pimping the new look. Once we got our hands on the issue though, these lofty promises fell a bit flat. Their Web site redesign early this year got our nod of approval, but after some thought the print edition has no such luck. The paper certainly delivers…

While I can’t say I’m sorry I didn’t get to see the Potomac freezing over earlier this week, I’m sure glad Flickr user Scott Ableman did. This view of the Kennedy Center over the icy river is beautiful, and even better, the rest of us can enjoy from the cozy indoors instead….

Now Ryan Zimmerman knows how George Allen feels. It was as close as they come, but when they counted the votes for NL Rookie of the Year, Zim narrowly lost to Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez. DCist Matt saw it coming as the year wound down, posting about Ramirez in September: “If anybody’s going to beat out our boy Zim, we think it’s going to be this guy.” It’s easy to make a convincing case for…

Having dismissed Frank Robinson at the end of the season, the Nats are casting a wide net for possible replacements. Reports yesterday regarding the sudden firing (and availability) of four-time World Series winner Joe Torre now appear to be premature, according to the NY Post. With the nascent Torre-to-the-Nats campaign already toast, we take a look at the other candidates in the rumor mill… Lou Pinella Experience: Played briefly for O’s and Indians, but mostly…

Ryan Zimmerman just keeps on hitting. In baseball’s marathon of a season, the Nationals third baseman has saved his best for last, raking the ball all over the field and providing highlight reel defense. Though Zimmerman has had a strong year overall, he has really come into his own in the last month, hitting doubles at an incredible rate and driving in droves of baserunners. It should come as no suprise that his outstanding…

You may have heard: some team called the Redskins plays their season opener this weekend. It seems as though that team has some sort of local following, so attention may start to shift away from baseball in the region soon. (Ahh, sarcasm: the sweet sustaining humor for those sick enough to still be reading – and writing – Nats posts this far into a lost year.) It’s a shame. If things had gone slightly differently…

With Mother Nature tossing lightning and thunder, space shuttle Discovery shooting across the Florida sky, and the pyrotechnics on the National Mall, the Nats’ little matinee date with the Marlins was easy to overlook yesterday. Only 23,000 showed up for the game between NL East also-rans played under threatening skies. But rookie RBI machine Ryan Zimmerman would have none of it. He launched some fireworks of his own with a walk-off homer in the bottom…