Rob Carr/Getty Images North America)

On Monday, to much pomp and circumstance of Opening Day, the Nationals opened their ninth season in D.C., but their first season as the reigning National League Eastern Division Champions. Awards were handed out like candy and the new division title banner was unveiled and the fun was just beginning.

Before a sell-out crowd of 45,274, the crowd got to see what they came for and it couldn’t have been written any better. There was the typical run-saving, defensive diving play by Ryan Zimmerman, his shoulder finally repaired and healed. There was the seven inning shutout start by a dominant Stephen Strasburg, unhindered by an innings limit this season. Not to be missed, there was also a strong first save by recent off season acquisition, Rafael Soriano.

But perhaps the biggest news of the day was Bryce Harper’s two home runs. Harper hit home runs in in each of his first two at-bats of the season. Harper, who hit .478 in Spring Training, launched both of his bombs to right field. In the first home run, Harper crushed a curveball from Ricky Nolasco and sent it 385-feet to right field where a Jayson Werth look alike caught the ball. The second time, he sent a 3-2 slider the same direction and brought chants of “M-V-P!” and a curtain call for Harper.

The Nationals managed six hits off of Nolasco, yet it was Harper’s solo home runs that made the difference leading the Nationals to a 2-0 win. The 2012 NL Rookie of the Year recipient is currently slugging 2.000 with a .500 average.

» Continue reading “Nationals Dominate in Season Opener”

Via MASN Nationals facebook

The awards keep coming for the Nationals. Tonight Bryce Harper was named the National League Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year. He received 112 votes and 16 first place votes.

Harper beat out Wade Miley of the Arizona Diamondbacks (105 votes, 12 first place), and Todd Frazier of the Cincinnati Reds. Harper is the youngest position player to be named National League Rookie of the Year.

This season Harper hit 22 home runs with 59 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. Harper was the first overall draft pick in the 2010 draft.

More to come later.

In the typical rookie hazing, the Nationals went above and beyond again this year. Last year it was the Smurfs. This year, being an Olympic year, the rookies dressed as gymnasts for their train ride to New York. They were clad in leotards and all.

“The 2012 Olympians that didnt make the cut this year.” Via ‏@GioGonzalez47
Left to right: Tyler Moore, Corey Brown, Eury Perez, Sandy Leon, Christian Garcia, Steve Lombardozzi, and the flag bearer Bryce Harper

“Wore our colors proudly.” Via @GioGonzalez47

“My boy is all grown up so proud.” Via @GioGonzalez47

Props to the veterans for another ingenious idea that’s just embarrassing enough, and to the rookies for being good sports. And our sympathies to Steve Lombardozzi who had to dress up  again this year after being a Smurf last year. (At least not many people can say they’ve been a Smurf and Olympic gymnast, right?)

Now they need to bring home the gold. Or at least a handful of wins from the New York Mets. The series starts Monday in New York at 7:10 PM.

Other good stuff (in case you missed it):

• Newsflash: the Nationals are human. Plus, it always seems that the Marlins always seem to have their number. The Nats were shut out 8-0 yesterday and dropped the series. Silver lining: the homestand still went well and they had a winning record.
• The highly debated shutdown is here. Strasburg is done for the season. Spoiler alert: he wasn’t too happy about it.
• Mark DeRosa, in his veteran mentor role had a talk with Strasburg.
• Sean Burnett’s beginning to feel a little bit better.

Via the MLB facebook.

What’s the only thing more interesting than one benches clearing incident? Well, two benches clearing incidents, with a brawl thrown in for good measure. For the Nationals who’ve lost large leads that looked out blowouts before, they didn’t take any chances, beating the Cubs 9-2 and overall outscoring them 31-9 over four games. For the Cubs, it became a little bit too much to take and frustration spilled out onto the field leading to ejections for both teams.

In yesterday’s sweep of the Chicago Cubs, the Nationals once again blew out their opposition, maintained a 7 1/2 game lead in the NL East, and dropped their magic number to win the National League East down to 18.

The first benches clearing incident happened in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jayson Werth was batting with the bases loaded and the Nats up 7-2. Cubs catcher Clevenger went to the dugout to change his glove when Nats third base coach Bo Porter approached the Cubs dugout yelling. Yet first before Porter approached the dugout, replays showed Cubs bench coach Jamie Quirk pointing and yelling at Porter.

Eventually players ran out onto the field from the dugouts and bullpens and the fracas was subdued by the umpires without any further incident. Quirk was ejected from the game for his actions, while Porter remained in. Later after the game umpire Jerry Layne stated that Quirk instigated the shouting match by yelling at Porter.

The fun didn’t end there. The next inning  when Bryce  Harper was batting, Cubs pitcher Lendy Castillo threw an inside pitch. Harper wasn’t hit by the pitch, but with bad blood already brewing, tempers flared.  As Harper started walking towards the mound he had to be restrained by catcher Clevenger and umpire Jerry Layne.

» Continue reading “Benches clear; Nats still sweep”

The Nationals top draft pick from this year’s MLB player draft, 18-year old Lucas Giolito, will undergo Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery on August 31. After throwing two innings in the Florida Gulf Coast League, Giolito began to feel pain in his elbow again. Previously, Giolito spent his senior year in high school rehabbing from a strained elbow ligament.

After feeling pain in his elbow, Giolito received a second opinion from  physician Lewis Yocum who confirmed that the pitcher would need surgery. When the Nationals drafted Giolito they knew he would possibly need Tommy John. However, with rehab and a rebuilt elbow, it’s still possible that Giolito becomes a top pitcher who can throw up to 100 miles per hour for the Nationals by time he turns 20.

Giolito, the 16th overall pick, signed a $2.925 signing bonus with the Nationals at the deadline.

Other important links (in case you missed it):

• Chipper Jones has a man-crush on Ryan Zimmerman. Jones also said before that he has a man-crush on Bryce Harper.
• Stephen Strasburg might miss a couple starts after his shutdown.
• Speaking of Stephen Strasburg, Dr. James Andrews (the orthopaedic surgeon) backs the Nationals decision to shut down Strasburg.
• The Nationals had a much needed day off yesterday. They begin a three-game series in Philadelphia today.
• A little more insight into what it’s like on the basepaths for the players. (Hint: they’re not sworn enemies usually.)

Remember when Ozzie Guillen had his little spat with the Nationals over Bryce Harper’s pine tar? In typical Ozzie fashion, it involved its share of theatrics with some yelling, screaming and expletives thrown in.  The Nationals got to have a good laugh with the whole situation, with some of them signing Bryce Harper’s bat, smearing it in pine tar and sending it to the Marlins manager.

Now, Ozzie Guillen’s son Oney Guillen posted a photo of the said bat on twitter, calling it the ‘infamous bat.’ (Just as we had requested. Thanks, Oney!)

Contrary to what Ozzie said Adam La Roche wrote on the bat (“To my hero, Ozzie. Love you.”), it only says “To Ozzie, Your my hero.” That’s quite a different message La Roche left for Guillen than he first said, not to mention the wrong use of your, but at least we know the smear pine tar bat wasn’t some elaborate prank story.

And yes, that would be Bryce Harper’s signature signed next to the ‘Luke 1:37.’

The infamous (or famous) bat depending how you look at it. Photo via @Oneyguillen.

Other good stuff (in case you missed it):

• Wanna know what Gio Gonzalez’s ideal date would be like? Or read some other interview gems? Hint: the date involves roller coasters.
• Some of the Nationals bullpen boys (Stammen, Burnett, Clippard & Mattheus) visited the MLB Fan Cave and read ‘Fifty Shades of Grey.’ I wonder how many takes it took to shoot this…
• Stephen Strasburg throws fire. (Okay, not really, but he might as well have. His pitching performance helped the Nationals to a 5-2 win over the Mets as well as a sweep.)
• The MLB trade deadline is rapidly approaching. What will the Nats do? Be buyers, sellers, or not do anything at all?
• Next up: a four game series with the Milwaukee Brewers, a (much needed) off day, then a six-game homestand with Philadelphia and Miami.

Ozzie Guillen considered the pine tar incident with Bryce Harper over, but really, we all know it wasn’t over until something else happened. Nothing happened in the series finale on Monday, but the Nationals found another way to insert some amusement into the whole exchange.

Adam LaRoche had Bryce Harper sign a bat for him–which isn’t unusal since players often sign for each other. From there LaRoche also signed the bat and added “To my hero, Ozzie. Love you.”

The Nationals also smeared the bat in pine tar before sending it to Guillen.

Now, we can say certainly say that the pine tar exchange is over. And people say baseball players can’t have fun?

Also, we’re waiting for a photo of that bat…

Other good stuff:

• The Nationals had a walk-off wild pitch win last night and caused a few heart palpitations along the way. It involved three blown saves between the two teams, Bryce Harper coming through in clutch, attempts to douse Ryan Zimmerman (who scored the winning run) with ice cold water, and all in all good heart-stopping chest-clutching baseball.
• Drew Storen and Jayson Werth are coming back…eventually. There’s still a little more rust to shake off.
• 2012 draft pick Lucas Giolito was in the house yesterday. He has quite a few Hollywood connections and even his own lightsaber from Samuel L. Jackson. Also good: he likes DC and we’ll be able to see what he’s capable of soon when he starts to rehab his elbow.
• Michael Morse read ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’…and didn’t like it.

There seems to be something about the Nationals, Florida, and pine tar because they can never seem to get away from the stuff, which always inevitably proves to make an interesting story. Add Ozzie Guillen–who has a known volatile personality–to the mix and you’re bound to end up with something crazy with a slight mix of an explosive feeling.

During yesterday’s game at the Miami Marlins, while Bryce Harper was at-bat in the top of the first inning, Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen didn’t take a liking to how much pine tar the 19-year old rookie had on his bat. The umpires had Harper change his bat, and when he came to bat in the top of the fourth inning Harper pointed his bat to the Marlins dugout.

Guillen apparently didn’t like Harper directly addressinghimwith the issue. He began yelling at Harper, then manager Davey Johnson and grabbed a bat, shaking it at the direction of Harper and the Nationals. Somewhere in between Guillen’s antics, he spewed profanities at Harper and the Nationals as well.

» Continue reading “Pine tar, we meet again.”

It’s fair to say that one of Bryce Harper’s biggest dreams has come true aleady. At 19, he’s made it to the Major Leagues and has taken the baseball world by storm (whether they like it or not). Harper’s injected a new type of energy into games and highlight reels, and nothing’s slowing him down yet. Tonight the rookie outfielder will add another accomplishment to his already long resume–being in the All-Star Game as the youngest position player.

But while Harper undoubtedly still has some baseball dreams that are yet to be fulfilled, one of his off-the-field goals of being a firefighter could come true sooner than he thinks.

The Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department in Arlington, Virginia issued an open invitation to Harper to come and “check out the fire service in the offseason.”

» Continue reading “Bryce Harper’s Open Invitation…to be Firefighter”

Coming into the 2012 season, there was something the Nationals were used to having to deal with: expectations.

With big off season moves, the impending debut of Bryce Harper, and the momentum the Nats took into the off season at the end of 2011, everyone was expecting an improvement.  To say anyone expected the Nats being in first place at the All-Star Break (and having been in that position most of the year) would be crazy.

Yet that’s where we stand.  The Nats are not only first in the NL East, but they have the best record in the National League at the halfway point of the season.  Here’s a look at what the top stories of 2012 have been.

Pitching

» Continue reading “Nats At The Half”