by Andrew Lang
by Andrew Lang
by Andrew Lang
A very happy birthday to CJ Abrams who is celebrating his 23rd birthday today. His 2023 season came to a close on Sunday, and as it turned out, his age-22 was very special. There were only two players who ever hit at least 18 home runs and stole at least 47 bases by age 22 before this year — and they were Cesar Cedeno and Mike Trout. Abrams and Corbin Carroll both joined them this season as the only four members of the 18/47 Club.
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It wasn’t all that long ago that Southern Maryland was dotted with tobacco farms. It was a crop that produced more money per acre than anything legal other than a winery. A farmer could make a nice living on less than 20 acres of land. 20 acres of corn wouldn’t produce enough money to pay for the fuel required. The money was fair, but was never guaranteed. A hail storm could wipe it all out within an hour. So, it was always a source of celebration when the last plants were “Housed” in the barn to fresh-air cure. Whether it was family, tenant farmers, or an ad-hoc bunch of youngsters doing the work seeing that last stick of plants go in the barn was a cause for some joy. Many times it was simply horseshoes and beer. It always seemed the least excited was the old farmer himself. One old codger told me once; “The thing about this business is that the work and worry never end.” A crop in the barn was still vulnerable to rotting after a week of wet stagnant air. Stripping the leaves required the very humidity not wanted earlier. Then, it all came down to what the buyer was willing to pay. Within days of that, it was time to plant the new crop. The cycle had a timeline that never changed even as every element within it was at least slightly different every year.
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The Washington Nationals knew they were not going to be a contender this year short of a miracle. With a 15-game win improvement over last year, there are reasons for optimism — even in a season where the Nats will finish again in last place in the NL East but nowhere close to the bottom in baseball. General Manager Mike Rizzo acknowledged the lack of team power as an issue before yesterday’s game, but team pitching clearly has to improve too. A starter’s ERA right at 5.00 combined before today’s game is a big problem for the squad and a reliever worst K/9 in the MLB are also issues. Rizzo again made it clear that they will be evaluating the coaching staff who are all on expiring contracts.
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The Washington Nationals had just lost Stone Garrett to a broken leg at Yankee Stadium at the end of August. A blow to a team that was on a run. The team was just over a 76-win pace on August 27. A sustained winning streak would get the Nats to a winning season. That winning streak never came for the rest of the season. The most the Nats would win the rest of the way was just two consecutive wins against the White Sox. It has been a spiral down since that point. Sure, the team had two walk-off wins at the beginning of September — but mostly the team lost ground as the starting rotation and the clutch hitting just could not find that magic of August. The Scrappy Nats showed up last night at a special time to smash five home runs and put their 70th win in the books. A +15 improvement from last year. And of course there are still two games to go in the season.
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The Washington Nationals and their fans are at the final weekend in this season. On one hand, you want this season to end and move forward to 2024 with the hopes of better times ahead. And then you are thrust back to the realization that Opening Day is 180 days away, and there are multiple question markets. We have an uncertain feeling about not knowing the direction the Nats’ ownership will go this offseason. If they spend on some big player(s) and many facets go right, then the Nats could be a team playing meaningful games in September next year. We all know about the disappointment from the 2015 “Where’s My Ring” season when Ted Lerner gifted the fans a one-of-a-kind in Max Scherzer. There are no vintage Scherzers available — and even the real Scherzer is a fraction of what he once was. But who cares, the Hot Stove is for dreaming.
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The Washington Nationals have faced the Orioles three times this year and lost two Josiah Gray starts by identical scores of 1-0. That is difficult to do once in a season, but twice? Tonight is the fourth and final game against the Orioles as the Nats are in search of their 70th win. They will face the right-handed Grayson Rodriguez who the Orioles drafted in the 1st round of the 2018 draft at the eleventh overall pick. He gave up 2-runs over 4 ⅓ innings against the Red Sox, then a masterpiece against the Rays, followed up six days ago with giving up 2-runs over 5.0 innings to the Guardians while issuing three walks in a no-decision.
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The Washington Nationals have a quick two-game series in Baltimore as part of their final five games of 2023. Josiah Gray, the team’s All-Star, gets the start tonight, his final start of 2023 — and Joan Adon on Sunday with Jackson Rutledge on Saturday in Atlanta — with a final start for Trevor Williams on Friday is the plan. All of this from manager Dave Martinez who disclosed this today as the weekend plan.
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"Opening Day should be a National holiday"
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