The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

Time to offer some bold predictions for the upcoming Nationals season. To get the process started we’ve surveyed a few of the long-time members of the TalkNats community to weigh in with their number 1 bold prediction for the upcoming season. We’ve listed these in alphabetical order by their Disqus names: Continue reading →

The last time Washington defended the MLB World Championship was 1925

One of the joys of being a baseball fan is the anticipation of Opening Day each spring.  This assumes that there is a team playing for your region’s city.  For thirty-four years the denizens of the metropolitan Washington area were left with the choice of ignoring the game altogether or adopting some distant team.  Still, there was an Opening Day on the calendar.  Most of the nation paid at least some attention to it.  But, there has never been a spring without baseball since the invention of the electric light bulb…until this one.  With a menacing and tenacious virus loosed on the land the theater that is baseball simply went “dark.”  Now, it will begin very much late and very much different.  It is less an occasion for joy than tepid relief.

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In the offseason, Turner had finger surger; Photo from Trea Turner‘s Instagram

Baseball fans have seen Jim Abbott pitch and field with one arm, and in 1945 there was Pete Gray who batted with one arm. There is no comparison from the feats of Abbott and Gray to Trea Turner who played with eight healthy fingers in 2019, but what Turner pulled off was rather impressive given what he had to overcome. What the young shortstop does in the 60-game MLB season in 2020 will be a new chapter. Continue reading →

Soto and Robles; Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

These two youngsters from the Dominican Republic always seemed joined at the hip, but apparently that is not the case based on contact tracing for the infectious COVID-19 virus. Yes, Juan Soto, Victor Robles, and top prospect Luis Garcia all came in contact with a COVID-positive person on July 1st we were told by a source who wishes to remain anonymous. But Robles as we reported earlier yesterday had an additional contact, and we have learned that occurred on July 3rd. The Nats played by the rules set by the D.C. Government which is among the strictest in the country, and much more unyielding than the MLB rules that would allow a player to return after two consecutive negative COVID tests.  Continue reading →

Soto and Kendrick; Photo by Craig Nedrow for TalkNats

Finally, Juan Soto, Howie Kendrick, and Luis Garcia have returned. Our sources as we reported on Twitter have said that Victor Robles will be cleared on Saturday based on tracing that had him in contact with a COVID positive person two days after Soto, Kendrick, and Garcia. Most of this is still a mystery on who knows what on this tracing, but the team is following the strictest of guidelines which are the ones the D.C. Government has set, and their procedures are tighter than MLB’s COVID rules. Also, we have baseball tonight at Nationals Park with another intra-squad game at 6pm and streamed on Nationals.com and the Nats official Twitter. Continue reading →

Photo by Craig Nedrow for TalkNats

Lets have some fun with alternatives to something that most baseball folks hate: the idea of starting each inning after the 9th with a runner on second base.

From my perspective there are a number of structural flaws in this approach:

• Since both teams get a runner on second, it may not have much of an impact. We may just end up with more 1-1 instead of 0-0 innings.
• Continuing with this point, if the visiting team scores 1 run (regardless of how), doesn’t this just mean the home team can extend the game by a sac bunt, grounder to the right side, sac fly to get the runner to third; followed by another sac fly?
• Does it give an advantage to the home team, if the visiting team does not score?
• and so on.

And a secondary rationale for this post is to try to change the subject in a way to minimize the politically tinged discussions about Covid-19. Be forewarned that such comments are subject to removal. Continue reading →