Click to Read an Important Member Update Regarding Our Comment System
We recently upgraded our comment system to improve reliability, performance, and long-term control, and we’re currently running both systems during the transition. This shift moves us away from an external service to a system we run and control directly—meaning we own the content and can continue improving it over time. We’ve also reduced the comment refresh delay from about 30 seconds to 10 seconds, making it much closer to real-time.
We understand there have been frustrations and increased feedback, and we’re actively working to improve things. What we ask is simple: use the system and give it a fair shot. If you run into issues, please submit them through the support form so we can track and fix them properly. Repeated complaints without details don’t help us solve problems—we appreciate your patience as we continue refining the experience.
If you’d like a full side-by-side comparison of the platforms and the reasons behind this decision, please refer to the chart below. This change is being made with the long-term benefit of the entire community in mind.
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This pause in sports has given fans a little window into how some of our favorite athletes like to spend their time when not training or playing. Some, like Juan Soto, have been playing video games against other baseball players. Teammate Trea Turner has been working on his Soto Shuffle in his backyard. Ryan Zimmerman is finding he finally has the time to meet friend Washington Capitals player Nicklas Backstrom for a round of golf, only to realize they’re unable to actually get together to play. It should come as no surprise that Sean Doolittle is filling much of his time with books, which he occasionally reads. Continue reading →
Is it Walter Johnson, Sammy Baugh, Wes Unseld, and Alexander Ovechkin as the Mt. Rushmore of DC athletes? Do we do the right thing and add the greatest D.C. athlete, Katie Ledecky, who is probably the greatest female swimmer ever? There are so many questions to ask and answer. And what about Sugar Ray Leonard who was a great boxer or athletes who grew up in Washington and played elsewhere? Ledecky, Leonard, Maury Wills, and Elgin Baylor never really played in D.C. although they all grew up in the area. Nobody will ever agree on who the greatest athletes are from D.C. and maybe it is best to look at the team sport athletes for the Mt. Rushmore who actually played long stretches of their careers in D.C. We have Max Scherzer with five years of tenure as a D.C. athlete, and he has to be the best baseball player since Walter Johnson who donned the W on a baseball cap. But is five years enough? Continue reading →
The Pros For Heroes charity was created this week by Ryan and Heather Zimmerman
There are talkers and there are doers. Ryan Zimmerman is the latter and usually a man of few words, but his humble nature as a man who does not talk much all changed as he saw a need and put his money where his mouth is. Born out of necessity because of this COVID-19 crisis, Ryan and his wife Heather Zimmerman heard the words of a friend from Great Falls who happens to be a doctor at Inova Fairfax Hospital. There is a great need to take care of the families of our health care workers who are working around the clock at the hospitals during this pandemic and need to feed themselves and their families. Zim took his ZiMS Foundation and created Pros For Heroes within it. The first donation was from his pocket — $100,000. The Scherzer family followed with $20,000 and Patrick Corbin put up $5,000 and as of last night 900 regular people put up another $50,000 and within hours of its inception, over $200,000 was raised. Continue reading →
This is the time you need Facebook! Players and coaches from the Washington Nationals 2019 World Series team will be watching the game on www.Facebook.com/Nationals live beginning at 6:45 pm leading into Game 7 of the World Series. If the technology works, Dan Kolko of MASN will be doing some Q & A with players who will be sharing some stories you have never heard before. Continue reading →
For those who want to look back in time, 15 years ago today, the Washington Nationals played their first game ever. Their temporary digs were in Washington’s RFK stadium at that point in time in 2005. Besides some exhibition games, the last time a regular season game was played at RFK Stadium was the Washington Senators in 1971.
What a day it was with all of the pomp and circumstance and pageantry of that special day to bring baseball back to Washington, D.C. With President Bush throwing out the first pitch to Brian Schneider, and Livan Hernandez pitching into the 9th inning with a save by the “Chief” Chad Cordero to preserve the win. The offense was provided by a near “cycle” by Vinny Castilla who was just a single shy of the feat. The crowd was roaring that day with 45,596 in paid attendance, and the Nats did not disappoint. It was the beginning of something special. Continue reading →
Four things you remember from this sixth World Series game was manager Dave Martinez becoming unglued after Trea Turner was ruled out for runner’s obstruction or some rule to that effect, Strasburg was told he was tipping pitches via Jonathan Tosches who is the coordinator of advanced scouting, Rendon’s big home run, and that the Nationals forced a Game 7 winner-take-all game. While we know the Nats won this game, you will get to re-live it on MASN tonight at 7 pm. Continue reading →
Davey Martinez on St. Patrick’s Day 2019; Photo courtesy of Kelly Collis for TalkNats
Two months after that photo was taken, Dave Martinez was not smiling so boldly. His Washington Nationals team was hurting, literally, and had an 18-26 record on the season. Maybe the luck of the Irish paid off for Davey along with his positive mental attitude that got him through calls for his head on the chopping block. In the manager’s discussion with Buster Olney on his Podcast, you will learn how Davey got through the stressful month of May and led his team to a World Series win.
Martinez was widely criticized for bringing camels to the 2018 Spring Training as a first year manager then he got back to basics with fewer gimmicks in his 2019 Spring Training camp. Yes, the Circle of Trust was back, but there were no camels or golfing off of the practice field. What Davey learned was that he did not have a hump to get over, and with so many new players on the 2019 squad who were not around for all of the disappointment from 2012 through 2018 — he only had Ryan Zimmerman as the common denominator from those teams that never got past the NLDS. While Stephen Strasburg played during the 2012 season, he was controversially — yet rightfully not on the 2012 postseason roster during his shutdown. From the 2019 squad, only Zim, Stras, Asdrubal Cabrera and Anthony Rendon were part of that 2014 postseason team. You get the point. This was not even the highest WAR rated team that general manager Mike Rizzo put together during 2019. The 2015 “Where’s My Ring” team was great on paper, and that team along with the 2016-2017 teams were the reason why Martinez was hired. Continue reading →
Those who gave the Nationals no chance of winning the first World Series game with Gerrit Cole on the mound, got a good look at what these Washington Nationals are made of. You have to be sure that many who were predicting the Nats quick demise in this World Series had a different outlook on this team the day after. The Nationals were on this grand stage because they are good, and they also looked energized in the first game after six days between the NLCS and the World Series. That break between the NLCS and Game 1 of the World Series was the most time that Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon, and Juan Soto had off the playing field since each was on the 10-day IL earlier in the season. Each player had little to no time off until the Nats clinched a Wild Card berth, and each got the feeling back in their legs with the week off between the NLCS and the World Series. Continue reading →
The Washington Nationals went into the morning of May 24th with a miniscule chance of making the postseason. The Nats defied the odds entering the postseason as the Wild Card berth. The team found themselves in varying odds of underdogs during each series in the postseason. The Nats were big underdogs against the Dodgers in the NLDS, and slight underdogs in the NLCS against the Cardinals, and the second worst odds of winning the World Series against the Astros. Caesars Sportsbook opened with the Astros as -235 favorites to beat the Nationals in the best-of-seven series. The Nats were listed as +195 underdogs. Continue reading →
They need to rename the Manager of the Year award to “Manager of the Regular Season” as Steve Mears exclaimed. Make it accurate for what it is. Maybe this is the one award voted on by the BBWAA that should be voted on after the World Series. After watching this NLCS in replay and knowing that Cardinals manager Mike Shildt won the Manager of the Year award over all other NL managers including Dave Martinez. You know that it isn’t about the “year” rather more about the regular season — if that. You know the way the NLCS went as the Nats convincingly swept the Cardinals in four games. The Cardinals batted .130 in the series, and they did not score an earned run off of a Nationals starter until the fourth inning of the fourth game when the Nats were up 7-0 in the game. Prior to that, the Cardinals only RBI was on a misread of a ball hit at Michael Taylor. Martinez in his second year of managing also took an injury ravaged team from a 19-31 record to the postseason and a World Series win. Continue reading →
We recently upgraded our comment system to improve reliability, performance, and long-term control, and we’re currently running both systems during the transition. This shift moves us away from an external service to a system we run and control directly—meaning we own the content and can continue improving it over time. We’ve also reduced the comment refresh delay from about 30 seconds to 10 seconds, making it much closer to real-time.
We understand there have been frustrations and increased feedback, and we’re actively working to improve things. What we ask is simple: use the system and give it a fair shot. If you run into issues, please submit them through the support form so we can track and fix them properly. Repeated complaints without details don’t help us solve problems—we appreciate your patience as we continue refining the experience.
If you’d like a full side-by-side comparison of the platforms and the reasons behind this decision, please refer to the chart below. This change is being made with the long-term benefit of the entire community in mind.