The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

Photo Credit: Joe Gentry

On the eve of the season’s start I discussed how a week of the baseball season is equivalent to a mile in a marathon.  The first couple of miles are always about trying to get settled.  You’ve had a long season of preparations.  The cannon goes off and the nervous energy is on hyper-drive.  The third and fourth miles are where rhythm comes in to play.  There is finally enough space around to dictate your own pace without being trampled.  And make no mistake; the second pair of miles is all about establishing the pace.  No one runs a marathon without a target time.  Minutes lost at the beginning are dearly won back on the back end.  Most times those minutes simply stay lost.  So these miles are all about getting on that pace that will bring the time home.

All About Pace

TalkNats asked for readers to submit their predictions for total Nationals wins this year.  The numbers reflect an optimistic outlook.  There were 31 sets of predictions in the sample.  There was a high of 103 and a low of 83.  The median was 94.  It was also the most popular number with 6 submissions.  Throwing out the highest ten percent and the lowest the Standard Deviation was 4 wins.  The One-Sigma control band then is 98 wins on the top of the band and 90 wins on the bottom.  These are significant numbers in terms of playoff ramifications.  Continue reading →

When I told Steve “The Ghost” last week that my copy of The Phenomenon by Rick Ankiel had shipped and I couldn’t wait for it to arrive, he said he’d love a book review when I was done reading it. I told him that sounded great, although I couldn’t promise I could get him something anytime soon, as I’m the slowest reader imaginable, and I’m generally so exhausted after work that the idea of reading puts me to sleep. A few minutes later, he told me someone else might beat me to that review. Probably for the best, I thought. When I was halfway through the book, I sent him a message saying that, even if someone else beat me to it, I’d still love to write up my own review. He told me that would be fine.

Now, approximately 32 hours after I started the book (32 hours that included Caps and Nats games, a full day of work plus a lengthy DMV commute, and some semblance of sleep in between those things), I’m finished and I’m full of feelings and thoughts, so much so that I don’t even know where or how to start this, but I know I want to find a way to put words to paper. Continue reading →