How' bout those Expos.....Ahem ...Nationals.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:23 pm

1st place in a tough division, a streak of 10 wins in a row, a veteran coach that's liked among his players & peers, a solid young team with a fan base growing every week. Just what Montreal wanted to hear....

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:34 pm

My Phillies go 12-1 on their 13 game homestand, and we're still 1.5 games behind the Nats.

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:47 pm

Too bad they still don't have an owner

<-----------Thanks Bud

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:17 pm

The Nats are definitely in it for the long haul. I just don't think they'll end up having the pitching to contend for the division crown this year. As soon as the Braves get healthy and the Marlins start getting the production from people they are supposed to (cough...Lowell)...I think they will catch and surpass the Nats. But then again, anything can happen in that division...it is literally even across the board.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 10:07 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:The Nats are definitely in it for the long haul. .. and the Marlins start getting the production from people they are supposed to (cough...Lowell)...I think they will catch and surpass the Nats. But then again, anything can happen in that division...it is literally even across the board.

And Delgado probably misses the Jays.

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 10:15 pm

10spro wrote:
dbdynsty25 wrote:The Nats are definitely in it for the long haul. .. and the Marlins start getting the production from people they are supposed to (cough...Lowell)...I think they will catch and surpass the Nats. But then again, anything can happen in that division...it is literally even across the board.

And Delgado probably misses the Jays.

I doubt that. The Jays will eventually fade, and the Marlins are too good of a club to hover around .500 the entire season. There's still a lot of ball left. I'm happy to see the Phillies showing some life, but until I see what position we're in, come late August, I won't get too excited.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 10:32 pm

Sully wrote:The Jays will eventually fade,

Already fading...swept by the Astros....

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 10:58 pm

DivotMaker wrote:
Sully wrote:The Jays will eventually fade,
Already fading...swept by the Astros....

Guys, guys, it's a long season and not to say they'll be contenders but with their only ace in R. Halladay, the only other known players are probably Hinske & Wells and so far they managed to stay ahead none other than the Yankees all season long.

fatheadX · Post by **fatheadX** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 10:08 am

I can't believe how well the Phils have played and they are still being outshadowed by the Nats. What a great run for both teams. I hope the Phillies can keep this going, but I have to believe the Marlins and Braves will wake from their slumber shortly. It is impressive that all teams in the division are over .500, but I guess that will end when the divisional games get going again.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 10:16 am

dbdynsty25 wrote:The Nats are definitely in it for the long haul. I just don't think they'll end up having the pitching to contend for the division crown this year. As soon as the Braves get healthy and the Marlins start getting the production from people they are supposed to (cough...Lowell)...I think they will catch and surpass the Nats. But then again, anything can happen in that division...it is literally even across the board.

Well put. Frank Robinson is doing a hell of a job with the Nats. I love that they got rid of Ohka after he showed up Frank...beautiful. I'm just so glad I don't have to watch all those games at Olympic stadium anymore (sorry Canadian friends). Man, I hated that. Cordero is my fantasy league closer! He gets me 35+ points a week! Starting pitching will be the difference in the division and I don't think the Nats have enough of it.

My phils are playing their best ball in the past 5 years. I don't hear anyone bitching about Charlie Manuel now. Wolf's injury has me worried. All of these wins have been with Thome struggling too. I love Chase Utley. Burrell is flat out getting it done and Abreu is about as professional a hitter as you can get. He is a joy to watch.

The Braves will always scare me and the Marlins pitching staff is impressive. I had a chance to sit down with Leo Mazzone at a clinic this past January and I found out why the Braves have been winning the past 13 years. Not that it was a secret but I got to hear it right from the horses mouth

What a great guy. Any team could win the damn division. Sad thing is these teams will beat up on each other so much that the wildcard will never come from the east. Sorry Mets fans...I hate the Mets

All due respect to other sports but Baseball is king...at least to me.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 11:47 am

Diablo25 wrote:All due respect to other sports but Baseball is king...at least to me.

I agree 100%...

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:09 pm

For those interested in off-the-field machinations, here's a good article about the poison pill inserted into the deal for any new Nationals ownership.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/artic ... -continue/

The more things change, the more they stay the same

And thanks diablo25 for dumping the Andy Reid avatar

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 2:28 pm

Nats had a great run, their streak was finally snapped yesterday.

bphilipb · Post by **bphilipb** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:27 pm

Well, the run is over but at least it ended against a good team in the Angels. The great thing about it though is even though they lost and got their butts kicked 11-1 they come back and win the next two 6-3 and 1-0. That is the sign of a team that will contend for the season.

I think that teams that are flashes in the pan would of probably melted down by now but the Nats keep on rolling. Frank has done a great job with this team especially since they have so many guys on the DL.

There is still a lot of baseball to be played and the Braves, Marlins, Phillies and Mets will be tough. It is fun to watch though.

Yes, I am a little biased.... I work for the Nats.

BB

Gamertag: bubbaball

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:46 pm

The Braves only chance to win this year will depend on how close they can stay in the race up until August. With Hampton, Thomson, Chipper, Furcal, Hudson and Estrada all hurt...they are resorting to starting 6 or 7 rookies each day. I'm sure no one is feeling sorry for the Braves, but it just doesn't look good this year.

If they can stay within about 5 or 6 games through July, they'll have a shot because most of those players should be back. If they don't, it's going to be an awfully daunting task. I'm not totally giving up, I just realize the nature of the task ahead...it's going to be damn difficult for #14.

skidmark · Post by **skidmark** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:59 pm

Ol' Bobby humbled me last night...

First time the starting lineup was made of players who were all younger than me:

DH Orr 6/8/79
2B Giles 5/18/78
LF Johnson 2/22/82
1B LaRoche 11/6/79
CF Jones 4/23/77
RF Langerhans 2/20/80
3B Marte 10/21/83
C McCann 2/20/84
SS Betemit 7/28/80
P Davies 9/9/83

-Over half of your position players and your starting pitcher all born in the 80's - that's going young. Andruw Jones is the grandpa of the bunch at 28. Hopefully they'll face a lefty soon so that I can feel young again.

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 3:40 pm

LOL. Get used to it.

I'm still younger than Bobby Cox, Jack McKeon and Felipe Alou. But that's about it.

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 4:47 pm

With the increase in attendance for the Nats (they have already surpassed their grand total from last year in Montreal!) they say they have some more $$$ to go after a power hitter or two.

If they can do that, and people like Nick Johnson keep up their career years....... it might be an exciting time to be an Expos fan.

skidmark · Post by **skidmark** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:41 pm

Ah, a lefty today so I'm in much better shape... Jordan, Smoltz, and the ultimate grandpa
- Julio Franco.

Combined ages of yesterday's battery = 5 years younger than Julio Franco

Julio Franco is obviously old, but it really, really hit home to me this past summer when they showed some Sid Bream highlights. "I remember that guy pushing his body even though he was past his prime, some great memories of him gritting it out before retirement a decade ago"... Sid is younger than Franco.

fightingcamel · Post by **fightingcamel** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 4:37 pm

BTW, did you see Julio steal 2nd and then 3rd last night! That was great!

skidmark · Post by **skidmark** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:05 pm

Yea, that was classic. 2B was a straight up swipe with a decent jump on the pitcher, but third didn't even have a throw because they just ignored him figuring "No way that fossil attempts another one."

I remember seeing him last year on a hot saturday afternoon game in chavez ravine. The guy was doing more stretches than a lamaze class between every..single..pitch. Everytime he bent over for another set of cotton pickers before he got his lead I swear I could smell the ben-gay just oozing out of his pores - from the upper deck.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:29 pm

It's been a month since this thread was psted and look at them. Still on top of their division, some 4-5 games ahead of Atlanta, another winning streak and my vote to start the all start break for the NL. L Hernandez with a 12-2 record. These guys are for real folks, I don't see them shaking any time soon....

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:42 pm

Yeah...but they need to extend that lead if they are going to hold on to it. How the Braves have stayed only 4 games back with 11 rookies on the roster is beyond me. It's going to be tough for the Nats to hold onto that lead with Chipper, Hudson, Hampton and Thomson coming back. If they couldn't start pulling away with all of them out, it's gonna be damn tough with them all back in the lineup. Bobby Cox, as well as Frank Robinson deserve major Coach of the Year consideration.

EDiddy · Post by **EDiddy** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:57 pm

Chipper, Hudson, Hampton and Thomson, wow, thats some serious ammo returning. Should be in exciting race. Jim Bowden needs to be given a lot of credit with wash. He was a great GM with the reds, and has continued in washington.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 5:41 pm

Mayday, Mayday...we're taking on water.

Kiss the Nats goodbye...like I said. How the Braves go from 5.5 back at the end of June, to 4.5 up at the begining of August is beyond me. The Nats are finally playing like...well...the Expos. It just took them a little longer to come back to earth than most thought.

I'm worried about the Phils and the Marlins...not the Nats (or Mets for that matter). And the Braves are still without Hampton and Thomson...

Can you say Jeff Francoeur for Rookie of the Year? Too bad he probably won't qualify. But after 18 games:

.407 avg. 6 Hrs, 17 rbis, 16 runs scored and 5 outfield assists.

Anyone who says the Braves don't have the best scouting department in the league obviously have not watched very closely this season. Francoeur, Davies, McCann, Langerhans, McBride, Boyer, Betemit and Orr have all been HUGE for the Braves this season...all rookies. I've never seen anything like it.