Official Nationals and Orioles 2011 Thread

Not a big Nats follower, although I live 10 friggin' minutes from the ballpark. But do you guys think there's much, if any, falloff between Riggleman and Johnson?

In what sense? In terms of quality...hell to the no. Johnson is a far better manager in a general sense. We need to remember that Riggleman up until he had taken the Nats job had been an abject failure as a manager. He was regarded as one of the worst managers in the game. But since this team wasn't a team that was in any position to compete regularly he wasn't brought in to manage as much as to watch over and make sure they the younger players had a good environment in which to gain experience. There's little doubt that Rigs was right in teh sense that he wasn't the long term answer at manager. Hence the rolling one-year deals.

Now that the team has shown some cohesion and competitiveness they need to be managed in a competitive way. The question is whether DJ's style will work straight away or whether it will take some time for the players and him to adapt to each other, if ever.

Riggleman was perhaps best known as the guy who ran Kerry Wood's arm into the ground. Hence so much trepidation last year when Strasburg kept pitching

In what sense? In terms of quality...hell to the no. Johnson is a far better manager in a general sense. We need to remember that Riggleman up until he had taken the Nats job had been an abject failure as a manager. He was regarded as one of the worst managers in the game. But since this team wasn't a team that was in any position to compete regularly he wasn't brought in to manage as much as to watch over and make sure they the younger players had a good environment in which to gain experience. There's little doubt that Rigs was right in teh sense that he wasn't the long term answer at manager. Hence the rolling one-year deals.

Now that the team has shown some cohesion and competitiveness they need to be managed in a competitive way. The question is whether DJ's style will work straight away or whether it will take some time for the players and him to adapt to each other, if ever.

Nationals GM Mike Rizzo needs Davey Johnson hire to work - The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/nationals-gm-mike-rizzo-needs-davey-johnson-hire-to-work/2011/06/25/AGqdgAlH_story.html)

Riggleman was perhaps best known as the guy who ran Kerry Wood's arm into the ground. Hence so much trepidation last year when Strasburg kept pitching

Yeah Rigs is actually a major factor in the history of baseball. The current trend of intently protecting the pitchers' arms is in large part due to his mismanagement of Wood and the chilling effect it has had on the role of work-horse pitching in the majors. Woods is the poster child for teams now when they develop young pitchers..as to what not to do.

Nats TV ratings still climbing - DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/nats-tv-ratings-still-climbing/2011/06/23/AGQJkLnH_blog.html)

Well the bullpen finally collapsed last night. Shame to see, but hopefully it's just a bump in the road.

Meanwhile, Cliff Lee has been ridiculous this month for the Phillies

Kevin Kennedy says Riggleman had lost the Nats clubhouse - DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/kevin-kennedy-says-riggleman-had-lost-the-nats-clubhouse/2011/06/30/AGSHKZsH_blog.html#pagebreak)

If that is true, that makes me feel better about the timing of Riggleman leaving. The Davey Johnson era hasn't gotten off to a good start since getting swept by the Angels but they are still only 1 game under .500. I hope this slump is just temporary.

Anybody been watching the Nats lately? I was able to catch the endings of both their walkoffs against the Phillies yesterday and Friday night. First Ryan Zimm hitting a walkoff grand slam after rallying in the bottom of the ninth and then yesterday walking off after Brad Lidge plunked Johnny Gomes with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th? There's no greater justice than seeing stupid Philly fans waste all their money to take a nice little roadtrip down to our ballpark to see the Nats end the Phillies road series winning streak. They had a good game against us in the middle of the series but I'll take it as I'd rather have two walkoffs and one bad game than to have a good game and two ones where you lose via walkoff.

Yeah and a strong performance by Detwiler tonight.

Yeah and a strong performance by Detwiler tonight.

Yeah I watched tonight's game as well. Strong performance by Detwiler, H. Rod had a shaky performance getting that third out in the 7th, but a quick 8th and 9th by Mattheus and Storen was good as well.

And it was really nice to see Jayson Werth hit the 3 run homer in the fourth, I'm not nearly as down on him as other members of the fanbases are. He had an excellent at bat against Madson on Friday night to start the rally and I think he's setting himself up for a strong finish. It's always nice to see a game where there's not much suspense at the end, and that's what tonight's game was.