Comments for Planetary Nats Blog

Comment on Trade Deadline Post Mortem by Scooter

Scooter — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:05:34 +0000

A few thoughts:

1. The Nats have not yet earned the presumption of shrewdness. The Red Sox (e.g.) have; thus the article I saw just yesterday praising them for standing pat.

2. Reporters and commentators prefer events (trades) to non-events.

3. Contenders are more interesting than losing teams, so coverage is slanted toward them. Heck, even I started believing Dunn might be traded, because it kept coming up. But every story was about someone who wanted to *get* Dunn — not that the Nats wanted to *trade* him.

4. There’s a knee-jerk assumption that losing teams are poor, so they can’t afford big-name players, so they’re constantly trading for prospects. I think the Expos were experts at this, so it could even be partly a Montreal hangover.

5. You sound less glum than the other day.

Comment on Remind You of 2005? by Sec 204 Row H Seat 7

Sec 204 Row H Seat 7 — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:15:27 +0000

Drank to much of the kool-aid did we? This team will win 75-76 games. A vast improvement with ways to go. All bets are off if NATS trade Dunn and/or Willingham. If the returning pitches hold up, it should be an interesting off-season and 2011 season.

Comment on Remind You of 2005? by Jackobeam

Jackobeam — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:53:34 +0000

I agree, we need to trade for a right fielder. I am thrilled we are talking about playoffs now, hopefully we will not go the way of 2005. If we can hold on for 3-4 weeks, our pitching improves significantly, our hitting will/has to come around.

Who would we trade? Who would we trade for?

Comment on A few words with Stan Kasten by Wigi

Wigi — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:43:48 +0000

I started writing this before yesterday’s game… the comparison of the first ten games (or even better, the first nine games) makes them indistinguishable. The Nats had three errors in their eleventh game last year, to one yesterday. Also their team ERA dropped half a run yesterday, and their OPS went up .024 points.

Comment on A few words with Stan Kasten by Hendo

Hendo — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:38:08 +0000

As soon as I looked at the error count I could tell which year was which. And as you and I have discussed in the past, with fewer errors come lower ERAs.

To be sure, having Livo pitch a shutout doesn’t hurt a bit either.

Comment on Insulted by Hendo

Hendo — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:07:29 +0000

I’ve been quiet on this subject because up to now I’ve largely felt that the perceived behavior of Phillies fans was a matter of subjective interpretation.

But this is very bad. I’ve known Wigi long enough to know that he, too, is a disciple of objectivity — and when it gets bad enough for him to write a column like this, it’s very, very bad indeed.

Comment on Insulted by Wigi

Wigi — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 05:20:08 +0000

I certainly didn’t mean to imply that I didn’t enjoy seeing all my friends… that was definitely great… I just felt like the game experiennce was very uncomfortable, and that for a lot of reasons it was a disaster for the Nationals.

Comment on Insulted by Jenn Jenson

Jenn Jenson — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:44:05 +0000

Definitely could have been more fun, but I hope you nonetheless enjoyed spending time with a few Nats fans. When I get frustrated, it helps to think about all the fun people I’ve met through baseball.

Comment on Getting Noticed by Traveler

Traveler — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:40:40 +0000

Good report, Wigi, Drew sounds like a great guy and a dedicated player. Will you be getting to the Rising Stars game on Saturday night?

Comment on In Arizona, Its All Heat, All the Time by Traveler

Traveler — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:43:45 +0000

Thanks, Wigi, you’re bringing it alive for those of us far away from the action. Your observations on the other Nats would also be appreciated.

Comment on In Arizona, Its All Heat, All the Time by Sec. 3, my sofa

Sec. 3, my sofa — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:21:45 +0000

If you’re one of those who complains about loud music, mascot races, M/C shills throwing tee shirts to the crowd, and other non-baseball distractions, during an MLB game–in other words, you take your baseball straight–and did I mention it’s $6?–then spend a week of sun and clear skies here. (You’re still going to get people sitting in front of you getting up and down during an at-bat, alas.) The new park in Peoria is especially nice. Now if they only sold decent beer…

Comment on In Arizona, Its All Heat, All the Time by natsfan1a

natsfan1a — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:33:20 +0000

Hope that I’ll get there one day as well. For now, thanks for the post, which gives a nice taste of the experience! Hope that you’ll continue to update.

Comment on In Arizona, Its All Heat, All the Time by Ed

Ed — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:21:48 +0000

Hey, Wigi. Ed from Federal Baseball.com, if you’re at today’s game, stop by and say Hi. I’m the one in the heat resistant beard and the old blue Montreal Royals cap…can’t wait to see how Crow compares to Strasburg…

Comment on In Arizona, Its All Heat, All the Time by Hendo

Hendo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:04:19 +0000

AFL is an amazing experience, in no small part because so few seem to be aware of it. I hate it that I couldn’t go this year, but eventually I hope to spend most or all of my autumns in Phoenix.

Comment on Half a Loaf (plus some notes) by Dave at Nats News Network

Dave at Nats News Network — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:43:20 +0000

great piece. but at new Yankee Stadium, with the Legends Seats, or whatever they call them, no one with a regular ticket can get anywhere close enough to the field to get an autograph.

Comment on Teddy: A Sign of the Times by natsfan1a

natsfan1a — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:07:47 +0000

Excellent post, and I agree with the premise and the comments.

Comment on Teddy: A Sign of the Times by Wigi

Wigi — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:09:26 +0000

Thanks everyone for the comments. Let me clarify a couple things. First, I don’t believe that the Nats lose because Teddy loses. I believe that the fact that the resonant narrative about The Rushmores is the repeated losses of the dominant character, and that Teddy is a metaphor for the Nationals means we accept Teddy’s loss as predetermined, and we’re accepting the same for the Nats. If you think about it from a marketing standpoint, and think of The Rushmores as an ad for the Nats, why would you create a story line where the main character loses all the time? Some will say that the Nats didn’t create Teddy as the main character, but they also didn’t dissuade it from happening once the public started to embrace Teddy. Marketing and public relations are about controlling your image. Every time Teddy loses, they reinforce the message that the Nationals suck (and are bumbling about it)… and that it’s OK that they suck.

506, I remember people suggesting the name of the team be the Grays, and honestly I didn’t think much of it at the time. I would think differently about it now.

Comment on Teddy: A Sign of the Times by Section 506

Section 506 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:53:51 +0000

I remember saying back in winter 2005 that the team should be named the Grays — the only baseball team to be regular winners in DC history.

Comment on Teddy: A Sign of the Times by Presidents Race Fan

Presidents Race Fan — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:21:57 +0000

Well stated. Put me at the top of the list of those who think the Nats have taken this way too far.

(though I’m not sure your propensity to attend Nats losses in 2009 can be tied to anything other than the team’s abysmal home record)

I love the presidents race. It’s uniquely ours and has the power to draw new, young fans to the ball park; but the kids running this thing have injected enough gimmicks to turn it into a bad circus show.

Comment on Teddy: A Sign of the Times by SC Nats Fan

SC Nats Fan — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:30:20 +0000

In the words of Jack Kent Cooke….My gawd man, what a novel idea, Teddy in front. It is time for a change and Teddy could mark a new beginning.