Planetary Nats Blog

When you’re a season ticket holder – and it doesn’t really matter what team you hold tickets for – you get to know your home stadium pretty well. You have your secret stairwells and exits, and parking spaces. The last out is made, the final buzzer sounds, and you’re off to the races, into your car, and ahead of 95 percent of the  fans.

So it was with me back in the early 80’s when I was a Capitals season ticket holder. I had my tickets in section 208 at the Capital Centre. When the game was over, it was down the stairs, straight across the concourse, through two sets of double doors, and then into the night.

There was a special part of my ritual that I was reminded of today. When I walked across the concourse there at section 208, I would always look to my right, because I would always see Abe Pollin leaving his seats and heading for his office. Abe was always there.

I never bothered to say hello to Mr. Pollin when I saw him, though I wish now that I had. The Washington Post has a photo gallery on their website now, and wading through the photos brought back some incredible memories. In many ways, he was just another fan, just like me. He was at the games, just like me. He was proud of his team, just like me.

Mr. Pollin made an incredible contribution to sports in Washington, and the community as a whole.

We’ll miss him.

What are you doing Saturday afternoon?

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ll be watching the Desert Dogs – Javalinas game on television*.

And for that, you have Stephen Strasburg to thank.

The Nationals are pretty psyched about it too, I bet. After all, here it is just a week before Thanksgiving, and quite a few fans are going to tune in a baseball game to watch Strasburg and the Phoenix Desert Dogs try to win the Arizona Fall League Championship. It is probably safe to assume that interest among Nats fans has never been higher, and I confess, a big part of why I went to Phoenix was to see Strasburg. But like they say in advertising, “Come for the Strasburg, stay for the rest of the Nats.”

Between Strasburg and the Desert Dogs, and the splash that Mike Rizzo is making revamping the front office (more on this soon), it is likely that the Nationals have never had a better November. Okay, November 2004 might have been better, but that was technically the Expos, and from the Montreal perspective, that wasn’t a good month at all.

The only downside: High expectations. We’ve had them before – search my blog for “irrational exuberance”. But I think we’ve all been hurt enough now that our expectations are more in line with reality.

The Nats paid a lot for the privilege of signing Stephen Strasburg. When they weighed the cost and the benefit of signing him, I wonder how much they considered the good feelings and attention that would be generated in the offseason with his participation in the AFL. In most other years, the AFL action would be an obscure afterthought for most people. But this year, a lot of attention has been called to AFL, and Nationals fans are getting to “see” not only Strasburg, but also Drew Storen, Chris Marrero, Danny Espinosa, Josh Wilkie, Jeff Mandel and Sean Rooney.

So Saturday afternoon, a lot of people will be watching college football. The hardcore of us – most of you reading this – will be watching the AFL Championship Game on television.

This is very good news.

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*The AFL Championship Game can be seen starting at 2:30 Eastern Time/10:30 Alaska Time on MLB Network (cable) and MLB.TV (Internet).

Nationals fans got some of their Christmas presents early this week, with the announcements that Ryan Zimmerman was honored with both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards for his amazing play in 2009. Add to that the announcement that Jim Riggleman has been chosen as the permanent manager for the Nationals, and you’d be hard pressed to find a week with more Nationals news that didn’t have seven lineup cards and a few home runs.

Bloggers got an extra gift this morning – a telephone press conference with Jim Riggleman.

After having spoken to Drew Storen last week in Arizona, I was curious if Riggleman had some advice for those young players that were hoping to crack the twenty-five man roster this spring. Riggleman pointed out that the players in the Arizona Fall League are the cream of the crop and that the majority of them make it to the Major Leagues – though not all make it right out of spring training. Riggleman added that Storen’s path through the organization – signing early after the draft, getting considerable experience in the minors, and then an additional stint in the Arizona Fall League has done nothing but help his chances. And while Riggleman said it was too early to say exactly where Storen might land in the spring, he suggested that there might be opportunities for him if he earns it in spring training.

Some other notes from the press teleconference:

• Riggleman hopes to have Cristian Guzman play at second base this year. Guzman’s September injury to his shoulder prevented the Nats from trying Guzman at second at the end of the season. Guzman’s surgery was successful and the damage found was minimal, so there is every hope that a healthy Guzman will move to second base in the spring.
• … which brings us to shortstop. Riggleman mentioned that he would be comfortable with Ian Desmond at shortstop, but there has been some recent rumors that the Nationals may be interested in other shortstops that might be available on the free agent market.
• Scott Olsen is recovering well from his surgery, and is expected to be ready for spring training.
• Jordan Zimmerman is also recovering well from his surgery, but Riggleman does not expect Zimmermann to be back before 2011.

Drew Storen pitches a scoreless ninth inning against the Surprise Rafters on November 2.

As the blazing November noon-day sun beat down on the fans and players at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Tuesday, Drew Storen came out of the Phoenix Desert Dogs dugout and signed autographs for a few dozen fans assembled behind first base. He seemed happy to visit with the fans and sign a few baseballs before the game with the Surprise Rafters. When he was done, he came over to where I was standing and we chatted a bit about what the offseason held for him. The Arizona Fall League continues for a few more weeks, ending just before Thanksgiving, and Drew plans to head back to Indianapolis, where his family lives. After Christmas, he plans to head down to Florida and get a place near Viera and get ready for Spring Training.

Then I asked him about what his plans and goals were for Spring Training and April. A huge smile came over his face, and his eyes got as big as dinner plates.

“I am going to make an impact”

In fact, he already has. His AFL performances have been a continuation of his rapid rise through the Nationals farm system. Drafted in the first round, he signed quickly and got to work, moving through A and AA, where he had a combined ERA of 1.95 (including his eleven-game stint in Harrisburg where he pitched thirteen and a third scoreless innings). After the season, he headed to Phoenix in October for another thirty-five games in the AFL. So far he’s had nine appearances for the Desert Dogs, with just a single earned run (0.93 ERA, one walk, nine strikeouts).

He’s both blessed and cursed to play for the top team in the league, and because of the Desert Dogs high-powered offense, Drew has had few save opportunities (two, so far). I asked him if it was hard to get his innings in, given the save opportunities were so few. “No,” he said, “in fact, I am getting plenty of work – more than I expected. It is about getting your innings in, and not saves.”

 He’s also earned himself a spot in the Arizona Fall League Rising Star game, played on Saturday (8:15 PM Eastern, 4:15 PM Alaska)  and available on the MLB network and at MLB.TV.

Drew is also making an impact off the field. He maintains a very entertaining Twitter stream and a blog. He seems very at ease being out there where people can find him, whether it is standing next to the dugout signing baseballs, talking to Nationals bloggers, or tweeting about his dinner plans or a concert.

A note to Drew: Washington is beautiful when the cherry trees are in bloom. See ya there?

Beyond the left field fence at Surprise Stadium, the billboard-sized scoreboard displays the line-score of the game, balls, strikes and outs. And at the bottom of the sign, between the Budweiser and the Bud Lite advertisements is a collection of lights, with the caption “MPH”. The casual fan could be excused if he or she thought that part of the scoreboard wasn’t working today, because the first two times Stephen Strasburg threw a pitch, the display showed “00″. I was convinced it wasn’t working until the third pitch, when the MPH display showed “01″.

Stephen Strasburg pitches against the Surprise Rafters on November 2.

The radar gun just confirmed what anyone watching already knew: these were extraordinary pitches from an extraordinary pitcher. One could go through most of a season of Major League games and see but a handful of pitches that exceeded 100 MPH. But here in Surprise Stadium clearly something special was happening. It seemed every pitch that left Strasburg’s hand put goose-eggs on the radar gun.  A friend of mine who attended the game with me, but who has never seen a Major League game in person watched the top half of the first inning, and when Strasburg took his first few pitches in the bottom of the first, she actually gasped in amazement. “Even I can tell.” she said.

She wasn’t alone. The crowd of about 300 sat in complete silence – the only sounds were the hum of the air conditioners and the pop of baseballs against leather. Nobody cheered or clapped. They watched.

When Strasburg left the game at the end of the fifth inning, the crowd seemed to wake up and realize they were watching a baseball game. The fans started to clap and cheer – though AFL crowds tend to be small and quiet.

All it all it was a great day for the Desert Dogs, who won the game 10-2. It was a great day for the Nationals, too.  Chris Marrero (DH) and Danny Espinosa (SS) both had spectacular days, with Marerro going two-for-five with five RBIs and Espinosa two-for-four with a walk, scoring three runs. Nationals relief pitchers also had great days, with Josh Wilkie, Jeff Mandel and Drew Storen each pitching an inning in relief. Mandel allowed the only other run of the game.