Nationals Daily Evolutions 8/26/10

I am having a lot of weird thoughts today. First off I have an extreme Jekyll and Hyde personality when it comes to baseball. Last night listening to that annoying Bob Marley song (I don't care what the song is if they play it after the Nats lose it would annoy me) playing over the loudspeakers of Nats Park I walked out with my head down and fists clinched...TO BE CONTINUED

I will continue all that in a fanpost later it is just too much to say. My other odd thought last night is that we are in the future. My magical mobile device was helping me to communicate with people all over the park either by text message or twitter. Twitter truly is an amazing thing. I was able to look in at some interesting conversations between semi-famous baseball personalities. Buster Onley and Keith Law had an interesting discussion about Trevor Cahill, which actually made me want to watch him pitch. When someone quotes FIP I always feel like the answer is E: Not Enough Information. I have expressed my dislike for the use of FIP for pitchers like Tim Hudson (3.89) and Chris Carpenter (3.83) before. So in order to really know if Cahill is bending the batters to his will or if he is lucky with attem balls I have to see him with my own eyes for a number of starts.  


The last two days have been no fun to say the least. So, lets start off with some good news and a list of what are some of the best days in Nats history. --Mark Zuckerman from natsinsider.com

A little bit more good news before we go down the dark, dark path of last nights game. Ryan Zimmerman is pictured as a notable alum from UVA. --publicaffairs.virginia.edu

I guess it is time to get to last nights game, but first a look at how Adam Dunn is slumping. --Mark Zuckerman at natsinsider.com

Jason Marquis had his best start of the year last night, but the Nats offense has been punchless lately. --Ben Goessling from masnsports.com

Stay tuned after the jump for more news on everything you care about and some things you don't.

I am sure if you have been to Nats Park and watched them get creamed with a bunch of the other team's fans in attendence you have wanted to hit them too, but Nyjer Morgan might have taken it a little too far beaning a fan after a verbal altercation. --Adam Kilgore at washingtonpost.com

Today is the MRI that could end our world or bring us some form of joy. Sometimes reading information on the internet can be dangerous, and often it makes me want to pull out a red pin and write, "Site your sources." --Eli Greenspan mlbdailydish.com

Reverberations will be felt throughout MLB if the MRI reveals the worst as many playoff hopefuls have promising young starters of their own. --Jerry Crasnick ESPN.com

In case you were really wondering about where the injury is and what it effects here is a great video explaining where and what the flexor tendon is. --Will Carroll at sportingnews.com

The living legend Peter Gammons even weighs in on if Strasburg should be shut down for the rest of the year. I seriously hope that this question can still be debated after the MRI results come in. --Dan Steinberg from The DC Sports Bog

It is my opinion that starters have to earn the right to be left in games and work out of their own jams. This of course would be a great issue of debate, and John Lannan has his own opinion on it. --Ben Goessling masnsports.com

Ross Detwiler is working his way back after his hip injury flaired up again. I have gone from being high on Dewtiler to wondering if he can even stay healthy. I love to be proven wrong when I start to doubt a Nats player. --Byron Kerr from masnsports.com

After watching the Cubs sweep the Nats Pat Listach would like to be on the winning team. --Bill Ladson at nationals.com

Rob Dibble has decided to take the next two games off and Stan Kasten had something to say about it. --Dan Steinberg at The DC Sports Bog

Mike Rizzo answers some questions on the minor leagues, minor leaguers, and the future of the pitching rotation. --Mike Rizzo at masnsports.com

No man can eat 50 eggs, but how many wings can you eat in 90 seconds? Come out the the ballpark Friday night for your chance to find out. 90 seconds isn't a lot of time and unless you are Joey Chesnut my answer would be somewhere between five and ten. --Kristen Hudak masnsports.com

Where are Charlie and Dave? Seriously Bob and Rob make the list, but Charlie and Dave don't. --Ken Meringolo from dc.sbnation.com

Around the NL East

They say these sort of things even out, and things just got even for Atlanta as the Rockies paid them back for their walk-off grand-slam earlier this season against the Reds. --AP at si.com

Fans boycotting games orstaging walkouts to show ownership their displeasure are becoming quite popular. The Mets fans had there very own to show Mets ownership that they want things to change. --'Duk at yahoosports.com

I personally think it would be great to see a triple crown winner, and I am hoping that either Pujols or Votto can pull it off, but all-star Omar Infante could win the batting title on a loophole. --The Common Man at platoonadvantage.com

General Baseball

Chicks might dig the long ball, but more people dig new stadiums and expansion teams. A look back at 1998 and some other factors that might have helped "save baseball." --Thom Loverro espn980.com

If a baseball team is a business and can make more money by losing than by winning then isn't losing the logical thing to do. Maybe the issue isn't the way the teams are run, but the system that is in place that lets them operate that way. --Joe Sheehan si.com  

Any time a player has a good offensive season, especially when they usually don't, questions will be raised. --Jerod at midwestsportsfan.com

RBI is more an indication that the batters in front of a player are doing their job than the player in question is doing their's. A look at some 100 RBI seasons that might have actually hurt the team. --Andy from baseball-reference.com

The last few seasons have had a 163rd game and this year we might see more of the same as every division race is close, and it is a great time to be a baseball fan (just not a Nats fan). --Kalani Simpson at foxsports.com

Bryce Harper may have been on the cover of SI at 16, but he has nothing on this kid. --Video at si.com

It is a long season for umpires too and they might be in a hurry to get it over with. An examination of the umpires and a possible expanding strike zone. --Jeff Zimmerman at fangraphs.com

Manny being placed on waivers. --Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi from foxsports.com

An examination of how the waiver process works. --Joe Lemire si.com

Frank Deford is another living legend of sports writers, and he questions in this world of drugs, sex addiction, and prima-donnas who there is left to be a roll model. --Frank Deford at npr.com

There is some good news as Jordan Zimmermann returns tonight. Of course the bad news is he is facing Chris Carpenter and Albert Pujols. I don't really see things going our way this weekend, but like I have said before, I love it when the Nats prove me wrong.