Author Topic: Can we step back from the ledge, please?  (Read 13006 times)

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Offline zoom

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #25: August 02, 2012, 03:22:39 PM »
Is pushing some people off the ledge an option?

Offline MarquisDeSade

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #26: August 02, 2012, 03:23:25 PM »
Is pushing some people off the ledge an option?

Of course.  start with me and work your way backward.

Offline Slumpbuster

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #27: August 02, 2012, 10:15:45 PM »
I'm off the ledge but the window is still open.....

Offline welch

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #28: August 02, 2012, 10:54:30 PM »
These are the Washington Nationals, and outside of the Clark Griffith years, maybe 1915 - 1953, the butt of that old vaudeville joke. Lost games, lost two teams. Got a team that spiraled down to depths not matched except for one or two of the Chuck Dressen disasters and the first few expansion seasons. Mike Backsik and Matt Chico in starting rotation. Elijah Dukes. Insanity (aka Nyjer Morgan). A team that could not compete in AAA.

Sixty hopeless season, including 30 years of no baseball. In the late '90s, I was walking across a parking lot at HQ in Rockville with a couple of younger programmers, and they had never heard of the  Nationals/ Senators / Nats.

Every Nats win is a punch in the gut to Bowie Kuhn and The Lords Of Baseball who chose to expand to chump towns like Tampa and Miami and Denver, to AAA towns, while spitting on RFK, the Nation's Capital, and that profitable NFL team.

Every Nats win is a win that "the experts" said would never be...not this year, probably not next year...maybe in 2014...

Natitude? It's Buddy Myer to a Yankees infielder: "The next time Ben Chapman slides into second, I'm going to step on his face". That's "Natitude". Accept it.

Who knows if this team will will everything. Baseball is weird. Doesn't matter. This team fights.

Offline DPMOmaha

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #29: August 02, 2012, 11:14:54 PM »
Welch! FTW!

Offline Evolution33

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #30: August 02, 2012, 11:59:12 PM »
Before this season started I would have been satisfied with a winning season and that is still where my expectations are. The best thing to do is enjoy the ride. It's baseball and if winning it all is all that matters then only one fan base gets to be happy.

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #31: August 03, 2012, 08:30:54 AM »
Before this season started I would have been satisfied with a winning season and that is still where my expectations are. The best thing to do is enjoy the ride. It's baseball and if winning it all is all that matters then only one fan base gets to be happy.

This. Winning is very important but it isn't everything. I know some believe WS rings are all that matter and the rest is loser talk but I'm of a completely different mind.

Offline Smithian

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #32: August 03, 2012, 08:36:22 AM »
This. Winning is very important but it isn't everything. I know some believe WS rings are all that matter and the rest is loser talk but I'm of a completely different mind.
You have to enjoy the ride.

Offline Lintyfresh85

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #33: August 03, 2012, 09:01:20 AM »
Says losers everywhere.

This isn't Little League. It's professional sports. There is only one winner. Everyone else is a loser.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. These guys are paid handsomely. They understand better than anyone that the sport is all about winning.

Derek Jeter said it perfectly, if we don't win the World Series I consider the season a failure.

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #34: August 03, 2012, 09:02:46 AM »
Says losers everywhere.

This isn't Little League. It's professional sports. There is only one winner. Everyone else is a loser.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Yep. That's what I thought you'd say.

Offline Terpfan76

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #35: August 03, 2012, 09:03:39 AM »
If you ain't first, you're last!

Offline Lintyfresh85

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #36: August 03, 2012, 09:09:20 AM »
Some people love getting participation trophies. Others actually enjoy earning their trophies.

Online JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #37: August 03, 2012, 09:14:37 AM »
As a first step, I would not get too frustrated with a playoff appearance, and would be happy with a division win or making the NLCS.  I'm still enjoying progress.  Now if it is like the 2007 Indians, one time and done, then in hindsight I'd feel like a :donkey: , but if I get a sense that it is just the start of a roll, I'll not pull my hair out.

Of course, if you've seen me, there's not much hair left, so I have to be selective when I pull some out.

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #38: August 03, 2012, 09:17:23 AM »
If you ain't first, you're last!

I will never understand this kind of thinking. Yes, we all want to win. But to consider a good showing as total failure is nuts.

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #39: August 03, 2012, 09:18:38 AM »
As a first step, I would not get too frustrated with a playoff appearance, and would be happy a division win or making the NLCS.  I'm still enjoying progress.  Now if it is like the 2007 Indians, one time and done, then in hindsight I'd feel like a :donkey: , but if I get a sense that it is just the start of a role, I'll not pull my hair out.

Of course, if you've seen me, there's not much hair left, so I have to be selective when I pull some out.

Yep. That sort of speaks for me. Except the hair part.

Online HalfSmokes

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #40: August 03, 2012, 09:23:00 AM »
If you ain't first, you're last!

Last year and 2009 didn't feel the same to me


Online JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #41: August 03, 2012, 09:27:56 AM »
Ugggh! why is it you don't spot missing words and incorrect homonyms until you see your post quoted.

Offline mitlen

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #42: August 03, 2012, 09:31:42 AM »
These are the Washington Nationals, and outside of the Clark Griffith years, maybe 1915 - 1953, the butt of that old vaudeville joke. Lost games, lost two teams. Got a team that spiraled down to depths not matched except for one or two of the Chuck Dressen disasters and the first few expansion seasons. Mike Backsik and Matt Chico in starting rotation. Elijah Dukes. Insanity (aka Nyjer Morgan). A team that could not compete in AAA.

Sixty hopeless season, including 30 years of no baseball. In the late '90s, I was walking across a parking lot at HQ in Rockville with a couple of younger programmers, and they had never heard of the  Nationals/ Senators / Nats.

Every Nats win is a punch in the gut to Bowie Kuhn and The Lords Of Baseball who chose to expand to chump towns like Tampa and Miami and Denver, to AAA towns, while spitting on RFK, the Nation's Capital, and that profitable NFL team.

Every Nats win is a win that "the experts" said would never be...not this year, probably not next year...maybe in 2014...

Natitude? It's Buddy Myer to a Yankees infielder: "The next time Ben Chapman slides into second, I'm going to step on his face". That's "Natitude". Accept it.

Who knows if this team will will everything. Baseball is weird. Doesn't matter. This team fights.

Word

Offline mitlen

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #43: August 03, 2012, 09:33:13 AM »
I will never understand this kind of thinking. Yes, we all want to win. But to consider a good showing as total failure is nuts.

"Life is like a dogsled team.   If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes."   

I'd attribute the quote but I don't remember who coined it.


Offline OldChelsea

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #44: August 03, 2012, 09:35:05 AM »
"Life is like a dogsled team.   If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes."   

I'd attribute the quote but I don't remember who coined it.



Lewis Grizzard.

Offline captkirk42

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #45: August 03, 2012, 09:37:08 AM »
1) I'm happy with just a winning season.
2) I'm excited at being division leaders.
3) I'm ecstatic with an NLCS appearance.
4) Winning the NL Pennant and appearing in the WS? I'm in Heaven.

So far we are at level one and looking at a possibly going to level 2.

Offline Obed_Marsh

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #46: August 03, 2012, 09:37:18 AM »
As a player sure I'd be competitive and out for blood but I am not a player. I'd prefer to win every game but I'll settle for good baseball. Come to think of it, I will settle for AAAA baseball. I kept buying tickets to all those half ass teams we put together over the years. Oh well, I simply enjoy baseball. 

Offline blue911

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #47: August 03, 2012, 09:39:06 AM »
Lewis Grizzard.

I was going to say Robert Service.

Offline mitlen

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #48: August 03, 2012, 09:40:21 AM »
Lewis Grizzard.

Thanks OC.   I wiki'd him after your response and I do believe I saw him on TV one day and picked his quote up then.    At least, that's the first time I heard it.


Offline Smithian

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Re: Can we step back from the ledge, please?
« Reply #49: August 03, 2012, 09:43:23 AM »
As a first step, I would not get too frustrated with a playoff appearance, and would be happy a division win or making the NLCS.  I'm still enjoying progress.  Now if it is like the 2007 Indians, one time and done, then in hindsight I'd feel like a :donkey: , but if I get a sense that it is just the start of a role, I'll not pull my hair out.
This isn't the start of something big, it's a continuation!

I still consider drafting Strasburg, firing Manny Acta, and the gradual ejecting of Milledge and other rejects the start of this turn around. The second half of 2009 was a gradual move towards a not embarrassingly bad team, 2010 had all the hope of Strasburg and although 69 wins is bad we played respectably at times, and then last season felt like another big step forward.

Been saying it for a couple years; this team is on an upward trend. Assuming this team finishes with 90 wins, that's an upkick of 30 wins in three years and we still have the youngest team in the National League and great payroll flexibility. I always knew brighter days were near but not even I expected this turnaround during the rough days of 2010!