Although I've read that if the '33 Senators record was extrapolated to 162 games, they would have a record of 105-57. That's an impressive record. It's too bad their loss in the World Series has obscured what a really good team they were.
Yes. I've been reading "The Wrecking Crew of '33", a book about the '33 Senators / Nationals...the author call them by both names, and Buddy Myer, who was mistakenly traded to Boston, announced that he's glad to be back with the Griffmen when the Old Fox swung a trade to get him back. This 2012 team is right on the same pace as the 1925 and 1933 Washington teams. Add our cousins from Montreal, and fits: this is a pennant team.
I saw the last two Braves / Nats games, and up close the Nats look stronger. The Nats pitch better, and have a better infield. They make the tough plays under pressure. I don't know the advanced stat, but I saw the '78 Yankees beat the Dodgers, and saw the late '90s win again and again. Brian Doyle and Scott Brosius are not famous, but they made the plays calmly and smoothly. The '78 Dodgers SS/2B combination (Russel and Lopes) choked on DP balls. Brosius wasn't an all-star, but he made the plays when a tiny slip would have lost a game.
Davey has managed this team to where every player contributes (farewell, HRod!).
Problems: where does Lombo play when Desmond returns? How can the Nats play TMoore, Bernadina, Werth, Harper, in the OF, and Moore, Morse, and Adam LaRoche at 1B?
Many of these players are young, but they are no longer rookies. They have played "full court" all season, often in irregular positions.
This is far and away the best team I have seen in Washington, and I started watching the Nats, calling them the Senators, on an old RCA black&white TV in 1952. (Yes, Mickey Grasso was a favorite, and I hit LH from imitatins Mickey Vernon. Throw and write etc RH)
The 1969 team was a surprise. This team is better.