Nationals @ Marlins, Game 3

[hammondsnats]

We weren't pretty good today. every loss is a dagger in the '09 season for the Nats.

the way we played in our first two games ... we were pretty good today.  we lost by two to the marlins and definitely had our opportunities to win.

anywho, to each his own.

[MrMadison]

He certainly comes to his defense anytime someone mentions Kearns. That should be enough to assume he really is a closet case Dukes fan and a hater of Austin Kearns.

the last time I said anything about Kearns was before the season started, i believe.

more NOTLD being NOTLD.

sorry i don't fit into your little box, dude.

[The Chief]

I think you and I are two of the only people here any more who don't play favorites/haters, for the most part.  It's astounding how biased most people have become.

I'm pretty unbiased as it pertains to the individual players, I mostly just stick up for Dunn to counterbalance Minty's unmitigated hatred

[Nat of the Living Dead]

I'm not. NOTLD is just being NOTLD.

What? Being opinionated? Thanks, Mr. Madison.

[hammondsnats]

I'm pretty unbiased as it pertains to the individual players, I mostly just stick up for Dunn to counterbalance Minty's unmitigated hatred

dunn has been awesome for us

[DieselTurtle]

Positives:
-Plate discipline as a team. One walk in the first two games, 10 walks today alone.
-Cabrera might not have had the best game, but he looked 10x better than he did all spring long. Velocity on his fastball was there and he was dealing for a while. Started breaking down there towards the end, but his first 4IP were pretty encouraging in comparison to what we saw all spring. (You might not see this as a positive, but I thought he'd get lit up in the 1st)
-Rivera and Beimel doing what they're supposed to.
-Kearns continuing to prove me and everyone else wrong.
-Alberto Gonzalez making the case for playing time at 2nd.
-Nick Johnson coming in as a PH, doing what he does best and working the count to get on base. 
-Team as a whole showing a lot of heart by not giving up. It will be interesting to see how we come out on Friday against one of the better pitchers we'll be facing this season.

Negatives:
-Zimmerman swinging at everything again. You can just tell he's pressing pretty hard at the plate. He's swinging like he doesn't have any protection behind him. He'll be okay, just needs to relax.
-Wil Nieves/Josh Bard. One of the two is going down when Zimmermann comes up. Play like you want the job.
-Mike Hinckley. What the hell happened there?
-Rare to see Guz strike out. He K'd 3 times today. Also thought he should have been covering the bag on that steal that brought the Marlins' first run. I know that's not his call, but I'll chalk it up as a negative. It started turning things around negatively.
-Clutch hitting is seriously lacking. Too many runners left on base.

Feel free to add as you wish. 

[MrMadison]

What? Being opinionated?

you are the only one with an opinion, right? k.

computer time is up, gotta run.

[Minty Fresh]

I'm pretty unbiased as it pertains to the individual players, I mostly just stick up for Dunn to counterbalance Minty's unmitigated hatred

What are you talking about?  It's completely mitigated!   

[hammondsnats]

I agree DT.  It just sucks we have to wait 51 hours before our next Nats game.  Martis better stop the bleeding.

[Nat of the Living Dead]

the last time I said anything about Kearns was before the season started, i believe.

more NOTLD being NOTLD.

sorry i don't fit into your little box, dude.

Once more Mr. Madison, I have to push it on you:

you know what? forget Dukes. Play Willingham. Kearns is not the answer, nor has he ever been, nor will he ever be. to hell with Dukes since so many people seem to be so vehemently aagainst him. justify not starting Willingham after we traded for him in order for him to start.

And that is only one of many examples in the Kearns RF thread.

Play the innocent victim all you want. You are no better or higher than anyone else here.

Good-bye.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

I'm pretty unbiased as it pertains to the individual players, I mostly just stick up for Dunn to counterbalance Minty's unmitigated hatred

You're very refreshing.  I just don't get why you can get a predictable opinion from some people on certain players.  Really?  Is there some vested interest you have or something?  Eh, whatever.

I, for one, will take Dunn to task.  If his defense is as bad as it's been throughout his whole career, I am going to eviscerate him.

He said before the season started that we haven't seen him play as well as he CAN play, that he has these hidden skills, etc.  Time to show 'em off, big boy.  You showed your poker hand, now it's time to play it.  If he doesn't commit to getting better in the field, he deserves to be ripped just as Milledge has.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

I agree DT.  It just sucks we have to wait 51 hours before our next Nats game.  Martis better stop the bleeding.

This is a time where I wish your sig were a little more literally true.

[DieselTurtle]

I agree DT.  It just sucks we have to wait 51 hours before our next Nats game.  Martis better stop the bleeding.

Red hot Braves home opener, three straight Ls for us. Lots of pressure to put on the kid. It will be interesting to see how he handles it.

[ronnynat]

-Zimmerman swinging at everything again. You can just tell he's pressing pretty hard at the plate. He's swinging like he doesn't have any protection behind him. He'll be okay, just needs to relax.

Yeah, he looked pretty bad. You could tell which pitches he was going to swing at before the pitcher even released the ball. That's never good.

[hammondsnats]

This is a time where I wish your sig were a little more literally true.

haha

what's funny is cabrera was actually better than lannan the first go around, didn't see that coming, although that's not saying much really.  lannan will be fine on saturday.  i still think balester will figure things out and give us some good wins this year.  zimmermann is on everybody's radar for possible NL rookie of the year.  strasburg, well we know, he's the savior ... hopefully cabrera can give us some quality starts (but i still want to get martis on there after his game on friday, of course, if he does well)

[KnorrForYourMoney]

haha

what's funny is cabrera was actually better than lannan the first go around, didn't see that coming, although that's not saying much really.  lannan will be fine on saturday.  i still think balester will figure things out and give us some good wins this year.  zimmermann is on everybody's radar for possible NL rookie of the year.  strasburg, well we know, he's the savior ... hopefully cabrera can give us some quality starts (but i still want to get martis on there after his game on friday, of course, if he does well)

Why do you hate Martis and Olsen?

[DieselTurtle]

The timing for his start is pretty terrible.

We're throwing a rook out there to face Derek Lowe at the home opener for a team that just swept* the World Champions away from home. That crowd (and team) is going to be fired up. I hope we can counter the intensity.



*Provided the Phillies don't come back to win today.

[hammondsnats]

Why do you hate Martis and Olsen?

haha i don't!!!  i said i want to plug martis in the banner, i just need a good pic.  hopefully, friday will provide some good photos after he gets the win.  i actually was more pumped about getting olsen than willingham, but i mean really his velocity is scaring me.  when your pitching coach says "some change-ups looked like his fastballs", something is going on.  now that i saw him one time through, he looked like mike bascik.  lannan, we all know he's not gonna throw 90+ but he was getting behind hitters thanks to shotty control.  i'm sure he'll fix it.

[Nat of the Living Dead]

You know what? I want to apologize to Madison. I really and sincerely do. I am just aggravated by the game and the past few days. I'm sure we all are. So I apologize for being a bit testy. It's been a long and trying past couple of weeks for myself and it gets the best of me sometimes.

I'm still not going to gush on Dukes and I know EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US has favorites or players we dislike whether we admit it or not, but I apologize for our little spat today.

[MrMadison]

and I'm back. stupid teenagers.

I'm not even going to bother reading any of the responses since I've been gone. they are pretty predictable.

all I'm going to say is this:

I want the best team on the field at all times, if possible. I don't give a crap who is playing, as long as they perform better than the alternatives could/would/can/do.

I don't think Austin Kearns is the answer, but I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially if he keeps playing like he has, and the alternatives keep sucking.

I haven't, nor will I, go out of my way to express hatred for Kearns now that the games have started.

I think Dukes should start over Milledge.

I don't think Dukes had a bad day today.  getting on base 3 times from the #2 spot, and playing solid defense, I'll take that. No, he didn't hit 3 home runs or play like the God that AZ and his fanclub make him out to be, but wtf, it isn't like he struck out 5 times and made 2 errors.

I do not believe that saying this equates to "gushing" over Dukes. it's simple. He played decently, Milledge plays like crap. Decently >>>>crap. so keep Decently on the field. That is the angle I am looking at here.
if that makes me a "closet Dukes manlover" or whatever the freak NOTLD said I am, simply because I'm not ranting and raving against Dukes just to get at AZ like he does, then what the freak ever. *shrug* I don't need to choose a personal punching bag for the season and then bash him endlessly regardless of what he does.

The truth is, I root for the Washington on the front of the Jersey, not the name on the back. I don't think there is a single Nats player that I haven't bashed at some point in time, and praised at others. and if there is, they are few and far between.  I don't praise/bash based on who I like, and who I don't like. I do so based on what the players do on the field(and whether they can actually even get on the field). I don't have a set of Precious Pet Players that I conveniently overlook bad play for, while screaming my head off at every single other player outside of those three.

I think my post history supports that, and I welcome any proof otherwise.

[MrMadison]

You know what? I want to apologize to Madison. I really and sincerely do. I am just aggravated by the game and the past few days. I'm sure we all are. So I apologize for being a bit testy. It's been a long and trying past couple of weeks for myself and it gets the best of me sometimes.

well, maybe I should have read.

it's cool. I think you just missed where I was coming from, that's all.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Start Dunn/Dukes/Kearns

Willingham as a spot-starter

Harris as a 5th outfielder, he can spot Dukes at times

Milledge down to AAA.  Eff him.  Who needs him right now?  We can call up Bergmann or something.  Lord knows this team need more pitching.

[MrMadison]

Start Dunn/Dukes/Kearns

Willingham as a spot-starter

Harris as a 5th outfielder, he can spot Dukes at times

Milledge down to AAA.  Eff him.  Who needs him right now?  We can call up Bergmann or something.  Lord knows this team need more pitching.

I'm down with that.

Bergmann the Reliever >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Beachball the Starter.

[Air Zimmerman]

Positives:
-Plate discipline as a team. One walk in the first two games, 10 walks today alone.
-Cabrera might not have had the best game, but he looked 10x better than he did all spring long. Velocity on his fastball was there and he was dealing for a while. Started breaking down there towards the end, but his first 4IP were pretty encouraging in comparison to what we saw all spring. (You might not see this as a positive, but I thought he'd get lit up in the 1st)
-Rivera and Beimel doing what they're supposed to.
-Kearns continuing to prove me and everyone else wrong.
-Alberto Gonzalez making the case for playing time at 2nd.
-Nick Johnson coming in as a PH, doing what he does best and working the count to get on base. 
-Team as a whole showing a lot of heart by not giving up. It will be interesting to see how we come out on Friday against one of the better pitchers we'll be facing this season.

you're forgetting a certain someone...

[MrMadison]

you're forgetting a certain someone...