John Feinstein appears to be a real jerk.

[Ray D]

Look, it's all hypothetical speculation, and I don't buy into the theory  ...... but the theory is, Stras would have won game 1 - the game Gio won, and Gio would have won game 2. Who know what would have happened in 3 and 4  (win one and it's over, maybe Detwilier wins game 4, maybe not) but Stras would have pitched game 5 and we would have avoided the Gio choke. 

Like I said, I don't buy any of it, and mainly because by the time Stras was shut down he was pitching like garbage.

[Natsinpwc]

Look, it's all hypothetical speculation, and I don't buy into the theory  ...... but the theory is, Stras would have won game 1 - the game Gio won, and Gio would have won game 2. Who know what would have happened in 3 and 4  (win one and it's over, maybe Detwilier wins game 4, maybe not) but Stras would have pitched game 5 and we would have avoided the Gio choke. 

Like I said, I don't buy any of it, and mainly because by the time Stras was shut down he was pitching like garbage.

Zimmerman would have pitched game 3 them and Jackson game 4. Davey liked his vets. So no Detwiler start. No reason to think Strasburg would have won. He crapped the bed in his first playoff start in 2014.

Like you said all hypothetical.

[Natsinpwc]

So is Feinstein just like Slateman - just trying to stir things up and create more media frenzy ?

[Ray D]

Zimmerman would have pitched game 3 them and Jackson game 4.

In that case we'd probably have lost 3 and 4. (Still could have won  game 5.) But my hypothesis was that Jackson would not have been on the roster if Stras was, Detwiler would have.

[Natsinpwc]

In that case we'd probably have lost 3 and 4. (Still could have won  game 5.) But my hypothesis was that Jackson would not have been on the roster if Stras was, Detwiler would have.

Good point.

[UMDNats]

in other words, water is wet.

[OldChelsea]

Feinstein should stick to his original turf (college basketball). On too many occasions when he ventures into another sport he sounds like Donald Duck trying to talk about that sport in Lithuanian whilst trying to gargle at the same time.

On other occasions he can sound like this (opening part only):

[Natsinpwc]

Feinstein should stick to his original turf (college basketball). On too many occasions when he ventures into another sport he sounds like Donald Duck trying to talk about that sport in Lithuanian whilst trying to gargle at the same time.

And golf. 

[RichMinSC]

Feinstein should stick to his original turf (college basketball). On too many occasions when he ventures into another sport he sounds like Donald Duck trying to talk about that sport in Lithuanian whilst trying to gargle at the same time.

On other occasions he can sound like this (opening part only):

His best book IMO is "Where no one knows your name"  a study of a handful of AAA (players, mangers, umpires) trying to ( make it, get back to or realizing they never will) make it to the show

[Natsinpwc]

His best book IMO is "Where no one knows your name"  a study of a handful of AAA (players, mangers, umpires) trying to ( make it, get back to or realizing they never will) make it to the show

Haven't read that one. Need to check it out. The Knight book and the one on Patriot League basketball were excellent. The one on the PGA tour was good also.

[Monarch]

Haven't read that one. Need to check it out. The Knight book and the one on Patriot League basketball were excellent. The one on the PGA tour was good also.

I can attest that is is a great book. Baiscally and inside look at what its like at the minor league level for youngsters, veterans and umpires and coaches.

Regarding feinstein - I like listening to him on the junkies. He usually has decent insight on stuff. He hates Tiger Woods. He also is animate that shutting down strasburg was the worst decision in the history of sports. My thought - if Jordan Zimmerman had pitched better it never would have gone to game 5.

[Ray D]

if Jordan Zimmerman had pitched better it never would have gone to game 5.

Pitched better in game 2 I assume you mean.  On the other hand if he hadn't pitched so well in game 4 it might not have gotten to game 5.

[HalfSmokes]

Haven't read that one. Need to check it out. The Knight book and the one on Patriot League basketball were excellent. The one on the PGA tour was good also.

It;s a really good book, it definitely makes you root for the career minor leaguers who manage to get call up. I liked the last amateurs, but as someone who went to a patriot league school, I find his insistence that there are no athletic scholarships pretty hilarious since every hockey and football player I knew just happened to have an academic scholarship 

[Monarch]

Pitched better in game 2 I assume you mean.  On the other hand if he hadn't pitched so well in game 4 it might not have gotten to game 5.

You're right. I meant game 2. He was great out of the pen too in that series.

[nfotiu]

Strasburg's ability by the end of the 2012 season was way over-rated anyway.  In 2 of his last 3 starts, he was horrible and I remember his velocity being down.  He had already pitched 100 more innings than he ever had in an MLB season and was showing signs of it by the end of the regular season.  He hadn't gone past 6 innings since July and wasn't exactly known for being a guy who handled adversity and pressure well at that stage of his career.  It's not like there were any signs that he would have gone out there and given us 2 games of 8 inning dominance in the first series. 

[Natsinpwc]

Strasburg's ability by the end of the 2012 season was way over-rated anyway.  In 2 of his last 3 starts, he was horrible and I remember his velocity being down.  He had already pitched 100 more innings than he ever had in an MLB season and was showing signs of it by the end of the regular season.  He hadn't gone past 6 innings since July and wasn't exactly known for being a guy who handled adversity and pressure well at that stage of his career.  It's not like there were any signs that he would have gone out there and given us 2 games of 8 inning dominance in the first series.

Stop with the facts.

[NJ Ave]

It's silly to not acknowledge two sides of this argument. Rizzo "babied" Strasburg - sure. Strasburg was pissy about it at the time - sure. Hopefully he's mature enough now to understand why Rizzo did it, and maybe he owes part of that $175 million to Rizzo not abusing him in search of a title.

Hopefully Harvey enjoyed that pennant, and maybe it was worth it, but someday he'll probably be mature enough to understand maybe it contributed to the fact he'll never sniff anywhere close to $175 million.

It's hard to be more insidious than to be a private citizen imploring young kids to grind themselves up to win championships for a bunch of doofuses they'll never meet (read: you and me). Glory doesn't last forever, but you know what DOES last forever? A conservative 2% draw off $100 million in the bank.

[GburgNatsFan]

 Feinstein has evolved to saying that the Nats should have cut back his regular-season innings so he could pitch in the playoffs. I think he's wrong, and I don't think it would have gotten the Nats through round 1, but it's a defensible position. It's his second postion, but it's defensible.

[Senatorswin]

Nats fans represented themselves well when responding to Feinstein. Good for them.
Two things about Feinstein. Used the F word during a Navy broadcast.
Completely made up something about Kornheiser in a book to the point Kornheiser was talking about bringing a lawsuit against him.

[GburgNatsFan]

It's silly to not acknowledge two sides of this argument. Rizzo "babied" Strasburg - sure. Strasburg was pissy about it at the time - sure. Hopefully he's mature enough now to understand why Rizzo did it, and maybe he owes part of that $175 million to Rizzo not abusing him in search of a title.

Hopefully Harvey enjoyed that pennant, and maybe it was worth it, but someday he'll probably be mature enough to understand maybe it contributed to the fact he'll never sniff anywhere close to $175 million.

It's hard to be more insidious than to be a private citizen imploring young kids to grind themselves up to win championships for a bunch of doofuses they'll never meet (read: you and me). Glory doesn't last forever, but you know what DOES last forever? A conservative 2% draw off $100 million in the bank.

[Natsinpwc]

Nats fans represented themselves well when responding to Feinstein. Good for them.
Two things about Feinstein. Used the F word during a Navy broadcast.
Completely made up something about Kornheiser in a book to the point Kornheiser was talking about bringing a lawsuit against him.

I thought they were friends?  He used to be on the radio show all the time.

[BuckyHarris]

He likes to lampoon fans of many varieties. On NPR years ago, he came out against Nascar fans for their politics (according to him) and auto racing's carbon footprint.

[Ray D]

Feinstein has evolved to saying that the Nats should have cut back his regular-season innings so he could pitch in the playoffs. I think he's wrong, and I don't think it would have gotten the Nats through round 1, but it's a defensible position. It's his second postion, but it's defensible.

I thought Rizzo addressed that argument well. How do you go about cutting down on his innings. It would have meant either long gaps between starts or shorter starts (4 or 5 innings). Either approach would have been unnatural and counter-productive  Long gaps would cause a loss of focus and rhythm; Cutting short his starts would mean he wouldn't be prepared to go long into a playoff game.  There was even the suggestion of a mid-season shutdown - shut him down for a month in the middle of the season - he probably would have needed a month to build his strength back up. Rizzo said the only sensible way to go about this is for him to pitch regularly for 160 inning and then he's shut down for the season.  I don't know where 160 came from but other than that I was an am in complete agreement.

[GburgNatsFan]

Rizzo is correct of course. I did not mean to imply otherwise.

I thought Rizzo addressed that argument well. How do you go about cutting down on his innings. It would have meant either long gaps between starts or shorter starts (4 or 5 innings). Either approach would have been unnatural and counter-productive  Long gaps would cause a loss of focus and rhythm; Cutting short his starts would mean he wouldn't be prepared to go long into a playoff game.  There was even the suggestion of a mid-season shutdown - shut him down for a month in the middle of the season - he probably would have needed a month to build his strength back up. Rizzo said the only sensible way to go about this is for him to pitch regularly for 160 inning and then he's shut down for the season.  I don't know where 160 came from but other than that I was an am in complete agreement.

[Senatorswin]

I thought they were friends?  He used to be on the radio show all the time.

They have been friends for years and as far as I know they are today. I don't remember the story exactly but it had something to do about Kornheiser was checking into a hotel and there was a problem. I know in the book Feinstein quotes Kornheiser saying "do you know who I am". It never happened. Kornheiser was really pissed about it and mentioned more than once he was considering filing a lawsuit. He even talked to Feinstein on the air about it one time. I guess because they are friends he let it go.