Following Steph’s lead, I thought I’d do the same. Happy Father’s Day, Dad!!

My Dad is part of an organization called the Oldtimers Association which coordinates the All American Amateur Baseball Tournament each year in Johnstown, PA. The tournament has run since 1946, bringing young players and scouts from across the country to our small town. At Point Stadium, for one week every August, locals join the players and scouts for a week of baseball.

Because my Dad was always part of this organization, I went to tons of these games. I always remembering helping him with selling programs, scorecards, 50/50 tickets, water bottles, anything that they needed help with. I also pulled the winning 50/50 ticket winner countless times.

During my junior year of high school, I served in the tournament as an Ambassador. I had to sell program ads all summer and take part in community events representing the organization. Then, we had to attend 2 games a day for the week and do those same activities I did as a kid (sell tickets, 50/50’s, programs, scorecards). During the games, we were kind of like the Nat pack — cheering our local team on, dancing on the dug-out for the YMCA, and singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

A few current and former MLB players played in the AAABA tournament (Oral Hershiser, Steve Garvey, Reggie Jackson, Bob Welch, Joe Torre and Al Kaline). Recently, the Marlins drafted one of our locals that played in it too.

I had such a wonderful experience with AAABA, but it was special because I got to share it with my Dad. This picture was taken after the final game on Sunday afternoon in front of the tournament board. New Orleans beat Washington DC 8-4. Thanks, Dad, for making baseball a part of my life.

Given that it is Father’s Day and my Dad lives all the way across the country, I thought I would post a little something for him. I was lucky to grow up in a military family. My Dad did and still does a fantastic job as a father, he is the one I can always count on no matter what. We have a lot of things in common, our love of music, sports, and movies. This picture is from 2005. We lived in Wichita Kansas at the time and attended a minor league Wranglers game with family and friends. This was the first and only time I was able to sit in a suite! Dad looks a little silly because he was modeling a friends hat. Did I mention we also share a goofy sense of humor!! Happy Father’s Day Dad, you are the best!

Zimmerman’s weekly Examiner column revists last year’s dramatic Father’s Day win.

Last Father’s Day was fun, with my dad in the stands and hitting the game-winning homer against the Yankees. That’s probably the best one I’ve ever had in my career. I tried to pull the line that it was his present, but that didn’t work out too well. But I think he liked the home run more than anything.

Happy Father’s Day also to our Dads…

Two interesting stories in the past week emerged about sports bloggers. One — a giant step forward. The other — a big step back.

The New York Islanders announced that next season, they would create a “bloggers’ box” for its bloggers.

Chris Botta, Vice-President of Media Relations for the team said:

This is fan interactivity and a recognition of a new medium. What we determined is the blogosphere can no longer be ignored. We believe it is a significant new avenue to grow the popularity not just of the Islanders, but of the game of hockey.

Now, for the giant step backward.

The NCAA issued a ruling that forbids blogging at its events. A Louisville Courier-Journal reporter was ejected from the press box on Sunday for blogging from the University of Louisville baseball field during a super-regional game.

Here are a few of the stories exploring these two sports blogging developments this week:

Internet Reporting has NCAA exploring what rights are left
Peter Schmuck, Baltimore Sun

Blogging doesn’t kill the broadcast
Randy Jones, Sun Journal

Grand slam: NCAA vs. game blogs
Phil Lewis, Naples News Daily

Isles Blazzing Trail for Bloggers
Neal Best, Newsday.com

We all had to hustle and struggle a little to get out of DC and on the road last night to see our boys in Baltimore. To our surprise, the drive was actually quite smooth; we arrived at 7:30 pm, missing only the first few innings.

It was the Stephs first trip to Camden Yards; they’ll be pictures later today.

We know the Nats surprised Baltimore fans, but we’ve been believing it would all come together eventually. Chief said yesterday,

At the beginning of the season, everybody was writing us off already. They were saying we were going to be one of the worst teams in the history of baseball, but we never thought that. We knew we could go out there and play hard and play right along with these teams. Unfortunately, the first month of the season, we did do exactly what they said we would do, but right now, we are just going out there and staying within ourselves.

Simontacci was excellent against Guthrie, helping to make our 3-1 victory possible.

After parking and food, we settled in on the third-base line around the 4th inning where we watched most of the game. The guys were nice enough to have no action until we arrived. Lopez came through big again last night with a 2-out RBI, while Young, Belliard, Guzman, and Langerhans managed to get some hits. After Ryan Zimmerman’s should-have-been-great hits were taken from him by Tejada, we were so excited when he hit that RBI single in the 8th.

Toward the end of the game, we moved over to stand behind the bullpen and watch King, Rivera, Rauch, Traber and Cordero warm up. We were really pulling for Rauch to have a good night. He looked great in the bullpen and managed to end the inning with 2 strike-outs. Chief also looked great. It was a whole new experience to be that close to a pitcher and able to watch his precise movement. I was practicing the umpire gig by calling Chief’s strikes and balls (heck it was easy; Chief doesn’t throw balls).

To our surprise, we noticed a Nats fan that looked really familiar. After thinking for a few seconds, we realized that we had met him in Chicago at Wrigley in May. We asked him if he remembered, he did, and we all had a nice chat. Some young Nats fan amused us when he told Colome that if HE were Manny, he’d put Colome in.

Manny on the sweep:

Asked how good it was to win the Battle of the Beltway, Acta said, “It good for our fans. They won the bragging rights up until next year. We’ll try to do our best for them. It’s going to be an even bigger rivalry. We know that.”

Just for fun…
DID YOU KNOW?
Prior to Stan Kasten’s decision to ban alcohol in our clubhouses, the Nationals were 9-25. After that decision, the Nats are 20-12.

You know, home is home. But Camden Yards is a beautiful park. I haven’t been there since summer of 2005, so it was wonderful to have an opportunity to catch last night’s game there(despite the crazy, awful traffic). And while I missed my girls and fellow bloggers, it was fun to watch a game with my boss and co-workers.

Because of the traffic problems, we didn’t arrive until 8 - missing the first 3 innings. It was already 2-1 Washington. (Little did we know, we’d still see 8 full innings). While the food was way better than at RFK, the lines were just as long. As a result, I also missed Langerhans’ homerun.

Chico did a great job, pitching into the 7th while giving up only 2 earned runs. It was also fun to watch the guys work in some 2 out rallies.

The 7th inning was tough to watch. Chico, Colome, King, Rauch…all in one inning. Washington took 2 more runs in the 8th, but Chief couldn’t hold on to the lead. Tied game, 6-6.

Traber managed to keep things calm in the 10th. In the top of the 11th, I looked at the line-up and expected the expected. Fortunately, some unpredictable things happened for Washington. For starters, Robert Fick had a hit. Langerhans got walked. Guzman got walked. (Note: one angry Baltimore fan yelled at his pitcher, Chris Ray, “you are our closer!”)

Lopez was at the plate and turned to start fighting with the umpire about a called strike. Manny ran out to restrain Lopez. At this pivotal moment, Lopez’ ejection would have probably cost us a victory. A few pitches later, Lopez drilled it down the first base line, bringing in all 3 runners. Washington leads 9-6. Zimmerman strikes out. Rivera came in to end the ball game.

At least the long drive back was a happy one!

From Today’s Washington Post:

General Manager Jim Bowden said that if the Nationals are to trade for any player, character will be considered. Bowden’s comments came on the heels of a report from FoxSports.com that Washington may be interested in troubled Tampa Bay outfielder Elijah Dukes.”I think any transaction we make, we want to have good people here with high character in Washington representing our organization,” Bowden said. “That’s extremely important to us.”

A judge granted Dukes’s wife a one-year restraining order against him after he allegedly threatened her, including sending a photo of a gun via text message. The rookie is hitting .193 with 10 homers in 49 games.

Bowden would not address the Nationals’ interest in specific players, but was speaking generally.

For more on the Dukes situation, check out these stories:

Bowden Pours Water on Dukes to Nats Rumor at AOL’s Fanhouse Blog

Dukes Attempting to Father a Baseball Roster at 850 The Buzz

Much Anger I Sense in Him at Deadspin

What a Guy at Capitol Punishment

The Nationals traveled around the beltway tonight to battle the Orioles for the second time this season. The weather was a little sketchy here in DC. My softball game was actually canceled tonight so I happily headed home to watch the game. The Nationals came through big time tonight with a 7-4 win over the O’s. History was made tonight as Chad Cordero entered the game in a potential sticky situation in the 9th inning. With one out, the Chief forced a grounder that turned into a double play, and just like that our favorite closer became the second youngest player ever to earn 100 career saves. Congratulations Chad, we look forward to 100 more!

An exciting game lead to Chief’s save, as both offense and defense we on tonight. Micah Bowie had another great start. After the O’s took an early lead off Melvin Mora’s 3 shot homer in the 2nd, Bowie was able to get ahead of batters and keep the Nats in the game. Ryan Church started the Nationals momentum tonight with a homer in the second. Ryan Zimmerman followed up in the 3rd with a two run homer off of a fastball. That’s 37 RBI’s for him so far this season, 29 in his last 30 games! Brian Schneider kept it going in the 4th with another home run. The Nats lead the O’s 7-3 until the 9th inning. Fielding was fantastic tonight. Both Zimmerman and Guzman turned great double plays to Robert Fick. Additionally, Guzman and Lopez switched places tonight in the batting order. Manny’s idea seemed to work well. Lopez looked more relaxed at the plate; he walked 3 times and had a great double. What a way to start the series in Baltimore. I’m so happy I was able to see Cordero get his 100th save. Way to go Nats!

We’d also like to congratulate Detroit Tiger Justin Verlander for pitching a no-hitter tonight against the Brewers. It was the first no-hitter in 23 years for the Tigers. Verlander struck out a career-high 12 batters. Definitely and exciting night for baseball!

I have heard a lot about a potential trade for Devil Ray’s Elijah Dukes. With blogs and message boards buzzing, the Nats remain quiet about the issue. Jim Bowden was quoted as saying, “I’m not going to [talk about] any trade discussions that we are having, I think it’s fair to say that we talk to almost every team in baseball on a regular basis. I’m not going to confirm nor deny any discussions that are out there, except to say that we are not close to any trade with any player at this point.” However it’s no secret that Bowden has a history of giving players with checkered pasts a home. This gamble worked with Young, who has been a pleasant surprise both in the Clubhouse and on the field. The difference between Young and Dukes is a huge one. Even while Young was struggling with substance abuse problems and depression, his teammates remained loyal to him and spoke highly of him. This is not the case with Dukes, a self admitted loaner with a history of anger problems. He has been suspended multiple times in his short career, once for 15 games because he was fighting with a teammate. How much help is he going to be in center field or offensively if he is suspended?

The fact is that Dukes is not a good choice for this team of gentlemen. Manny Acta has done a fabulous job this season, he provides a positive influence in the dugout. Even when the team is not winning, the players still have a positive spirit and a sense of humor. It’s difficult to ask this group of upstanding guys to welcome a trouble maker. If the trade happens I have no doubt the Nats will be a positive influence on Dukes, but is it fair to ask them to do that? How much of Manny’s time will have to be focused on Dukes alone? Building a team is a monumental task but starting with quality guys on AND off the field might make things a little easier…