Either Don Sutton or Bob Carpenter posed this interesting question during the Nats’ Thursday night defeat of the Astros. There is no denying that this Washington Nationals team has something special going on in the clubhouse. Anytime there are shots into the dugout, we always see players chatting with each other and having a good time. Whenever someone hits a homerun, or gets an RBI the whole team gets jazzed about it. This may seem like this is the way it is supposed to be in baseball, but if you look around at some other teams, that’s not the case. However, we’ve got it goin’ on. In Ryan Zimmerman’s weekly column in ‘The Examiner,” he talked about the toll that road trips can take on players. At the end he said that he doesn’t mind going on the road too much because, “On the road you get a chance to just hang out with your teammates.” Zimmerman clearly enjoys the company of his teammates, and they enjoy his company. All of the time they spend just “hanging out” off the field is building a relationship on the field, whether they are aware of it or not. It is this great chemistry that allows plays like Ronnie Belliard’s flip to Felipe Lopez. It creates a camaraderie on the field that everyday the guys are out there to do battle for each other. It is something that can’t be taught and it’s something that every baseball manager probably wants on his team. It’s those little things that can make the difference in a close game. Even newcomer Wily Mo Pena has looked like he’s been in DC all season. Zimmerman ended his column by letting us all know what we probably already know: that these guys really enjoy going to the ball park together.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
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