Time to open up the checkbook, Mr. Lerner. Congrats Nats fans. Finally, something to be happy about this season.

AP Photo: Elaine Thompson

Bill Ladson is reporting that the Nationals will retain pitching coach Randy St. Claire.  All of Manny Acta’s other coaches will not be back next season.

What do you think? Aside from Lenny Harris, did these other coaches deserve to be let go?  Will a huge shake-up at the coaching level matter if Jim is still the GM?

Personally, I know Steph will be sad to see Pat Corrales go.  He’s one of her favorites.  All of us will miss Rick Aponte.  Fans have connected with the coaching team throughout the past two seasons at events like Baseball 101, Spring Training and the Picnic in the Park, so it’s kind of a sad day.

Heck, with this line-up, surely Stephen Strasburg will be a National when the day is over:

Bonifacio — 4
Hernandez — 6
Casto — 3
Langerhans — 9
Gonzalez — 5
Bernadina — 8
Montz — 2
Orr — 7
Perez — 1

Okay, my math could be wrong, but here’s what I’ve got:

Seattle is 60 and 101 with a .373 standing
Washington is 59 and 101 with a .369 standing
 
If Seattle loses and we win…they get Strasburg
Seattle would be 60 and 102 with a .370 standing
Washington would be 60 and 101 with a .373 standing
 
If we both win, we get Strasburg
Seattle would be 61 and 101 with a .377 standing
Washington would be 60 and 101 with a .373 standing
 
If we both lose, we get Strasburg
Seattle would be 60 and 102 with a .370 standing
Washington would be 59 and 102 with a .366 standing
 
If we lose and Seattle wins, we definately get Strasburg.
 
So basically, if we lose we get Strasburg.  If we win, Seattle has to win too for us to get Stasburg. 

Nobody wants - you don’t want to be in the situation where you wake up one morning and Johan Santana has won eight games all season and you owe him $150 million. That’s the thing. You see a lot of guys for $150 million, but we’re going to stick with what we’re doing. We’re going to take a lot of heat from you and everybody else, but I think you’re starting to see it.”  - Mark Lerner, July 13, 2008 via Nationals Journal

Don’t worry Nats fans.  Johan is a waste of money.

Oh, he just kept the Mets playoff hopes alive?  He demanded the ball on three days rest because he’s a gamer and understands his responsibility as an ace?  Say what?

Santana is one of the game’s best and everytime I see him step up to a new level, I wonder how anyone could think what Mark Lerner thought in July. 

After pitching a career high 125 pitches on Tuesday night, Santana approached his manager and demanded a start on short rest, knowing his team needs wins right now.  And how did it go?  Phenomenal, a complete game shutout where the Marlins managed to get only three hits and collect three walks.  He struck out nine.   It took him 117 pitches; 74 of them were strikes.

Yeah, I sure hope Mark Lerner never has to worry about “problems” like paying someone like Johan Santana too much money.

What a day for John. He faces the Phillies today as they attempt to clinch the NL East title. It’s also his birthday. And after hitting Utley and getting ejected from his debut in Phily, it’s safe to assume the Phillies fans would love to come up big against John.

But if anything, Lannan has been cool and calm under pressure. His composure is tremendous and should work in his favor tonight. Go get em!

The season started with high expectations, a walk-off home run on Sunday Night Baseball and a lot of hope.  And yet, no Hollywood screenwriter could have scripted Thursday night’s conclusion any better. Hundreds of loyalist fans watched for hours, spending their money on food and souvenirs while watching the Cubs vs. Mets game on the giant scoreboard.  We all sat waiting for the Nats to call a game they never really intended to play.  Steph had to head home, so we left.  I intended to drive back if and when they decided to play.   That decision meant we missed the “fan appreciation” stuff by all of five minutes.  And that’s about how this whole season went.  Good memories, good friends, once in awhile good baseball, but overall one giant disappointment.  I’m glad those of you that stayed those extra 5 minutes were treated to something - after sitting in the rain for three hours.  I hope, as fans,  you felt  “appreciated.”

With that, the Nats mercifully concluded their 2008 homestand. They’ll be in Philadelphia for 3 days to try to spoil the Phil’s playoff plans.  The NL East and the Wild Card race are both still tight, so every one of these games matters this weekend.

Do they also matter for Strasburg?  Increasingly, no.  Seattle is two games “ahead” of us with three to play against Oakland this weekend.  While a totally unpredictable sweep of the Phillies would eliminate our Strasburg dreams, it would keep us from losing 100 games and potentially prevent the Phils from playing October baseball.  After Lannan’s ejection, retaliatory inside pitches and eventually Flores take-out by Utley, wouldn’t you rather stick it to Phily?  How do you want this season to end?  Balester gets the start against Joe Blanton tonight at Citizen’s Bank Park, if the rain stops.

Horton’s Kids is hosting a special event on October 6, 2008 at Nationals Park featuring dinner and drinks at 5:30 and on-field batting practice with Nationals staff at 6:00 pm.

Tickets are $100/adults and $50/child for general admission (dinner/drinks, tours of the stadium, photo opportunities with Screech and autographs from the children of Horton’s Kids).

Batting practice tickets are $1,000/adults and $500/child (general admission plus three pitches from Nationals staff on the field)

To purchase tickets, contact Lindsy at 202-544-5033 ext 7 or e-mail her at Lindsy@hortonkids.org

For more information about the event, click here.

About Horton’s Kids:

Horton’s Kids currently serves 144 regularly-attending children who live in Washington DC’s Ward 8. The cornerstone of Horton’s Kids is the thrice-weekly tutoring program.  On Monday and Tuesday nights, children meet their individual tutors (including many Capitol Hill staffers) at the Rayburn House Office Building.  On Wednesdays they are tutored after-school by U.S. Department of Education staff at their headquarters on Wednesdays where Education Secretary Margaret Spellings herself is one of the tutors.

For more than nineteen years, Horton’s Kids has offered continuously-expanding programs to children living in an area cited by the Washington Post as “Washington’s most dangerous cul de sac.”  The organization got its start late one night in 1989, when Karin Walser, a long-time Capitol Hill press secretary, stopped at a gas station where several young children offered to pump her gas for spare change.  Instead of just handing them money, she offered to take them to the zoo.  Karin soon enlisted friends to join her in working with these children and taking them, and others in their neighborhood, on regular Sunday afternoon outings.  Since then, Horton’s Kids has expanded to include a structured schedule of thrice-weekly intensive tutoring, one-on-one mentoring, field trips, dental care, health and basic needs support, advocacy, life skills training, and enrichment activities.

Data show that the tutoring program works! Seventy-six percent of students improved their reading fluency between fall 2007 and winter 2008. Fifty-nine percent of youth improved their math skills over the same time period. We anticipate that our children will continue to make these impressive gains and eventually graduate from high school with reading and math skills that are on grade-level.

Horton’s Kids is like a second family to some of the neediest children in Anacostia. Programs are made possible by the generous financial and in-kind donations of various organizations and individuals, as well as the support of our hundreds of devoted volunteers, whose countless hours with the children have earned them the title of “Army of Angels” from the grateful parents of Wellington Park.

Washingtonian’s Blogger Beat talks to Dan Steinberg about local sports, blogs, stadiums and fans.  It’s a fun read.

Favorite Excerpt:

Pro sport you most wish would come to DC:
“Major League Baseball. (I love you too, Nats fans.)”

Go check it out.

First of all, go read Ian’s letter to Ted Lerner at Nationals Pride.  He makes a great case for keeping Stan, letting Jim go and getting this franchise headed back in the right direction.

It is worth mentioning that Bill Ladson has a piece up denying the Kasten exit rumors.  Take it for what it’s worth.

Last night, we had the pleasure of watching the game with the Bottom Feeder Baseball crew.  So, despite the miserable score and early deficit, we were in good company.  Together, we all sighed in frustration when the circle banner scoreboard above the Red Loft put Johnny Estrada’s picture up when Marco Estrada was pitching.  There, for loss #99, Johnny Estrada watched over us…smiling and mocking us and our miserable season.  He cashed out long ago and there’s really no reason for the mix-up.  It’s just as bad as having Paul Lo Duca’s voice welcome you to Nationals Park everyday for the past 2 months.  I have a lot of tolerance for little mistakes, but reminding me everyday that we wasted 6 plus million dollars on Lo Duca and Estrada but couldn’t sign Aaron Crow…really that’s no way to make me trust in this franchise.

Okay…now for the positive stuff.  Orr got the start at third because Zimmerman was battling the flu.  Despite not playing Zim-caliber defense at third, Orr did have a 2 for 4 night and an RBI.  Bonifacio went 2 for 5 with a triple.  And Bernadina made an outstanding diving catch in left field that earned him a web gem nomination.

Estrada, Bergmann and Mock looked great in relief.  Speigner, on the other hand, didn’t fare as well.  On his birthday, (It was nice of the Nats to put his name up with the other birthdays.  It would have been nicer if they had spelled it right), Speigner couldn’t get outs. He gave up 2 runs, 3 hits and a walk in .2 innings including a homer to Willingham.  Tough birthday.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out this video of Charlie and Dave dancing to Wil Nieves batting song.  It’s also a Bottom Feeder Baseball feature and it’s hilarious.  You gotta love those guys.

Around the NL East:  The Phillies got crushed by Atlanta, but the game featured a benches and bullpen clearing argument between Shane Victorino and reliever Julian Tavares.  The Phillies lost 4-10.  In NY, the Mets battled Zambrano but eventually fell in extra innings when former Nat Ayala gave up 3 runs to take the loss.  The games keep Philly ahead by 1.5 and tied the Mets with the Brewers for the Wild Card.

Yesterday, the Nats did a nice tribute to former Senator Mickey Vernon who passed away on Wednesday.  Vernon had just talked to Phil Wood about his days with the Senators.  It’s a real nice interview.  If you have a moment, check it out.

Tonight, half the team is battling the flu, the weather is supposed to be stormy and the Nats are poised to collect loss #100 in front of a small crowd of loyalists.  What a way to end this.

Picture of the Estrada mix-up, courtesy C. Nichols (2008) at Bottom Feeder Baseball.