I know that some of you may be getting a wee bit tired of my rah-rah attitude towards the Nationals. After all, they are the worse team in MLB, right? So why am I always defending them and seeing the positive side? Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I’m going there again.
I was reading Dan Steinberg’s Sports Bog about the series versus the Yankees. He posted several quotes from NY area newspapers about the series, specifically about the Nationals (more specifically, about how pathetic it was for the Yankees to lose to the Nationals). The adjectives used by these papers to describe the Nationals just about killed me. Lowly, wretched, woeful, dismal were just a few of my favorites that I saw posted there as well as in other places I found myself.
Lowly: low in growth or position
Wretched: poor, sorry, or pitable
Woeful: of wretched quality; sorry; poor
Dismal: characterized by ineptness or lack of skill
Ouch! But I am going to throw this out there at the risk of being ridiculed and torn apart…Are the Washington Nationals really a “bad team”? Are they characterized by ineptness or lack of skill? Are they of wretched quality? Or are there two sides to the story, one of which seems to always get overlooked?
Based on our record, we are a bad team, right? Sure we are. It’s a terrible record. But let’s take another look, shall we? Bare with me here. There have been games when we’ve been winning into the 7th, 8th, 9th innings only to lose the game by our bullpen. That’s terrible! It’s unacceptable that our relievers should fail, and it should not happen. But does that make us a bad team? Some of those relievers actually have been praised for outstanding performances in other games. So again I ask, bad team? In my opinion, if we were such a bad team, we’d never have had the lead at all in those games.
Let’s move on… How about all the errors! Yikes! I mean, really, outfielders who misjudge balls, infielders overthrowing or missing a simple play. We certainly must be a terrible team, right? Lowly, wretched, etc., let’s add to the list! But what about the phenomenal plays by those guys in other games? Zim, Nick, Guz, Willie, Hernandez, have all made some fantastic, score-saving plays (look at Kearns last night). And these plays are not that uncommon; there’s a good play in almost every game. Does this make us a bad team?
How about some more… How about the games back in the beginning of the year? Back when I had more hope for this team, I admit. We were scoring so many runs - just not enough! And our hitting? We were on fire! We just didn’t seem to score enough (loop back to the point about our relievers for some of those losses as well). Does that make us a bad team? Can bad teams score that much, hit that well?
And finally, I was thinking about this recently…We’ve had games in which we did not hit at all. We just had some terrible at-bats. Does that make us untalented, just plain bad? Because when we face a team (let’s say the Yankees since it is fresh in our minds) and their hitters are struck down by our pitching, the pitcher gets the credit. The pitcher gets the credit. But when we face a team and don’t get on base, don’t walk, don’t score runs, well then we suck, we can’t hit, we have no talent, etc. Really? Sure, some nights we don’t hit well, but on other nights the opposing pitcher deserves the credit.
Hey, I know it doesn’t matter how well you’re doing in individual moments when all that really matters is your record. I know that winning is the goal. I know that winning brings in the fans and the money. And winning keeps the team in this town for many years to come. I get it. Winning brings respect. Winning ends the ridicule, blah blah blah. I want the team to win as well. I’ll be happier when the team wins, too. Heck, if the team starts winning, maybe I’ll be able to sell some of my unused tickets that I currently throw away when I can’t make it to a game. I get it!
But like I said above, I feel like there are always two sides to the story. And to say that the Washington Nationals are a ‘bad team’ just doesn’t always sit well with me. I’m not saying we don’t sometimes look and play like a bad team, I’m just saying that I don’t think we are one. So to those media outlets which choose to use those adjectives to describe the team, go ahead. But if you don’t mind, I am going to choose the definitions of those words for myself.
Lowly: humble in station, condition, or nature
Wretched: very unfortunate in circumstances
Woeful: full of woe; unhappy
Dismal: gloomy, dreary, cheerless*
*OK, maybe I’ll save “dismal” for describing the fans.
Entries (RSS)
June 19th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
The Nats are a team that can pull it together against anyone. Our starters, while unproven (and with terrible records) are certainly no worse than average, and I think that Lannan has found the next gear that makes him the staff ace in fact, and not just in name. The rest of the rotation is learning. Put 50 starts under their belts… now you have something. Individually, our defense is at least adequate, with a few notable exceptions (Dunn at one end, Zimmerman at the other), but together they are misfiring when it comes to playing together. We can hit with any team, but it requires that everyone be healthy, otherwise an opposing pitcher can weave his way through the lineup, exploiting the weaknesses of the bench… But it was my first sentence that really is the most important… they CAN pull it together against anyone, but they can’t do it on demand, or every night. They haven’t learned what it means to play 100 percent, all the time. That is a leadership thing… not just work ethic, but work and results. For example, Austin Kearns kills himself trying to get out of his slump, but makes no progress. They make mental lapses that lead to lapses in execution.
Lannan’s two performances against the Mets and the Yankees are where the next level is for him. Every player on our team needs to find that for themselves. When they do… look out. Until then… look out.
June 19th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
outside media markets (and obvious ones inside) are going to take the easiest path to describe the Nats when we face them because it takes less effort than finding out the complete story. it’s easy to put together a description of the Nats by simply relying on the W-L record, which is lowly, wretched and dismal.
those of us that watch the team on a daily basis and are capable of critical thought know where the goodness (and true badness) lie.
Carolyn, your attitude is perfect for this particular blog
June 20th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
LOVE IT!!!! Good job! I like your style and attitude!!! You are awesome!!!