First off we apologize for being a little tardy with this post. We were cut off from the internet this weekend, a scary feeling for us bloggers! We had a jammed packed weekend in Atlanta. We managed to see all three games of the series, tour CNN, the Coke Factory, and see MLK Jr.’s grave site. The purpose of the trip was baseball though, and after Friday’s mess we were worried our trip might be a waste. Thankfully, the Nationals proved us wrong and managed to put on quite a show for Saturday and Sunday’s games.

John Lannan took the mound on Saturday. Lannan, who has the lowest amount of run support in the majors, was actually given a cushion early in the game. It’s a good thing John had some help from the offense because it wasn’t one of his best outings. We headed to the visitors bullpen about 6:45 to watch Lannan and Estrada warm up. We were surprised to not see Lannan on the field yet, as he is usually out there pretty early. John came out about 15 minutes before the game and immediately started throwing. He looked a little flustered and rushed. Turns out he has a ruben instead of his usual peanut butter and jelly sandwich before the game. Maybe that had something to do with him seeming rushed. Regardless, Lannan pitched effectively working out of bases loaded situations twice.

We complained about the triple A lineup on Friday night and were admittedly surprised by the offense generated on Saturday. The former Braves tore up their old team this weekend. Willie Harris, and Ryan Langerhans had great series. Langerhans hit a double and Willie Harris went 3-5 with two RBI. Big hits also came from Guzman, Lo Duca and Kearns.

After working with Randy St. Claire on Friday and with a four run lead, Manny allowed Ayala to pitch the 8th. He escaped the inning without many problems, giving up only one base hit. Rauch was back with the team and pitched the 9th. He gave up a solo shot to Norton, but the Nationals won the game 8-2.

We are still annoyed with the four catcher roster situation and a little unsure of seeing Lo Duca at first base everyday. Estrada didn’t prove his worth this series, he went 1-4 on Saturday. We were thinking, that with four catchers on the roster, maybe the Nationals can get rid of one of the bullpen catchers and put Estrada out there for a while. It might cut back on some expenses which would please the ownership and really how important are the bullpen catchers anyway? The seem to just take up space to me.

Sunday’s game was a regular hit parade. The Nationals run count reached a season high, hitting really was contagious. In fact, the only National that didn’t have a hit ironically was Cristian Guzman. Odalis Perez wasn’t lights out at all, but he had enough run support to last five innings. Perez gave up five runs off of nine hits. Austin Kearns, who is looking great after coming off his rehab stint, hit his 100th career home run. Jesus Flores is steadily climbing out of his “slump” too. He went 5-6 with all singles. The Nationals loaded the bases a couple of times thanks to walks and infield hits.

Willie Harris had a heck of a series. He closed out the series against the Braves going 2-3 with three walks, a home run and five RBI. Willie also looked like a natural in center field. His performance this weekend lead the MLB to name him NL Player of the Week.

It was pretty cool to see Bobby Cox get ejected in the 3rd inning. With the bases loaded, Carlyle threw a border line pitch to Harris, the umpire called it a ball, forcing Carlyle to walk in a run. Buddy turned his back on the umpire but didn’t show any emotion. Cox came out to argue and was actually thrown out of the game even before he made it all the way out of the dugout. We thought his ejection was a little uncalled for, but it really did wake up the mellow Braves fans.

The Nationals belted out an incredible 15 runs on 17 hits and won the game 15-6. We chose seats by the visitors bullpen on Sunday to try to catch the shade. Let me just say, it’s a good thing the offense gave the team such a big lead because the bullpen was pretty distracted during the game. I bet only a couple of relievers could have told you the actual score before they read the report after the game.

It was great to see some big wins at Turner Field, it made our trip worth it. Hopefully the Nats can build on their last two performances, or at least keep up the momentum. Good news is that Zimmerman should be back. We can’t wait to see the third baseman back on the field. We took a bunch of pictures this weekend, check them out here!

This weekend’s series against the Astros started favorably for the Nats.  The boys of summer belted out ten runs and held the Texans to a shutout. The 10-0 victory was the largest margin the Nats have won by so far this season. Tim Redding finally earned another win, his first since May 19th.  Steven Shell came out of the bullpen and was solid pitching three shutout innings and earning his first career save.

The Nationals started their offense early when Ronnie Belliard hit his first homer of the night after Flores reached first base on a single.  The Nats quickly led 2-0.  Astros starter Oswalt was taken out after the first inning with a hip injury, but the Nationals’ bats stayed hot for the rest of the night. The Nats scored again in the 3rd when Kearns and Guzman hit back to back doubles.  In the 5th, the Astros loaded the bases by intentionally walking Kory Casto.  Jesus Flores, who is steadily working his way out of a slump, hit a two RBI single to put the Nats up again.  That brought hot-hitting Ronnie Belliard to the plate.  Ronnie then hit his second home run of the night and the 100th of his career, to clear the bases.  The Nationals fans were loud and Belliard took a well deserved curtain call.  The Nats capped off the night with a two run shot from Austin Kearns, who is looking much better at the plate after coming back from the DL.

Friday’s victory was much needed.  It proved that the team is much better than they have been playing.  Hopefully the win is a sign of good things to come after the All Star break.

While productive offense launched the Nats to victory on Friday, poor defense on Saturday caused the Nats to fall 6-4 in game two against the Astros. Two errors and two unearned runs put a win out of reach for the team. Starter Colin Balester pitched just 4 and 2/3 innings giving up six runs, 4 earned. Errors, from Belliard at third and Guzman at short, gave the Astros a comfortable cushion.  The worst mistake though, came in the fifth inning.  With one out and runners on the corners, Lo Duca fielded a grounder close to the first base bag.  He touched the bag for an out, but then didn’t throw the ball to third to try to get Berkman who had a big lead, or tag Carlos Lee who was on his way back to first base. Lo Duca could have easily tagged Lee for the third out, but with Lo Duca confused, Lee reached the bag safely.  Berkman then scored a batter later, giving the Astros a bigger lead.

The Nationals played small ball with singles, bunts and sac-flys to score early, but with silly baseball mistakes their efforts weren’t enough.  They tried to rally in the 6th when Willie Harris led off the inning with his 5th home run.  The Nats then loaded the bases with one out.  Jesus Flores was hit by a pitch and all of the runners advanced to put another run on the board.  The guys had a chance to at least tie the game, but struggling Wily Mo Pena grounded into a double play to end the inning.  That was the most disappointing at bat of the night.  After that, the Nats couldn’t mount a comeback.

Given WMP’s struggles this season, trade rumors are circulating about picking up Matt Holliday. Holliday is headed to the All Star game with a .337 average.  He’s 28 and signed through next season on a two-year, $23 million contract.

On Sunday, as fans baked in the afternoon sun, the Nats took off for All Star break early.  Perez pitched pretty well for 6 innings.  He gave up 3 runs, including a home run to Wigginton in the 2nd inning.  He did strike out 6 while only walking one - Wigginton.  Manning gave up another 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning, but Colome, Ayala and Rauch finished the game without a problem.

To Houston’s twelve hits, Washington put up just 5.  Only Wil Nieves hit for an extra base with a double off of Backe.  Backe walked four in his seven innings of work but never allowed the Nats to put runs on the board.  With the 5-0 victory, they took two of three from the Nats before beginning the All Star Break.

 In our next interview for the Women in Baseball series, we talk to Pam Gardner, President of Business Operations for the Houston Astros.

Houston Astros President of Business Operations Pam Gardner knows a thing or two about the different paths life offers us.  Pam, who is in the midst of her 20th season with the Houston Astros organization, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stout with a degree in Vocational Rehabilitation.  From there she had her sights set on law school. In order to pay for law school, Pam worked in the mailroom at a PR firm in Chicago.

While working in Chicago, Pam discovered her love for marketing, advertising and public relations and decided to put the law school dream aside. “I just started moving up in the company.  I never left and went back to school. I stayed there; I was there for about 10 years.  When I left I was Vice President of the Entertainment Division and we did mostly PR for sports and entertainment, Broadway theatre that kind of thing.” 

After working in Chicago for more than a decade, Pam made the move to Houston, for personal reasons.  She sent her resume to the Astros on a whim, and was rewarded with a new job in the baseball industry. “They happened to have a job opening in Advertising, so I took a step backwards and started as Director of Advertising.” That was 1989. Pam worked through an organizational shift in the mid-nineties when Drayton McLane bought the club. “When he bought the club in ’93, I was there; he inherited me.  So, luckily, I was one that he decided to keep and I started just moving through the ranks to other jobs.” Since then Pam worked her way steadily through the organization, and was eventually named President of Business Operations, the position she currently holds.   

Since joining the Astros, Pam and the organization have both been successful. In 2006, Pam became the first female executive induced into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame. That followed Pam’s 2005 recognition as one of the 20 most influential women in sports.  In addition, Pam was included in a special exhibit in Cooperstown honoring women in baseball.  There’s no doubt that Pam works hard, but she does so with an understanding that working in baseball is not just any job.

“It’s a tough lifestyle for men as well, in the office side of baseball, because there are very long hours.  I always tell people it’s not a job; it’s a lifestyle. You are in at 7:30 in the morning.  On game days, you’re home at midnight and you’re back at 7:30 in the morning.  Weekends, and it’s all the time.  It’s a time commitment.”

It’s a time commitment that Pam embraces to the fullest.  There is no typical day for her; she juggles just about everything on the business front. “I put out a lot of fires.  It’s a lot of crisis management, day to day.  And I don’t mean huge horrible things, but it’s just day to day issues that you have to deal with.” Through it all though, she understands the importance of the personal side of running a business also.

“One thing I do everyday is try to walk the building, try to see everyone that works there.  We don’t have a big staff; we have one of the smaller staffs.  I like to touch base with people, check in and get the pulse of the place.”

In 2000, Pam spearheaded the advertising and marketing efforts for both the team and the new ballpark in its inaugural season. It was a challenge to convince the city that a new ballpark would be a blessing to Houston. “We had a tough time passing the legislature to get a new stadium, so it went to a pubic vote.  We won the public vote 51% to 49% so it was that close.  And so, I think, when we got there, it was like ‘oh my gosh.’  That was the biggest challenge or hurdle you could possibly deal with.” Once the stadium was built and the inaugural game was played in March of 2000, the challenge was worth it.  Minute Maid Park was a success. During that time, Pam also led the development of the new logo and uniform design and implementation plan.

For Pam working behind the senses is the perfect fit for her personality.  She is happy doing the planning, organizing, all of the leg work really, that makes a baseball team successful because for her the reward is “being affiliated with something really magical.”  Understanding the magic of the sport maybe made the challenge of working to get a new stadium built a little less stressful, because in the end, Pam knew that a new ballpark would really be an asset to the city.

“The beautiful thing about baseball parks anyway is that no two are alike.  There are different dimensions and everything is different.  And that’s the beauty of ballparks.  So I think it has to fit your city.  And if it does, then all the other pieces will come together.”

Pam, a mother who cherishes the memory of teaching her six year old daughter to score at a game, recognizes the importance of reaching out to female fans, especially mothers by preserving the family atmosphere at the ballpark.  The Astros have a strong female fan base, nearly 50%, which is partly a result of a conscious outreach effort. 

“Women are the gatekeepers.  They gate-keep where the family goes and where the family’s money is spent.  And they decide if the family is going to go to a movie that day or a baseball game. It’s Mom that decides that.  And also, we always say that baseball’s an eating sport.  You know it kind of moves along slow.  Not for me, I love every nuance of the game.  But you can visit, you can knit, you can go up and get something to eat, so it’s great for that.”

She credits Major League Baseball for trying to attract more women to the sport, but admits that organizations need to do more work reaching out to women to develop front office talent.  The Astros worked hard to recruit talented women and today women comprise half of their management team.  But across the industry, “there are some days when you feel like there are not a lot of you out there.   It really is still a male dominated industry.”

Challenges, Pam admits, come with the territory, but with maturity and a good work ethic, women can succeed in the baseball world.

“I think the biggest challenges was for me when I was younger, trying to overcome those that didn’t want me in the club, and I just decided one day I was going to stop doing that and just do my own thing, and those things too would sort themselves out.  Those that didn’t have time for me would stay over there anyway and that’s how things worked out.  I think early on, it was a challenge for me personally but as I got older, I realized it’s just a part of maturity and life and you deal with it.”

But make no mistake about it.  For all the challenges of being a woman in the industry, there are “a thousand people waiting for these jobs.”  Because they are widely coveted, Pam offers this importance advice on landing one.   

“Take any job you can to get in the door.  Have a good sense of self.  Be professional.  Dress how you want to be treated.  Don’t do anything to embarrass yourself, your company or your family and you’ll be good to go.  Get an internship if you can.  Then work your tail off.”

More than anything else, Pam appreciates that baseball touches the community in important ways.  “We play everyday, so the players are in the middle of the community.  And they touch the community; they are just a piece of life.”  So too is Gardner, who sits on the Houston Area Women’s Center, a center for abused women victimized by domestic violence and sexual abuse.  “You can be connected with the community in a different way.   So when you get more women into the industry itself, then that follows along too.”

The rewards much outweigh the long hours and hard work required to be successful in the industry.  For Pam, baseball is special.  It touches lives and the greater Houston community.  It brings families together and represents “an average slice of America,” on the field and in the stands.

Many thanks to Pam for taking time out of her busy schedule to meet with us.

The Nats finally scored some runs for starting pitcher John Lannan, and he got a much deserved victory last night.  The Nats shutout the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0.  The Nats hadn’t shutout an opponent since May 19th. More importantly, last night’s win put an end the team’s six game losing streak.

With the team’s struggles this year, I think we have all learned to appreciate the little things.  I was impressed with the Nationals defense last night.  Lannan allowed runners on base, with a few walks and some hits, but the guys behind him were solid, turning three double plays. Lannan once again, pitched a nice game going six no run innings. He threw 85 pitches, 42 for strikes. The outfielders looked solid also; I liked seeing Willie Harris in center field.  It was refreshing to watch a game with no errors. 

Arizona pitcher Owings was all over the place with the ball last night.  He couldn’t seem to find the plate to throw a strike.  He actually hit three Washington batters in the game.  Paul Lo Duca got nailed on the inside of his knee pretty hard, he didn’t look to happy about it, and even less so when he almost got hit again a couple innings later.  The Nationals scored their first run in the second inning thanks to Owings erratic throws.  After giving up a single to Young, Owings hit Belliard and Lo Duca with pitches to load the bases. Dmitri crossed the plate on a force after Kory Casto earned a walk.

The Nats held their one run lead until they added some insurance runs in the sixth inning.  Kory Casto, who was recently called back from Columbus to take Dukes’ place, had a great the game.  Kory played solidly in left field, and made a really nice backhand catch.  In the sixth inning Casto hit an RBI double to score Young again.  Kory also stole his first major league base last night.  Hopefully this kid is finding his groove in the bigs this time up.  Jesus Flores, who has been struggling offensively for the last couple of weeks, pinch hit for Lannan in the sixth.  On a 1-2 count Flores, found a good pitch and launched the ball about 380 feet into the visitor’s bullpen.  His three run shot put the Nats up by five.  A pinch hit homer has to be good for Flores’ confidence.  Flores is actually 3-6 in the pinch hit position this season, but I like seeing him behind the plate much better.

The bullpen of Hanrahan, Ayala, and Rauch held the D-Backs to a shutout, but it was the young guys, Lannan, Casto, and Flores that ensured the Nats victory. 

Tim McGraw might sport the occasional curly W baseball cap, but Miami Heat forward Mike Beasley sports a permanent curly W with a tattoo on his right forearm. Is he really a Nats fan too?

Thanks for the tip Linds! (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images).

Game three in Cincinnati didn’t bring much offense for the Nats yet again. The Nats didn’t score until Tim Redding - of all people - hit a single in the second to plate Kearns. The game would stay at 1-0 until the fifth thanks to solid pitching from Redding. The Reds eventually tied the game after singles by Hariston and Griffey and a sac fly by Phillips.

The injury curse hit the Nats yet again in the 7th inning when Elijah Dukes hit the left field wall while tracking a fly ball. He made the catch, but it looked like he planted his legs weird and in the process hurt his knee. Dukes crumpled to the ground and really looked to be in pain. Manny and the trainers immediately ran onto the field and called for the cart to take Dukes off. Things looked pretty grim. MASN showed JimBo and he looked pretty upset with the injury…maybe because his experiment was falling apart right before his eyes? News on Dukes came a bit later in the game, and it wasn’t good, he strained his patella. This is certainly another crippling blow to an already defeated team. Dukes was having a great run and was one of the only guys generating any sort of offense.

After getting just one run in the first eight innings, the Nats were able to mount a bit of a rally in the 9th when Dmitri Young took a lead off walk thanks to Reds closer Cordero. Kearns followed with a base hit to center, and Jesus Flores had a great at bat and hit a deep fly ball to center to earn a sac fly and tie the game.

Hanrahan came back out to pitch the bottom of the 9th and immediately gave up a base hit, Hariston then stole second, Flores didn’t have a chance to make the throw. They intentionally walked Griffey to put runners on first and second with one out. Luis Ayala came in to face Phillips, who hit a walk off single. The Reds won 3-2.

The Nats look to avoid the sweep tomorrow when the rookie Colin Balester faces Edinson Volquez at 1:35.

The Nationals hit up Great American Ballpark this holiday weekend, or at least they try to. John Lannan took the mound tonight and probably hoped that the dimensions of Great American would help get him some run support. The game remained scoreless for the first three innings until the Nats put up two in the 4th thanks to some big hits from the heart of the lineup. With one out Guzman hit a single, Dukes followed with a double to score Guzman. Dukes then advanced to third thanks to balk on Cueto. Dmitri worked the count for a walk. Fresh from his rehab start, Austin Kearns knocked out a single to score Dukes.

Elijah Dukes added another run for the Nats with a solo shot to left center field in the top of the 6th. John Lannan pitched solidly and without issue until the 6th inning when he got into a jam. Consecutive singles from the Reds tied the game at three. Lannan earned a quality start though, pitching six innings giving up three runs and two costly walks. It should be noted that Lannan was helped out by some nifty defensive plays from Willie Harris at second base.

Things really fell apart in the 7th with Colome on the mound. With one out Corey Patterson made it safely to first after Colome fielded the bunt but threw a bullet to Dmitri at first from about 20 feet away, Dmitri of course missed the ball and was given the error. Patterson made it to second base. Then Harrison singled to center, but Bernadina’s relay throw was way off and allowed both runners to advance. The Nats chalked up another two errors on two consecutive plays tonight. Colome intentionally walked Keppinger to load the bases, and was then promptly removed for Charlie Manning to face Griffey. Manning got him to pop out to third for the second out. So much for giving the bullpen a rest tonight, Ayala entered the game after Griffey flied out, sending three pitchers the mound in one inning. Ayala promptly gave up a base hit to deep right field, and the Reds scored two. Ayala then fielded a blooper to first to end the inning. The Reds led 5-3 after the 7th, every run in the inning was unearned thanks to careless errors by the Nats.

Trying to mount a comeback, Guzman led off the 8th with a double, adding another multi hit game to his record (he leads the league with 35 multi hit games). Guzman’s effort though, was wasted once again when Dmitri hit into a double play and Kearns flied out to right to end the inning. Shell came in to pitch the 8th and was impressive striking out two. Rain started falling in the 9th and the Nats couldn’t mount a comeback and lost with a final score of 5-3.

I’m still pretty bitter that the Nats aren’t home to play a 4th of July game in their new stadium. You’d think Stan and the Lerner’s would want to get the stadium packed anyway they can…they certainly aren’t going to do it with a winning team. Anyway, the Nats face the Reds again tomorrow in Cincy at 1:15. Think I can watch the game on TV and still make it downtown for the fireworks?

After a series win against Baltimore yesterday, the Nats headed to Florida to take on the hard hitting Marlins. With Tim Redding on the mound, the Marlins got off to an early lead scoring a run in the first. The Nats seemed stumped by Marlins starter Tucker’s stuff in the first couple of innings, but they battled back after Willie Harris got hit by a pitch, and Guzman drove him in with a two out single.

The Marlins broke the tie in the 3rd, after Jeremy Hermida doubled, then Josh Willingham homered off a fastball to left field, putting the Fish up 3-1. The Nats tried to battled back in the top of the 4th with Belliard and Lo Duca knocking out singles. Willie Harris followed with a sharply hit single to score Belliard. Tim Redding then walked to load the bases, but Roger Bernadina grounded to second to end the inning the score still 3- Marlins.

The game got exciting in the 5th when the Nats took the lead thanks to solo homers from Elijah Dukes and Dmitri Young, put the Nats up 4-3. Tim Redding pitched the 5th with a little drama. He allowed walks to both Hanley Ramirez and Jeremy Hermida. Redding pitched out the inning getting an infield fly and a strike out. With his pitch count at almost 100 I thought for sure we would see a pinch hitter for Redding and a reliever start the 6th. I was wrong though, Manny let Tim start the 6th, but Tim worked himself into a jam, putting runners on third and first with no outs. Redding was relieved in favor of Jesus Colome. Colome’s first pitch was a fly ball to Bernadina, Ross barreled home and Bernadina’s throw home was awful, way off line, Colome actually caught it. All of the runners advanced on the play and the Marlins tied the game 4-4. Tim Redding earned yet another no decision.

Saul Rivera came in to pitch the 7th and catcher Jesus Flores was also removed and replaced by Wil Nieves. Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 7th thanks to a pretty good catch from Lo Duca in left. Ronnie Belliard lead off the 8th with a walk. With Paul Lo Duca up, Ronnie Belliard got a great jump off first and Lo Duca laced a single up the middle and Belliard reached third. Lopez entered the game to pinch run for Lo Duca, and the Nats had runners on third and first with one out. Then Ronnie Belliard was able to score on a wild pitch by Pinto to put the Nats in the lead by one.

Saul pitched an outstanding scoreless 8th getting two big strike outs. The Nats couldn’t score in the top of the 9th and Jon Rauch came in to close the game. Looks like with Cordero out for the season and maybe longer, we’ll be seeing Rauch as closer from here on out. Jon Rauch got a strike out but promptly gave up a monster solo homer on a 1-2 count to Hanley Ramirez to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

The Marlins won the game 6-5 when Josh Willingham hit another home run in the 10th inning off Rauch. This was a tough one to loose as the guys had battled back all game. Hopefully we see some good stuff from Collin Balester in his major league debut tomorrow night.

 The Nationals held the second annual Baseball 101 clinic on Saturday.  The event was open to just ladies and offered an inside instruction of the game.  About 50 women of all ages took the field and got some great tips from the Nationals coaching staff.  The coaches were divided into five stations, and the women were divided into groups of about 10.  The groups rotated from station to station throughout the two hour on field portion of the clinic. 

For our first station, bullpen coach Rich Aponte, and BP pitcher Pablo Reyes taught us a bit about the art  of pitching in the Nationals bullpen.  We learned how to grip a fast ball - a two seamer and four seamer - how to throw a curve ball, and how to grip a change up.  All of the ladies practiced throwing from the rubber with Aponte and Reyes catching.   Then we had some time for a question and answer session.  We found out that Odalis Perez had indeed been on a pitch count the other night because he was coming back from injury.  The coaches also told us a little about the pitchers daily routine.   Most of the guys get to the ballpark about 2pm and work out, watch tape, and get ready for the game.  Coach Aponte told us that when the pitchers get into the bullpen for the game, they are loose and ready to pitch if needed.

From the bullpen, our group headed to the dugout to spend some time with bench coach Pat Corrales.  Pat told us he is Manny’s right hand man, and keeps the manager informed about what game situations may arise. Pat then opened the floor up for a question and answer session.  Pat said he is more likely to get thrown out of a game than Manny is because he reacts to things in a more overt manner.  Corrales said Andruw Jones was his favorite player to work with.  Pat said that when Andruw was first starting out, he would smile or grin every time he struck out.  It drove Pat crazy, so he asked Andruw why he would smile all the time.  Andruw replied by asking what Corrales would prefer, him to smile or cry after striking out.  Corrales told us that Javy Lopez a catcher for the Braves was his most challenging player to work with.  Pat was candid and engaging with the ladies, he answered all of our hard hitting questions honestly.  Pat ended by saying that the Nationals have the best fans, and we agreed with him.

Our next station was base running with Tim Tolman and Julian Martinez.  Tim started with a discussion about signs.  We learned about the bunt, hit and run, and steal routine.  We learned that Lastings Milledge, Elijah Dukes, and Felipe Lopez have the green light on the bases this season.  Tim said that Lastings is the fastest player on the team. Milledge and Dukes apparently raced each other, and Lastings won, although Dukes claimed he wasn’t ready when the race started.  Tim also said that he hasn’t seen anyone as fast as Nook Logan.  The ladies then practiced running the bases, we worked on banana turns around first base, and reading the sign on the way from second to third.

Next, our group headed into the batting cages where Lenny Harris and Jose Martinez were waiting to explain to us the art of batting.  Lenny preached the importance of plate coverage and also explained why hitting off the tee was still useful even at the major league level.  The ladies asked Lenny what changed with Dukes to make him so successful at the plate in the past couple of weeks.  Lenny said that he and Elijah work on a special drill where Lenny throws him soft toss and Dukes hits the ball right back at Lenny.  Harris said the drill helps Elijah see the ball better.  Harris also said that he has been trying to drill into Dukes’ head that pulling the ball isn’t necessary because he as so much power, enough to drive the ball up the center.  Each of us took a turn in the cage perfecting our stance and hitting off the tee.  I have to say, Lenny was honest with us and I personally learned a lot from him.

Lastly, we went to the outfield to meet Jerry Morales and Nilson Robeldo.  Jerry began by telling the ladies about his journey to the big leagues from his native Puerto Rico.  Morales then explained to us the workings of the outfield, who had priority over who and how the outfield is set up against certain batters.  We have been getting a kick out of watching Morales direct Milledge from the dugout on nearly every play so far this season.  We asked Jerry what the deal was.  Morales said that Milledge is indeed still learning and sometimes needs some help remembering where to stand, so Jerry usually directs him from the dugout.  Early in the season, Morales admited to writing the positioning on Milledge’s arm so he could look down and figure out where to stand against opposing batters.  Jerry also noted that Milledge sometimes gets distracted in the outfield, and likes to watch the replays on the giant scoreboard.  (Guess Lastings can watch the replays from the dugout now.)

After our on-field exercises all of the ladies headed to the club level for lunch and a question and answer session with Felipe and Jennifer Lopez and team massage therapist Tatiana Tchamouroff.  Nats sideline reporter Debbi Taylor acted as MC and fielded questions for the guests.  Felipe and Jenn talked about the challenges of raising two young daughters in baseball.  Despite Felipe’s busy schedule, they try very hard to do the simple things and spend quality time together.  Jenn and the kids like to accompany Felipe on road-trips to the fun cities, and even during baseball season they all try to have breakfast together every morning.  Tatiana was just as engaging.  She spoke about the challenge of breaking into the sports industry, and the success she had working with Dmitri Young.  Listening to these three talk about their lives over lunch was a great way to end the clinic. 

Once again the Nationals did a great job with this event.  I think all of the women had a fantastic time.  The coaches were energetic and honest.  The ladies that participated knew their baseball and asked a lot of great questions.  I think this event will become even more popular in the seasons to come.  In addition to the clinic each of the ladies received two tickets to that evenings game.  The seats were in section 237 - right/center-field - and offered a great view of the game.  For those that paid and participated, the event was well worth it!