Comments on: Sorry Nats fans, but history is not written by the losers

By: gsrider911

gsrider911 — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:31:29 +0000

So Nat’s fans are bragging that they are now relevant. But for how long? baseball is a fickle mistress.
How hard can it be to sell 30k tickets per game when you are in a city of over 5 million? It’s pathetic that it took DC area residents so long to care in the first place. I live in Denver and we average over 30k per game. And the Rockies SUCK, and Denver is only 3M in population.
Now it seems like Nat’s fans are all high on Nattitude (albeit a crappy Marketing ploy to fill seats with anything other than Philly fans) and have forgotten what it takes to win.
Good luck spiting the Baseball gods. You won’t win anytime soon, Nats fans! PS – Rizzo is an idiot blowhard.

By: atworkident

atworkident — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 14:37:44 +0000

So you are saying they lost 73 out of 100 years. Not shabby but that is still being wrong more often than right. At least Pirates fans have had a better grasp on reality.

By: DelawarePhilliesFan

DelawarePhilliesFan — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 13:04:08 +0000

P.S. – the injury that hit Hamles in 04 and ’05 struck again in August ’07 when he missed a month, so 2008 was very much akin to Strasburg this year. Not trying to debate the shutdown point, just talking about the parallels

By: DelawarePhilliesFan

DelawarePhilliesFan — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:20:43 +0000

I am aware of what he meant – I am mocking him. Not defending that move, thoguh it is ironic that the only picther ever demonized is the ones with the guts to tell the truth.

Hamels is a tough guy, btw

By: DelawarePhilliesFan

DelawarePhilliesFan — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:18:57 +0000

Craigs point was that losers don’t control the narrative, and hence, the Nats aren’t going to be able to control the narrative here. I don’t see how you can argue that Bill Buckner has controled the narrative around that play – or frankly, how he is remebered in a larger sense

By: goodellisruiningtheleague

goodellisruiningtheleague — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 06:17:41 +0000

What team will Craig write, i’m sorry, bash about now that the Nationals are out?

By: raysfan1

raysfan1 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 05:36:59 +0000

No, he’s right. Rizzo will be incorrectly labelled a goat if the Nats do not break through with a WS championship within the next few years. Buckner did not lose a World Series all by himself, but that’s the narrative, and it wasn’t until after 2004 that he was allowed to live it down.

By: raysfan1

raysfan1 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 05:30:44 +0000

The Red Sox did not lose that WS because of one error by Bill Buckner. The Sox did not go 86 years without a ring because of anything involving Babe Ruth. The Cubs have not gone 104 years without a WS championship because of a billy goat nor Bartman. Those are popular baseball lore and are repeated again and again as if they were true. Legends, both for winners and losers, may have a kernel of history in them but are largely fiction. The Strasburg shutdown will become legend too, if the Nats do not win a WS in the next few years.

By: materialman80

materialman80 — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 01:49:42 +0000

That’s Cardinal Baseball!!! Go Cards!

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 01:25:58 +0000

Mariano Rivera had a couple of the biggest blown saves of all time, in the 2001 World Series and 2004 ALCS. Doesn’t detract from his greatness.

Drew Storen seems a level-headed kid. He showed that he understands, this is the life of a closer. Methinks he’ll be OK.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 01:22:06 +0000

I think we’ve established that there was plenty of blame to go around.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 01:15:06 +0000

Rizzo apologists? All he’s done is build a team that has gone from worst record to best record in 3 seasons. The record is there. A lot of us think that record makes it worth cutting him some slack. How, pray tell, is that being apologists?

Of course, some agree with Craig. I don’t disagree with him entirely. And he hasn’t been as simplistic about it as many. But he’s still pushing the media narrative that says the Nats lost because Strasburg was shut down. It’s fair to call him on it.

As to the rest of your comments, agreed.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 01:01:55 +0000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch

I swear, you need subtitles.

By: jdillydawg

jdillydawg — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 01:00:29 +0000

And if Strasburg had played, would we be saying, “Of course this happened because he played.” Or would we be saying, “You know, if they had shut him down back in August, no way this would have happened?” The real point here is that it’s a stupid argument to make because you can second guess anything until the cows come home. And if my aunt had balls, she’d be my uncle.

I stand by my point that losers write history just as much. While Buckner is blamed for the Sox losing the World Series, people forget that they got to play another game after that. And THEN they lost. What this became was another awesome chapter in the Curse of the Bambino, 86 years of failure! Now that’s history.

Sometimes we don’t get to choose the history we write, but it gets written anyway.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:54:57 +0000

Well, we’re sports fans, and fan = fanatic. Goes with the territory.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:51:41 +0000

Wrong. If you’re going to take as cheap shot at Rizzo, at least compare him to other GMs.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:41:55 +0000

No, “fake tough” was about a veteran pitcher throwing at a rookie, then bragging about it. Had nothing to do with how many innings he pitched at what age.

Hamels’ innings:
2003 — 101 minor league
2004 — 16 minor league (elbow)
2005 — 35 minor league (broken hand from bar fight, back)
2006 — 180.1 (49 minor league)
2007 — 183.1
2008 — 227.1
2009 — 193.2
2010 — 208.2
2011 — 216.0
2012 — 215.1

Hamels was able to make the jump to regular MLB duty without sustaining a major injury. Many pitchers, including Stephen Strasburg, were not. I strongly suspect that it’s a function of Hamels’ mechanics. One thing we’ve learned about Strasburg is that his mechanics create an above-average risk of elbow injuries.

This is the problem with trying to compare pitchers. And yes, that includes comparing Strasburg with Jordan Zimmermann. Don’t need to be in a tizzy to see that.

By: 18thstreet

18thstreet — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:24:35 +0000

RandieGo — I’ve said it many times: I love this bar.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:01:40 +0000

Well said. Being second-guessed means you’re relevant. The 2012 season has done that for the Nats.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 23:54:17 +0000

Bull. I was here, and there were very few other Nats fans around. Much less hordes laughing at the Phillies. No doubt, I committed the occasional bit of humor about (some) Phillies’ fans’ arrogance and sense of entitlement. One of the truly pathetic (and hypocritical) things about today is some Phillies fans crawling fron their holes, whining about Nats fans.

BTW, Nats attendance was up by 5K a game, to about 30K a game. Plus, they had standing room only crowds for playoff games. There is room for improvement, but the trend line is upward.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 23:39:35 +0000

Don’t think he’s saying that it was all Jackson’s fault.

The alternatives were Ryan Mattheus and Christian Garcia. Davey said he just thought Jackson was the right choice at thr moment. My guess is that Davey, having seen Jordan Zimmermann dominate one inning, thought Jackson could do the same. This time, it didn’t work.

By: DelawarePhilliesFan

DelawarePhilliesFan — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 23:25:28 +0000

Bill Buckner made history, he did not write it. He is remembered for costing his team the World Series. Do you think that is the history he would have written? The Mets were down 2 runs, 2 outs and no one on base. The Mets then tied game and had a runner on 2nd when he made his error. And yet he is the one who is remembered…..because…… the losers dont get to write history!

As for your comment abotu Strasburg or not the Cards wold have won……well, we will never know for sure, will we? And that is Craigs point

By: Francisco (FC)

Francisco (FC) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 23:25:20 +0000

I guess those great late 70′s Phillies teams and the world Championship in 1980 are just a figment of my imagination.

By: jdillydawg

jdillydawg — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 23:02:07 +0000

You’re absolutely wrong. History is written by the losers just as much as it’s written by the winners. Sure, we remember the walk off hits, but we also remember the guys who threw the pitches. You don’t think Bill Buckner wrote a bit of history? We remember the losing streaks and the curses (think Cubs, Red Sox). We remember pain, because when victory comes around, it makes it all the sweeter.

No city is a true baseball city until it understands what it means to suffer like they did last night. The measure of that team will be defined by what it does next year, and what it learned from this series. This is a tough chapter to write, but don’t think for a moment that it ain’t history.

Strasburg or not, the Cards still would have won. They are the freaking Cardinals for pete’s sake!

By: Gardenhire's Cat

Gardenhire's Cat — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 21:04:54 +0000

This was the second round of the playoffs!

By: DelawarePhilliesFan

DelawarePhilliesFan — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 21:04:07 +0000

Hadn’t thought of that…..I guess more innings pitched is what Rizzo meant by “fake tough”.

And before all the Nats fans get worked into a tizzy, 2008 was Hamels first year without an injury, so it is comparable

By: randiego62234

randiego62234 — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 20:56:08 +0000

@18thstreet: And yet, HERE U ARE !!!

By: sgtr0c

sgtr0c — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 20:51:18 +0000

Cole Hamels pitched 227 innings the year he was 24 yrs old…. 2008….. You all know how that ended….

Love baseball!

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 20:20:57 +0000

Thanks Phil. Well stated.
Personally, I was really, really, really rooting for a Cardinals/Redlegs NLCS.
But alas…it’s the Giants. Should be a very competitive series nonetheless.
Go Cardinals!

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 20:17:21 +0000

Spot on Mung! This Cardinals team is the epitome of a team that plays a full 27 outs.
Down 6-0 in the 3rd and proceed to out score em’ 9-1 the rest of the way.
Relentless. Should be a great series with the Giants. GO CARDINALS!