'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Brad Lidge knew it was coming. The veteran right-hander approached Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo in the clubhouse Sunday morning to ask if he was ready to talk. Rizzo delivered the news that Lidge least wanted to hear, but expected.
The Washington Nationals designated struggling reliever Brad Lidge for assignment Sunday and activated reliever Ryan Mattheus.
As he rounded third base, Tyler Moore looked up and saw that Nationals third-base coach Bo Porter was waving him on. So Moore kept running the 90 feet that separated him from scoring.
The words came out of manager Davey Johnson's mouth firmly and knowingly. Hours before the Washington Nationals would take the field against the New York Yankees in a 7-2 loss, Johnson uttered lines that would prove prophetic.
Less than 24 hours after wrapping up the 2012 draft, the Washington Nationals already had agreed to terms with their second- and fourth-round selections and were working toward locking up their third-round choice, among others, scouting director Kris Kline said.
Late Tuesday night, Washington Nationals bullpen coach Jim Lett looked to his left, and to his right, and saw only rows of empty chairs. In a 7-6, 12-inning win over the New York Mets that saw the Nationals empty their bullpen down to long reliever Ross Detwiler, Lett was a lonely man.
When Drew Storen returns, would it make sense for Davey Johnson to ease him back in by adopting a two-closer strategy? It wouldn't, after all, be the first time he's done such a thing.
The idea of a baseball team — from April to October — being a central part of the sports conversation is entirely foreign to modern-day Washington.
As Henry Rodriguez took the mound at Citizens Bank Park on Monday night, all eyes from the Washington Nationals' dugout and bullpen were on him. The warm-up pitches, they knew, would tell them all they needed to know.
Brad Lidge watched the Washington Nationals' game Sunday evening. He felt what his teammates felt. He lived and died just as they did with every pitch.
The Washington Nationals' extended injury list got longer Monday night. A team source confirmed that right-handed reliever Brad Lidge will undergo surgery Tuesday to repair a hernia.
The Washington Nationals were the recipients of three errors by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, the 2011 Cy Young Award winner, had no intention of being so charitable.
The Washington Nationals announced three roster moves on Friday.
Bryce Harper tends to do things ahead of schedule, so it should surprise no one that he's already heading to the major leagues.
Standing in the Nationals' clubhouse after a 3-2 extra-innings win over the Miami Marlins, shortstop Ian Desmond wore a shirt that read "Better Every Day."
"Just keep throwing good pitches, quality pitches, and at some point those balls will get to people and we'll make outs," Lidge said. "But until then, you've just got to battle and keep throwing strikes."
After Saturday's game, Lidge said he felt he was making good pitches, but the batters were finding the holes.
