By Andrew P. Napolitano
The president's men trash the Constitution to pursue antagonists
If the story of John Lannan’s season were to be written over the course of one game, Tuesday night’s 3-2 walk-off loss to the Marlins might have been just the one to do it.
In his long, winding journey from a 41st-round draft-and-follow pick in 2006 to major league starter, Brad Peacock has made a lot of stops.
For a 10-day stretch in early June, Craig Stammen was a quiet member of the Nationals’ bullpen. The man who’d made 19 starts in each of the previous two seasons for Washington was called on for two appearances out of the bullpen before being shipped back to Triple-A Syracuse.
Brad Peacock of the Nationals doesn't have the hype and expectations of Stephen Strasburg, nor did he get a fancy name for his major league debut like "Strasmas." In fact, he got thrown into an unexpected situation against a player getting consideration for National League MVP.
Stephen Strasburg has started 12 games in the major leagues. For all but one of them, Ivan Rodriguez has been behind the plate, staring back out at the young ace and guiding him through each inning.
To be sure, there are games that Washington Nationals left-hander John Lannan has pitched better. There are games he's been more dominant, more in command, and certainly more comfortable with the temperature - which was 90 degrees at game time Wednesday.
After Tom Gorzelanny spun around and watched Corey Hart take the fifth pitch of the night for an estimated 430-foot ride off the back of the center-field batters eye, he turned, faced home plate umpire Tim Welke and asked for a new ball.
For eight innings Wednesday night, the Washington Nationals followed a familiar script. They squandered too many opportunities with runners on base and in scoring position. They produced neither timely hits nor heady base running and looked poised to waste another solid pitching performance.
PHILADELPHIA | With Jordan Zimmermann working in the sixth inning Sunday, left-hander Doug Slaten and right-hander Todd Coffey began to stir in the Washington Nationals' bullpen. The double-barreled action ended immediately after Zimmermann recorded the third out of the inning.
![@Subhead.frcd.22:"Sometimes [bullpen ERA] can be blown out of proportion either way. We all see it as one group, so it doesn't matter. ... I don't look at it like we're carrying the load or whatever. It's kind of one big group, and that's one thing we're really trying to do. It's individual, sure, but we're all one collective bullpen. That's our whole idea. That's what we are, and we pick each other up."
@PullQuoteSig:-Drew Storen](http://media.washtimes.com/media/image/2011/04/08/20110408-001718-pic-302090529_s60x100.jpg?b3b79033ceaf99b484c32f5f09d68397d7c4abdf)
A cursory glance at a few numbers about the Nationals' bullpen displays a divide in its effectiveness.
Nyjer Morgan's wild week has landed him an eight-game suspension, one of nine punishments handed out Friday by Major League Baseball following a brawl between Washington Nationals and Florida Marlins.
He retrieved the warm-up ball later but has a tinge of regret in his voice when he admits, "It was a little rushed."
"My arm felt really good," he said. "It's been quite a while since I started pitching in games. I feel good now."
