'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
The National League East Division is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. - Source: Wikipedia
In 205 days, three of the area's four teams in the major professional sports leagues won division titles. It's a start. Let's be clear on something, though: It is hardly a finish.
Chipper Jones retired last year, Bobby Cox the season before that.
The lessons here -- and this is where the other local team needs to pay attention -- are athletes don't make the call and you make the decision based on what you see, not on what you hear.
In beating the Marlins 6-1 Thursday evening, the Nationals completed their first sweep in a season they hope will be filled with them.
Until proven otherwise, Washington is the team to beat in the National League East. The Braves -- or any other divisional contender -- will have to answer their own questions before they can challenge the Nationals for that crown.
Drug scandals have become even more prevalent in recent years and it is enough to make a cynic wonder about any significant athletic feat: clean or not clean?
If there is one thing that Dan Haren has almost always been able to call himself, it's a West Coast guy. Haren was born in California, went to high school and college there and has spent the majority of his 10-year major league career with teams housed either in the state or not far from it.
Even before the Washington Nationals' contingent had arrived at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel on Sunday afternoon, the question was being bandied about by members of the baseball community: What will the Nationals do next?
It was three weeks ago, a month removed from one of the most gut-wrenching nights of his career as a general manager, that Mike Rizzo reflected on the Washington Nationals' playoff exit.
On a spring training afternoon in March, Davey Johnson proclaimed that if his team didn't make the playoffs, the Washington Nationals could fire him. And he meant it. But in a season filled with organizational bests — 98 wins, the National League East crown and the arrival of a fan base — there never was any worry they'd have to.
The Washington Nationals and Davey Johnson do not have the manager's contract for 2013 finalized, but an announcement appeared imminent Thursday night.
Last winter, the man largely credited with morphing the Washington Nationals from perennial losers to the talk of the town left D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray a voice-mail message.
Ryan Zimmerman draped his arms over the railing of the dugout. He looked to his left, and then to his right, at the frenzied fans dancing in the aisles at Nationals Park. Behind him, his teammates continued dispensing the hugs and high-fives that began with fervor seconds earlier.
Jayson Werth didn't see this success as a leadoff hitter coming. How could he? With the Philadelphia Phillies his job was at the other end of the spectrum.
The seven-year streak of lost races by Teddy Roosevelt, the bobble-headed racing president known for his permanent smile and ability to lose in creative fashion, ended Wednesday afternoon at Nationals Park in the final game of the regular season. The streak was 538 games old.
