Justin Upton snapped a 14-game homerless drought and had four hits to help the Atlanta Braves rout the Diamondbacks 10-1 on Monday night in his return to Arizona.
Mike Trout and Bryce Harper were teammates on the Scottsdale Scorpions last fall. The outfielders arrived in the major leagues on the same April day this year, both played in the All-Star game and they won Rookie of the Year awards a half-hour apart Monday, the vanguard of baseball's next generation.
As Bryce Harper made his way through his first major league season, a day rarely went by without another milestone for the Washington Nationals' outfielder. Another small bit of history made. Another step toward a conversation among the game's greats.
Throughout the season, as the Washington Nationals marched to a major league-best 98 victories, they shunned talk of individual awards. The World Series title, they said, was all that mattered.
Adam LaRoche, the understated first baseman, has won his much-deserved Gold Glove. And now we turn our attention to other prizes, beginning with the Rookie of the Year awards. The Washington Nationals have a horse in that race, too, you may have heard. Or maybe he's an ivory-billed woodpecker.
Inside the comfort of the clubhouse, the Washington Nationals insist they know it won't last forever, that eventually they'll lose a game or two again. They stress that thinking they won't isn't an option because it can only lead to a complacency they show no signs of developing.
Ryan Cook thought about the assembled stars and wondered whether he belonged.
Bryce Harper remembered back to Oct. 27, when just 414 fans were at Scottsdale Stadium to watch his Scorpions play the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League.
If you wanted a list of all the players the Washington Nationals left on base Thursday night, you'd have been better off simply writing out the lineup. Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa and Jesus Flores all knew what it was like to be stranded.
"I was kind of packed to go to Reno," he said. "I was surprised I made the team and in the same sense thrilled."
