Yesterday, Nationals manager Manny Acta called a team meeting to remind his players that they are not "independent league players." The point was that, despite being younger and not as talented as some other clubs, they are expected to be able to complete routine plays like hitting the cutoff man and fielding the baseball. It is clear that Manny will live with a team that is last in the National League in every offensive category,......

You can call me a Homer, but I think it is clear that the 2008 Florida Marlins are the greatest baseball team ever. I can't think of any other explanation for the Nationals' 1-8 record against them. One may think that a team with a batting average of .235 (15th in the NL), .353 Slugging (15th in the NL), .315 OBP (15th in the NL) and 166 runs scored (14th in the NL) is a......

Ponder this one for a minute: Now that official online voting is open, if you had to select the Nats representative for the ’07 All Star game based on the team's first 52 games, who would it be? No National appears in the top five at any position in the early voting results, which is indicative of both the nature of the voting as a popularity contest and of the Nats' subpar 21-31 record.......

It’s the final week of the season for the Nats. Just six games remain in the next six days, so we thought we'd give you that many reasons to head over to RFK one last time. 1. Fonsi’s Career Year When Bowden and Co. went out and traded for Alfonso Soriano last year, we celebrated the bold move. In June, we made the case for keeping him, in the face of relentless pressure (some of......

We've been warned: Building a winning franchise from the ground up takes patience. Getting better means taking your medicine, and the Nationals have been gulping it down lately. This week the Marlins crammed a few spoonfuls of bitter syrup down the Nats’ throats, sweeping three pathetic contests that were bad even for August baseball. The Nats have now lost five straight and are a season-low 19 games below .500. Hopes of finishing the season somewhere......

The Washington Nationals found themselves in a familiar position Sunday afternoon. After dropping their first two games against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Nats again were trailing in the third and final game of the series. Down 3-1 in the seventh, and in danger of being swept for the fourth time in a month's time, the Nationals turned to pinch-hitter Alex Escobar. With Jose Guillen on board with a walk, Escobar drilled a shot over......

The Washington Nationals arrived at this year's All-Star Break in ignominious fashion, suffering their fifth sweep of the season at RFK. This time, the Nats were victimized by the San Diego Padres. After a successful series against Florida earlier this week, the Nats could smell second place in the NL East. They now find themselves amid the musky odor of the division's basement. That they played the Padres so closely only adds to the......

After getting thrashed at home by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the tune of 11-1, the Nationals experienced something of a wake-up call. The Nats might have looked around and found out that they were in the basement of one of the worst divisions in baseball. They might have done some research and found out that Friday night's beat-down was at the hands of franchise whose entire existence has been marred by futility......

It's been eight months since their last home series win, but the Nationals finally captured two out of three at RFK from their opponent as they downed the Pirates yesterday afternoon. For the Nationals, these games were as much much-win games as any team 10 games under .500 ever plays. Coming off a disastrous two-game home sweep at the hands of the lowly Florida Marlins, the Nats faced the Pittsburgh Pirates, off to their......

With a disastrous April in the books, is the honeymoon over for the Nationals and their fans? Over the weekend, the Nats dropped two out of three to Albert Pujols and the red-hot St. Louis Cardinals. The team has now lost seven out of its last eight, the lone victory coming Friday. For Nats fan who could actually watch the games on TV, the biggest story was Albert Pujols' 14th home run of the month.......

This entry was written by DCist contributor Benjamin Kabak. For seven innings on Sunday, it looked like the Nationals would come away from the weekend with a two-game sweep of the rain-shortened series with Atlanta. But over the space of three batters on Sunday night, Gary Majewski and the game fell apart. In the end, a three-run home run by Braves shortstop Wilson Betemit highlighted a night of futility for the Nats offense. The Nats'......

This entry was written by DCist contributor Benjamin Kabak. After taking two of three from the Philadelphia Phillies this week, the Nationals return to the confines of RFK Stadium to face the division-rival Atlanta Braves in a three-game series this weekend. If the weather holds up, that is. Thursday's 10-4 drubbing of the Phillies capped off a successful week for the Nats as Frank Robinson became just the 52nd manager to reach the 1000-win plateau.......

This entry was written by DCist contributor Ben Kabak. Down to their last three outs, the Nationals pulled off a dramatic 9-5 extra-innings win over the Mets last night at Shea Stadium. While Ryan Zimmerman's first Major League home run propelled the game into extra innings and Jose Guillen provided the game winning blast, the story of the game was once again Alfonso Soriano's attitude. The controversy erupted in the top of the 6th. After......

After losing an absolute heartbreaker on Saturday night at Shea to the NY Mets, the Nationals bounced back yesterday, scoring six runs in the first inning and holding on to beat the Mets 7-4. Things were going so well for the Nats that Christian Guzman doubled twice and also drove in two runs, raising his batting average to an almost robust .194. Esteban Loiza pitched 6 1/3 inning on three days rest, striking out......

A weekend trip to Colorado might have been just what the doctor ordered for the oft offensively-challenged Washington Nationals, who appear to be breaking out of their offensive doldrums just in time for the second leg of their make-or-break 13 game road trip. After a 4-2 win Friday and an 8-0 thrashing Saturday night, the Nats completed the three game sweep by pounding the Rockies 9-2 yesterday. More importantly than winning (and sweeping) their first......

The New York Times Magazine featured, this past Sunday, the work of former Expos and current Mets General Manager Omar Minaya, whose work in Flushing has concentrated on attracting Latinos, both to the stands and the playing fields of Shea. Mentioned in the piece is the stellar work Minaya did with Les Expos, bringing in Latino talents such as current Nationals All-Star pitcher Livan Hernandez and second baseman Jose Vidro, in keeping the troubled......

After dropping three of four in Milwaukee over the weekend, the Nationals hit the reset button and return home for a seven game homestand, welcoming NL West bottom-feeder Colorado to DC for a three game series that begins tonight. The Nats lead the NL East by 1.5 games over the Atlanta Braves, who split a four game series with the NY Mets over the weekend. The good news is that the Nats have played......

The Wizards and Nationals made a pair of deals last night, attempting to plug big holes in their respective rosters. That Nats picked up center fielder Preston Wilson in exchange for right hander Zach Day, outfielder J.J. Davis and future considerations. Wilson led the majors in RBI's in 2003 and should supply some power to the lowest scoring team in the league. Hopefully this will bring an end to the experiment that was Carlos......

(Entry written by DCist contributor Chris Kelly) So it's a fact that the banged-up Nationals need a breather, after playing .500 ball over their last 10 games leading up to the all-star break and losing 2 in a row. And it's a fact that at 52-36, tied for the 3rd best record in the majors, the Nationals are the best story of the 2005 season (so far), improbably leading the NL East by 2.5 games......

(Entry written by DCist contributor Chris Kelly) The Nationals head up I-95 to Philly for a 3-game tilt before they hit the All-Star break, following yesterday's 3-2, 11 inning loss and a 3-1 series loss against the Mets (first home series loss since April). Nats blew a chance to win it in the 9th yesterday with two men on and one out, but neither Jose Guillen nor Brad Wilkerson could get the job done. For......

Editor's Note: As many of you are well aware, this post was riddled with errors. See comments for our public whipping. The Nats might have lost their home winning streak on Sunday (to say nothing of Nick Johnson) but last night they got their groove back, winning by a characteristic single run, 2-1. Likewise, recent addition Ryan Drese pitched 8 solid innings to rebound from an 11-4 loss to the Pirates just last week. It......

After being swept by the woeful Reds (21-31) last Thursday, the Nats' prospects against the non-woeful Cardinals (33-18) looked pretty bleak. Friday's inevitable loss brought the team to .500, a low since late April, when the team record was just 11-11. Then Saturday's "L" put them under the halfway mark for the first time since the Nats' seventh game of the season, where they fell to division rival Atlanta. But then something happened: the Nats......

It was starting to look a little dismal for the Nationals. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Nats had lost six of their last eight games (although it'd be unfair not to point out that they murdered the Mets 11-4 on Sunday). But then a funny thing happened: Nick Johnson drilled a home run into the right-center stands in the first inning. Caveat one: Yes, the Phillies had already scored a run of their own. But......

Imagine not having a drink of water for 34 years. Well, except for the fact that you'd be dead 33 years and 51 weeks before such a thing could be possible, that's sort of like how it's been for longtime Washingtonians and MLB baseball. Now imagine that the water's been sitting out overnight and the oxygen has escaped or formed bubbles along the side of the glass, and sort of tastes weird when you......

Spring may not have arrived in the mid-Atlantic region just yet, but down in Viera, Fla. -- where the Nationals have been training for the past few weeks -- it's practically summer. Good thing, because the ex-Expos play their first game with an interlocking D.C. on their uniforms there tomorrow, against the New York Metropolitans (but against Tom Glavine, not Pedro). Game time is 1:05 p.m. Weather should be 62 degrees and partly cloudy. If......