Abridged version of drinking game

Here's the short version:

When Julian Tavarez comes in, leave the room and start drinking heavily.
Is Garrett Mock a Four-A player?

We had some house guests. My Son the Braves Fan had his girlfriend and some of their buds in to help him celebrate his birthday. They just headed back to D.C. so we walked them out, said our good-byes. Came back in and it is 11-2?? What the hell happened? Scratch that. I don't really want to know.

If Tavarez doesn't drive you to drink, sub in Villone and go from there. What's his ERA since he let in his first run? Of course, some shaky defense could well have been involved. I don't know.

All I know for sure is it's 11-2 and the kids drained every drop of booze in the house. Too bad. I was going to send some to Jim Riggleman.

UPDATE - Am I hearing this postgame right? Is Tavarez gone?? Sounds that way. Oh Lord, never mind. Kensing back up? Time to go drink again.

A repeat

We all have movies and episodes of favorite television shows we've seen too many times. We have them memorized. We say the lines before they say them. Sadly, that's kind of how I've become with the Nats.

I met an old friend at the ballpark who was there with his girlfriend. I'd not met her before. After gathering at The Bullpen, we headed over. I gave them a nickel tour and then we settled in for some baseball. They're Cubs fans by the way. That's normally a deal-breaker but I'll let it slide with these two.

During the game, I correctly predicted way too many things. I was even humming the at-bat music before it started (I'm kind of a freak about at-bat music). I just wish I'd been wrong. Up 4-0? Not enough. The Nats never seem to take advantage of their chances. The Cubs get two gift-wrapped runners and Soriano hits one that bounces off my car. The Nats load the bases in back-to-back innings and get one run. Story of our lives.

Here's the problem. I hate, hate, hate to just sit and rant without offering some smidge of a suggestion. Don't complain if you don't have a solution and all that. I just don't know what to suggest. What else can be done? I'm real eager to see what Rizzo comes up with in the next few weeks. What is fair value for some of these guys?

I haven't voted yet in my current poll but I'm leaning toward blow it all up and start over. There's a handful of players I'd like to keep around - two of them have last names that start with Z, one with F for example - but I'm at the point where I'll keep an open mind about almost anything.

Five years in. Five years in, I repeat. And this team is a very real threat not to win 50 games. Is anyone confident there are 24 wins left in that bunch?

Has Strasburg been signed yet?

A couple of other things:

*The "new" intro video isn't bad. My friend was quite right. If you never saw the old one, this one is just fine. But if you did? Old one was much better. They managed to get Nyjer Morgan in there and a reliever I assume is Sean Burnett. So let's get Riggleman involved. He IS the manager, though after this start he may prefer that very few people know that. Brooks and Dunn sing about working on my next broken heart. You think IJ is already scanning the standings to see where he can go next year to manage for half a season?

*Tried one of the Freddy Flintstone ribs again last night. Are they supposed to be cold? Overall, it was much better. Huge and mostly meat, little fat. One side was overcooked to the point of crispiness. The other side was a lot bigger and a lot better.

*Took forever to get out of the stadium and out of the lot last night, the worst I've experienced. I've been there with bigger crowds and breezed. Not sure what was going on.

My return to the scene of the crimes

A friend sent me a message last night. He knew I was going to the game tonight and he wanted to warn me.
"Come late. Trust me on this one," or words to that effect.

One of my favorite parts of the night - seriously - is the intro video. I've seen more team intros than I care to remember. Some were simple, some complex, some well done, some remarkably stupid. One even involved fireworks. Indoors.

I enjoyed the one the Nats put together. It would be a lot more effective if the team wasn't brutal but you can say that about all of them. I always told my family, we can do whatever you want before the game but my one rule is I have to be in my seat for the intro.

NATS FANS - IT ALL STARTS -- RIGHT NOW! They play that music, Thunderstruck I think it is called. I enjoy the video.

Since Manny played a big part in it, it had to be redone. I figured they'd just shoot the same scenes with Riggleman and cut them in. Maybe they will eventually but my pal says it hasn't been done yet. They kind of just stretch the rest over the Manny parts.

Technology is grand. They had Dukes and Hanrahan cut out of there pretty darn quick. It can't be that hard to do this.

"It's not too bad if you never saw the original," he said. "If you did, well, it is bad."

Things usually go downhill after the intro. I'll be disappointed if they go downhill during the intro, too.

This will be my 25th game, three more than I saw last year. I will probably get to around 30. It's always tougher for me to get away in the second half. I've had three jobs now since the Nats have been around and all of them got pretty busy in August. Even this "un-job" I have now will crank up very soon.

Yes, you are correct if you noticed I haven't said anything yet about that crapfest of a game last night. I went to a memorial service yesterday for a 46-year-old friend of mine who died suddenly. Another reminder that, in the grand scheme of things, baseball doesn't mean squat. I listened to the first three innings on the radio - I do love baseball on the radio. I waited an hour after getting home before turning it on, hoping things would improve in my absence. They did not.

The only thing that's changed is the manager. And the intro video.

Survey says

With all the "excitement" and actual news of the past week, I somewhat neglected my latest poll. NationalsFanboyLooser is proud to announce a record 53 participated in the survey. We appreciate the hits.

Anyway, the fan base is willing to spend to get the Strasburg signing done. $20 million was the winner, with 21 votes (including mine). I sit here and type "seems reasonable" and shake my head. NO, it is not reasonable. It is an absurd amount of money for someone who has never thrown a professional pitch. I guess I mean "reasonable" in the context of the crazy way bonuses are spinning out of control.

$15 million was next with 15 votes. Eleven voters were willing to see it go as high as $25 million and six wanted to go "cheap" at only $10 million.

I guess I should also ask, "Do you think it will get done?" We're a month away from the deadline. I know some alarm was raised by Strasburg's comments at the All-Star game that he hadn't heard from the Nationals. Would he? Wouldn't the conversations be with Boras?

I'm fairly confident it will get done, though I must say if it turns out $20 million is NOT enough I will be angry but not at the Nationals.

I'll post a new poll this morning. It will be not "how worried are you about this latest Scott Olsen news?" But it could be.

Too bad for Riggleman

that they didn't send some of this bullpen crew packing, too.

Is there any reason to keep Tavarez around any longer? Eight walks in his past six appearances. At least six earned runs in that stretch. This is all about the future, right? Is he part of the future? Why not get someone, anyone, I don't care who it is, up for the rest of the season as an "interim" reliever?

This is hard enough to watch.

Who was the guy years ago who managed like one day and said, "That's enough?" Maybe it was a health issue or something. I wouldn't blame Riggleman if he said something similar.

Young arms revisited

As I continue to beat this horse ***

Half paying attention to the All-Star game, I snapped straight up when the Dodgers' Chad Billingsley came in. Forgot all about the Dodgers the other day.

Billingsley, an All-Star: He'll be 25 this month. He has nine wins and a 3.38 ERA.
Clayton Kershaw is just 21. He has seven wins and a 3.16 ERA.
Jonathan Broxton? Six wins, 20 saves. He's freshly 25.

Yep, that collection of young arms on the Nats - no one else has that, huh? Or maybe just about everyone else has that?

While we're on the Dodgers: Orlando Hudson, not healthy enough to play for the Nats, played in last night's game. He's hitting .283 and has driven in 48 runs.

Next?

Right before yesterday's press conference, I had a "tweet" conversation/discussion on my Twitter account (MJHRVA if you are looking for someone boring to follow). I was hoping someone would ask Uncle Stan, "Are you next?"

No one did. But it is a legitimate question.

I'm on the record as being a fan of Uncle Stan, despite my love of making fun of his arrogance and general Uncle Stan-ness. I think he's basically a good guy who truly wants this to work. I covered him some in Atlanta and was an admirer of his work there. I applauded when he came to Washington. I don't think he's turned stupid.

But facts are facts and it is not working here. This team is moving in the wrong direction. Most of the coaches were changed. Then the GM left and then the holdover coach went and now the manager.

Who's next? If this team goes 50-25 the rest of the way, we're all dancing. If it goes 40-35, we're pretty darn happy. If it goes 35-40, we're probably not too steamed even though that means another 100-loss season.

But suppose it goes 25-50, which is quite possible? Or worse?

At what point is Uncle Stan's job on the line? How much does his small ownership stake complicate that?