SB Nation DC: All Posts by Patrick Reddingtonhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48897/dc-fave.png2012-11-13T20:19:28-05:00https://dc.sbnation.com/authors/patrick-reddington/rss2012-11-13T20:19:28-05:002012-11-13T20:19:28-05:00Davey Johnson Says "World Series Or Bust" In 2013
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<figcaption>Patrick McDermott</figcaption>
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<p>Washington Nationals' manager Davey Johnson talked to reporters tonight about winning the 2012 NL Manager of the Year Award and what challenges lie ahead for the Nats in 2013. </p> <p>After taking over on the bench and leading the <a href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Washington Nationals</a> through the second half of the 2011 season, Davey Johnson boldly predicted that the Washington Nationals would win the pennant in 2012 when he talked to reporters after it was announced that he would return for another season on the bench.</p>
<p>Johnson then doubled down and told <a target="_blank" href="http://www.federalbaseball.com/2012/2/25/2823058/washington-nationals-skipper-davey-johnson-is-serious-about-contending"><b>CSNWashington.com's Kelli Johnson</b></a> during Spring Training that the Nats could fire him if the team didn't make the postseason. Johnson was sure the roster he and D.C. GM Mike Rizzo put together could compete in the NL East. "No question in my mind," Davey Johnson said, and if the Nats didn't make it to the playoffs, the manager added, "They can fire me.'"</p>
<p>"We should make the playoffs," Davey Johnson said before the season even started, "There's no doubt in my mind." The Nats' manager, in his 16th season on the bench in the majors, led the Nationals to a 98-64 record, their first NL East title and the first postseason appearance by a D.C.-based team in 79 years. Reminded of those comments tonight after he was named the NL Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, Johnson, in an appearance on the MLB Network, said he was setting his sights a little higher in 2013, which he has previously said will be his last season on the bench before he moves back into a consultant's role with the Nats.</p>
<p>"We're going to go farther," Johnson said, and prompted by the hosts, he added, "World Series or bust. It's going to be my last year anyway."</p>
<p>The Nats' 69-year-old skipper earned the praise of the Nats' general manager for the work he did with the Nats in 2012. Mike Rizzo congratulated the manager in a press release after Johnson was named NL MOY:</p>
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<p>"Davey Johnson’s legacy was secure well before he became our manager in 2011, but his performance this season has to rate among his best work" said Mike Rizzo, Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager. "He showed this club how to win despite being engaged in a pennant race for the first time. And he accomplished this with so many young players. It is no coincidence that under Davey’s watch, we witnessed breakout seasons from <span>Ian Desmond</span>, <span>Bryce Harper</span>, <span>Stephen Strasburg</span>, <span>Gio Gonzalez</span>, <span>Jordan Zimmermann</span> and <span>Ross Detwiler</span>. I would like to offer my deepest congratulations and thanks to Davey and his family on behalf of the Lerner Family and our entire organization."</p>
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<p>In a teleconference after Johnson was named the BBWAA NL Manager of the Year, the Nationals' manager told reporters again that he thought there was room for improvement in 2013. The Nats had a great year, they're being recognized for that now with Bryce Harper named NL Rookie of the Year yesterday and Johnson Manager of the Year today, but as Johnson said, "I still feel that we have a higher ceiling. That we can do better and I'm looking forward to that challenge. And I hope Gio [Gonzalez] wins the Cy Young."</p>
<p>"Individual awards don't mean a whole lot to me," Johnson continued, "But you like to see players get recognized when they do something good. And guys really didn't overachieve, they played up to their potential and not everybody. There's still a higher ceiling there for a lot of those players, so it was a fun year for me. I look for, with another year of experience, that it's going to set us up to be even stronger and better and that's the good news."</p>
<p>As for the way the 2012 season went, the Nats' skipper said he spent the last few years before he took over on the bench getting to know the organization and he was confident that they could do just what they did last season, win the NL East and get to the postseason. "My evaluation of the talent after the 2011 season," Johnson said, "I think it was pretty correct. Some baseball people thought maybe I was blowing smoke, but the guys all played closer to the level and we won the [division]. That was expected."</p>
<p>"I thought we'd go further," Johnson said, "We had a little blip there at the end. I think inexperience cost us in several ways, but it was a good stepping stone. There's more to come. And I think everyone to a man knows it. This award that I got tonight, to me, is more a reflection of the organization than on me. I'm just kind of the guy that tries to keep them on track. And as a manager, if you do that you can be proud of yourself. I don't think we lost anybody, I think everybody kind of came close to doing what they were capable of doing, but there's still a higher ceiling and that's the challenge I'm looking forward [to] for next year. So, this is just kind of a step along the way as far as I'm concerned."</p>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/11/13/3642736/washington-nationals-davey-johnson-on-winning-nl-manager-of-the-yearPatrick Reddington2012-11-12T20:51:07-05:002012-11-12T20:51:07-05:00Nats' Bryce Harper Talks 2012 NL ROY Award
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<p>The Washington Nationals' 20-year-old, 2010 no.1 overall pick Bryce Harper was named the NL Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers' Association of America tonight. The Nats' outfielder talked to reporters on a teleconference shortly after being informed he'd won the award. </p> <p><span>Bryce Harper</span> is 20 years old now. He turned 20 in mid-October. As a 19-year-old, the <a href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Washington Nationals</a>' rookie outfielder hit more home runs (22) than any teenager in baseball history but the <a href="https://www.overthemonster.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Boston Red Sox</a>' Tony Conigliaro (24 HRs). The 2010 no.1 overall pick led all rookies in runs (98), OPS (.817), game-winning RBIs (12) and extra base hits (57) as the Nats noted in a press release about Harper being named the BBWAA's 2012 NL Rookie of the Year tonight.</p>
<p>Harper became the youngest position player to ever win the ROY Award and the second-youngest to win it behind only <a href="https://www.amazinavenue.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">New York Mets</a>' pitcher Dwight Gooden, who was a month younger than Harper when he won in 1984. Harper finished his rookie campaign with a .270/.340/.477 line, 26 doubles, nine triples and 22 HRs in 139 games and 597 PAs over which he was worth +4.9 fWAR. In the postseason, Harper hit one home run in the Nationals' NLDS matchup with the <a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">St. Louis Cardinals</a>, becoming the second-youngest player to hit a playoff HR and the first teenaged major leaguer to hit one since the youngest player ever, <span>Andruw Jones</span>, hit one for the <a href="https://www.talkingchop.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Atlanta Braves</a> in 1996.</p>
<p>Asked on the <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25484327&topic_id=7417714&c_id=mlb&tcid=vpp_copy_25484327&v=3" target="_blank"><b>MLB Network's broadcast of the award ceremony tonight</b></a> if he met his own expecations with the numbers he put up in his first MLB season, Harper told the show's hosts, "I didn't reach them. I'm never satisfied with any of my numbers. I think my biggest goal is winning a World Series. This amazing to win this award and to have this accolade, but I want to bring a title back to D.C. That's our main goal as a team, as an organization and that's my biggest goal and we didn't reach that and going into next year I think that's going to be the biggest goal for me."</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="http://mlb.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=25484327&width=400&height=224&property=mlb" width="400" height="224" frameborder="0">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> <br id="1352767994672"></p>
<p>Washington Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo praised the Nats' outfielder in the press release from the team after Harper was announced as the NL ROY:</p>
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<p>"Upon joining us, Bryce’s impact on our lineup and defensive alignment was immediate and came at a great time of need," said Mike Rizzo, Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager. "His sustained energy and enthusiasm throughout the summer played a big part in fueling our division title. On behalf of the Lerner Family and the Nationals organization, I’d like to congratulate Bryce on his historic NL Rookie of the Year season."</p>
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<p>In a teleconference with reporters tonight, Harper said that the goal from the start of his career this year was to, "... just to be able to go in there and really try to win ballgames and really come in and try to be a game changer for them. And just try to be that guy that can come in and play the game hard, play it the right way and come in and really get the fans of D.C. excited. That was my main goal and try to win a World Series. That didn't happen this year, but hopefully next year I can come in and we can do the same thing and really play hard and really try to succeed out there."</p>
<p>Harper didn't break Spring Training with the major league team, but he said tonight that he didn't ever doubt that he'd be up in the nation's capital sooner than later this season even though he started at Triple-A Syracuse. "I just [tried] to go down there and learn a few things [during] the time I [was] down there," Harper said, "Work hard. Play hard. And I knew it was only a moment in time really until I got to the big leagues. All I wanted to do was learn as much as I could down there at that level."</p>
<p>"When I got that call," Harper said, "I wanted to be ready and be able to make an impact with this team and this organization and I really just wanted to make it to the big leagues. Coming out of camp I thought maybe I could, but I got hurt down there and whatnot, so I really just wanted to try to succeed in Triple-A and get up to the big leagues as quick as possible and try to be up there with all the guys that I wanted to be with."</p>
<p>Harper wasn't told beforehand that he was going to win the BBWAA's NL Rookie of the Year Award tonight. "I actually found out when everybody else did," Harper told reporters, "I was sitting there in the chair, heart was beating a little bit and I found out when everybody else did. I think it was just a great moment for me and my family and everybody around and I think it was a great moment for D.C."</p>
<p>Looking back on his first MLB season, Harper said he learned that there would be, "... ups and downs in the game, and you've got to live with that. And that's going to be throughout your whole career. You can never figure this game out. It's a hard game and you've just got to be as humble as you can and even keel as you can and know that some nights you're going to 0 for 4 and some nights you're going to go 3 for 4 and be a hero. You've just really got to go into every single game trying to play it like it's your last one. Bust your butt. Hustle. And that's what you're going to get out of me. I'm going to hustle every single day and I'm going to play hard and try to win a ballgame for my team."</p>
<p>"Like I said," the Nats' 20-year-old outfielder concluded, "It's a great award and I'm so excited and proud of it, but my biggest thing is I want to win a World Series. I want to put that ring on my finger and give that to the town and city of D.C. They deserve that and I think our organization deserves that and that's what my biggest goal is."</p>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/11/12/3638078/washington-nationals-bryce-harper-2012-bbwaa-nl-rookie-of-the-year-awardPatrick Reddington2012-10-22T13:27:48-04:002012-10-22T13:27:48-04:00Ian Desmond's breakout season in review
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<p>At the end of a season that began with some wondering if Ian Desmond deserved to be starting at short, there was talk of extending the 27-year-old infielder to keep him in the Washington Nationals' infield long-term. </p> <p>When the 2012 season began, the discussion when it came to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Washington Nationals</a>' infield revolved around whether or not <span>Ian Desmond</span> was an everyday player or a future utility man The 26-going-on-27-year-old infielder was coming off a disappointing .253/.298/.358, 27 double, 8 HR, +1.4 fWAR 2011 campaign, but as D.C. GM Mike Rizzo explained in <a href="http://siriusxmsports.posterous.com/mike-rizzo-nationals-gm-discusses-how-washing" target="_blank"><b>a late March 2012 interview on MLB Network Radio</b></a>, the '04 3rd Round pick had figured things out at the plate at the end of the previous season with some help from his hitting coach and manager Davey Johnson.</p>
<p>"He had a solid last six weeks," Rizzo said, "We stood him up, got him more erect at the plate, which allowed him to see the baseball more and [he] wasn't locking out his front side. I know this is getting kind of technical jargon, but it really freed him up to turn on pitches and to take balls to right field. Because for the majority of the season he was serving balls towards right field and he's a guy that has enough pop and sometimes has just enough pop to get him in trouble."</p>
<p>Over the last six weeks of the 2011 season, Desmond put up a .303/.340/.433 line with nine doubles, a triple and four home runs in 42 games and 190 plate appearances.</p>
<p>"I don't know, for whatever reason when I got here," the Nats' 69-year-old manager explained, "[Desmond] was kind of trying to serve the ball to right field, let the ball get deep and kind of flare these little hits into right. He'd occasionally get some hits, but I remembered him as hitting the ball where it's pitched. The ball's inside, you get it out front, the ball's away you go the other way and kind of drop that head in there."</p>
<p>Though Desmond returned for Spring Training in 2012 with some new ideas Davey Johnson wasn't completely happy with, the work the Nats' shortstop did late in 2011 and over the winter, as well as the aggressive approach he adopted at the plate began to pay off, especially when the Nationals' shortstop was dropped from the top of the order. Desmond had a .272/.294/.451 line as the Nats' leadoff man from April 5th through May 18th, at which point he was moved to the five and then six hole when <span>Michael Morse</span> returned to the lineup in June.</p>
<p>Between May 18th and the All-Star Break (July 8th), Desmond posted a .298/.337/.579 line with 13 doubles and 11 HRs in 44 games and 181 plate appearances, earning himself his first All-Star selection. More impressive was the fact that Desmond played the last few weeks before the breal with a strained oblique which caused him to hit the DL early in the second-half. Upon returning to the lineup, after nearly a month off, Desmond picked up where he left off and finished the season with a .309/.364/.530 line, nine doubles and eight home runs from August 17th through the end of the regular season (Oct 3rd).</p>
<p>When Desmond's third full major league season ended, the shortstop had a .292/.335/.511 line in 130 games and 547 PAs with career highs in doubles (33 up from 27 the previous two seasons), home runs (25 up from 8 in 2011), RBIs (73 up from 49 in 154 G in 2011), wRC+ (128 up from 79 and 86 the two previous seasons), ISO (Isolated power) .218 (up from .124 in 2010 and .104 in 2011), and fWAR (+5.4 up from +1.4 and +1.3) in what ended up being another level of breakout season for the infielder who turned 27 in late September. The +5.4 fWAR was second-highest amongst qualified shortstops league-wide as was his wOBA (.362 to <span>Ben Zobrist's</span> .365). Desmond's 128 wRC+ were the league's second-highest, his 25 HRs were the most in the majors, the .218 ISO was the major's best amongst shortstops.</p>
<p>After hitting exactly one opposite field home run (in 2010) in his career before this season and having pulled all eight homers in 2011, Desmond hit nine of his 25 2012 HRs to center or right field, <a href="http://hittrackeronline.com/detail.php?id=2012_398&type=hitter" target="_blank"><b>showing power to all fields</b></a>. Asked early in the year to account for the sudden opposite field power, Desmond told <a target="_blank" href="http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/print.jsp?ymd=20120708&content_id=34703102&notebook_id=34706896&vkey=notebook_was&c_id=was"><b>MLB.com's Bill Ladson</b></a> he wasn't sure of the reason for the surge. "'I don't know,'" Desmond said, "'I wish I did know, I'd do it more often.'" Davey Johnson told the reporter he had a good idea what was different with Desmond:</p>
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<p>"'To him, it's being able to hit the ball hard where it's pitched,' Johnson said. 'Part of his problem last year was going too much the opposite way. Now he's handling balls on the inside part of the plate and he's pulling them, he's hitting balls more where they're pitched. He's looking to hit the ball hard, not guide it somewhere.'"</p>
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<p>While everyone was talking about Desmond's production at the plate, the infielder also significantly cut down on the errors at short which plagued him throughout his career in the minors and his first three seasons in the major leagues. Desmond committed 34 Es in 2010 (21 fielding, 17 throwing), 23 in 2011 (19 FE, 4 TE) and cut that down to 15 (8 FE, 7 TE) in 2012, with a career-high .970 fld% and +6.5 UZR/150 (up from -5.5 in 2011 and -9.4 in 2010).</p>
<p>In the first postseason games of his career, Desmond was 7 for 19 in five games. After Game 1, Davey Johnson talked about the season his shortstop put together in 2012. "Ian Desmond is one heck of a player," <a target="_blank" href="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121007&content_id=39580590&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb"><b>Johnson told reporters</b></a>, "For me, I mean, I would have to vote for <span>Adam LaRoche</span> to be the MVP, but it's a toss‑up with Ian Desmond, the things he's done. Got a lot of big hits, gifted defensively. I mean, he's been outstanding. I can't say enough about Ian. Kind of put him under my wing. He's been a fun project from two or three years ago when I was a consultant."</p>
<p>The talk heading into the offseason this year isn't about whether or not Desmond can continue to play short, but instead about the team possibly extending the infielder, who is arbitration-eligible this winter. <a target="_blank" href="http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121017&content_id=39886768&notebook_id=39886772&vkey=notebook_was&c_id=was"><b>MLB.com's Ladson</b></a> reported last week that sources told him the two sides discussed a deal this season before Desmond ended the discussions so he could concentrate on what was happening on the field.</p>
<p>After this season the questions are about second base with <span>Danny Espinosa</span> struggling in 2012 while <span>Steve Lombardozzi</span> impressed. A strong start to the year in 2013 by 2011 1st Round pick <span>Anthony Rendon</span> and the chatter might grow louder, but there aren't too many questions about short after the year Desmond put together in 2012.</p>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/10/22/3538944/washington-nationals-ian-desmond-2012-season-mike-rizzoPatrick Reddington2012-10-13T08:15:46-04:002012-10-13T08:15:46-04:00Davey Johnson: 'You learn from it'
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<p>The Washington Nationals were one strike away from moving on to the NLCS to face the San Francisco Giants, but a blown lead in the top of the ninth ended the Nats' 2012 campaign and stunned a sold-out crowd in Nationals Park. </p> <p>A night after what was perhaps the most dramatic win in D.C. baseball history, with every fan in the nation's capital either in attendance at Nationals Park as part of the record crowd of 45,966, watching on television, listening to the radio or following in any way they could, the <a href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Washington Nationals</a> were one strike away from advancing to the NLCS. One strike away from beating the defending World Series Champions from St. Louis. One strike away. With a runner on third in a 7-5 game in the top of the ninth, <span>Drew Storen</span>, who'd surrendered a leadoff double but recorded two outs, couldn't get <a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Cardinals</a>' catcher <span>Yadier Molina</span> to bite on the same 2-2 slider <span>Allen Craig</span> had chased for out no.2. Molina spit on a 2-2 slider, and took another breaking ball for ball four and the seventh walk of the game issued by Nationals' pitchers.</p>
<p>Cards' third baseman <span>David Freese</span> was down 1-2, almost K'd on a check swing, but eventually walked, taking the eighth free pass of the game given to St. Louis. The walk Drew Storen issued to Freese loaded the bases with two down.</p>
<p>Bases loaded, two outs, but still 7-5 Nationals. One pitch later the game was tied. <span>Daniel Descalso</span>, described by Davey Johnson on Thursday as a ".220 hitter" who'd hit like "Rod Carew" the past few games, singled by <span>Ian Desmond</span> at short, just off Desmond's glove for a two-run hit. Tie game. 7-7. Storen got up 0-2 on Pete Kozma, then it was 2-2, then the 2-2 pitch got lined to right and two more runs came in. 9-7 St. Louis. Both runners that walked scored, Molina's pinch runner on the Descalso hit, Freese on Kozma's. By the time Storen got the Nats out of the top of the ninth he'd thrown 33 pitches, 18 for strikes.</p>
<p>In all, five of the eight Cardinals the Nationals' pitchers walked Friday night came around to score. An early 6-0 lead evaporated before the sold-out-and-then-some crowd inside Nationals Park. When the Cards finally took the lead the fans were stunned. Nationals Park fell silent in a moment. All at once. The finality of it hit long before <span>Jayson Werth</span>, <span>Bryce Harper</span> and <span>Ryan Zimmerman</span> went down in order in the bottom of the inning. A long-suffering fanbase and city that was moments and one strike away from a seven-game NLCS with the <a href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">San Francisco Giants</a> was suddenly eliminated from the postseason.</p>
<p>"With all the adversity we've gone through this year," Davey Johnson said in a somber post game press conference, ".... and then to give up that many free passes, you know, that's not the way you win ballgames. It's a tough -- we've had a great year overcoming hardship and to not go after them at the end was not fun to watch."</p>
<p>"I think [Storen] felt like he was making good pitches," the Nats' skipper said, "But they were missing. I think he just tried to be took fine. He's got a great-moving, live fastball. Just need to throw it over. I mean, he wasn't alone. It seemed like Gio [Gonzalez] had the same problem. You just can't win big ballgames by giving free passes. You've got to trust your defense behind you. Go after them."</p>
<p>"We've been good all year. Just [had] a little hiccup here at the end."</p>
<p>Asked what he told his team after the stunning loss, the 69-year-old manager told reporters, "I just told them, you know, it was nothing to hang your head about. It was a great year. We overcame a lot of problems. We proved our worth and we just need to let this be a lesson and have some... learn from it, have more resolve, come back and carry it a lot farther."</p>
<p>As far as a message for the Nationals fans, who'd filled Nationals Park and hung on every pitch, embracing this team in a way you hadn't seen in years past, Johnson said simply, "I'm sorry. We'll make it up to them next year. It was a fun ride. A lot of character. I really enjoyed managing them this year."</p>
<p>"You know," Johnson said, "I've been on the other end of the stick, where just one out and you move on. We couldn't get it. We had the right people there. Just got a little too cautious."</p>
<p>One strike away.</p>
<p>"I mean, the guys did what they had to do to get to your closer," Johnson said, "a couple run lead, and you know, tying run is up, got two outs. You know, got to make 'em earn it and unfortunately they did. You learn from it."</p>
<p>With that Davey Johnson stood up from the podium and walked off the dais and back to the Nationals' clubhouse.</p>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/10/13/3496892/nationals-cardinals-nlds-game-5-davey-johnson-reactionPatrick Reddington2012-10-11T22:20:46-04:002012-10-11T22:20:46-04:00Werth: 'What a difference a day makes'
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<p>The Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals played a tight 1-1 game in front of 44,392 screaming fans in the nation's capital and then Jayson Werth's walk-off winner sent the D.C. Faithful home happy knowing there would be a Game 5 in D.C. Friday night. </p> <p>1-1 game. Bottom of the ninth. 44,392 red towel waving, screaming Nats fans hanging on every pitch. Jayson Werth vs <a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">St. Louis Cardinals</a>' reliever <span>Lance Lynn</span>. "Let's Go Nats! Let's Go Nats!!" The <a href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Washington Nationals</a> have talked for months now about the fans turning out to support the NL East Champs, but it's never been this loud. Standing at the plate, battling for 13 pitches, the Nats' $126M dollar outfielder didn't have any problem concentrating on what he was seeing and doing, however, as he explained to reporters shortly after the game.</p>
<p>"I didn't hear a thing," Werth said, "It was pretty quiet to me." Werth took a real close 79 mph curve for ball three on the 11th pitch he saw, 3-2 count, then fouled off a 97 mph four-seamer on pitch no.12 before absolutely crushing the 13th pitch of his epic at bat with the Cards' right-hander and sending the walk-off winner into the back of the visitor's bullpen to give the Washington Nationals a 2-1 win and force a Game 5 with the St. Louis Cardinals.</p>
<p>"It was a fastball," Werth said afterwards, "He's got a good fastball. Like I said, but after that 2-2 hook, it was pretty close. After that, I was on the heater." Werth entered the at bat with one hit in six career at bats against Lynn. "He's tough," the Nats' outfielder said, "We've faced him a lot over September and in the series. So I knew what he had. But I think he threw a hook, 2-2 to get to 3-2 and I figured from then on I wasn't going to get off the heater, fouled a couple more off and finally got one to hit."</p>
<p>"He's a remarkable guy," Davey Johnson said, talking about his right fielder, "He can force a guy to throw a lot of pitches, and he did that time." The Nats' skipper recalled the time Werth had done the same to beat to help beat <span>Heath Bell</span> and Miami after a long rain delay in Nationals Park a few weeks back. Turning back to tonight's win though, Johnson said that this was exactly how it was supposed to go. "That's the way the game should have ended," the 69-year-old skipper said, "Jayson Werth hitting a home run. He has not hit that many this year, What was it? A 13, 14-pitch at bat? Something like that? It was unbelievable. Great effort on his part."</p>
<p>Werth's done it before, but it was his first walk-off home run since 2010 when he was with the <a href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Phillies</a> and took current teammate and Nats' closer <span>Drew Storen</span> deep in Citizens Bank Park. The Nats' reliever reminded Werth of that blast when he greeted him after the walk-off winner tonight. "[Storen] was one of the first people to come grab me," Werth said, "He told me that was familiar -- he said something, but he was looking back to that moment. I think he said he knew it was going to happen, so it was a special moment for sure."</p>
<p>Tonight's win in a tense, two-hour, fifty-five minute game set up a Game 5 with St. Louis tomorrow night. "Ball's in our court," Werth said, "We've got a chance. We've got a chance to win the series tomorrow. What a difference a day makes. I know we are going to come in ready to go tomorrow."</p>
<p>Perhaps more impressed than anyone else in the sell-out crowd of 44,392 was <span>Jayson Werth's</span> son, who, along with his brother, accompanied their father to the post game press conference tonight in Nats Park. Asked what he thought of what his father had done, Werth's son shyly spoke into the microphone and told reporters, "I thought it was amazing to see him hit a walk-off home run, and, um... yeah..."</p>
<p>Couldn't have said it better myself.</p>
<p>Game 5: Nats vs Cards - 8:37 pm EDT Friday in D.C.</p>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/10/11/3491324/jayson-werth-walk-off-home-run-nlds-game-4-nationals-cardinalsPatrick Reddington2012-10-10T19:01:42-04:002012-10-10T19:01:42-04:00Davey On Jackson: 'He Just Made Bad Pitches...'
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<figcaption>Rob Carr - Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Washington Nationals' manager Davey Johnson and GM Mike Rizzo tried to provide some perspective and keep hope alive after the Nats lost 8-0 to St. Louis on Wednesday and went down 2-1 in the NLDS. </p> <p>If not for an unlikely late-game opposite field single in Game One from rookie outfielder <span>Tyler Moore</span> (who's really more of a pull hitter, honestly) the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Washington Nationals</a> may very well have lost this series to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">St. Louis Cardinals</a> Wednesday. 5.0, 3.0 and 5.0 inning outings from their starters. 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position in Game One. 1 for 7 in Game Two. 0 for 8 today. Things have gotten bad pretty quickly for the team that not only won the NL East but finished the regular season with the NL's best record. With today's 8-0 win, the Cards took a 2-1 lead in the NLDS, putting a whole lot of pressure on the Nationals going into the fourth game of the series tomorrow afternoon in Nats Park.</p>
<p>Davey Johnson is not about to give up. "We're not out of this by a long shot," the Nats' 69-year-old skipper told reporters in the post game press conference after today's loss. "Shoot, I've had my back to worse walls than this, but I like my ballclub and I think we'll come out and play a good game tomorrow." As for what went wrong today, it started early. The Nationals were down 4-0 early after an RBI double by <span>Allen Craig</span> in the first and a three-run home run by Pete Kozma in the second, and the Cardinals were in command from the start.</p>
<p>"[<span>Edwin Jackson</span>] just made bad pitches," the Nats' skipper said matter of factly, "Talked to [Kurt] Suzuki, [Jackson] wasn't hitting his spots, and a lot of hits on pitches over the middle half of the plate and good hitters will jump all over it and that's what happened early. I thought he got a little sharper as the game went on, but a couple really bad pitches. That's the story."</p>
<p>"Jackson was missing early on," Johnson continued, "trying to make pitches and then when he had to come in he came right down Broadway and experienced hitters lay off stuff around the zone and tomahawk the stuff in. Even the shortstop [Kozma], that was a cookie, a little half-in, thigh-high. Couldn't get the ball down early, that was the key I said for him." The Cards' shortstop, for his part, just said he was looking for any pitch in the zone and simply got a good one to hit. "We had a runner on third, less than two outs," Kozman said, "so I was just looking for the first pitch in the zone and put it in the outfield."</p>
<p>"Went over the fence," Chris Carpenter added.</p>
<p>The Cards' 37-year-old, 15-year-veteran improved to (10-2) in 15 postseason starts with the win, throwing 5.2 scoreless and giving up seven hits and two walks but no runs. The towering right-hander threw 106 pitches before he was done, but Davey Johnson didn't seem overly impressed by what he saw from the opposing pitcher. "I didn't think Carpenter had his best stuff," Johnson said, "but he didn't give in to anybody, pitched a good ballgame." Good enough to give the Cardinals a 2-1 series lead.</p>
<p>Davey Johnson told reporters today he has faith that Game 4 starter <span>Ross Detwiler</span> can get the job done tomorrow. Asked if he would consider throwing <span>Gio Gonzalez</span> on short rest in what's now a do or die situation, the Nats' manager told reporters, "No. I wouldn't do that. We have two more ballgames. Det's capable of pitching a good game tomorrow. That's been our strength all year. We need a couple more good-pitched games this series." Two will do.</p>
<p>If you're in need of perspective, the Nats' GM provided it after the game in a comment to Washington Post writer Adam Kilgore:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p>"Don't jump off a bridge. We've won two in a row before." -- Mike Rizzo</p>
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamKilgoreWP/status/256147784527388673" data-datetime="2012-10-10T21:42:45+00:00">October 10, 2012</a>
</blockquote>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/10/10/3485682/nlds-washington-nationals-st-louis-cardinals-game-3Patrick Reddington2012-10-08T10:57:11-04:002012-10-08T10:57:11-04:00Jordan Zimmermann takes his turn in Game 2
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<figcaption>Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire</figcaption>
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<p>Washington Nationals' right-hander Jordan Zimmermann looks for his first career win against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Two of the NLDS in Busch Stadium.</p> <p>Jordan Zimmermann faced the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">St. Louis Cardinals</a> on national television on September 1st, when the Cards knocked the 26-year-old '07 2nd Round pick out after just 3.2 IP in <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Nationals</a> Park in a start in which he allowed a season-high eight runs, all of them earned on eight hits. The start vs St. Louis was the sixth in a string of August and early September outings in which the Nats' right-hander struggled, going 1-2 with the Nats going 3-3 over a stretch in which he posted a 6.23 ERA with nine walks (2.67 BB/9) and 26 Ks (7.71 K/9) in 30.1 IP. That rough period came after a month of July in which Zimmermann earned the NL Pitcher of the Month Award in recognition of his work in six starts in which he was 4-0 with a 0.97 ERA, 2.08 FIP, four walks (0.97 BB/9) and 31 K's (7.54 K/9) in 37.0 IP.</p>
<p>Davey Johnson told reporters repeatedly when he struggled that it was just a case of Zimmermann getting too much rest and overthrowing, being too strong, etc.</p>
<p>Following the loss to the Cards, Zimmermann finished out the season with a string of five starts in which he put up a 2.63 ERA with 10 walks (2.90 BB/9) and 31 Ks (9.00 K/9) in 31.0 IP. The Nats' starter was 3-0, while the Nats went 5-0 in those outings and the Auburndale, Wisconsin-born, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point-educated starter ended the year with a 6.1 inning start against the same Cardinals who'd knocked him around a month earlier. In that start, the fifth against St. Louis in Zimmermann's four-year MLB career, he received no decision in a 6-4 Nats' win in which he gave up seven hits, two walks and three runs while striking out five.</p>
<p>The no-decision left the fourth-year starter (12-8) with a 2.94 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 43 walks and 153 Ks after 32 starts and 195.2 IP. After the strong outing in his next-to-last start of the year against Milwaukee, Nats' skipper Davey Johnson gently chided reporters who had expressed concern about Zimmermann after reports of shoulder fatigue/inflammation which required medical treatment preceded the rough stretch he pitched through in August.</p>
<p>"He's as strong as a bull," Johnson said, "You guys were worried about him because he had a couple not Jordan-esque-type starts, but he'd had a little bit too much rest in-between. But last time out he was outstanding and he knows what he needs do to be successful up here and I like where he's at." After Zimmermann's final start of the year, the Nats' 69-year-old skipper expressed disappointment that the team hadn't been able to get him the win in his fifth career start against the Cardinals, though they did win the game after <span>Drew Storen's</span> blown save.</p>
<p>"I really feel bad that we didn't save it for [Zimmermann]," Johnson told reporters, "He pitched a heck of a ballgame. Really great ballgame. Unfortunately we didn't save it in nine. But he was outstanding." The NLDS Game Two starter's no-decision that day left him (0-2) with a 9.12 ERA, six walks (2.10 BB/9) and 21 Ks (7.36 K/9) in five starts and 25.2 IP against the Cardinals so far in his career. In a press conference at Busch Stadium Sunday afternoon, Zimmermann said he was impressed with what he saw from the Cards the last time through St. Louis.</p>
<p>"They really put up some runs," Zimmermann said, "And they're definitely a good hitting ballclub and we've just got to make some pitches and make better quality pitches and just pitch the way we've been pitching all year and do our part. The offense is doing great and we're going to keep scoring runs here and see what happens."</p>
<p>Zimmermann said that though the Nationals were able to enjoy winning the division, the team didn't have much time to celebrate because they knew they had to keep winning ballgames. "We celebrated and enjoyed it a little bit," the pitcher explained, "But we also had to keep playing some meaningful games." The Nats kept pressing, however, according to the pitcher who said they kept, "... playing as hard as we could because we knew we had to have the best record."</p>
<p>The right-hander was drafted in part because the Nationals' scouts liked his toughness. The tales of Zimmermann pitching in college with his broken jaw wired shut after he was hit by a line drive are part of the Nats' starter's origin story. He's also fairly unflappable, rarely showing emotion on the mound. Zimmermann told reporters before his first postseason start that he hasn't actually been nervous about a start since <a target="_blank" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WAS/WAS200904200.shtml"><b>his MLB debut back on April 20, 2009</b></a>. That night he gave up two runs on six hits and earned his first major league win in a 3-2 Nats' victory over the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.talkingchop.com/">Braves</a>.</p>
<p>"I don't see anything changing this time," Zimmermann said, "I may have a few butterflies when I first walk out there, but I'm sure they'll go away quickly and I'm going to take it as just another ballgame. I'm sure the fans are going to be pretty rowdy and loud, but I'm going to try to zone them out as best I can and pitch the way I know I can pitch." Before the seventh inning of his final start of the year against the Cardinals, Zimmermann had limited St. Louis to four hits. In the seventh, however, he gave up three-straight one-out hits and two of the runs that ultimately counted against him. (<span>Sean Burnett</span> allowed the third of three runs charged to the starter to score.)</p>
<p>"I thought I threw the ball pretty well for six innings," Zimmermann explained, "And I got to the seventh and kind of hit a little bit of a wall and didn't make any quality pitches and that's when they got to me. So I just need to focus later in the game and make some better pitches and quality pitches. I kind of breezed through the first six innings and just hit that wall in the seventh." Zimmermann's only pitched into the eighth inning twice in his major league career, once when he threw a complete game shutout at home in 2011. In the seventh inning so far in his career (21.2 IP), the right-hander has an 8.72 ERA with 34 hits allowed in 94 at bats. He's surrendered six doubles and five home runs, with opponents posting a .362/.444/.585 line against the Nationals' starter.</p>
<p>That's over 81 regular season starts, however. Monday afternoon the pitcher makes his postseason debut in Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Even Zimmermann admitted this stage is unlike anything he's seen before. "I don't think there's any games... or anything close to this," Zimmermann said, "I went to the College World Series, there was 5,000 people there. That was nothing compared to this." Zimmermann takes the mound with a 1-0 series lead and a chance to put St. Louis down two games in a five-game series. Even if he is nervous, he'll never let you or the Cardinals know.</p>
<p><b>• Watch <span>Jordan Zimmermann's</span> NLDS Press Conference: </b></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="224" width="400" src="http://mlb.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=25349727&width=400&height=224&property=mlb">Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> <br id="1349660044551"></p>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/10/8/3471530/jordan-zimmermann-washington-nationals-st-louis-cardinals-nlds-game-2-mlb-playoffsPatrick Reddington2012-10-02T11:45:53-04:002012-10-02T11:45:53-04:00Washington Nationals Clinch NL East Crown
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<figcaption>Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire</figcaption>
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<p>The Washington Nationals lost to the Philadelphia Phillies last night, but an Atlanta Braves' loss in Pittsburgh handed the Nats the NL East crown. </p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Washington Nationals</a> were one win away from clinching the NL East entering Monday night's game with the visiting <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/">Philadelphia Phillies</a>. One win, or one <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.talkingchop.com/">Braves</a>' loss. Atlanta and Pittsburgh started a three-game set in PNC Park tonight, so scoreboard-watching Nationals' skipper Davey Johnson and his team were keeping a close eye on the out-of-town updates as they tried to take the first game from the Phillies and clinch the division in Nationals Park.</p>
<p>From the start this year, Davey Johnson believed his team could accomplish exactly what the Washington Nationals did tonight in the nation's capital. In a teleconference with the D.C. press corps in late October 2011, after it was officially announced that he would return to the bench for at least another season, the Nats' manager was asked what his ultimate goal was in 2012? "A pennant," Johnson stated confidently, "Winning the pennant. Winning the division. Winning the National League. I couldn't have said that last Spring. I didn't think the talent was ready, but after being there and seeing the progress that some of the young players made, I think we definitely can contend and I would be sorely disappointed if we didn't do just that."</p>
<p>The Nats took over first place in the NL East for good on May 22nd with a win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Washington held first place in the division for all but ten days this season and in spite of the fact that Atlanta was on their heels all summer long, climbing to within 2.0 games of the division lead as late as the first week of August, the Nationals fought the Braves off, winning when things got desperate, taking series all year and tonight clinching the division for the first time since baseball returned to the nation's capital in 2005.</p>
<p>The 1924 Washington Senators, the first D.C.-based team to win a pennant, experienced many of the same challenges on their way to the first of three division crowns won by a D.C.-based team before the Nationals this year. The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58064-2004Sep28.html"><b>Washington Post's Frank H. Young</b></a> wrote at the time, on September 29, 1924, that it was the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.pinstripealley.com/">New York Yankees</a> then who were playing the role the Braves filled this season, pursuing the '24 Senators for the American League crown all summer long, but it was first year skipper Bucky Harris that made the difference for that year's team according to the WaPost writer, much as Davey Johnson has influenced the 2012 Nats' rapid ascent:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"'Had there been anything 'yellow' in the Washington make-up, the Yankees would now have their fourth consecutive championship tucked away, for twice they have been on their heels right along, but Harris and his men on all occasions when necessary have been able to rise to dizzy heights and shake them off."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There wasn't anything "yellow" about the 2012 Nationals' make-up either. They may have won the division with a Braves' loss, but it was the 96 wins that came before Monday night that helped them claim the NL East crown. While the Nationals' marketing department has done wonders with the whole #Natitude campaign, it does accurately described the prevailing aura of confidence Davey Johnson's instilled in his players since he took over midstream last summer.</p>
<p>The Nats' manager saw this coming when few others did. <span>Jayson Werth</span> told reporters last night, however, that his manager wasn't completely alone in thinking the Nationals could accomplish what they did this season. The former Phillies' outfielder signed a 7-year/$126M dollar deal with Washington before the 2011 campaign because he bought into the plan D.C. GM Mike Rizzo and the Nationals' ownership had for the franchise. "Maybe I didn't totally expect it totally in year two," Werth told reporters last night as the team celebrated on the field in Nationals Park, "But I was expecting it by year three. So, did it come early? Maybe. I don't know, but after September of last year I was confident it could happen."</p>
<p>Last night it did happen. The Nationals lost to the Phillies, 2-0, but before the game was over they knew that they had won the division. Fans in the park followed the Braves' game with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/">Pirates</a> on their phones and on the out-of-town scoreboard and reacted immediately when the last out was recorded in PNC Park and Pittsburgh had won. The celebration began in the Nats' dugout and spread to the stands as everyone figured out what had happened. The D.C. faithful were finally rewarded with the NL East crown. The celebration overshadowed the end of the game. Thousands of fans remained in Nats Park to celebrate with their team. Inside the Nats' clubhouse the music blared, champagne showered down on players, coaches, owners and the media alike. Davey Johnson and the Nationals brought winning baseball to D.C.</p>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/10/2/3443070/washington-nationals-clinch-nl-east-crown-celebration-erupts-in-the-nations-capitalPatrick Reddington2012-10-01T12:48:56-04:002012-10-01T12:48:56-04:00A Nationals celebration is one win away ...
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<figcaption>James Lang-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire</figcaption>
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<p>With a win tonight in Nationals Park, the Washington Nationals can clinch their first NL East pennant. Only their NL East rivals from Philadelphia stand in the way.</p> <p>The 1924 Washington Senators were 8-2 in the ten games leading up to their Monday, September 29th match-up with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.overthemonster.com/">Boston Red Sox</a> on the road in what was then a 12-year-old Fenway Park in Boston, MA. Left-hander Tom Zachary, in his seventh MLB season, his sixth with Washington, was (15-9) that year heading into his final outing of the regular season having won six of his previous seven starts. The night before, in the first game of the series with the Sox, Zachary had been called upon late to close out a 7-5 win, earning his second save of the season.</p>
<p>In his 27th start of the year the next day, however, the Senators' lefty gave up five hits, two walks and two earned runs in 3.0 IP before he was lifted by manager Bucky Harris in favor of Senators' reliever Frederick "Firpo" Marberry, who according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58064-2004Sep28.html"><b>a 9/29/24 Washington Post article by Frank H. Young</b></a>, "... held the Red Sox scoreless for the last six innings," and, "was the hero of this deciding game." The Senators took a 3-1 lead in the second, but the Red Sox cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the third. It remained a 3-2 game until top of the eighth when Washington added a run to make it 4-2. That's how it would end.</p>
<p>With the win, the Senators clinched the first pennant in D.C. baseball history. According to the Washington Post's Frank H. Young's report, the 15,000 fans in attendance in Boston cheered Washington's win, in part because it helped the Senators beat the hated-even-then <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.pinstripealley.com/">New York Yankees</a> and in part, as <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/sports/2013301365_apbboworldserieshexesontexas.html" target="_blank"><b>AP baseball writer Frederick J. Frommer wrote in an October 2010 article</b></a>, because, "... the underdog Senators were national sentimental favorites that year," and, "Fans were especially pulling for Walter Johnson, by then 36 years old and at the end of his career, to finally make it to the World Series."</p>
<p>As Mr. Frommer wrote in the article, the humorist Will Rogers noted at the time, in 1924, that there was, "... more genuine interest in [Johnson] than there is in a presidential election." The pennant clinching win left the Senators 92-61, having claimed the first American League crown after 23 years of futility on the part of the franchise which had resulted in the oft-repeated description of the team as being, "First in war, first in peace and last in the American League."</p>
<p>As <a target="_blank" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/2000/baseball0329.htm"><b>Washington Post writer William Gildea wrote in a March 1999 article</b></a> on the last century of Senators' history, not many people saw the 1924 Senators coming. "Even in the spring of 1924," Mr. Gildea wrote, "virtually no one imagined that the Senators – then referred to as the Nationals, or Nats – would win their first pennant by displacing the Babe Ruth-led New York Yankees."</p>
<p>Well, one person did actually. After he was named the manager in February of 1924, Bucky Harris, "... vowed that the team would win the pennant," Mr. Gildea noted.</p>
<p>The fact that they did manage to win the pennant that season came as a shock, with even Yankees' great Babe Ruth writing in his autobiography (as quoted in the WaPost article), that, "Washington got hot quicker than almost any club I ever saw." As the Senators claimed the pennant in Boston, fans in the nation's capital received the news. As the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58064-2004Sep28.html"><b>Washington Post's Frank H. Young</b></a> reported at the time, President Calvin Coolidge's secretary C. Bascom Slemp telegraphed Bucky Harris to let him know Washington was proud of what the team accomplished.</p>
<p>Had the 2012 <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Washington Nationals</a> clinched the pennant in St. Louis yesterday, it's unlikely even the self-appointed best fans in baseball would have joined in the celebration as the residents of Boston did after the Senators' clincher in 1924. Word would have reached the nation's capital a lot quicker, however, with all the live reports and tweeted updates that have come to define coverage of the sport in modern times.</p>
<p>President Coolidge's secretary wrote in his telegraph to Bucky Harris in 1924, that the President would be waiting to welcome the Senators back to the nation's capital after the win, once they made the train ride home to D.C. two days later.</p>
<p>Would the 2012 Nationals have been greeted at home when their flight arrived back in the nation's capital last night? Would the President have praised the team? Would Davey Johnson have received a special message thanking him for bring the pennant to Washington? Perhaps.</p>
<p>The Nats couldn't clinch the pennant in St. Louis on Sunday, however, so the first pennant in the history of the third franchise to call D.C. home will have to be won in Washington if the Nats can take just one of the next three from the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/">Philadelphia Phillies</a>. It didn't take the newest baseball team to call the nation's capital its home quite as long to put themselves in this position as it took the original Senators, but to most of the baseball world it's come as as much of surprise as the 1924 Senators' win did.</p>
<p>Not many people saw the success of the 2012 Nationals coming, with the team just a few seasons removed from back-to-back 100-loss campaigns. But just like in 1924, there was one true believer from the start.</p>
<p>Nats' skipper Davey Johnson said on day one that a pennant was the goal for the team this season. With one more win, he'll join Bucky Harris as another prescient manager who made good on his prediction.</p>
<p>The Nationals have failed to clinch the division, thus far, but the loss yesterday gives them the chance to win it in front of the hometown crowd. It's unlikely that fans in the nation's capital will storm the field like the Boston fans did in 1924, but if the Wild Card-clinching win in D.C. a few weeks back was any sign, the baseball fans in Washington are ready to celebrate a pennant-clinching win.</p>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/10/1/3437140/washington-nationals-one-win-away-nl-east-title-philadelphia-phillies-washington-senatorsPatrick Reddington2012-09-24T08:30:17-04:002012-09-24T08:30:17-04:00Washington 20-Game Winners: A Brief History
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<figcaption>Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>With his 20th win of 2012 on Saturday, Gio Gonzalez became just the 10th player in D.C. baseball history to reach twenty wins in a single season since 1901. </p> <p>The Washington Senators were one of eight charter clubs to play in the first season of the American League as a "major" baseball league in 1901. It was ten seasons into the so-called modern era of the game (1901-present) before the original Senators had a 20-game winner. 27-year-old lefty Casey Patten came close in 1901, winning 18 games on a Senators team that finished sixth in the eight-team league. A then-29-year-old Al Orth, (aka Smiling Al or the Curveless Wonder), a Sedalia, Missouri-born right-hander who'd won 20 games for the Philadelphia <a href="https://www.athleticsnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Athletics</a> in 1901, won 19 games (and hit 18 HRs) for the Senators in 1902. 26-year-old righty "Long Tom" Hughes won 17 and lost 20 for the 1905 Senators. Five years after Casey Patten had won 18 as a rookie in '01, the then-32-year-old veteran posted a 19-16 mark for the 55-95 1906 Senators.</p>
<p>"Long Tom" Hughes came close again in 1908, winning 18 of 31 starts, but it wasn't until the 1910 season that the Senators had their first 20-game winner. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johnswa01.shtml" target="_blank"><b>Walter "The Big Train" Johnson</b></a>, in his fourth major league season at age 22, was the first D.C.-based pitcher to win 20 games in a season in 1910 when he went 25-17 with a 1.36 ERA, 76 walks (1.84 BB/9) and 313 Ks (7.61 K/9) in 45 games, 42 starts and 370.0 IP for the 66-85 Senators who finished seventh. The Big Train would go on to win 20+ games in each of the next nine seasons as well -- including a career-high 36-win 1913 season -- then come back to win 23 and 20, respectively, in the 1924 and '25 campaigns as he led the Senators to their first and only World Series victory in '24 and the second of three Series appearances in D.C. baseball history in '25, when the Sens lost the Series to the <a href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Pittsburgh Pirates</a>.</p>
<p>27-year-old, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/groombo01.shtml" target="_blank"><b>Belleville, Ilinois-born right-hander Bob Groom</b></a> joined Johnson as one of two 20-game winners in the Senators' rotation in 1912. Between 1913 and 1919 Johnson was alone as the only 20-game winning Senators' pitcher, but <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/covelst01.shtml" target="_blank"><b>Stan "Covey" Coveleski</b></a>, a Shamokin, PA-born right-hander who was 35 at time, was the other 20-game winner on the 1925 Senators, going 20-5 in 32 starts.</p>
<p>The 1932 Senators had two 20-game winners. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/crowdal01.shtml" target="_blank"><b>Alvin Floyd "General" Crowder</b></a>, acquired from the St. Louis Browns along with Heinie Manush in a trade that sent Goose Goslin to Missouri, was 26-13 in his first season in the nation's capital. Crowder was part of a rotation that also featured <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/weavemo01.shtml" target="_blank"><b>Monte Weaver</b></a>, aka the "Prof", a 22-year-old right-hander in his first full pro season who was 22-10 for the Senators in the one and only season he'd win 20+ in the majors. General Crowder went 24-15 for the '33 Senators, joined by left-hander <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/whiteea01.shtml" target="_blank">Earl Whitehill</a> (22-8), who was the last lefty to win more than 20 games for a D.C.-based team before <span>Gio Gonzalez</span> won his 20th game of the 2012 season this past Saturday. The 1933 Senators, were also the last D.C.-based team to make a postseason appearance before the Nationals guaranteed a return to the playoffs for a team from the nation's capital for the first time in 79 years last week.</p>
<p>Six seasons after both General Crowder and Earl Whitehill were 20-game winners, a 30-year-old <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leonadu02.shtml" target="_blank"><b>Emil John "Dutch" Leonard</b></a> went 20-8 in the one 20-win season of his 20-year career for the Bucky Harris-led 1939 Senators, who finished 65-87 and sixth in the American League. The Senators acquired a then-33-year-old, Evansville, Illinois-born right-hander <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wolffro01.shtml" target="_blank"><b>Roger Wolff</b></a> in a trade that sent Bobo Newsom to Philadelphia in December of 1943 and after Wolff went 4-15 for the '44 Senators, he won twenty games in 1945, finishing the season 20-10 with a 2.12 ERA over 33 games, 29 starts and 250.0 innings pitched for Ossie Bluege's Senators, who finished just a game-and-a-half behind the World Series-winning <a href="https://www.blessyouboys.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Detroit Tigers</a>.</p>
<p>Eight seasons later, in 1953, Newport, Virginia-born <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/portebo01.shtml" target="_blank"><b>right-hander Bob Porterfield</b></a>, who was acquired by the Senators as one of three pitchers in a June 15, 1951 trade with the <a href="https://www.pinstripealley.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Yankees</a> that sent Bob Kuzava to New York, went 22-10 for a Senators team that finished with a .500 record, 76-76, once again under the guidance of Bucky Harris.</p>
<p>After Porterfield's 20+ win season, it would be 59 years before the nation's capital would see another 20-game winner. 27-year-old Gio Gonzalez won his 20th game this past Saturday in his 31st start as a National following the December 2011 trade that brought Gonzalez to D.C. from the Oakland A's. Gonzalez was the tenth pitcher for a D.C.-based team to reach that plateau, which 69-year-old <a href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Nationals</a>' skipper Davey Johnson told reporters on Saturday is, "... the mark of a Cy Young... it's just everything. It's bigger than a hitter, for me, hitting .300. He's had just a phenomenal year."</p>
<p>On the year, Gonzalez is now 20-8 with a 2.84 ERA, 2.84 FIP, 73 walks (3.40 BB/9) and 201 Ks (9.36 K/9) in 31 starts and 193.1 IP. He became the first left-hander to win 20 since Whitehill won 22 in '33, and Gonzalez's strong finish to his season has the Nats' starter set up to do something that none of the previous 20-game winners were able to accomplish: win the Cy Young Award. Granted, they didn't start giving the award out until 1956 (and didn't give one to each league until 1967) and Washington, D.C. was without a team from 1971-2004. But from 1956-71 and 2005-2011, no Senators or Nationals' pitcher has won the Cy Young or even come close. If it was up to Davey Johnson he'd award the Cy Young to Gonzalez right now. "Hands down," was the Nats' manager's response when he was asked if his starter had earned the award this past weekend.</p>
<p>Gonzalez credited his teammates and talked to reporters about how important it was to him to win his 20th in front of the crowd in the nation's capital, but the person he looked for after the win was Nats' pitching coach Steve McCatty. "I was looking for 'Cat'," <a href="http://www.masnsports.com/index_medialounge.php?show_id=1176406&p=" target="_blank"><b>the pitcher told reporters after the game</b></a>, "Because it's just one of those things that your pitching coach deserves that credit. A guy who's been there, who's helped out and kept me the same person all even keel all year. But there's specific guys that you want to hug and tell them, 'Thank you, so much.' I think that the credit goes to our infield completely and our catchers that have been doing great. <span>Kurt Suzuki</span> was a huge pickup for us and he's been calling a great game every time I go out there, just confidence builds more and more."</p>
<p>"It's almost like a dream and I feel like I'm still sleeping in it," Gonzalez said. Nationals fans know exactly how he feels. A 20-game winning pitcher. First place in the NL East in late September. A guarantee of at least one playoff game at home this season and hopefully more. If we are sleeping and dreaming, don't wake us up.</p>
https://dc.sbnation.com/2012/9/24/3380460/washington-nationals-washington-senators-20-game-winners-walter-johnson-gio-gonzalezPatrick Reddington