The Highlights From Tonight's Rain Shortened Loss

Without a doubt, the absolute best part of tonight's rain shorted game at Nationals Park between Our Washington Nationals and The St.Louis Cardinals. Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa meeting and greeting with some of Our Recovering Soldiers from Walter Reed DURING THE LAST RAIN DELAY!!

The smiles on the faces of the handful of soldiers still remaining would make every minute of tonight's 2 Hour & 46 Minute Delay worthwhile.

The oddest part of tonight's game.

While chatting with Noah's Pretzels Owner Dwayne Herndon in front of his stand near Center Field Plaza around 6:30PM--the weather is sunny, cooler than normal for a summer evening--when all of sudden there is this gigantic roar as if someone just turned on a very large water faucet. Looking over to our left-- A WALL OF WATER is moving across Nationals Park from South Capitol Street toward The Right Field Scoreboard Walk. Rain so hard it appeared as if a Tsunami was washing across the ballpark. Usher Tom, in Section 217 of The Stars & Stripes Club, told us later that from his vantage point in the stands just outside The Homestead Grays Bar there was a clear definition to the rain as it swamped the field. "You could see people watching the rain come towards them not comprehending what was happening," he stated. "Almost as if a curtain was being drawn to close out the lights from outside. Just incredible."

And it was--just like this evening's 16th Rain Delayed Game (11 at home) played by Our Washington Nationals in 2009. Total time of these delays now reaching an amazing sum of 30 Hours & 31 Minutes. Final Score in 6 and 1/2 Innings tonight at rain drenched Nationals Park--The St.Louis Cardinals 4 and Our Washington Nationals 1. Tonight was like the month of May, 2009 all over again.

It rained and rained and rained.

All Photos Copyrighted--Nats320--All Rights Reserved

Taylor Hooton Foundation/PBATS Fitness Clinic

Returning for the second consecutive year to Nationals Park, Our Washington Nationals, The Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society (PBATS) and The Taylor Hooton Foundation teamed up on Wednesday Morning July 22nd to help inform D.C. area youngsters on the proper training habits of a healthy lifestyle while educating the real dangers of performance enhancing drugs.

You may recall Nats320's report last summer from South Capitol Street including the touching story of Taylor Hooton, a rising high school baseball player from Plano, Texas who sadly took his own life, confused over the effects, the changes to his body and mental anguish brought on by taking steroids. Taylor's Dad, Don, has since that very day his son passed, devoted the rest of his life's work to reach out to children and kids across America to, hopefully, prevent other parents from feeling that same anguish and pain his family has suffered through. An escalating problem--still not resolved.



Thanks to Major League Baseball & PBATS--clinics are held throughout most all 30 Major League Cites. Mr. Hooton not only travels to educate and inform thousands of kids, but he also speaks at schools, minor league ballparks and facilities and is even working with The Federal Government to see if those on Capitol Hill can help provide a National Presence to spread the word.


For over two hours on July 22nd, Mr. Hooton, Washington Nationals Head Trainer Lee Kuntz, Assistant Trainer Mike McGowan, Players Willie Harris and Garrett Mock formed a new team. One devoted to working out the right way with health and nutrition--not by injecting oneself, popping pills or spreading gels to get ahead in life--or to simply look better.






Don Hooton spoke for about 15 minutes with the assembled children and their parents--spreading the word, telling of the dangers while informing everyone of his personal involvement--and why. Then, three groups were formed. Kuntz & McGowan led the youngsters through on-field training routines. The proper flexibility and cardiovascular techniques needed to train properly. Willie Harris and Garrett Mock sat down with the kids in The Home Dugout at Nationals Park to take on all questions and relate how hard it is to be a professional--both on and off the field of play. And the very necessary mental skills needed to succeed at anything in life.



If you haven't read last year's story and interview with Don Hooton, we encourage you to do so before continuing with this post. Then come back and read the update interview conducted yesterday with Mr. Hooton before the clinic began. One year later, The Taylor Hooton Foundation is making progress, but is surprisingly still seeing resistance from adult supervisors all across these United States Of America.

Please read last year's story for the complete background and history, then come back for Don Hooton's update which begins right here:

In the past year since we last talked, what have been the good impacts you have witnessed by your efforts—and the frustrating parts as well? (SBF)

“I think we are doing better than I probably think we are. We’ve talked directly to 75,000 kids. But it is never as much as we would like it to be. We’ve got millions of kids to reach. We’ve figured it’s close to 800,000 to 1 million kids using these performance-enhancing drugs. Our goal is to get into 10,000 high schools with our education program. We count ours in the dozens, maybe a couple of hundreds—so we’ve got a long way to go, but our biggest challenge is getting past some of the gatekeepers (school systems) who don’t believe we (Taylor Hooton Foundation) need to be there because they don’t think they have a problem with performance enhancing drug use in their schools. So, that is the biggest hurdle we are trying to get past right now.”

Does that surprise you that school systems might be turning a blind eye to this issue? (SBF)

“Yes it does surprise me--frankly. It very much surprises me. We are in a prevention program, just like the guys that talk about marijuana or heroin or anything else and you don’t have to have a heroin problem in your schools to have people come in and talk about why you shouldn’t do heroin. I am not quite sure why we see the resistance we do to performance enhancing drug use except somehow, some of these officials feel that if they let us in they are somehow admitting they have a problem in their athletic programs—that’s really not what we are about.”

So that means you must be trying to find alternative ways to reach out and get your story told? (SBF)

“We are working through the Federal Government. We hope they can send a message from the top that steroids and performance enhancing drugs education is important. We are trying to come in with the more general school administrators—the drug education officers, the counselors and principals—because it’s not just the athletes that are doing this stuff. We don’t need to be shoved off to the athletic directors because the current studies show that 50% to 60% of the steroid usage is with non-athletes. These kids that are using this stuff to look better. They have no interest in playing football or baseball or whatever the sport is. They just want to compete with the guys that look beefed up that get the chicks!!”

“And then the other thing that surprises most people is the fastest growing user group and they are little girls. The 14 & 15-year-old girls are doing this stuff to get six-pack abs. I mean it is just crazy!!”

Before we started this conversation, you mentioned instead of trying to be all encompassing in your approach, you are looking to target specific areas. Can you be more specific? (SBF)

“One of our current areas of focus, besides running at the schools in general, is working with several of the professional league franchises and hopefully—and we are pretty optimistic—developing a couple of partnerships where we will go in and focus on a particular community. So, we are here with The Nationals today. We were with The New York Yankees earlier this week. Maybe, we can end up with a Nationals sponsored program here is Washington, D.C. Or a Yankees sponsored program in New York where we are going in with the local Major League Baseball Franchise to talk to kids. We are then going in with a role model and delivering a real positive message why these kids should not be fooling with this stuff. By hook or by crook, whatever we got to do to get in front of kids, we are going to do it.”

Is it hard to realize you may need a player, let’s say The Nationals in this case, to hear you out? (SBF)

“It is very frustrating, very frustrating. Of course, everybody has budget problems, that’s one of the issues. It costs dollars to put these programs on—but not that much. But it is frustrating. People see all of this stuff going on in the national news. You can list the players that have got caught with this stuff. But they somehow don’t associate it with their kids. And the kids are following these role model leads and are injecting themselves with what are hardcore anabolic steroids. But if you don’t recognize you have a problem, or admit you have a problem, then it is difficult to get people to focus on dealing with it.”

“Even when you get injuries, everybody wants to assume it is just a one off type of thing. It’s just one kid. In our case back in Plano, Texas—there was just one kid, Taylor (Don’s Son). Well, when we talked to the kids, it’s a whole lot more than that. And in the case of Taylor’s team it was half the boys on the baseball squad. But we wanted to dismiss these things because it was just one kid with an injury. Or, it was just one kid that got sick or hurt themselves.”

Does Manny Ramirez being suspended for 50 games this season help you in an odd sort of way? (SBF)

“Oh, it’s not in an odd way. It is a very real way of assistance. He helped put this issue back on the front pages—at least the sport section—because when people are talking about the problem, we have the opportunity to respond and we get opportunities to get news interviews and interest is heightened. If there is nobody on the front page of the paper, if there is no screaming headline in our society these days, we just don’t seem to care and only wish for these issues to go away. And it’s not going away.”

How do you feel about major sports stars that are implicated as users and keep on denying it? (SBF)

“There is denial, although a lot of that has stopped. But, of course, everyone that is caught denies it—with few exceptions. But the thing that concerns me with Manny (Ramirez)--it wasn’t that he got caught, but it was the--what is wrong with that type of response? ‘Everybody is doing it!’ ‘I didn’t kill anybody!’ ‘It was just steroids!’ And if you really think about it, if he (Manny Ramirez) is really a role model for our children, then what are our kids now hearing from him? There really is nothing wrong with it and I didn’t kill anybody, what’s the big deal? That’s just simply sending the wrong message. So that makes it very difficult to get to these knuckleheads and counteract that message. And the sad thing is that nobody is talking to these kids to counteract that. We are trying, but we have seen resistance. Recent studies have shown that 85% of our children have never had a parent, a coach or teacher talk with them about the dangers of performance enhancing drugs.”

“So what do they get? A Manny Ramirez telling them what’s the big deal? And nobody counteracting that this stuff can kill you! It’s shameful. And what we forget about is that this is a felony. Most of these performance-enhancing drugs are a felony without a legitimate prescription. And by the way—hitting a long ball farther is not a legitimate reason for a prescription for anabolic steroids. It is a felony and we ought to be talking, in some cases, about how many years in the federal penitentiary some of these guys need to be spending there. And not just dismissing this as--fans don’t care—or it sells more seats. And that is the major part of the challenge we’ve got in dealing with this problem.”

Including the escalating usage by young girls which seems pretty amazing? (SBF)

“Really scary, but it is an indication that this thing has changed and has moved out of the locker room and it’s now moved into the social hallways. We have got to put a stop to it.”

With that final answer--Our Update With Don Hooton ended.

Performance enhancing drugs are a scary issue, no doubt. Let's hope parents, school officials, adult supervisors and coaches can one day all come together, get on the same page, and help to eliminate a still escalating problem that seemingly has yet to reach its pinnacle in American Society. No, this issue is not going away anytime soon. The peer pressure on youngsters is still to great--unless more get involved to educate and prevent it.




The fitness clinic ended with a Home Run Hitting Contest for all kids. Standing in rightfield, Willie Harris tossed rubberized baseballs to the children who attempted to knock them over the padded wall or into Washington's Bullpen.

All Photos Copyrighted--Nats320--All Rights Reserved

Real Baseball Was The News

On the very night The 44th President Of The United States conducted a live evening Press Conference from The White House in NW Washington DC, the freshest news of the night might well have come from SE--at Nationals Park--involving Our Washington Nationals. For two consecutive evenings on South Capitol Street, Our Washington Nationals put together near perfect--mirror image games. Quality starts from their hurlers, good defensive work--all standing behind excellent pitching for a DC Team scoring just enough runs to win.

Newsworthy--considering the poor first half start for DC's Team and the zero for five continuation which began under Interim Manager Jim Riggleman.

Having just finished Nats Xtra on MASN, Ray Knight is leaving the Nationals Park Broadcast Booth in Center Field Plaza. Running into The African Queen and I--and into the spirit of the evening we ask the proper question: "Ray, what do you call that which we have witnessed these past two nights?"

"I call that real baseball baby!!, replied Knight. "Real baseball, it's about time!!"--Ray Knight smiling broadly, almost giddy.

A perfect summation. A headlining quote. Real Baseball Was The News.

Following in the footsteps of John Lannan yesterday, "Mr. Cutie"--as Section 218 Compatriot Laurie calls Craig Stammen--threw hitless baseball into the 5th inning against The New York Mets tonight. And incredibly into the 6th frame--Our Number 35 had only tossed a total of 60 pitches in what was at this point a shutout effort. At least until The Mets light hitting Angel Pagan slapped a two out slicer over the drawn in Nyjer Morgan in centerfield which resulted in a triple and basically an Inside-The-Park Home Run--on a error--when "The Guz", inexplicably, threw a relay toss well past Ryan Zimmerman at third base and into The Mets Dugout to tie this game up at one apiece.

Most 25-Year Olds in their rookie season on the mound, might have wilted under such unexpected bad luck. Maybe even have ducked the assembled media in the post game by heading to the training room--off limits to scribes. But even after Stammen allowed Fernando Tatis to double down the left field line. And even after Daniel Murphy followed with a two out walk. Craig survived and pushed forward this evening--becoming a major part of the story--when he received some good luck of his own-as the always dangerous David Wright sliced one wicked sinking liner to right--that Josh Willingham made an excellent running in, backhand stab, to retire The Mets and save Craig Stammen from any further damage.

Not wanting to be left out of the storyline, Willingham would play his finest game in a Nationals Jersey--going four for four at the plate and personally knocking in two runs with his 13th Homer of 2009--which incidently was his first non-solo home run of his entire season (an amazingly odd statistic). Ronnie Belliard would punch home Washington's first run of the evening by doing what he does best at the plate--first ball, fast ball hitting with runners in scoring position.

And Craig Stammen would punctuate this chronicle by lasting into the 8th frame, where upon finally drama unfolded into effectiveness--as Interim Manager Jim Riggleman managed the final two innings like a playoff game. Jason Bergmann and Joe Beimel called on to retire New York in the 8th. And Mike MacDougal to close out The Mets in the 9th.

A report now written that states, when you are going good--things always fall your way. And tonight at Nationals Park, except for that one defensive mistake in the 6th, Our Washington Nationals played some real fine baseball. Textbook Baseball, in fact. The kind that might have looked like fantasy before The All-Star Break, now flashing the signs of fiction left behind. Washington made the routine plays and even the difficult ones tonight. And when their opportunity knocked to score--Washington plated the three runs they most needed to distance themselves from The New York Mets.

Truly, this was another well played affair for the second consecutive night in Washington, DC. Narrative for those "Getting Their Red On!!" Faithful in the 23,583 on hand standing at the end--appreciating the REAL BASEBALL witnessed over the past 48 Hours in Our Nation's Capital.

Final Score from Nationals Park where a renewed work ethic has been witnessed these past few days--Our Washington Nationals 3 and The New York Mets 1. Curly "W" Number 28 of 2009 anecdotal because not long after this affair ended, The African Queen and I run into former National and now Met--Tim Redding--leaving the ballpark. When we ask him how he's doing--Our Former Number 17 responds: "We are losing, it's not a lot of fun!!" (and not too friendly was he either) Sohna looks at me and says: "What would he have said if he still played for us?"

Good Question, because the feature of The Bang!! Zoom!! Of The Fireworks!! this evening signaled a rejuvenated Washington Club--taking advantage of a depleted Mets Lineup without All-Stars Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado (all injured)--while not letting DC's past history with The Mets in The Nation's Capital affect a rare series win. This only the 3rd Home Series Victory EVER against The New Yorkers since baseball returned to Washington in 2005. The Chronicle of any victory against The Mets, under any circumstances, Sohna and I will rejoice about--at any time.

In The News Tonight, Real Baseball was played again on the diamond by Our Washington Nationals. Combined with Tuesday Night's complete game shutout by John Lannan this new work ethic resembling a new feature distancing themselves from lost fable. Yeah, it's been tough at times to watch DC Baseball this season, but over this just completed series win--Our Washington Nationals can only be described as a completely different baseball club.

Game Notes & Highlights

Craig Stammen keeps the ball down. From his appearance yesterday at The ESPN Zone, he certainly has confidence. What he needs is experience. Not sure if Our Number 35 is yet a keeper, but you have to like what he brings to the mound. Stammen keeps the ball down. He throws a lot of strikes and he's very competitive. Traits of a young man not afraid to challenge and succeed. We like that. 7.1 innings tonight, just four hits allowed, two walks and that one earned run. Craig Stammen's third victory in eight decisions lowered his ERA to 4.14.

And Our Number 35 should thank his third career victory to Jason Bergmann and Joe Beimel who both came on to retire Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy, respectively, to end New York's only real threat with two runners on base in the 8th with the game on the line. Mike MacDougal closed this one with his 6th save as a National in as many attempts in the 9th.

The Mets Starting Pitcher, Mike Pelfrey, kept on throwing first pitch strike after first pitch strike. And when Washington found Nick Johnson on 3rd and Josh Willingham on 2nd after a walk and double in the bottom of the 4th inning--"The Ballplayer" followed with a first pitch, fastball slicing liner to right. Ronnie Belliard getting his team on the board first with that RBI Single.

Josh Willingham slammed out his two run and eventual game deciding home run in the bottom of the 6th when--after Jeff Francouer in right field lost an Adam Dunn routine liner directly at him in the lights of Nationals Park. Our Number 16 then followed with a tremendous blast off Pelfrey into the first row of bleachers seats above The Visiting Bullpen. Willingham should have most likely driven in a third score this evening during the bottom of the 8th--when he drilled another double to the left-centefield wall. And even with the slow moving Nick Johnson giving his all running from 1st and rounding 3rd, 3rd Base Coach Pat Listach inexplicably halted NJ at third with the relay throw still not in Geronomo Berroa's glove. There were two outs, time to challenge The Mets fielders--Listach should have sent Our Number 24 home. Besides, who didn't want to witness Nick Johnson sliding into home? He may be the worst sliding player in the game. But Johnson would have tumbled, dove and probably hand slapped the plate--and made it one of the most memorable moments of this game. Too bad--no one got to witness it.

Josh Willingham, by the way, falling a triple short of hitting for the cycle tonight.

In the top of the very first inning--The Mets Corey Sullivan scorched a liner into deep right centerfield. Earlier this season, that form of frozen rope would have been a problem for Washington's Defense. Not any longer with Nyjer Morgan patrolling the vast reaches of Nationals Park. Our Number 1 EASILY chased down that fly while gently jumping into the padded wall. Another standing ovation for a fine play, but Ryan Zimmerman would exceed Morgan's defensive excellency tonight.

David Wright was on 1st Base in the top of the 5th when New York's Jeff Francouer ripped a grounder to The Z-Man diving to his left at third base. Not only did Our Number 11 backhand snare the hot shot--but he had the presence to right himself, twirling from left to right--his back to second base--and then UNDERARM/SIDEARM sling the baseball--while falling away from the toss--to Ronnie Belliard at second base for the force out on Wright. The Defensive Play Of This Game. Catlike Reflexes, Amazing Instincts, again shown by the finest fielding 3rd Baseman in the game--IN THE GAME!!

Second Base Umpire Hunter Wendlestedt tossed Mets 2nd Baseman Luis Castillo from the game after Castillo had to say something really vulgar to be ejected so quickly after Luis fumbled and juggled a throw to him attempting to get Nick Johnson at 2nd base in the bottom of the 2nd inning. It didn't take Wendlestedt 10 seconds to give Castillo the thumb. A quick toss that makes you wonder whether they have a previous history of contention.

Very saddened to learn that Jordan Zimmermann was placed on The Disabled List immediately following this game. Elbow soreness the official diagnosis and the second time this season J-Zimm has been shutdown for a similar instance. Worrisome, the best description. Collin Balester recalled to make his start tomorrow night against The St.Louis Cardinals at Nationals Park.


Abe teased Teddy during The 4th Inning Presidents Race by letting Our Lovable Loser believe he was going to Let Teddy Win!! Instead, while President Number 26 wobbled toward the finish line--President Number 16 danced backwards--and eventually crossed over to win his 22nd race this season.

Finally, The African Queen and I had quite the post-game experience. Heading downstairs from The Stars & Stripes Club to meet with a colleague over some business--we run into The New York Mets GM Omar Minaya in the elevator. And proceed to have this wonderful five minute conversation comparing New York's Injury Plagued Season to Washington's in 2008. Then, Omar tells us he likes Citi Field in Queens and we need to come visit. "But it's very expensive." he states. Then goes on with: "I really like Nationals Park, there is real nice feel here. Just a great place to watch any game." And he meant it--no BS. Omar Minaya was very engaging. He wanted to chat with us as much as we enjoyed meeting him.

Then of course--we run into Tim Redding (mentioned earlier)--followed by an hilarious run in with someone else unexpectedly. Our colleague we needed to speak with was finishing off another conversation. Not paying much attention to those surrounding us--this one guy in a very sharp Leather & Metal Insignia Cap looks at The African Queen and states: "HEY!! Are you going to say hello or what?" To our total surprise Jesus Flores is standing directly in front of us. Yes that's right, Our Starting Catcher, now rehabbing on The Disabled List. Flores looked in great shape (he really did), trimmer and more powerful. Jesus telling us he will have an MRI sometime over the next three weeks, but he's only coming back if he's 100% ready to give his body the workout in 2009. He's not in baseball shape, and it's killing him to not be playing. But what a pleasant surprise to see him. Most impressive of all--Our Number 3 has worked hard on English as his second language. Good for him for making the effort to learn. And even better knowing--Jesus Flores was very excited to see Sohna and give her a couple of huge hugs. Now--that is a good post-game. Sohna telling Jesus we miss him in our lineup.

Tonight's InGame Photos--Nick Wass (AP)
All Other Photos Copyrighted--Nats320--All Rights Reserved

Craig Stammen ESPN Zone Appearance

Hailing from Coldwater, Ohio--a small town on the western boarder of his birth state--Craig Stammen now finds himself in a Big League Uniform positioned as a one of the promising young starters Our Washington Nationals are building with for the future. On July 21st at The ESPN Zone in downtown Washington, D.C.--Stammen along with Radio Broadcaster Charlie Slowes--were on hand at 12 Noon to "Meet & Greet" Fans in the third of the five monthly get togethers planned during the 2009 Season.

Here is the complete transcript of that Q & A:

Charlie Slowes: “Thanks, Good Morning everybody. It’s good to see familiar faces again. Some of you folks have been here before. And some new people that have never been to our lunchtime question and answer sessions. This is now number three. We have another coming up the second week in August and another in September. You will be notified later of the player to be here for those dates—in the near future—always subject to change.”

“Even today is subject to change. I know a lot of you folks heard that Scott Olsen was going to be here. But such is the case in this game, injuries and visits to see the doctors and what is going to happen to him next—take priority. We learned after the game last night that Scott is going to have surgery for some fraying in his labrum—not believed to be real serious. But they (doctors) feel it is the root to all his troubles this year and even going back to last year. He is going to have the surgery on Thursday and get himself cleaned up to put him in shape to start fresh for next year.”

“So, when you have injuries to your pitching staff, one of the first things that happen is The Big League team reaches out to their AAA Club or even AA Club—as has been the case (for Washington) this year—to get a pitcher that is pitching real well there and come up and help the big league club. One guy who has done that this year for The Nationals is here with us today—right-hander Craig Stammen!!”

(Applause)

Charlie: “You get to sit in the big chair. As you can see the guys who have signed it already behind you. Over your left shoulder in #27 Jordan Zimmermann. And behind you is Wil Nieves. How have you been?”

Craig: "I am great!! How are you?"

Charlie: “I am good!! This has been, I know, a tough year for the ball club. But for you personally, this has been the biggest step forward of your career?”

Craig: “Yes, it has. It is a dream come true to get your call to The Big Leagues. But we are struggling a little bit right now. And we are trying to turn things around so next year not the same thing happens.”

Charlie: “You were in the minor leagues with a lot of the guys who are now on this pitching staff: Jordan Zimmermann, John Lannan, just to name a couple of guys you played with. And of course—Randy Knorr was your manager at Potomac—which wasn’t that long ago—was it?”

Craig: “Right. We keep talking about how we were in The Minor Leagues. We were working our way up and scratching tooth and nail to get a shot at The Big Leagues. The hard work has now paid off and we can now see what we can do here at this level.”

Charlie: I know for you, you guys have gotten there. But what’s a normal progression? Last night, I know you were in the dugout and rooting for a guy that was in the rotation that was with you at the beginning of the year at Syracuse. J.D. Martin, last night, had waited eight years for his chance to get to The Big Leagues—drafted out of high school by The Cleveland Indians.”

Craig: “It was good to see J.D. get his debut because I played with him at AAA and he has been just waiting to get that shot and it finally came to him. Hopefully, he can take advantage of it and he does well for us the rest of the year.”

Question: When you go to the mound and the other team knows you haven’t pitched in The Majors a lot, which also happened last night, do you anticipate your nervousness versus what plans they might have to make you nervous?

Craig: “I definitely think the teams that are a little bit older, like The Mets—they have more veteran guys on the team—they see a guy making his Major League debut and they feel like if they can get some hits off of him early—get him rattled—they can take advantage of that, build off of that—and get a laugher type of game. But as a young guy going up there, you have got to basically prove yourself—not only to the other team, but also the umpires, everybody, that you are not just here to mess around, you are here to compete and throw out your best effort. Being a young guy, you really have to put your best foot forward—as it is with anything—and show them you belong.”

Question (Child): What is your favorite team you have played for in your professional career?

Craig: “Well, obviously it’s The Washington Nationals. They are my favorite team right now. When I was in college, I played for The Dayton Flyers and had a great time there. And growing up in The Minor Leagues I played for a couple of teams—but I had a really good time here with The Potomac Nationals. And I know we have a couple of their best fans sitting here right now too. (At the ESPN Zone).”

Question: Craig, you have one of the better batting averages on the team among pitchers. What do you attribute that too? Hard work? Luck?

Craig: “I go up every time to the plate not wanting to make an out. I want to be competitive. I am not up there to stand there and walk back to the dugout. I think it is just an attitude that some of the pitchers are developing and I always have—I enjoy hitting. I think it is fun and if you can make yourself a hard person to get out, then that makes that pitcher work even harder as we all saw when (John) Lannan faced (Carlos) Zambrano (The Cubs) the other night. He faced nine hitters instead of eight.”

Charlie: “He and I talked about this—swing hard because you just might hit it, right?”

Craig: (Chuckling) “Right.!! Exactly!!”

Charlie: “We will give you a little inside thing that actually happened not too long ago. Craig was at the plate and The Nationals had bases loaded and they (coaches) told you to take. They were concerned about whether he might hit a ground ball and it becomes an inning ending double play. So they wanted to see if the pitcher would get behind you (in the count). But he didn’t (yeah, that’s right—Craig) you took three straight pitches. And your body language upstairs told us you were told to take. You weren’t real happy about it—were you?”

Craig: “Like I said, I want to be as competitive as possible. I am a competitive person. And that was really not competitive. (laughing)”

Question: Do you have any advice for the younger kids in the audience that aspire to be in your shoes one day?

Craig: “The best advice—it doesn’t come with pitching mechanics--how to throw harder and all that sort of stuff. But it is about perseverance, determination and never giving up on your dream because there were several times throughout college and high school where I could have packed it in and just got a real job like all my other buddies. But it’s all about staying on course and reaching those goals.”

Charlie: “So what is it like back in your hometown when you reached The Big Leagues? What changed the day you got called up?

Craig: “Well, I know I got a lot more phone calls and text messages—I can tell you that. But it’s such a small town—everybody feels like they know you. But it’s a really good town.”

Charlie: “Have people contacted you that think they know you? And you say: ‘I don’t remember this guy?’”

Craig: “Yeah, there has been a couple of occasions where I didn’t remember who was talking to me. But I am young enough, my brain is sharp enough, to get an handle on it.”

Charlie: “So going to Cincinnati is going to be a really big deal, isn’t it?

Craig: “Yeah, it’s going to be pretty crazy. The whole town might just lock up and go to Cincinnati that weekend.”

Charlie: “What is the population?"

Craig: “2000 people!!!”

Charlie: “Well, you got Jordan Zimmermann beaten, his is about 700 there is Auburndale, Wisconsin.”

Question: What do you think about The American League having the designated hitter and The National League not having the DH? Do you think The American League should adopt having the pitcher hit or do you think it should stay status quo?

Craig: “I like the way it is right now, because it separates the two leagues—The American League from The National League a little bit. Personally, I would rather be in The National League so I get to hit. But I am not going to say I am NOT in favor of the DH. It’s kind of fun when the two teams play each other in The World Series—whenever they go to an opposing park, they need to play the game that way. It makes baseball all the more enjoyable.”

Charlie: “I thought it was interesting that last year The Phillies go out and get Matt Stairs in late August to help them in September. There is a guy that has all that experience as a DH in The American League for The World Series.”

Craig: “Exactly. You have got to build your team to not just win The National League, but build your team to beat everybody.”

Question: Who is the toughest batter you have faced?

Craig: “There have been a few of them and they are all pretty good. I think that Hanley Ramirez has kind of got my number. I’ve thought I made some pretty good pitches and he got some hits off of them.”

Charlie: “He is a bad ball hitter. I remember that ball in Miami you threw that was low and off the plate and he just threw the barrel head down and it (the ball) went out of the park.”

Craig: “He’s just got a lot of talent and you really, really, have to bear down on him and make some really good pitches.”

Charlie: “I don’t know how true this statement will be. But I have heard pitchers say you can make a mistake in The Minor Leagues and the percentage of a guy swinging and missing it is much greater than it is in The Big Leagues—because you just talked about making a really good pitch—a bad hitter’s pitch—and they can hit a home run on it.”

Craig: “Typically, in The Big Leagues, you make a good pitch you are more than likely to get guys out. In Hanley Ramirez’s case that didn’t happen. But, the thing about pitching in The Big Leagues and the biggest difference—when you make a bad pitch—The Big League Hitters capitalize on that. They know how to capitalize on that a lot better than The Minor League Hitters.”

Charlie: “The one thing that has really jumped out at me this year at this level. If you get out in front and throw hitters an off-speed pitch and it is not a good one, or it’s just in the hitter’s zone—they will hit that pitch.”

Craig: “Yeah, they get paid the big bucks to do that stuff. That is what pitching is all about—limiting those mistakes. And when you make those mistakes, making them in the right spots so you don’t get hurt too bad.”

Charlie: “Last night, I thought with J.D. Martin, the first batter of the game set the tone—a spinning dribbler that went off the dirt and off the grass and stayed fair. And he gave up five hits and none of them were really hit hard in those first two innings.”

Craig: “Even when you do make the right pitches, there is a lot of luck involved because there is not a fielder at every spot in the field. Sometimes, the ball hits the holes and that is just the way it is and you have to go back and get them next time.”

Charlie: “And then there are the days they are hitting screamers all over and the ball is getting caught. And you say to yourself I ate something right today!!”

Craig: “Hopefully, it all evens out at the end.”

Question: This new manager (Jim Riggleman), do you think he is a miracle worker? That he is going to drastically affect your season? Or what?

Craig: “I don’t think he would call himself a miracle worker. But he is trying to change things around—get a little bit of a different attitude in the clubhouse—and the way we go about our business. Unfortunately, it hasn’t translated to any wins yet, but things are going to change around. We are going to figure this out and we just have to get over the hump a little bit. We’ve been so close in so many games that once we get over that hump and learn how to win more consistently—we are going to be a pretty decent team.”

Charlie: “I know there has been a lot more work with Jim Riggleman coming out of The All-Star Break—the Riggleman Pre-Game. Manny did a lot, the PFP’s and pitcher’s drills that you do in Spring Training—maybe once a home stand or once per week during the season. But this is now being done with a whole lot more work—infield, outfield drills—a lot of stuff that is not normally done on a daily basis.”

Craig: “That’s right. I think he decided we are not going to leave anything to chance. We are not going to assume we are good enough to get these things done because, obviously, our record doesn’t reflect to be a good enough team to not work on this stuff. So, his attitude is definitely right considering what happened that first half. And we might complain about it once it gets into the dog days of August about how much work we are doing, but in the end, hard work always pays off. Hopefully, that will all come to fruition and help us later in the season.”

Question: How exciting was it to beat The Yankees?

Craig: “It was very exciting. I had a couple starts before I got my first win. It was one of those days that you will never forget because I got my first win in Yankee Stadium—in its first year. The Yankees signed all those free agents and have a pretty decent team. So, it was very exciting.”

Charlie: “Big crowd, great anticipation to pitch there?”

Craig: “We had all that rain that day. I was really looking forward to pitching there. So I am kind of glad we got that game in.”

Charlie: “It was a 1:05PM game that started at 6:30 at night. Jordan Zimmermann waited until 9:15PM for a 7:05PM game for his first start. But that was taking a delay to a new level. When you have a game day routine, you are going to eat at a certain time. You are going to back time what you need to do to get ready to warm up. How many times did you scratch it and start over that day?”

Craig: “It was at least twice, maybe two and one-half times when I finally got dressed.”

Charlie: “They (Yankee Officials) did tell us at 3:15PM it was a 4PM start. And that is when we (Charlie & Dave) went on the air at 3:30PM with our pre-game show. And as soon as we went on the air it was pouring again. Before you guys came out to stretch, they scraped the 4 O’clock start.”


Craig: I was in the dugout waiting. They said the game was going to stop and it started raining harder. I guess the meteorologist was wrong that day.”

Charlie: “How long from the start of the game is your ready routine?”

Craig: “I’ve timed it out so I really only need about 35 minutes to get me ready to pitch. It’s not too long. I get stretched, throw, throw in the bullpen, take a little break and go out and pitch.”

Charlie: “And the difference if you are the home team as compared to the visiting team? You can’t warm in the bullpen while your team is batting.”

Craig: “I take five minutes off of it (the routine). Five minutes is enough for the home pitcher to get his stuff accomplished?”

Question. How do you block out the crowd? How do you not listen to thousands screaming and yelling?

Craig: “When you are out there pitching, it matters so much to you—you are so focused, you have trained your brain to be so focused on what you are trying to accomplish—that your brain is working so hard to figure that out that you are not really comprehending what is really going on around you. Pitchers tend to lose their focus when they notice what is going on around them. As long as you are focused on the tasks at hand, the crowd really doesn’t affect you too much. Of course, I have not played in front of any playoff atmospheres or anything like that. So that could be different. So far, as long as I am focused on the batters and the pitches I am trying to make—the crowd is kind of out of it.”

Charlie: “When you talked about places you played in college, and then in The Minor Leagues—those stadiums can’t hold what these Big League ballparks can. So, if you don’t notice it on the mound, would there be a time, say before your first Big League start where you walk out and heading down to stretch—do you have a sense as to how big the atmosphere is as compared to anything else that you have ever done?”

Craig: “The first thing you notice is that the stadium is about 10 times bigger than anything else you have ever been in. Once you get over that awe factor it’s back to just playing baseball like you did when you were a young guy.”

Question: Does Coach (Steve) McCatty have any personal goals for you?

Craig: “I don’t think we have talked personally about goals or looking forward. But, it’s basically to get better every day. I’ve have worked with Coach McCatty through AAA last year and the beginning of this year and since he’s been up in The Big Leagues. We’ve got a really good relationship. We talk about every start. We talk about what I need to do in the future to get better—to make when I go out to the mound an automatic win for The Nationals. It’s not really long term goals, it’s pretty much short term, start to start and day to day—to learn as much as I can so that later on I am going out there (on the mound) and it all comes natural to me.”

Charlie: “For a lot of the young guys it wasn’t much of an adjustment when they (The Nationals) made the change in pitching coaches?”

Craig: “Exactly. It was sad to see Randy (St.Claire) get relieved of being the pitching coach, but if there was anybody who could have gotten the job—McCatty was the best thing for me personally, and probably the rest of us.”

Question: “What do you think you guys as young pitchers need to do to keep the other team off the board and allowing you guys to win more games?

Craig: “There have been a lot of games in which we have pitched well and then we haven’t scored runs. And there have been a lot of games in which we scored runs and haven’t pitched well. It takes a total team effort to win and to win consistently. It’s not easy. Going forward, we just have a job to do. We need to keep doing that job of not giving up hits, making pitches and not bad pitches with two outs. When there were two outs is when all the runs have scored lately. If we bear down a little bit more, and focus in with two outs—maybe we can scratch out a few more victories.”

With that final answer, The Question and Answer Session with Craig Stammen concluded. Fans then lined up for autographs and pictures with Our Number 35. The next ESPN Zone “Meet & Greet” with a Nationals Players is scheduled for Wednesday, August 19th, 2009.

Ace

The standing and clapping by the fans in stands had been going on for some time--in fact--most of the 9th inning. The New York Mets were down to their last out tonight. From the 7:05PM First Pitch at Nationals Park to the very last one to come this evening at what was now 9:14PM--one person stood out above all others. John Lannan was pitching one of the finest games of his young Major League Career. And the home faithful were soaking it in.

They were watching an Ace.

Never in trouble tonight, given a safe lead of four runs--Our Number 31 protected it and was cruising through a depleted Mets Lineup. Not even a silly miss-catch of a routine foul fly down the right field line by Alberto Gonzalez just moments earlier in this top of the 9th--which should have been the final out--was going to spoil Lannan's evening.

What was left of 23,414 wanted not only victory, they wanted to see a shutout. They also wanted to see a complete game. A rarity since Baseball Returned To The Nation's Capital for Our Washington Nationals since 2005. The last one coming in 2006--thrown by Pedro Astacio on August 15th that season at RFK Stadium against The Atlanta Braves.

Our Fans wanted to see this now. History being put in the books. A complete game shutout. Anything less would have been mighty disappointing at this point.

When you have witnessed so many games, so many losses--the bad plays, the poor situational & clutch hitting, the less than stellar bullpen work--The Firing Of Our Manager--an unexpected developing storyline like this one needs to be cherished. Savored, remembered for all that has come before in this very long season.

For nine innings tonight-Our Long Island Native was in cruise control. Keeping his pitches down, letting The New York Batters swing away-allowing the defense set up behind him to simply do their job. John Lannan was never in trouble. Only two Mets reached base on him after the 4th inning. Only one New Yorker reached 2nd Base all night. And as this game moved deeper and deeper into that rather short night of work--John Lannan looked stronger and stronger.

Not once did Pitching Coach Steve McCatty emerge from Washington's Dugout to make a mound visit, neither did Interim Manager Jim Riggleman. And when Our Washington Nationals pushed across their first two runs against New York's Oliver Perez in the bottom of the 4th, they did so by showing patience at the plate. The same discipline on display all evening on the mound by John Lannan--while taking advantage of a little luck when one baseball's surest outfielders simply muffed a catch.

An Adam Dunn seeing eye single through The Mets overshift to right was sandwiched between a leadoff walk by Ryan Zimmerman and second free pass given to Austin Kearns. The precursor to the game changing moment, when Alberto Gonzalez slammed a liner right into Francouer's glove in right field--only to witness Jeff's sure hands fail him. The baseball skimming off his glove, allowing Zimmerman to score before Kearns was cutdown at 2nd--after returning to 1st base believing The Mets' Rightfielder would rightly catch that ball. Luck had turned to advantage and Wil Nieves doubled the pleasure by following with a clean single to right scoring Dunn with Washington's 2nd Run.

The only cushion John Lannan really needed this evening at Nationals Park. Sure, Washington would score two more additional runs in the bottom of the 5th--again taking advantage of The Mets Starter Oliver Perez's generosity--when Nyjer Morgan was hit by pitch and Zimmerman walked a second time. More free passes which directly led to two more runs--the final scores plated all evening--DC's Team up 4-0.

Which bring us now back full circle to 9:14PM, Tuesday night on South Capitol Street. Given a reprieve by Gonzalez's being unable to record the final out--Our Number 31 looked unfazed. Still focusing, still bearing down on New York's Fernando Tatis, time was the only factor left before that all important Curly "W" would be put in the books. After watching Chicago Cub Fans this past weekend and New York Met Fans last night cheer, stomp and rejoice at Our Washington Nationals being routinely beaten, what a pleasure to watch a great majority still remaining in the ballpark this evening--cheering on Our Washington Nationals.

No, "Let's Go Mets!!" was not in the vocabulary tonight. "Let's Go Nats!!" ruled this day.

The Rhythmic clapping continued as John Lannan looked in for the sign. Tatis was down to his last strike. The New York Mets were down to their last out. With the crowd sensing the inevitable, Our Number 31 threw his 106th and last pitch of this game--a fastball over the outside corner of the plate that The Mets' Leftfielder meekly tapped to Alberto Gonzalez at second base. Fittingly, before Our Number 12 even fielded the baseball--the home side fanatics ROARED WITH DELIGHT!! And John Lannan pumped his right fist in appreciation. Our players prepared to run onto the field. A celebration was about to begin.

And the very moment Nick Johnson caught Alberto's toss to end this game--The Bang!! Zoom Of The Fireworks!! immediately heard help relieve so much pain over the past weeks of play involving Our Washington Nationals. John Lannan had once again proven to be a stopper--the ender of the latest six game losing streak. The first victory of the "Riggleman Era". As Our Number 31 stood around the mound accepting the congratulations of his teammates--no one still on hand could not have understood--Lannan has become an ACE. A special keeper in the rotation for Our Washington Nationals Future.

Final Score from Nationals Park where a young southpaw again proved he knows how to pitch to Big League Hitters, Our Washington Nationals 4 and The New York Mets ZERO in nine wonderfully played innings. DC's Team only scratched out four hits off New York's Pitchers, but they took advantage of four Oliver Perez walks and one Hit-By-Pitch to put this game away.
And Curly "W" Number 27 warmed the hearts of the faithful that still show up on South Capitol Street every single night. If you had walked into Nationals Park for the very first time this evening and had NO CLUE the Won/Loss Records of the two teams on the field--you would have never realized Washington came into this game 40 Games below .500. Smiling faces, handshakes and pats on the back all around among fans leaving the ballpark after it's completion.

A rewarding feeling taken home by everyone rooting for Washington thanks to Our Newly Named "ACE". If people had never heard of John Lannan before this evening-Our Number 31 now finds himself more of a household name. Just a terrifically pitched ball game.

Game Notes & Highlights

What more can be said about John Lannan this evening. He was simply terrific, evening his personal record at 7-7 and lowering his ERA to a very healthy 3.38. Tonight was John's first career shutout.

Adam Dunn with two hits, one RBI and one run scored. Nyjer Morgan with no hits, but one walk, one stolen base (in two tries--he also got picked off) and one run scored. Ryan Zimmerman showing some serious patience at the plate with two walks, one single and two runs scored. In fact, he was absolutely flying home from third in the bottom of the 5th when he scored Washington's final tally on a sacrifice fly sent to deep center by Josh Willingham.

Wil Nieves made a beautiful defensive play on an attempted bunt by Oliver Perez in the top of the 5th. When Perez nudged the baseball slightly down the 3rd base line and took off--Lannan and Zimmerman both converged on the slow roller. Nieves called them all off, picked up the baseball with his back to 1st base--wheeled around to his left--and threw a PERFECT STRIKE to Adam Dunn at first base to retire Perez.

Later in the top of the 6th, Mets 2nd Baseball Luis Castillo bounced a hard seeing eye grounder JUST past Zimmerman's left at 3rd base. But "The Guz" overplayed to his right at shortstop--leaned down--backhanded the ball and somehow got a perfect almost jump toss to Adam Dunn at 1st Base to retire the speedy Castillo. Cristian Guzman had made another fine defensive play, but neither Our Number 15 or 23's web gems compared to Nyjer Morgan's this evening.

David Wright absolutely DRILLED a Lannan fastball to the deepest reaches of Nationals Park, left centerfield, near The Red Porch and the "NatsTown" "Get Your Red On" signs on the green padded walls. With this young Mets Fan SCREAMING behind our heads in Section 218 that "It's a HOME RUNN!! It's Gone Baby!!!" Nyjer Morgan used all his speed, athletic and baseball skills to RUN DOWN THIS BALL--leaping onto the padding over the "ON" portion of the signage--his back to the wall--to haul in Wright's drive for the final out of the top of the 3rd. As Sohna and I joined the thousands giving Nyjer Morgan a standing ovation for The Defensive Play Of This Game, the screaming Mets Fan just sagged back down into his seat--never to heard from again this night. Another moment of joy bringing huge smiles to the faces of The African Queen and I.

Now, back to that Alberto Gonzalez non catch in the 9th. With two outs and the game all but over, Fernando Tatis pops a routine foul fly down the right field line. Austin Kearns, Nick Johnson and Gonzalez all converge. It's Alberto's play to make. Yet, after he calls for the ball--he Hot Dogged it and try to make the easy catch--fancy--and DROPPED THE BALL!!. If Tatis had followed with a run scoring hit--there might have been a near riot at Nationals Park. Fans were pissed. Our Number 12's play was just uncalled for. Just make the play, get the out, end the game!! Please don't make the game harder than what it already is.


Tonight was a Tee-Shirt Tuesday. And we liked the variation of this giveaway. Personal Uniform Jersey Tees of Adam Dunn. It's a good idea that should be continued. Names, Numbers and Uniform Logos are recognized Universally by sport and non-sport fans. Not everybody is going to catch the meaning of a simple white tee with Red Curly "W" on the front and wording written on the back. The Cinco De Mayo "Corre, Teddy, "Corre" tee from earlier this year was sharp, so was "Los Nacionales". But Sohna and I would enjoy seeing Zimmerman, Zimmeramann & Lannan giveaway shirts--the core players that every one knows is going be wearing Our Uniform not only for the rest of this season--but many more in the future. Most every other team in The Majors gives out uniform tees on special nights--Our Washington Nationals should continue this new tradition.





Arriving at the ballpark before 5:30PM, we headed over to The Red Porch for an early dinner--sitting ringside--watching The New York Mets take batting practice. The number of baseballs Livan Hernandez and Tim Redding threw into the stands for fans wearing both Washington & New York colors--quite funny. Livo and Tim remembering how well they were treated here by fans while playing for Washington. Mile High Nachos--the biggest load we've ever seen in our lives. To say the least--we didn't finish it off. The New Philadelphia Cheese Steak--large, but a little on the greasy side.



Tom came running out of the centerfield gate during the 4th Inning Presidents Race, but was eventually over taken by George who pulled away at the finish to record his 15th win of 2009. Teddy, did not finish, what a surprise.


Having been mostly removed earlier this homestand due to the rope attaching them to the pole ripping off--The Four White Pennants that fly above the HDTV Scoreboard--three of which represent The Washington Senators Two American League Championships and One World Series Victory--have returned to their rightful places-repaired and flying high again.

And finally--The 2009 Washington Nationals Yearbook has been released and is for sale ($10). And does include a section on Our Former Manager Manny Acta. No word yet on when Season Ticket Holders will receive their free copy--if it's included in your benefit package.

Tonight's InGame Photos--Pablo Martinez Monsivais (AP)
All Other Photos--Nats320--All Rights Reserved

Now Some Bonus Coverage: Charlie Slowes & Dave Jageler dancing in their broadcast booth to Wil Nieves' Batting Music. A now Nationals Park Tradition. Shot from Our Powershot A95 Camera we take most all our pictures you see here on Nats320.