Josh Land

David Huzzard: Remembering the bad old days

David Huzzard: Remembering the bad old days
Hindsight is never wrong and there is more than one path to winning. But for the Nationals, the willful awfulness of 2008 and 2009 are paying off. Without the 2008 and 2009 seasons, the Nationals wouldn't be as good as they are, and it isn't just Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper. Having the first pick overall means a team has the first pick in every round. A.J. Cole was the first pick of the fourth round of the 2010 draft and one of keys in the Gio Gonzalez trade. Early on, the Nationals...
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Josh Land

Rachel Levitin: Nationals Park subhorn among the items defining Natitude

Rachel Levitin: Nationals Park subhorn among the items defining Natitude
Tuesday night's "laugher" of a game as MASNsports.com's Dan Kolko so aptly dubbed it was also the first time in team history that six home runs were hit. Or rather, I choose to see it as the first time we ever heard the subhorn go off six times (plus one for good luck since they sound it after each win) during a Nationals game. Washington decided early on last season to nix the home run fireworks that shot up after a crushed long ball and replace it with something unique, a brand...
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Josh Land

Neal Shaffer: For the Orioles, all bets are off

Neal Shaffer: For the Orioles, all bets are off
Owing to good luck and a fortuitous schedule, I have the honor of my regular turn in the MASN rotation falling today, as the Orioles wake up in a first-place tie with the New York Yankees - on Sept. 5. It was only several weeks ago that the Yanks had a 10-game division lead and it hardly mattered. That the Orioles were winning and in contention for the wild card was plenty of reason for joy. Nobody at that time, at least to my recollection, seriously considered the possibility of contending...
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Josh Land

Zach Wilt: Reynolds finds new ways to contribute

Zach Wilt: Reynolds finds new ways to contribute
I've never complained about Mark Reynolds' crazy high strikeout totals, but it's definitely the popular thing to do in Birdland. All the cool kids are doing it. Power hitters go down swinging a lot; it happens. They swing hard and miss often, but when they put the barrel on the ball, it typically travels hundreds of feet. After hitting two bombs in the Bronx on Sunday, Reynolds struck out three times in Rogers Centre on Monday. Last season, Reynolds led the American League in strikeouts...
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Josh Land

Stephen Walker: Why baseball in Washington is beautiful

Stephen Walker: Why baseball in Washington is beautiful
Last week, against all common sense, I tuned my radio to a sports talk station. The host, supposedly a native of Rockville who claimed he knew the area, added his voice to the ad nauseum discussion of the pending end of Stephen Strasburg's brilliant 2012 season. His point: Nationals fans have been supportive of general manager Mike Rizzo's decision on Strasburg because "D.C. just isn't a baseball town." He claimed "real" baseball fans - like those in New York, St. Louis and Boston...
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Josh Land

Domenic Vadala: The future isn't written yet

Domenic Vadala: The future isn't written yet
Prior to writing for Birds Watcher, I covered the Orioles for another outlet in 2010-11. After what I still feel was the greatest closing act of all time last September against Boston, I wrote that I felt that game juxtaposed the fortunes of the two franchises together in some strange way for the future. (Shout out to my high school English teachers, as I was paying attention all those years - who else could work juxtaposition into a sports column?). I suppose that, at the time, I did in fact...
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Josh Land

Ted Leavengood: Shooting for the moon

Ted Leavengood: Shooting for the moon
The St. Louis Cardinals are not only the reigning world champions, but they are in a tight race with the Braves and Dodgers for the National League wild card. They probably still hold out hope that they can catch the Reds, which is why taking three of four from a team like St. Louis at this point in the season is as impressive as it is crucial. And there is no better test of the Nationals' starting rotation - the best in baseball - than the Cards. They are the most potent offensive team in...
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Josh Land

Marty Niland: A lesson to be found in losing streaks

Marty Niland: A lesson to be found in losing streaks
It's been one interesting week since my prediction that the Nationals would make the playoffs with the best record in baseball. It didn't seem so bold at the time, given their 6 1/2-game lead over Atlanta in the National League East and their two-game lead over Cincinnati for the major leagues' best mark. It's amazing, though, how a losing streak can rock some people's faith. Five days later, it seemed I was talking some people down from the ledge. The terms "choking" and "cracking...
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Josh Land

James Baker: A few thoughts on attendance

James Baker: A few thoughts on attendance
A lot has been made of the poor attendance over this current four-game series against the White Sox. Despite being in the heart of a playoff race and playing another first-place team, the Orioles managed to draw fewer than 15,000 fans on all three nights. Today's game, with the 12:35 p.m. start time, promises to be even more sparsely attended. Why? Bloggers and fans have said for years that if the Orioles were winning, the fans would return. The swaths of green seats seen on television...
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Josh Land

David Huzzard: There is only one September

David Huzzard: There is only one September
On Sept. 1, 2011 the Boston Red Sox had the best record in the American League, a 1 1/2-game lead over the Yankees for the AL East and a nine-game lead over the Rays for the wild card. On that same date, the Atlanta Braves had a nine-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for the NL wild card. Both teams ended 2011 by missing the playoffs. One year earlier, the Braves entered September with a three-game lead over the Phillies in the NL East. That season, the Braves fell into the wild card,...
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Josh Land

Rachel Levitin: No matter what happens from here, Nats' season a success

Rachel Levitin: No matter what happens from here, Nats' season a success
The past week has been as good a time as ever to reflect on the 2012 baseball season. The kids are back in school, Labor Day's next week, the dog days of summer are behind us, and we've got just over one month of baseball left. That's where everything stands. To break it down, the Nationals are four games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East standings and are still the best team in all of baseball record-wise despite their five consecutive losses. Might I also add that...
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Josh Land

Neal Shaffer: Why we shouldn't be afraid to embrace Orioles Magic in 2012

Neal Shaffer: Why we shouldn't be afraid to embrace Orioles Magic in 2012
It's hard to watch the Orioles' success this year and not hearken back to the well-worn phrase that we, as fans, are fortunate to call our birthright: Orioles Magic. True, it's tinged with nostalgia, coming as it does from a bygone era. And equally true, it's often been uttered with tongue planted firmly in cheek over the past 14 years of losing. But it's a great phrase both because it's ours and because it works. When baseball is as much fun as this, a word like magic doesn't sound...
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Josh Land

Stephen Walker: Drawing motherly comparisons to Davey Johnson

Stephen Walker: Drawing motherly comparisons to Davey Johnson
Few people in this world are as unique as my mother, now 74. Often, I marvel at her peerless insights into human nature. Other times, her devil-may-care unpredictability makes me want to scream. Davey Johnson, the Nationals' excellent skipper, is a lot like my mother. Here are seven ways they are alike: Unpredictability: My mother's behavior and schedule are impossible to pin down. She could be anywhere at any time. For my sons' birthday parties, she might show up before, during or after...
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Josh Land

Zach Wilt: My summer with the Birds

Zach Wilt: My summer with the Birds
I've convinced myself that I suffer from a very mild case of seasonal depression. For as long as I can remember, "back to school" has always been the worst phrase in the English language. I'm 24 and haven't been in a classroom since 2010, but there's something about the end of summer that brings me down just a bit. From the first moment I hear the smooth tones of Joe Angel and Fred Manfra broadcasting from spring training in Sarasota, I can almost feel the Baltimore humidity back in my...
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Josh Land

Domenic Vadala: Is Showalter an afterthought in Manager of the Year conversation?

Domenic Vadala: Is Showalter an afterthought in Manager of the Year conversation?
With the Orioles on the road lsat week, I took the opportunity to visit one of my favorite places, and one of the jewels of our home region: the Delmarva shore. For the record, the seashore is one of the few places on earth that rivals a ballpark for my attention. There's nothing like braving the surf during the day, and then quite literally sittin' on the dock of the bay watching the tide roll away as you watch Orioles baseball outdoors at dockside restaurants. During my time at the shore,...
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Josh Land

Ted Leavengood: Getting some perspective

Ted Leavengood: Getting some perspective
The month of August - and July before it - have been the two best months in the history of the Nationals franchise. The Nationals have a winning record for every month of this season. But so far they are a combined 33-18 for these past two months, even after the weekend disaster in Philadelphia. In 2005, there was the magical month of June when the team went 20-6. But what followed - a 9-18 July - was misery. It is important to remember the history of the franchise in order to gain some...
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Josh Land

Marty Niland: Forget jinxes, Nats are going to the playoffs

Marty Niland: Forget jinxes, Nats are going to the playoffs
Don't read this if you are superstitious. Is the word "playoffs" taboo in your household? Do you use euphemisms to talk about that sort of thing? Then maybe you can find a new argument about the Stephen Strasburg shutdown to read. Believe in jinxes? Stop here. This is for fans who dare to dream. Because the Nationals are going to the postseason. Not only that, they will win the National League East and have home-field advantage as deep as they go. There. It's been said. It's not the...
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Josh Land

Matthew Taylor: Five-game win streaks are the new Oriole Way

Matthew Taylor: Five-game win streaks are the new Oriole Way
The Orioles are masters of the five-game win streak. After stringing together a then-season-best four-game win streak in late April, the O's have posted five-game win streaks in every month since. The Orioles' five-game win streaks are more different than they are alike, although some patterns have emerged. Here are five facts about the O's five-game win streaks: * All but one of the Orioles' five-game win streaks have included two extra-inning victories. Among these are two extra-inning...
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Josh Land

David Huzzard: Rizzo should be considered NL's Executive of the Year

David Huzzard: Rizzo should be considered NL's Executive of the Year
Livan Hernandez, John Lannan, Jordan Zimmermann, Jason Marquis, and Tom Gorzelanny were the pitchers who took the mound for the first five games of the 2011 season for the Washington Nationals. One season later, and the opening day rotation lined up Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Edwin Jackson, and Ross Detwiler. Four out of five starters is a significant change and two of them had never thrown a pitch in the Nationals organization before 2012. The man responsible for...
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Josh Land

James Baker: The roller coaster of emotions

James Baker: The roller coaster of emotions
The Orioles continue to take their fans on a roller coaster of emotions. Yesterday, fans of the Orioles experienced both crest and fall with the announcement of playoff ticket invoices and the crushing defeat at the hands of the Texas Rangers. In the middle of an uneventful Tuesday in Baltimore, the Orioles surprised their fans with the announcement of the year so far: Playoff tickets are on sale now. Baltimore. Orioles. Playoff tickets. Think about those words for a bit and now try to...
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