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The Washington Nationals Thread: The Future is Near!


Riggo#44

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Is there such a thing as anti-homefield advantage? Where the positive energy from a crowd actually works against a team's favor for one reason or another? Maybe the desire to make the hometown crowd is so strong that it makes individuals, despite all the cold blooded professionalism that one requires to make it in the majors, strain too hard for the fences. Maybe this team thrives so much on playing the underdog that when they're actually in a positive environment and expected to win, it all becomes too much to shoulder. 

 

I dunno. I'm just spitballing here because for them to play so well in Houston, then lay three giant eggs like this back in D.C.  raises a lot of questions. 

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32 minutes ago, Simmsy said:

Everyone seems to think that Max or Stras can win these games for us. I'm not saying they can't, but that has nothing to do with the Nats scoring runs.


Let’s look at the past couple games... 

 

Game 3, Greinke, Nats got a ton of hits. Hard hits. Some of them right at guys. 0-fer with RISP. I’d LOVE another crack at him in game 7.

 

Game 4: had a bunch of chances with RISP. Rookie had good stuff though. Still, left some runs on the table. 
 

Game 5: worked by one of the best pitchers in baseball. For me, it is what it is. After Ross gave up that second HR it was over. That was never a game we were going to win. 


—————

 

Game 6 is key. Strasburg needs to show up and out-duel Verlander. 8 innings of shutout ball kind of performance. Be ready to go 130 pitches if needed because everything is riding on his shoulders. Bats need to go after Verlander like they did in game 2. Nats can win that kind of game 2-1 or 3-2. Even without the best offensive performance against a good pitcher, IF Strasburg can dominate like we’ve seen him do in October. 
 

Game 7: if we force this game, anything can happen man. Like I said above I’d love another crack at Greinke. Who knows who is pitching... Sanchez can put together a good outing if he’s not getting squeezed like he was in game 3. Scherzer could be ready to go. Corbin for 2 innings? He’s been better out of the pen for us in October. 
 

 

Edited by skinsfan_1215
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12 minutes ago, thebluefood said:

Is there such a thing as anti-homefield advantage? Where the positive energy from a crowd actually works against a team's favor for one reason or another? Maybe the desire to make the hometown crowd is so strong that it makes individuals, despite all the cold blooded professionalism that one requires to make it in the majors, strain too hard for the fences. Maybe this team thrives so much on playing the underdog that when they're actually in a positive environment and expected to win, it all becomes too much to shoulder. 

 

I dunno. I'm just spitballing here because for them to play so well in Houston, then lay three giant eggs like this back in D.C.  raises a lot of questions. 

 

Or:

Sanchez was what he's been all season, and people had really high (and unrealistic) expectations because he pitched an absolute gem in the NLCS

(A series we swept when we shouldn't have, the cardinals were not a bad team)

And Corbin was exactly who he's been

And instead of throwing a stud in Sherzer, we started Joe Ross, who wasn't on anyone starting rotation for any of the series in the post season.

And our bats have gone cold which is a recurring theme and issue for our team (and probably a postseason risk in baseball in general, we just whine about it every year)

 

The shame is that we didn't get to throw one of our two studs at home when you're supposed to get that chance.


So instead we'll throw them on the road. Where both have already won.

 

We need our lineup to produce runs. That's the only thing missing that's kept us from closing out the series. 

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Are we down? Yes.  Are we out?  No.  Stay in the fight.

 

And regardless of what happens the rest of the way, this year's Nats is one of my favorite teams ever.  Great group of guys who never gave up after a terrible start and made it all the way to the series.  Astros are a great team.  Even if we win, it was never going to be easy. Even if we lose, lots to be proud of this season.

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So it turned into a surreal night for me last night.  I was at the game in section 104, sitting with my brother in law.  We were hunkered down in the middle of the 8th, resigned to the prospect of another loss but hoping for a late rally.

 

On the jumbotron they show the total for the Nationals Dream Foundation's 50/50 Raffle - $97,905 - and the winning number - 1276188.  I glance over at my brother in law, and his eyes are as wide as dinner plates.  He shows me the ticket he bought a couple innings earlier - 10 entries for 10  bucks, numbers 276182 through 1276193.  He is now sitting there holding a piece of paper worth $48,952.50!!!!

 

The game became background noise in that moment. A wild ride, especially for him. And I got to experience it second hand.

 

They told us that amount was the third highest ever for the raffle, eclipsed only by the previous two WS games Friday and Saturday.

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1 hour ago, Riggo#44 said:

Not going to happen. You really think Joe West is going to allow anyone to tell him how to call a game?

 

The only way to influence Joe West is to somehow corrupt one of his jowls. If you can get a jowl on your side, then you can eventually take over the entire organism.

Get them jowls on a pork fat payroll. 

 

Like those worms that make grasshoppers drown themselves. Parasitic slow burn. 

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48 minutes ago, bearrock said:

And regardless of what happens the rest of the way, this year's Nats is one of my favorite teams ever.

This. Very much this. 
 

The whole seasons been great. Including the fans giving Ross a hell of an applause as he entered for the start last night. 
 

losing would suck but in the grand scheme of things this has been an incredible season and a great ride for an organization that does things right and is worth caring about. Need to not forget that. 

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Two major regrets about last night: 

 

-they turned the cameras off of Trump and back to the troops pretty quickly once boos started. Would have been better if they'd let the boos ride for like 30-60 seconds. 

 

-more importantly: the absolute stinker of a game didn't provide any real opportunity to acknowledge a number of key Nats who may not be with us next year. Rendon, Zimmerman, Strasburg?, Kendrick... these guys are core Nats and my guess is at least two of them aren't back. This was their final home game as Nationals, and the crowd didn't get to send them off properly. 

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I think everyone in here is pretty much right. it was gonna be tough already without either of our aces going at home, but definitely didnt help that the bats went cold.

 

but with our best postseason pitcher on the mound, against a pitcher we hit best against this series, i like our chances forcing a game 7. i dont think homefield matters

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3 hours ago, Simmsy said:

Everyone seems to think that Max or Stras can win these games for us. I'm not saying they can't, but that has nothing to do with the Nats scoring runs.

 

You'd be surprised what a little pressure can do to opposing pitching. The Astros got good early leads in each game and rode them to the end. Stras and Max keep it tight until the 7th instead of blowing it all in the 2nd and you never know; we might just break through. 

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13 minutes ago, Bacon said:

 

You'd be surprised what a little pressure can do to opposing pitching. The Astros got good early leads in each game and rode them to the end. Stras and Max keep it tight until the 7th instead of blowing it all in the 2nd and you never know; we might just break through. 

agree. giving up a bunch of runs and being down by 5+ early can be very defeating. and hitters can start swinging differently to try and get it back quickly, instead of having the ability to be more patient. seems like all of our great hitting this postseason came on games where starting pitching was on fire as well. if Stras is great to start game 6, i think that changes our batting approach from the last 3 games

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32 minutes ago, Bacon said:

 

You'd be surprised what a little pressure can do to opposing pitching. The Astros got good early leads in each game and rode them to the end. Stras and Max keep it tight until the 7th instead of blowing it all in the 2nd and you never know; we might just break through. 

I hope you're right. I don't know much about MLB, so I don't really know when it's going completely off the rails.

 

I'm 35 years old, besides the Caps, I don't get to see many home teams get a chance to win it all. I would hate this to be my first witness to a heart breaker.

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Not sure if this was mentioned on the thread but apparently two women behind home plate attempted to distract Gerrit Cole by showing him the goods😃

 

https://www.complex.com/sports/2019/10/two-women-flash-gerrit-cole-behind-home-plate-world-series?utm_campaign=complexmag&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0E6Su53gV0_vlMSciTO0g6eZ4lnXJ8iVLUfSiHlPGfFmFt6voSquc9UTw

Edited by DCSaints_fan
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