Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader debated if he should write this post. While not a supersitious fellow, your Maximum Leader does indulge in some childish sports-related supersititions… So he debated with himself if he should write anything taking note of the Washington Nationals current win streak.
Yup. You read that correctly… The hapless “Natinals” have been winning lately. In fact they’ve won their last 8 games. In a few cases the Nats have even come from behind and prevailed.
It is pretty neat to say that you can watch some pretty good ball in Washington. The Nats haven’t been defensively inept. Their bats have been working. And their terrible bullpen has noticeably improving with each game.
To what can we attribute this turn-about?
Is it Jim Wriggleman as manager? That is likely part of it. Wirggleman has required more batting and fielding practice. He has also been more keen to stick with a “hot hand” in the bullpen rather than mix it up. Probably just as much as anything Wriggleman has done it is likely that the players themselves have also gotten tired of being losers. Regardless of their record, these players are pros. They are playing professional ball and thousands of others aren’t. These guys have to be motivated and proud to get to the bigs. It is possible that they collectively woke up and realized that if they want to stay in the the big leagues they need to cowboy up (as it were).
Your Maximum Leader believes that Mike Rizzo’s trade for Nyjer Morgan has been a real catylist for change on the team as well. With Morgan you have a baseball-smart high-energy guy who seems to have improved the lineup.
Your Maximum Leader should note that the Nationals’ record is 40-72. That means that it impossible for the 2009 Washington Nationals to finish the season with a worse record than the 1962 New York Mets (40-120). In order to retire the “gremlin bogey” number the Nats need to win one more game.
Today is a day off for the Nationals… On Tuesday the Nats face off against the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta… Here is hoping that the “gremlin bogey” is retired on Tuesday.
Go Nats!
Carry on.
