Earlier this season, after discussing Manny's experience with the New York Metropolitans, I wrote:

I honestly think Manny could be a terrific manager for a veteran team.  A team that's more like...the Mets!  That's where Manny picked up these habits of letting veteran players do whatever they feel is best to prepare for game days.  After all, who's gonna question Carlos Delgado or Pedro Martinez?  But when you have young players, it's simply essential to take a heavier hand and run a tighter ship.

I still basically feel the same way.  Manny just never quite got control of this team, and left to control themselves, they...didn't.  There are times when a firing is not necessarily due to a manager's "fault", in the per se sense of that term, but more because of the manager having lost the team in some vague but comprehensive way.  Manny lost this team some time ago.

To fire him now says one thing: he didn't pan out for the Austin Kearns and Adam Dunns of the team, but we have to prevent the Craig Stammens and Jordan Zimmermans from being impacted in quite the same way.  Getting someone new in there allows the team to grow in a different and better direction.

Ultimately, I think we'll look back on this decision in five years and think, "The team was lackadaisical, inconsistent, and uninspired on Manny's watch.  But now things are better.

Focus on that last part.  When we look back...things will be better.

      

Sometimes, you set yourself up to render certain actions impossible.  For example, if you're a cop who lets 1000 motorists go by at 110 mph in a 65 zone, how can you credibly pull over the guy doing 66?  Or if you, as the boss, laugh as employees hit the office at 11 am after a nice brunch, can you realistically yell at someone who enters at 9:01?

That's the spot Manny has put himself in.

He basically can't discipline anyone at this point, and discipline is precisely what the team needs.

Too bad, huh?

      

Several of you have seen the "What, Me Worry" piece on Alfred E. Acta in this morning's traditional media.  I have to tell you...that was as angry as I've been about the Nationals all season.

Manny strikes me as being one of two types of managers: either a Single A guy who just wants to help young kids grow, or a big league guy with a veteran team that can basically manage themselves.

On a related note, almost as infuriating was Manny's claim that screaming and yelling doesn't work, based on his "evidence" that Joe Torre did better with the Yanks than Lou Piniella did with Tampa Bay.  Um...what?  Joe Torre's '98 team featured over $200 million worth of talent, almost all of it in its relative prime.  OF COURSE he sat there and let it work itself out!  Piniella's team was youthful and unpolished, so he made damned sure they got the messages they needed to receive.

And sure enough, some of the same guys Piniella screamed at became better players over time, and many of the others had no business being in the big leagues to begin with (and thus didn't fail because of Piniella's aggression).  Manny is actually the worst of both worlds on the Torre/Piniella question: sitting placidly as losses and incompetence mount.

What the hell WOULD make Manny panic?  Finding out that Pete Orr was the recipient of all those steroids?  Learning that Nationals Park sits on a fault line?  Hearing that Owen Wilson is going to portray a Nationals reliever in a film?  (OK, that last one is true.)

Everything about this just screams pain, pain, pain...and the Impervious One just sits there and rolls with it.

      

When things are going badly, why not shake it up a little bit?  By "badly", I mean, "my fiancée didn't show up for the wedding" badly.  I mean, "I'm so embarrassed by that picture on Facebook that I'm gonna get all new friends" badly.  I mean, "my life is so miserable, I think I'll move to Djibouti and just hope for the best" badly. 

That's basically where the Nats are right now.  I say just go ahead and do the baseball equivalent of the examples above.  Get a lead, bring in a hard thrower who can't keep his act together mechanically, and just tell him to whip the ball as hard as he possibly can.  Maybe hitters will be intimidated by how close the ball comes to their heads.  Maybe he'll be "effectively wild".  Maybe it's just what he needs to turn things around.  But either way...who cares?  Just give it a whirl and see how it goes. 

At least we could have some interesting 9th inning losses, for once.

      

I went to Amsterdam for a few days to, well...uh...anyway, I got back yesterday and got caught up with the team.  Basically every post on Nationals Pride was negative and with excellent reason.

Still, I figured no matter what, I could at least turn on MASN and take in the glorious repartee with occasional malaprop that is...The Bromance.  Bob and Rob always enjoy spending time together.  Always.  No matter what.  Especially when Bob has that "please don't leave and make me work with Ray Knight again" tone in his voice and starts having fun with Rob again.

But the team has become so utterly wretched, so thoroughly bathed in its own horrible stank, that even The Bromance is getting bummed out.  And that must mean something, but I'm not sure what.

Anyhoo, let me know if you want a Kearnsian Economics t-shirt!  I have a size medium left over.  Woo!  Killer times, man!

C'mon Nats and Bromance...get your groove back.

      

Mark has done a terrific job of not only chronicling Zim's remarkable 28 gamer (as of this writing), but also of putting it in the context of other Washington hitting streaks.  And one name rises above all the others.  Is it Sam Rice, whose amazing catch in the 1925 World Series is still regarded as one of the Fall Classic's greatest plays?  Is it Goose Goslin, whose heroics in the '24 Series helped the Senators capture their only world championship?

Nope.  It's Heinie Manush.  Heinie Manush!

First of all, let me just say the man's name not only writes its own jokes, it practically is a joke in and of itself.  Can you imagine him sticking out his right hand to make someone's acquaintance and saying, "Heinie Manush"?  Wouldn't the response be, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!?"  Heinie Manush sounds like the kind of risque act you could only see at a Roaring '20's burlesque show.  Heine Manush sounds like an expletive you'd say while thumbing your nose at someone (or worse).  Heinie Manush could almost describe a physical response to indigestion.

You get the idea.  But seriously...Heinie Manush is in the Hall of Fame.  Did you know that?  Of all the Senators whose names belong in the same sentence as "Hall of Fame," does "Heinie Manush" leap to mind?  Probably not, if only because no human being in the known world can say that name with a straight face. But he led the American League in hitting in 1926, meaning he bested the likes of Ruth and Gehrig in that category.  He also has well over 2,000 hits, including more than 400 doubles.

That's my Heinie!  (OK, fine...his name was actually Henry.  But if I were him, I would have changed to Heinie just because of the utter perfection of it.)

So on July 20, this great man's birthday, I ask you to think about just how much you love Heinie, ok?

      

Nothing spoils a semi-hot East Coast team like a long, painful West Coast trip.  The long flights, the jet lag, the absence of Ben's Chili Bowl out there...it can be tough!

And of course, the trip starts against the hottest home team in the league right now.  Actually they're one of the hottest home teams ever, period.  The Los Angeles dodgers have begun this season by winning all of their first 12 home games, tying a modern record.  Doesn't that sound like a fun opponent when you blew about seven good chances to win your last home game the afternoon before, only to have it decided months later in another city?  But then, Manny's boys have a way of beating people you wouldn't expect them to beat, so maybe we've got a shot after all.

Other news and notes:

--It's official, and I don't care what anyone else says: Bob Carpenter and Rob Dibble are the hottest bromance in Washington right now, bar none.   This includes Barack Obama and Joe Biden going on a date to Ray's Hell Burger; those guys just don't generate the kind of bromance warmth, passion, or intensity that Carpy and Dibs bring to the table.  Remember this when our MASN men have a reality show on VH1 together.

--Bullpen struggles continue to be an issue, don't they?  But when you look around both leagues, you see lots of teams having problems in innings six through nine, so apparently there just aren't enough good relievers out there.  Maybe we can be the first team to finish in the top half of all offensive categories but still lose 137 games.

--Eat at Dupont Deli on the club level down the right field line, just after Griffith's Gap in the stands.  For $10, you get a satisfying overstuffed cold cut sandwich.  It's all that AND a bag of chips!  No, seriously...you also get a bag of chips.  It beats the stupid Chili Mac with vegetarian chili I always fall for at Hard Times.

But in a season like this, how can I eat anywhere but Hard Times?

      

My distinguished colleague Mr. Hornbaker recently wrote about how painful it is, as a fan, to witness this failure night after night.  But at what point will the Nats themselves actually forego the rest of the year, and which veterans will be traded when they do?

The funny thing is, the Nationals actually have several individual players who might be of use to other clubs.  They aren't losing because they lack individual talent; it's because they're not playing well enough as a team.  Take a look at last night's lineup, for example.  Theoretically, Guzman, Johnson, Dunn, Dukes, and even Kearns (think on base percentage) could at least be somewhat desirable to other teams for one reason or another.  That's basically 62.5% of the lineup, if you don't count the pitcher's spot (5 players out of 8).  Obviously Zimmerman is staying put, as are Flores and probably Hernandez.

The starting pitching  probably needs to stay relatively intact, mostly because of their youth, while the relief corps probably needs to be placed in a time capsule so future generations can learn from how horrible they were.

Other notes:

--Speaking of the starting pitching, there's something about John Lannan that no one (to my knowledge) has mentioned.  When you're the #1 pitcher in a rotation, isn't it difficult to go out there against the Cole Hamels of the world and feel like you've got no chance unless you're almost perfect?  There must be a psychological burden that accompanies such a status, a burden that is not conferred upon third and fourth pitchers in a rotation.  I hope Lannan doesn't cave in mentally and doubt his own abilities; just seeing that zero in your personal win column can do things to a man. 

--I hope someone throws something very loud and heavy in the Washington clubhouse this weekend.  There's only so much of this "compete for eight innings but have one horrible inning in there somewhere" stuff that anyone should be expected to take.  Just destroy the living hell out of the place and get it out of your system.  Then go out and win 7 out of 10.  It's kind of like fighting and then having make up sex, but not really.

--18,007 last night.  As I scanned the crowd, there were lots of Cardinals supporters...maybe even 4,000-5,000 altogether.  That means only 14,000 of "us" at most.  Just saying.

      

When Nationals Park first opened, the team made a fairly big deal of the stadium's supposed Wi-Fi capability.  I bet lots of fans counted on it, too.  In this workaholic town, the notion of bringing a laptop with you to the ballyard, sitting someplace safe from Clint batted balls, and getting a little work done was undoubtedly appealing to many fans.

But here we are, well into season two at Nats Park, and...no Wi-Fi.  Many friends and colleagues have noted the absence of this functionality, made only more noteworthy by the team's promise of its ready availability.

I have an opinion about what they should do.  (Surprise surprise, right?)  You know all those new apartment and condo buildings near the stadium?  Almost all of them struck a deal with Verizon FIOS for internet service.  While FIOS is well known to many suburban fans, where it has been available for some time, those of us in the District are drooling over interested in non-Comcastic possibilities, to say the bare minimum.

What if the team struck a deal to put up some Verizon ads on the Big Green Parking Garage Ad Spaces (over which I have previously agonized), and made an announcement in between two given innings to the effect of, "Ultra fast Wi-Fi brought to you by Verizon FIOS"?  That gives Verizon a stronger foothold in DC, helps fans achieve the wireless internet they need, and allows the team to uphold their promise.  Sound fair?

Other brief notes:

--Bob Carpenter is almost literally a brand new person now that he's been paired with Rob Dibble.  It's like he actually loves the game again!  Listen closely to his manner and tone; it's a lot different from last season.

--The Mets have to acknowledge that the Nationals are the team that has their number.  You know how in baseball, one inferior team consistently beats (or at least gives trouble to) a superior opponent?  That's our relationship with the Metropolitans, especially given the treatment we've given them down the home stretch more than once.

--You have to give the Nats one thing: they can put gruesome performances behind them and rally the next day.  Saturday's affair was simply grotesque, while Sunday's effort was consistent and successful.  Now...can they string a few curly W's together every now and again?

      

Last night, I waited out the rain delay at Nationals Park for what amounted to "Crappy Hour": double priced beers at the stadium rather than half priced beers at a bar.  Noticed a few things.

--Several fans spent the first hour or so watching the Capitals-Rangers game in the Red Loft, and rooting the team on as they took an early lead.  So what was the team's response?  Changing EVERY television in the Loft to the Marlins-Pirates game.  First of all, God knows we've seen enough of the Marlins after the ferocious beatings they routinely give us.  Secondly, people just wanted to support a local team that's trying to make a playoff run, a rare occurrence indeed in today's Washington.  As the bartenders made the change, and fans booed loudly in response, the bartenders just...smirked and laughed at us.  It's like they take the politician's view of the world: never explain, never apologize.  Is it just me, or does that summarize the Nationals' attitude toward their fan base in general?

--You'll never guess what kind of conversation that led to.  It led to people sitting around and talking about ways the Nationals have screwed them over as fans, bloggers, etc.  Many people remarked that the Caps treat their fans and bloggers with real warmth and generosity, and that the Nats have not only failed to do that, but actually provide the exact opposite experience.

--It actually wasn't raining for the first hour of the rain delay; they were simply awaiting the passage of a "rain cell".  I can only imagine the team didn't want Zimmermann to warm up, pitch three innings, then have a delay, and then probably have to leave the game.  But as a fan, it gets kind of late on a school night, you know?  I stuck around for six innings, which gave me the chance...

--...to see Zimmermann throw 72 wonderfully efficient pitches.  Even though he gave up a dinger, I thought he showed superb mechanics, tremendous resolve and fortitude, the ability to work out of jams, and a great feel for the strike zone.  Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.