April 6, 2005

Philadelphia – The Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3, the Nats victory was the first by a Washington major league baseball team in thirty three and a half years. The Nationals Brad Wilkerson went 4 for 4 and hit for the cycle. The cycle was Wilkerson’s second of his career. The Nats Vinnie Castilla also had four hits.

The Nationals' starting pitcher Zach Day pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up three earned runs. The Phillies starting pitcher Brett Myers pitched 6 2/3 innings and gave up two runs, only one run was earned. Neither of the two starters received a decision. The Nats relief pitcher Joey Eischen pitched a scoreless seventh inning and received the victory and the Phillies relief pitcher Tim Worrell received the loss as he gave up four earned runs in 1/3 of a inning.

Washington D.C. Baseball History

FYI: The Nationals 7-3 victory over the Phillies was the first win by a Washington based National League team since October 14, 1899. That is when the Washington Senators beat the New York Giants by the score of 12-9. The Senators ended the season in 10th place in National League with a record of 54-98.

FYI: Brad Wilkerson became only the sixth Washington major league player to hit for a cycle since 1901. The Nats, Cristian Guzman became the seventh player when he hit for the cycle on August 28, 2008. Here is the list of Washington players that hit for the cycle.

Name - Date of the cycle
Otis Clymer - 10/2/1908
Goose Goslin - 8/28/1924
Joe Cronin - 9/2/1929
Mickey Vernon - 5/19/1946
Jim King - 5/26/1964
Brad Wilkerson - 4/6/2005
Cristian Guzman – 8/28/2008

      

April 6, 2005

Philadelphia – The Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3, the Nats victory was the first by a Washington major league baseball team in thirty three and a half years. The Nationals Brad Wilkerson led a 16 hit barrage as he went 4 for 4 and hit for the cycle. The cycle was Wilkerson’s second of his career. The Nats Vinnie Castilla also had four hits. Brad Wilkerson’s cycle was the first by a player representing a Washington major league team since the Washington Senators Jim King accomplished the feat on May 26, 1964.

The Nationals starting pitcher Zach Day pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up three earned runs. The Phillies starting pitcher Brett Myers pitched 6 2/3 innings and gave up two runs, only one run was earned. Neither of the two starters received a decision. The Nats relief pitcher Joey Eischen pitched a scoreless seventh inning and received the victory and the Phillies relief pitcher Tim Worrell received the loss as he gave up four earned runs in 1/3 of a inning.

Washington D.C. Baseball History

FYI: The Nationals 7-3 victory over the Phillies was the first win by a Washington based National League team since October 14, 1899. That is when the Washington Senators beat the New York Giants by the score of 12-9. The Senators ended the season in 10th place in National League with a record of 54-98.

FYI: Brad Wilkerson became only the sixth Washington major league player to hit for a cycle since 1901. The Nats, Cristian Guzman became the seventh player when he hit for the cycle on August 28, 2008. Here is the list of Washington players that hit for the cycle.

Name - Date of the cycle
Otis Clymer - 10/2/1908
Goose Goslin - 8/28/1924
Joe Cronin - 9/2/1929
Mickey Vernon - 5/19/1946
Jim King - 5/26/1964
Brad Wilkerson - 4/6/2005
Cristian Guzman – 8/28/2008

      

I want to thank the 27 contestants that were not afraid to make their Nats 2009 predictions public. As I thought the group is a little more pessimistic than they were last year. The average prediction from the group has the Nats winning 75 and losing 87 for the 2009 season. The 15 participants from last year’s contest predicted the Nats would win 78 and lose 84.

If the contest should end up in a tie I have a two tier tie breaker. The First tie breaker is what team will win the National League East? The Philadelphia Phillies are the runaway favorites with 17 contestants picking them to win the division. Here are the full results of the first tie breaker.

Philadelphia Phillies – 18
New York Mets – 6
Washington Nationals – 2
Atlanta Braves – 1
Florida Marlins – 0

The second tie breaker is what team will win the 2009 World Series? The Yankees gathered the most votes with 6 followed by the Rays with 5 and the Red Sox received 4 votes. I was a little surprised that only one person picked the reigning World Series champion “Philadelphia Phillies” to repeat. Here are the results to the second tie breaker.

New York Yankees – 6
Tampa Bay Rays – 5
Boston Red Sox – 4
Los Angeles Dodgers – 3
Chicago Cubs – 2
Each of the following teams received one vote, Angels, Braves, Cardinals, Nationals, Mets, Phillies, and Tigers.

Here are all of the 2009 predictions from the participants.

Name – Nationals Record – NL East Winner – World Series Champs
David C.: 96-66 – Nationals – Nationals
Sean Trainor: 88-74 – Phillies – Yankees
Avi Brand: 84-78 – Nationals – Red Sox
Jeff Bergin: 81-81 – Mets – Rays
Brian O. from Waldorf: 81-81 – Mets – Dodgers
Mike Green: 80-82 – Phillies – Rays
Kerry Rawlerson: 79-83 – Phillies – Red Sox
Sean Hogan: 78-84 – Braves – Cubs
Craig Heist: 78-84 – Phillies – Yankees
Jim Kurtzke: 77-85 – Phillies – Yankees
Brian Dautch: 77-85 – Phillies – Rays
Mike Harris: 77-85 – Phillies – Phillies
Mark Hornbaker: 76-86 – Mets – Mets
Mitch Miller: 75-87 – Phillies – Braves
Anthony Wilson: 75-87 – Mets – Yankees
Cheryl Rush Nichols: 75-87 – Phillies – Rays
Dave Nichols: 74-88 – Phillies – Dodgers
Will Norton: 73-89 – Phillies – Yankees
Mike Kanick: 72-90 – Phillies – Yankees
*Jon Desenberg: 71-91 – Phillies – Cardinals
Mike “Hendo” Henderson: 70-92 – Phillies – Angels
Allison Tully: 68-94 – Phillies – Rays
Salim Bhabhrawala: 66-96 – Phillies – Tigers
Linda Hornbaker: 65-97 – Mets – Cubs
Wayne Wells: 65-97 – Mets – Red Sox
Ryan Taylor: 64-98 – Phillies – Dodgers
Victor Ramirez: 63-99 – Phillies – Red Sox
*2008 Contest Winner.

      

Reminder the cutoff time to enter this contest is tomorrow night at midnight.  Currently we have 16 contestants. The average prediction at this time is the Nats will win 74 and lose 88.  What is your prediction?

Last year, the winner of the contest was Jon Desenberg who predicted the Nats would win 71 games. The second place contestant was my father Cecil Hornbaker who thought the team would end the season with a 73-89 record. Kerry Rawlerson edged Mike Epperson for third place even though both of them predicted the Nats would have a record 75-87. Kerry took third through the tie breaker. The first tie breaker question was which team would win the National League East? Kerry chose the Philadelphia Phillies as Mike picked the Atlanta Braves.

So what do you think? Do you think the 2009 Nats will improve on last year’s dismal season or do you we are in for another terrible year? To enter the contest, just give me your name and your prediction on the Nationals 2009 season. First tie breaker: tell me who you think will end up winning the National League East. Second tie breaker: predict the team that will win the 2009 World Series. Like last year I will make the first prediction.

      

Last year 15 contestants made their predictions on how they thought the Nats would do for the 2008 season. Overall the contestants were very optimistic as the average prediction of the group had the Nationals winning 78 games. With the team only winning 59 games last season I believe this year’s contestants will have lower expectations than last year.

Last year, the winner of the contest was Jon Desenberg who predicted the Nats would win 71 games. The second place contestant was my father Cecil Hornbaker who thought the team would end the season with a 73-89 record. Kerry Rawlerson edged Mike Epperson for third place even though both of them predicted the Nats would have a record 75-87. Kerry took third through the tie breaker. The first tie breaker question was which team would win the National League East? Kerry chose the Philadelphia Phillies as Mike picked the Atlanta Braves.

So what do you think? Do you think the 2009 Nats will improve on last year’s dismal season or do you we are in for another terrible year? To enter the contest, just give me your name and your prediction on the Nationals 2009 season. First tie breaker: tell me who you think will end up winning the National League East. Second tie breaker: predict the team that will win the 2009 World Series. Like last year I will make the first prediction.

Washington Nationals will have a record of 76-86.

New York Mets will win the National League East.

New York Mets will win the World Series.

*Enter your predictions by leaving me a comment or send it to me at mark@nationalspride.com.  Please have your predictions to me by March 31, 2009.