Strasburg watch party - my office - 1:00 pm. Be there.

You're invited to join me at Half Street Blues' first-ever Stephen Strasburg watch party. We'll have it in my office.

Don't be fooled by the sign on the door that says:

On A Conference Call
Come Back at 2:30

That's just to distract the bosses.

I'll have Washington Nationals M&Ms for everyone who comes.

For those of you who can't make it, MASN and MLB TV are airing the game.

It's been a long time coming.

And if you're reading this Stephen...no pressure. Just go out there and throw your game. It's only the hopes of the capital city's baseball faithful riding on your every pitch.

Bobblehead contest.

Nats320 is in Florida and wrote about the Nationals Bobblehead sweepstakes.

I think we should have a LIVAN! bobble-belly.

Strasburg to strike out the side.

The WonderKid is scheduled to pitch live batting practice to position players on Saturday. Man would I love to be there for that.

If he's read the book on these guys he'll throw high to Morgan, inside to Guzman, big breaking stuff to Zimmerman, and climb the ladder against Dunn.

And none of them will hit him.

Here's Nieves's take, "His fastball jumps out of his hand. His breaking ball and curveball are nasty. The guy is in pretty good shape out there, too."

I envy any of you bloggers down there on Saturday to watch.

It's going to be silly.

LIVAN! Commentary.

Yesterday, LIVAN! signed a minor league deal, that will get him $900k (plus incentives) if he makes the team.

The Natosphere is buzzing with LIVAN!

HSB and others agree (Nats 320, FanBoy, Federal Baseball) that it's a good thing.

Zuckerman lists him as the 3rd starter (with Chico being #5, ugh) and gives him credit for his history with the team, his proven track record, and his actual desire to play for the Nationals.

Others like Nationals News Network and the Nationals Enquirer just think we're marking time.

Whatever, we love Livan. And hope to see him in April.

A DC Hero Returns

The winningest pitcher in Nationals' club history and one of its most reliable bats has, reportedly, rejoined the team after agreeing to a minor league deal.

Yep LIVAN! is back!

HSB loves LIVAN!

He's a big personality, fun to watch, and willing to do it all.

My bet, he makes the team.

This would rule.

Rumor is they might play hockey at Nationals Stadium.

That would rule.

I'm originally from Western New York, and it rocked when the Sabres played outdoor hockey on New Years Day back in 2008.
















And the scene was spectacular when they built an ice rink at Fenway this past holiday season.
















Oh what fun it would be to the Caps play outside during the holidays.

Some optimism on Day One.

Stephen Strasburg, reportedly, put on a bit of a show in front of about 100 people in Viera on the first day of Spring Training.

Njjer Morgan calls Strasburg, "Jesus."

Because, according to Chico Harlan, ‘Cause what’s the first thing you say when you watch him pitch? Jeee-sus!”

From the New York Times:

Strasburg threw 37 pitches over nine minutes, mixing four-seam fastballs, two-seam fastballs, changeups and a breaking ball he called a slider/curve morph. The Nationals’ president, Stan Kasten, said he expected Strasburg to start the season in the minors.

“I want to go out there and just enjoy this experience and go out and do my best,” Strasburg said. “On the personal side, it doesn’t matter where I’m at. I just want to try to go out there and answer the bell every start.”

Updating...

Yesterday was the first day for pitchers and catchers to work out in Viera. Lots of things going on.

Our Great Hope, Stephen Strasburg, is ready to get going.

Chien-Ming Wang is in town, we all hope that he can be better than the worst pitcher in baseball this season. Something he wasn't able to accomplish last year.

From Nationals Journal:

CMW's struggles last season were somehow connected (we hope) to injuries. But just to underscore the point, he was bad. He went 1-6 in '09 with a 9.64 ERA. That was the poorest among 452 big leaguers who threw at least 25 innings last year. Second-poorest? Washington's Logan Kensing, 8.92.

Remember Logan Kensing? He was terrible. Apparently, Wang was worse. But that's all behind us...right?

And we found out that Ross Detweiler, 23, has the body of an 80-year old.

A couple years back I mercilessly teased any Red Sox fan I could find about Mike Lowell's defective hip. That he's a grandpa, can't run...but at least the dude played in the Big's for more than a decade before falling apart. Detweiler, can barely get through 10 starts before limbs start falling off.

Oh yeah, and Ron Villone is at camp.

Kid gets in trouble for doing what he does best (that's what she said.)

A kid in Washington State got in trouble a few months ago for being funnier than his teacher.




















We think sitting in detention for lunch one day is well worth it.

Nationals got Wang...really...I think.

The Washington Nationals have signed former Yankee Chien-Ming Wang to a reported one-year, $2 million deal. The agreement is expected to be announced on Friday at the team's Spring Training facility in Viera.

USA TODAY's Steve Gardner thinks Wang might give some cover to Strasburg as he makes his way through the minor league system to DC. Wang, he contends, could be a serviceable 5th starter for a few months. He also notes that Wang won't be ready until May, so there is still a gap in the rotation for a few weeks.

This is a smart move by the Nationals. Relatively low risk, with a potential significant upside.

Headed to the Daytona 500.

I'm headed to the Daytona 500 this weekend. Leaving out of IAD en route Orlando.

We'll spend Saturday at one the Universal Studios theme parks, then drive to Daytona Beach, Florida, for a couple of days.

Although I've has never been to a Winston Sprint Cup Race, I grew up in a town known for its weekly NASCAR stock car racing.

HSB is biased...

I am biased.

I play favorites.

We have two cats, I like one of them better than the other.

I also play favorites in this blog. Frankly, that's why I have a blog.

To play favorites.

For example, if you've followed this blog, you'll know that I disliked Luis Ayala and the other Luis Ayala (Saul Rivera) and Chad Cordero and Brad Wilkerson and...

In a league of his own...

Manny Acta.

But on the other hand, there are players and staff that I like. Frank Robinson for one. Brian Schneider is another. Of course, Alfonso Soriano was fun to watch.

Also on my list of favorites are Elijah Dukes and Josh Willingham.

So I'm glad to see that Dukes was signed for another year. He got a 10% raise to $444k. I'm really hopeful that he can bust it out this season.

We hope that Elijah can find his way. He's definitely had his challenges. But it seems like he's beginning to shoulder some responsibility and look at things with more perspective. He's wants a big year, because he knows he'd be rewarded...and if he hits paydirt, he can help out his mom.

This can basically change the whole lifestyle of my mother. Putting up a big year can change her life a little faster than expected. It would be a good thing for me and kind of relieve the everyday stress off her, which she has gone through for the last 49 years.

Sad stuff.

The Prophet lost his father this past Thanksgiving to cancer. But he had lost him for 14 years before that. When Elijah was just 12, a judge sentenced Elijah Sr. to 20 years in jail for killing a man who sold his wife (and The Prophet's mom) bad crack.

Now, he's got another year to prove himself. And another chance to help his mom.

HSB is pulling for you, Elijah.

Another guy that we like is Josh Willingham.

He totally got the shaft from Acta. That cannot be denied. We like what Riggleman and Rizzo have been saying about him and we think he deserves a shot to be a starting outfielder.

With Morgan's range in Center, Elijah's arm in right, and Willingham steady in left the outfield should be the best it's been since coming to DC.

Let's play ball.

Wang signing in Michael Scott speak...

Apparently the talk of the Nationals getting a refreshed Wang may have been a bit premature, leaving a lot of people unsatisfied.

We certainly don't want the Nationals to blow it. We all know a good Wang doesn't come around that often.

The good news though, according to Bleacher Report, citing the China Times, Wang's good to go and, if all goes well, his package could be enlarged...to more than double its original size.

It's time for the front office to put Wang to bed.

It shouldn't be that hard.

Somebody complimented the Nationals' vision...

Will Leitch from the New York Magazine gave praise to the Washington Nationals' front office in a post today.

Well, it's...kinda-praise...

The Mets may be better than the Nationals this season, but Washington seems to have a better vision — or at least a vision — of where it's going.

That's praise...right?

His comments were made in a world where the Nationals signed Wang and the Mets didn't.

(Although there are some doubters, HSB likes to believe Wang will end up here...and be a 20-game winner. From the reports (here, here, and here) it may become a reality...at least the part where Wang becomes a National.)

It's nice that someone not on the Nationals' payroll, or named Bill Ladson, said something not quite disparaging about the franchise. Makes me feel a little better - as a fan.

Although, I do have Jason Bay-envy.

Chico covers Zuckerman.

The most riveting, non-weather, story of the past few days has been the effort to fund former Washington Times Nationals beat reporter Mark Zuckerman's trip to Florida as a freelance reporter/blogger to cover Spring Training.

HSB first heard of Zuckerman's quest from FJB. He called on anyone who "care[s] about the Nationals" to read his post and donate to Zuckerman's goal of raising $5,000.

As of 1:00 pm yesterday, Zuckerman reached his goal. (He's now North of $6k.)

Now, we have Zuckerman's former rival(?) at the Washington Post, Chico Harlan ,writing a piece about Zuckerman's efforts - detailing the drive for 5 (thousand $).

The irony of this, of course, is that it's (at least) partially the Post's fault that Zuckerman has had such a passionate following. If Nationals' fans and Washington readers believed that the Post was doing, at minimum, an adequate job of covering the District's baseball team there wouldn't be this outpouring of - financial - support.

Naturally, it's unlikely that Zuckerman will be able to sustain this level of fundraising, leaving Harlan as the lone gun beat reporter in the city.

From the mouth of Zuckerman:

The thing about it, as incredibly grateful as I am for all this support, it's still only covering my expenses. I'm not making an actual salary off this. By the time April comes around, the money that it would cost for me to make a salary and travel with the team is a lot more than $5,000, and I just don't now that there are enough people to fund that endeavor...

But, for now, as they say, two heads are better than one.