Guillen Brings Bat To DC, Leaves Temper in Anaheim
Jose Guillen Leads The Boys
Although Jose Guillen's demeanor might not be the same as Washington favorite Frank Howard, his bat certainly is. Guillen hit two homeruns against the Atlanta Braves Wednesday as the Nationals completed their nine game road trip with an 11-4 victory at Turner Field in Atlanta. Standing eight inches shorter than Howard, and weighing 80 pounds less, Guillen nevertheless hits the same type of laser darts that made Howard so famous. What might Jose say if asked about any similarities between he and the former Senator Great? "Howard is Howard; Guillen is Guillen" might be his answer.
Guillen is proving not only to be a homerun hitter, but a clutch homerun hitter. Two of his five homers have come after the 9th inning, and [if memory serves] all of his homeruns have come after the 7th. He is making contact and not striking out at a pace expected of a major league slugger. Thus far, he has been a model citizen, but that is expected. He knows that if he blows it here, the only city willing to take him would likely be Montreal, and if memory serves, they don't have a team anymore. No. Don't worry about Jose. He's found a home.
NATS NOTES
It was great to see Termel clear the bases with the Nat's third triple of the game; I really believe that Washington has FOUR starting outfielders. Sledge is good and Ryan has the chance to be something really special. Skip Caray mentioned on the broadcast two nights ago that Church reminded him of a very young Larry Walker. I'll take that comparison! It was interesting to listen to the TBS boys again this afternoon; they sounded honestly surprised that the Nats could win two out of three in Atlanta. Even when Vidro is making outs now, they are stinging line drives. I think his bat is coming around. Sadly, the same cannot be said for ersatz shortstop Christian Guzman. It'll come. It has to. Still waiting for Nick's first homer. It'll come. It has too.
# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 10:54 PM 
