RFK Looks Like The 1960s, Plays That Way Too: Nats Rewind Clock In 1-0 Win
It's not often when you're team's batting average plummets for the second game in a row and you're perfectly happy to see that happen. But tonight was just such a night. Tonight wasn't a game of mammoth blasts and neverending base runners. No tonight was a little more like the game that Abner Doubleday envisioned.
Games like this were thrilling in the days before broadcasts were possible. Games weren't measured by OPS and GIDP, but rather who won the game and how much fun was had at the Polo Grounds, or Sportsman Park, or Hilltop Park. When radio came into being, a 1-0 game held the fan on the edge of his living room sofa just as well as a 12-10 score. Through the eras of Ott, Williams, Kaline and Yaz, baseball was a game of geometry. Some timely hitting. Quality defense. Outstanding pitching. But television and ESPN changed all that. For the past decade, the long ball was the tail that wagged the baseball dog. So many complaints have been thrown at RFK stadium as being too pitcher friendly. It's not pitcher friendly. It' s baseball friendly. The Washington Nationals seem to be the only team that doesn't play in a retro bandbox with more luxury sweets than blades of grass in foul ground. All of a sudden, outfield symmetry seems so, oh I don't know ... symetrical. Players in the outfield can forgo worrying about hills, flag poles, warehouses and the buzzing and clicking of display boards along the fence. They just have to play baseball.And so, on a cool DC evening, 30,000 fans saw firsthand what millions of fans have seen since the days of Frank Baker. And they liked it.
Now, on to the game.
Esteban Loiaza was magnificent, pitching 8 innings of 5 hit ball, striking out 5, walking none, and never really being threatened during the game. Loiaza saw his ERA drop from 3.55 to 3.08 and solidified his position as the number 2 starter in the rotation behind Livan Hernandez. It is a shame that the Nationals continue to provide him with no offensive support, as his 1-2 record would indicate. Going into tonight's game, Loiaza had the 3rd worst run support in the major leagues. Remember, Loiaza signed a one-year contract, so a good season on his part makes the chances of him resigning with the Nationals slim. As long as teams like the Mets sign Kris Benson for 8 million a year, and teams like the Yankees sign Jaret Wright for 7 million per year, the Nats will have little chance of resigning our mid-level freeagents. So enjoying him while you can.
Brewers pitcher Chris Capuano was equally dominating, pitching 8 1/3 innings and only giving up 5 hits while striking out 6. In fairness, the winning run shouldn't have ever reached base. Capuano through an 84 mph1-2 breaking ball a little inside, and Brad Wilkerson stuck his right elbow several inches into the strike zone to let himself get hit. It should have been called "no pitch." Surprisingly, no one on the Brewers team complained. Jamie Carroll bunted and new pitcher Mike Adams gave up a swinging bunt single to Vinny Castilla. Nick Johnson was intentionally walked to bring up Jeffery Hammonds, 1 for his last 14. It didn't take him long to line a pitch down the 3rd baseline to easily bring home the winning run. Gary Majewski won the game and hard luck pitcher Sal Capuano took the loss.
This was a wonderful game. Quality pitching. Great defense. No, I wouldn't want a season full of 1-0 games, but they sure are fun every now and then. The Nats try to win the series 3-1 tomorrow afternoon at RFK.
Games like this were thrilling in the days before broadcasts were possible. Games weren't measured by OPS and GIDP, but rather who won the game and how much fun was had at the Polo Grounds, or Sportsman Park, or Hilltop Park. When radio came into being, a 1-0 game held the fan on the edge of his living room sofa just as well as a 12-10 score. Through the eras of Ott, Williams, Kaline and Yaz, baseball was a game of geometry. Some timely hitting. Quality defense. Outstanding pitching. But television and ESPN changed all that. For the past decade, the long ball was the tail that wagged the baseball dog. So many complaints have been thrown at RFK stadium as being too pitcher friendly. It's not pitcher friendly. It' s baseball friendly. The Washington Nationals seem to be the only team that doesn't play in a retro bandbox with more luxury sweets than blades of grass in foul ground. All of a sudden, outfield symmetry seems so, oh I don't know ... symetrical. Players in the outfield can forgo worrying about hills, flag poles, warehouses and the buzzing and clicking of display boards along the fence. They just have to play baseball.And so, on a cool DC evening, 30,000 fans saw firsthand what millions of fans have seen since the days of Frank Baker. And they liked it.
Now, on to the game.
Esteban Loiaza was magnificent, pitching 8 innings of 5 hit ball, striking out 5, walking none, and never really being threatened during the game. Loiaza saw his ERA drop from 3.55 to 3.08 and solidified his position as the number 2 starter in the rotation behind Livan Hernandez. It is a shame that the Nationals continue to provide him with no offensive support, as his 1-2 record would indicate. Going into tonight's game, Loiaza had the 3rd worst run support in the major leagues. Remember, Loiaza signed a one-year contract, so a good season on his part makes the chances of him resigning with the Nationals slim. As long as teams like the Mets sign Kris Benson for 8 million a year, and teams like the Yankees sign Jaret Wright for 7 million per year, the Nats will have little chance of resigning our mid-level freeagents. So enjoying him while you can.
Brewers pitcher Chris Capuano was equally dominating, pitching 8 1/3 innings and only giving up 5 hits while striking out 6. In fairness, the winning run shouldn't have ever reached base. Capuano through an 84 mph1-2 breaking ball a little inside, and Brad Wilkerson stuck his right elbow several inches into the strike zone to let himself get hit. It should have been called "no pitch." Surprisingly, no one on the Brewers team complained. Jamie Carroll bunted and new pitcher Mike Adams gave up a swinging bunt single to Vinny Castilla. Nick Johnson was intentionally walked to bring up Jeffery Hammonds, 1 for his last 14. It didn't take him long to line a pitch down the 3rd baseline to easily bring home the winning run. Gary Majewski won the game and hard luck pitcher Sal Capuano took the loss.
This was a wonderful game. Quality pitching. Great defense. No, I wouldn't want a season full of 1-0 games, but they sure are fun every now and then. The Nats try to win the series 3-1 tomorrow afternoon at RFK.
# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 7:41 PM 
