2012 Memories: The Home Opener Win

The Home Opener

The Washington Nationals started off their amazing 50 home win season with a bang.  On April 12th, during the home opener against the Cincinatti Reds, the Nationals scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning to defeat the Reds much to the delight of the almost 41,000 fans wearing their free Nats opening day hats (which don't fit).

Gio Gonzalez, coming off a terrible Nats debut, was in what would soon be known as classic Gio-Mode.  Gonzalez pitched 7 innings and only gave up 2 hits while striking out 7.  But the Nats didn't reward Gio with his first Nats win.  Brad Lidge gave up 2 in the 9th to scratch Gio's name off the decision.

The Nats were coasting, up 2-0 since the 5th inning, but 2 Reds runs in the 9th inning caused the crowd to get a little bit anxious.  But in extra innings a wild pitch by Alfredo Simon sent Ryan Zimmerman home from where he stood on 3rd base.  As Zim hustled down the line, the batter, Roger Bernadina, was screaming at him to go back.  But Zimmerman made his decision.

As he slid into home plate the capacity crowd erupted in cheers, but nobody was happier than Gio Gonzalez.  Although his team cost him the win, he didn't care.  He only cared about one statistic...a win in the standings.

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2012 Memories: Werth's Rain Delay Game Tying Homerun

Werth's Rain Delay Homerun

Two hours and 33 minutes.  That was the length of the rain delay on September 8th, 2012 when the Florida Marlins took on the Washington Nationals at Nats Park.  Most of the Nationals fans took their Ryan Zimmerman bobbleheads and headed home, but the game was not officially over.

It was the bottom of the 9th inning and the Marlins intimidating closer Heath Bell was on the mound. Jayson Werth stepped to the plate after the long delay with a full count down 6-5.  Here's what happened:



See...You...Later.  What a treat for the fans who stuck out the 2 1/2 hour delay. Jayson Werth stepped up big, and he was PUMPED.

Bob Carpenter threw out a classic Bob Carpenter line...

After Werth tied it up with the big homerun, Corey Brown gave the Nationals the win in the bottom of the 10th on a single that drove in Ian Desmond.  The Nationals won the game 7-6 in improbable fashion.

After the game Werth gave credit to getting a massage and eating chicken salad during the dealy...for real...

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Stay Tuned For More Of Our 2012 Washington Nationals Memories! And Read The Current Ones!

2012 Memories: Bryce Harper Breaks Bats

Broken Bats Everywhere

If it ain't about the money Puff I just don't care...

Bryce Harper showed his anger issues throughout the 2012 season.  From giving himself stitches early in the season to tossing helmets, Harper had quite the fiery attitude.  One of the ways Bryce liked to express his frustration with himself was by breaking baseball bats like they were toothpicks.

There were at least three incidents during the 2012 season where bats didn't just "die a hero" as FP Santangelo would say, but instead died a victim of rage. (GIFs at the bottom)

Broken Bat #1:  July 16th vs the Miami Marlins

The first bat breaking event took place just one day after Ozzie Guillen screamed at Bryce Harper for an incident involving pine tar and bat pointing.  After lining out following a hard fought at bat, Harper was visually angry.  The cameras caught him walking into the dugout where the rookie proceeded to break his bat over his knee Bo Jackson style.


Broken Bat #2:  August 5th vs the Miami Marlins

The second incident happened in a place a little more visible than the shadows of the dugout.  This time Harper broke his bat by slamming it on home plate in the batter's box after striking out.  Bryce later apologized to the catcher, John Buck, who was in the vicinity where the chunks of shattered bat that were flying everywhere.

2012 Memories: Ozzie Guillen vs Bryce Harper

Ozzie Guillen vs Bryce Harper

On Sunday, July 15th 2012, the Washington Nationals faced off against the Miami Marlins in an afternoon game at Marlins Park.  The game exploded into a national story when Ozzie Guillen began screaming at Bryce Harper while the rookie was up at the plate to lead off the 4th inning.

Earlier in the game, during Bryce Harper's at bat in the first inning, Ozzie Guillen took exception to the amount of pine tar that was on Bryce's bat.  Instead of taking it up with the umpire during the at bat, Ozzie waited for the inning to end before letting the umpire know his feelings about the pine tar.

The Nationals were told about the complaint and they sent Bryce Harper up to the plate in the 4th inning with a different bat.  That is when things got interesting.

Harper came up to the batters box, and for a brief moment it appeared he was pointing his bat towards Ozzie Guillen in a way as if to say "check out my bat, you happy?".

And that is when Ozzie went crazy...

Guillen began screaming at the Nationals dugout and at Bryce Harper, showing the Nats the bat point that he believed Harper had done to him out of disrespect.

Ozzie was yelling so much that the umpire had to go over to the dugout and speak with the irate manager.  Guillen didn't slow down and screamed obscenities over the ump in the direction of Bryce Harper as you can see in the following GIF.  (Lip reading may or may not be official)

2012 Memories: Gio Gonzalez Falls On His Face

The Fall & Rise Of A 20 Game Winner

Gio Gonzalez had one of the best 2012 seasons of any pitcher in the Major League.  While most people expected Stephen Strasburg to be the ace that carried the Nats to the playoffs, much of the credit went to the pitching of the newly acquired Gio Gonzalez.

Gio had a very fun season, filled with a lot of smiles and a lot of crazy antics off the field.  The former Athletic finished with 21 wins and was third in the voting for the National League Cy Young award.

In classic Gio Gonzalez fashion, during a September 22nd game against the Milwaukee Brewers, the day he became the first Major League pitcher to record 20 wins on the season, he tripped while he was pitching and embarrassingly fell flat on his face as the pitch flew about 20 feet wide of home plate. (Gif down below)

As the Nats top pitcher went crashing to the ground, there was a moment of panic that could be felt throughout the DC metro area.  The TV & Radio announcers thought the worst as the fans held their breaths waiting for Gio to get up and show them he was fine.

Instead, Gio just stayed on the ground, flat on his face for a few seconds, adding dramatic effect to what turned out to be just an embarrassing and injury free moment.

Gio finally picked himself up a bit, stretched out, and then buried his head into his glove to hide from the world as his teammates and coaches came out to the mound to make sure he was fine and to poke fun at him.

2012 Memories: The Dubble Bubble Gum Shower

Nats Celebrations: Gum Showers

Danny Espinosa hit a go-ahead 3 run homer during the Washington Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on August 5th.  As he walked into the dugout, tiny yellow pellets rained down on the Nats second baseman.  No, FP Santangelo, that ain't popcorn.  The Nationals bubblegum Dubble Bubble shower was born. (First noticed by Nats Enquirer)

Gum celebrations weren't new to 2012.  Back during the 2011 season after a Matt Stairs walk-off homer he had a bucket of gum dumped on his head during the post game interview.  But Morse took it up a notch for 2012 adding an airborn 3-D gum explosion.

The Nats showered players with gum at various parts of the 2012 season, typically being led by the gum ringleader Michael Morse who was responsible for chucking 2 full buckets of gum at Danny Espionsa on that first night.

2012 Memories: Davey Johnson's Ejection

Davey Johnson's Ejection

Davey Johnson is a relatively cool and calm manager.  He isn't afraid to leave the dugout and give the umpires an earful, but most of the time it ends with Johnson walking back to the dugout.  In 2011, the Nats manager was ejected just one time, and didn't top that number in 2012.

But after a close play at first during a September 14th 5-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves, Davey lost his cool and went on a yelling rampage giving the first base umpire a piece of his mind and picking up his only ejection of the season.

The call occurred with the Nationals in the field on an infield grounder hit by the Braves.  The umpire called the runner safe on the play at first claiming that Nats firstbaseman Adam LaRoche's foot came off the bag.  After the replay was shown it was more than clear that the umpire was incorrect.  Enter Davey Johnson.

2012 Memories: Rick Ankiel's Throw

Rick Ankiel: The Throw

Rick Ankeil's best play as a Washingon National may have been a play where the team didn't even record an out.  In the April 16th game against the Houston Astros, Ankiel showed off his former-pitcher cannon arm on a play to prevent a runner from tagging up at third base and scoring.

Ankiel made the routine catch and then fired a perfect strike to the catcher.  Do not bounce once.  Do not get cutoff.  Do not collect $200.

While the Astros didn't seem like they were going to test Ankiel's arm anyway, the throw by Ankiel reinforced the decision for all teams to not underestimate his arm.

The throw was beautiful.  It ended up turning into national news and found it's way to the PTI program where Tony Kornheiser described the throw as "The Bomb".

2012 Memories: The Cubs And Nationals Brawl

We will be reliving our favorite Nats memories from the 2012 season with new cool photoshops and GIFs all week long.  Check us out every day around 10am for the latest Memories!

The Cubs Brawl

In the fourth and final game of a Nats-dominated series against the Chicago Cubs, things got a little heated up when the Cubs took exception to the Nationals aggressive baserunning and swinging on 3-0 pitches.  In the 5th inning of the September 6th matchup, the Cubs bench coach Jamie Quirk gave the Nats 3rd base coach Bo Porter an earful.

Well apparently nobody messes with Bo Porter and gets away with it.  The fiery coach headed towards the Cubs dugout shouting and pointing at Quirk.  (In case you didn't know, Bo Porter used to be a gold glove boxer as well as a division-I college football safety at Iowa)  At one point Porter was almost all the way inside the Cubbies dugout. (GIF Below)

Benches cleared, players jawed at each other, and then things settled down...until the next inning.

That's when the Cubs decided that the next pitch to Bryce Harper would be one aimed directly for Harper's body.

After being hit by the pitch, the rookie gave a staredown towards the mound and took a couple steps before being held back and easing down.

2012 Memories: Bryce Harper Gets Stitches

Bryce Harper: Blood & Stitches

Bryce Harper is a baseball menace.  A menace to opposing pitchers.  A menace to runners trying to score.  A menace to players trying to get extra base hits in the gap.  However, Harper also proved in his rookie season that he is a menace to equipment, and sometimes, to himself.

It didn't take long for Bryce Harper to start wreaking havoc in the Major Leagues.  Just 12 days into his young career, Harper came out onto the field in the middle of a May 11th game against the Reds in Cincinnati with blood trickling down his face from a large cut.

Harper was upset at himself after his 4th hitless at bat of the game, went down into the locker room tunnel, and smashed his bat against the concrete wall.  Unfortunately for Harper, the bat bounced off the wall and hit him right below the eye, cutting open his face, a cut that would later require 10 stitches.

Harper remained in the game with a bandaid covering his wound, and batted one more time to finish 0-5, and was removed in the bottom of the 9th inning.  The Nationals won the game 7-3.