Bob Carpenter has been mentioning the past few games a quote that he received from Davey Johnson. According to Bob, the Nats skipper said that there was "No Letup" in the lineup. Of course, Carp took that quote and turned it into something a little more fun.
The MLB Network recently ran their "Top 100 Right Now" the top 100 players in the Major Leagues at the current time. The list included play last season including post-season play (which is clearly how 2 Dodgers made the top 5 and an Angels player was #1)
MLB Network counts down the top MLB players overall, taking into account players in their prime who are coming back from injuries, younger players expected to break out and veteran players with proven track records. The ranking includes World Series MVPs, Cy Young Award winners, A.L. and N.L. MVPs, Rookies of the Year, Gold Glove Award winners and All-Stars. MLB NETWORK
The Nats had 7 players on the list, up from 4 during the 2012 offseason:
92. Jordan Zimmermann 75. Ian Desmond 73. Adam LaRoche 54. Bryce Harper 49. Gio Gonzalez (Last Season #88) 29. Ryan Zimmerman (Last Season #22) 26. Stephen Strasburg (Last Season #98)
Not sure how Bryce Harper is #54 when they describe the list as considering "younger players expecting to break out".
A few notable things:
Michael Morse was #95 last year and #85 now on the Mariners
They put Mike Trout as #1 after basically 1 season in the majors, and Bryce didn't crack the top 50. Can't wait for Bryce to see that, he will not take it lightly.
They put RA Dickey the NL Cy Young winner at #50, 1 behind Gio Gonzalez who lost.
Stephen Strasburg, who wasn't the Nationals best pitcher last season finished almost 25 spaces ahead of Gio, who was.
No Jayson Werth
This is just a list, and I don't think it was done very well
The Nationals tied for the lead with 7 players on the list with the St. Louis Cardinals, and I swear I'm not lying, the Philadelphia Phillies. WHAT? The Phillies!? In case you forgot they finished 17 games behind the Nats last season.
And your top 5:
5. Clayton Kershaw
4. Matt Kemp
3. Miguel Cabrera
2. Justin Verlander
1. Mike Trout
Michael Morse has been traded to the Seattle Mariners and I myself am devastated Morse left a heartwarming thank-you message to fans on his Facebook and Twitter pages, letting the Nats faithful know that he would miss them, even adding the sentiment that they were the best fans in baseball. An overwhelming reaction followed the announcement of the trade, and the Nationals fans on Twitter sent thousands of well-wishes towards Morse.
But, Nationals fans shouldn't be too sad. Although Morse will no longer be a National, as an American Leaguer you can still watch him play and cheer for him without feeling too bad. When the Mariners play the Orioles, for example, you can head down to Camden yards and show him some love. Twitter is another fun way to keep up with Morse as well. And while the DC is no longer in @The_Beast38, you can still drop him a message.
I for one was an enormous Michael Morse fan and I have composed this small message for one of my favorite players of all time:
Dear Michael Morse, I wanted to express my gratitude to a guy who made watching baseball five times more exciting. You are the coolest dude ever, and I am so glad I got to see you play all these years. Thank you for signing autographs for me and I hope we cross paths again someday, whether you're a Mariner or maybe even a National again. Your energy brought so much to the team and you brightened my day with your antics, on-field and off. Your most memorable moment and legacy to the city of DC is your Take On Me walk-up song and I will surely miss hitting those high notes (well almost hitting them). That tradition became my favorite part of visiting Nationals Park. Anyway, thank you, from me, for making 2012 that much more amazing. We'll always miss our Beast in DC. Best of luck to you in Seattle. Sincerely, Sandra L.
I'm really gonna miss that guy...You can watch the Nexus video tribute here...and hey look...Michael and Desmond read my letter!
You can follow Sandra on Twitter @NatsGirl19 for Nats news, thoughts, hopes, and humor...
Our friend @JWerthsBeard shared this video with us of the Philly broadcast of Monday night's Nationals game. The video shows that during Michael Morse's final at bat of the game when the Nats played A-Ha Take On Me, not just the crowd was singing along.
Here is the Nats dugout, primarily Bryce Harper & pal Jayson Werth, singing the high notes to Take On Me!
You can learn about Michael Morse and his A-Ha Walk-up song and listen to the Nats Park crowd singing it here!
Find anything fun you think would be good for the site? Email to Editor@DCSportsNexus.com. And Follow us on twitter! @DCSportsNexus
On Saturday night in St. Louis, a very bizarre play took place in the first inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Michael Morse hit a screaming line drive that went off the wall in the outfield. The play resulted in a bunch of base-runners not knowing what to do, scoring only 1 run and resulting in an out at first base.
The runners thought it was a homer, and some thought it wasn't, and the base-paths were a mess. However after seeing one review, St. Louis expert and Nats commentator Bob Carpenter explained to the viewers the ground rules of Busch Stadium.
The ball actually hit a secondary wall that was not in play, making the hit a homer. The umps overturned their original call quickly after review and because all the bases were occupied they made Morse go back to home plate to re-run the bases.
On the way back home, Morse ended up running around the bases backwards, to make sure he didn't get called out. It was funny already, but then Morse added some humor to the event. Morse went up to the plate, took a swing with an invisible bat, and hit a grand slam. Good mime work!
Bob Carpenter actually redid the play by play too...fun season...Two funny GIFS after the jump:
On Sunday night, around 8pm the following someone discovered a Twitter user by the name of @DC_Beast38. A lot of speculation was that this person was Michael Morse of the Washington Nationals.
I saw lots of people arguing and discussing on Twitter, which typically makes for a good post, so here were are.
People began to follow the new Morse account and it went all the way up to almost 900 despite not having a Big Blue Checkmark by his name proving that the account is verified.
Then one of our Twitter fans Danny (@MrNatsVL) did what apparently nobody else decided to do. Actually try to check up on the story and see if it was true. Danny went on to the Mike Morse Facebook page and posted a simple comment:
Then the same Facebook page re-commented that it was Morse (meaning the people who run the site didn't know, and that the Facebook page is probably not Morse)
Then Ian Desmond confirmed it.
@dc_beast38 Is legit folks. The Beast is live on twitter. You heard it hear first.
— Ian Desmond (@IanDesmond20) September 25, 2012
In the end, after reading all this stuff, I wonder...what the hell do I care and why am I wasting my time...
So if you're a new fan, you probably don't know most of the stuff we do at the park. So here is what we like to call "Nats 4 N00bz." Today's Nats 4 N00bz written by Sandra Luciel (@NatsGirl19 on Twitter).
Picture this - you're at your first game at Nationals Park. It's the bottom of the eighth...Michael Morse is doing his special warm up stuff and the song "Take On Me" by A-Ha begins to play. Suddenly and with no warning, everyone starts singing the song. You, of course, are confused - why is everyone singing this song? Why does the guy behind you sound like he swallowed a frog?
In a day or TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Have a listen to 30,000 people singing the song from a late season 2012 Nats game:
Singing along to "Take On Me" when it plays for Michael has become one of the newest traditions at the ballpark. It seems like as the season goes along more and more people sing along to it.I'm not sure exactly how long it's been a 'thing' here, but it's certainly a fun 'thing'. The PA announcer stops the song for the at bat, but the crowd continues to sing.
Here is video from Game 4 of the Playoffs, with the song sung by 40,000+:
This is arguably one of the most entertaining parts of the game, because when the drunk guy behind you or the tone-deaf woman in front of you sings off key it makes you feel like Katy Perry. Nationals announcer FP Santangelo always says that when it is over that 40,000 people are
"Patting themselves on the back and cheering for being off key"
And here are Bryce Harper & Jayson Werth singing it off-key:
And if you don't know the words to the part that is played as Michael walks up, here they are:
Take on me, (Take On Me) Take me on, (Take On Me) I'll be gone In a day or two
Sometimes they play half of a verse before that, but they stop the song short when Michael steps into the box. But without fail, every time, the crowd sings the whole chorus. It's beautiful, really.
Also, don't do the wave. Ever. Other Nats 4 Noobz:
During Friday night's broadcast of the Nationals vs Marlins matchup, the Nats mounted a comeback and went into the 8th inning down 6-5. Michael Morse came up to the plate and the MASN camera cut to a guy wearing a beard/wig/rally-hat. FP called it the Rally Napkin and a few pitches later the game was tied as Michael Morse jacked a solo homer.
FP also referred to it as the "Larry Leadoff starter kit" as the guy is most likely supposed to be Jayson Werth.
Earlier in the night FP added Rally Heads, and Rally Coconuts to the Nats Rally Team. It's all rally all the time with the Nasty Nattys. Some others:
As the benches cleared and the brawl heated up, Michael Morse took exception to the Cubs catcher Steve Clevenger who was swinging at anything that moved. Morse was like "F NO, YOU DON"T F WITH BEAST MODE" and Davey Johnson took a few hits from the Beast trying to hold him back. Gif After Jump.
After pitching a complete game shutout on Friday night in DC, Gio Gonzalez was attacked by teammates during his post-game interview with Kristina Akra. Akra knew something was up as she made sure to angle her interview to where she could see the dugout out of the corner of her eye. Sadly she avoided it.
"It's an honor to get Gatorade dumped on your head, but not the Gatorade bucket" -GIO
However, Gio did not avoid it. First Michael Morse came and dumped the gatorade over Gio, placing the entire orange cooler over Gio's head and then drawing a shaving cream smiley face on the front. Once Gio got that off and thought it was all over, Edwin Jackson ran out of the dugout with a shaving cream towel pie, and got Gio right in the face.
After he cleaned up he sarcastically thanked Akra for moving out of the way and not warning him. The GIF after the jump!
The Nationals took the first game of their three game series from the Mets tonight by the score of 6 to 4. Detwiler pitched 6 innings while giving up 3 runs for his 7th win of the season. However, the real story of the night was the longball.
Michael Morse stepped up in the 4th inning with the bases loaded after 3 singles. He did not waste the opportunity as he belted a grand slam to give the Nats a 4-2 lead.
Harper followed up in the 5th inning with a 2 run shot of his own to give the Nationals 6 runs. The Mets would try to mount a comeback, but could only manage 2 runs the rest of the game.
Storen pitched well in the 8th, and T-clip notched another save, despite walking 2 people in the 9th.
The Nats are back at it again tomorrow night looking to clinch the series behind Edwin Jackson. If Jackson wins tomorrow, then all of the Nationals starting pitchers will be over .500 on the season.
Michael Morse went Beast mode on Thursday night, jacking two homers including a blast that smashed into some billboards ABOVE the crowd (see where it landed here) to help the Nationals complete the sweep on the Astros in Houston. The hit continued Morse's hitting streak at 18 games and the 5-0 victory helped the Nats gain a half game on the idle Braves and are now 4 1/2 games up.
Jordan Zimmermann threw less than 90 pitches and was removed after 6 shutout innings. Zimmermann allowed only 3 hits, struck out 11 guys (tying a career high) and lowered his ERA to 2 in his 9th win of the season. The Nats used 4 pitchers on the night and all have ERAs below 2.50.
Zimmermann is making a case to be called the best pitcher in the majors at this time.
Offensively aside from Morse's 2 jacks (Click here to watch the Bob Carpenter Morse Rally Song) Roger Bernadina went 3 for 4 on the night and Espinosa also picked up 2 hits on the night. The 3-4-5 guys continue to drive in runners, all 5 RBIs tonight came from those three.
The Nationals head to Arizona to finish out the week...
Here's how the game works. You comment, email Dru, or tweet @Dru90
with your pick all the way up until first pitch this week (Tuesday 7:05). You can go with the baseball expert Dru, the editor Chris, or
the new to baseball Camilla. If you think all 3 of us are way off, you
can bet on the field. Everyone is invited and we will keep score. Who
knows the Nats the best?
Last week's winner: Michael Morse (.321, 3 HR, 9 RBIs)
@natsrgreat
@turtlezoot
This Week's Contenders:
Adam LaRoche (Dru): Had a better average than Morse last week with .417, and just as many homeruns. If he keeps it up and drives in a few more runs I think he can win this week.
@meganreio
Bryce Harper (Chris): The slump ends NOW!
@natsrgreat
Ryan Zimmerman (Cammy): Cammy went with Zim because he is a Philly killer. I didn't do any research to back up her claim, but she did pick Morse last week so I'll trust her.
It took 2 huge comeback innings and a go-ahead 11th, but the Washington Nationals defeated the Brewers on Sunday in Milwaukee 11-10 in 11 innings. Michael Morse was the hero of the day, hitting a 9th inning game saving homer and putting the Nats up for good with a 2 run RBI double in the final frame.
Michael Morse made Davey Johnson so happy he almost had a heart attack. But the move has spawned a new dance craze. Do the Davey!
Gio Gonzalez struggled with his control and with the umpire's strike zone all day long. Gio gave up 5 runs (4 earned), 5 walks and hit a guy in 6 innings of work including a bases loaded walk.
Ryan Mattheus came in to relieve Gio and gave up 4 hits, 3 of them homers. Mattheus has now allowed 5 homers in his last 4 appearances. Tyler Clippard picked up his 20th save, despite giving up a homer in the outing.
The first comeback came in the 8th inning Roger Bernadina came up in the 8th and hit a 2 run shot off of Not-So-K-Rod to cut the lead to 2 runs. The fans in Milwaukee booed the reliever ferociously as he was yanked by the manager. A few batters and a run later, Corey Brown tied the game on a wild pitch.
In the 11th after a Harper walk and a Zimmerman single, Michael Morse came to the plate and smashed a double that gave the Nats the 2 runs they would need to win the game. You really cannot turn off the TV when the Nats get down. A team of rallies.
Tonight wasn't pretty as the Nationals saw their winning streak end at 6. They lost to the Brewers tonight, giving up 6 runs without scoring a single run. Detwiler didn't pitch that bad, but he did give up 4 runs over 4.2 innings. Craig Stammen came in from the pen and proceeded to give up 2 more runs to get the Brewers to 6. Cory Hart and Aramis Ramirez both homered for the Brewers.
Their isn't much to talk about on the offensive side of the coin. Lombardozzi, LaRoche, Morse, and DeRosa all recorded 1 hit on the night, and that was all she wrote.
"Michael Morse gets what you call a thing" -Bob Carpenter
H-rod pitched well in the 8th and Storen had a solid 7th inning, although both had zero pressure on them.
Can't win them all. The Nats are at it again tomorrow for the third game of four against the Brewers.
