Nats Dugout Exhibits Teamwork On Alley-Oop Homerun Celebration

It seems like every single night during this crazy homerun barrage the Nationals are putting on there is a variation of their 2014 homerun basketball helmet shot celebration.  At one point Jayson Werth was shooting 3 pointers, Gio Gonzalez was almost decapitated, and on Monday night half the dugout got involved with a 5 man alley-oop helmet dunk after a Jayson Werth homerun. Check out the GIF of this somewhat excessively complicated but hella-fun routine.

Denard Span: The Shrug, The Chicken & Waffles, The PED Test

Denard Span has transformed into Barry Bonds. Well not quite. But the Nationals outfielder has hit 3 homeruns in his last 5 games including a 2 HR game on Monday night in LA against the Dodgers. Span took Roberto Hernandez deep twice in the ballgame. When the game was over, a Nats victory, all of the talk was about Span's recent surge of power.  Here is what Denard had to say about where his power came from (unlikely restaurant chain), and what he expects MLB officials to do to him tomorrow. But first, the Michael Jordan shrug:

Gio Gonzalez Gets Hit In Head During Celebration, Suits Up In Body Armor

The picture above may look a little strange to Nats fans. It is Gio Gonzalez wearing a catcher's mask and a batting helmet (on forwards). So why is the Nationals starting pitcher suited up? To protect himself from flying helmets during homerun celebrations of course...seriously.  Watch the hit Gio took that caused him to take drastic defensive matters.

Hit It Here, Bryce Harper's Mammoth Homerun

Bryce Harper is starting to get his power back. After hitting a homerun on Friday night against the Mariners, Harper crushed 2 more blasts on Sunday. His first of the day was an absolute shot, crushed to right field and off of the glass panels of the Hit It Here Cafe (in-stadium restaurant), barely missing the painted bullseye logo. See how close Harper was.

FP Santangelo Calls Anthony Rendon Homerun

Ok. So to be honest, we aren't recording every single time a baseball announcer calls a homerun that doesn't happen. But when it does, we try to forget those and focus on the amazingness that is calling a homerun. Well one of those times happened again. Check out what Washington Nationals announcer FP Santangelo had to say just seconds before an Anthony Rendon homerun. Psychic?

The Jayson Werth 3 Point Basketball Helmet Shot, Latest Nationals Celebration

The Nats are having some serious fun right now. And with that fun comes new ways to celebrate homeruns.  The classic Gum Showers and Hugs & Low Tens that made 2012 such a fun year have moved on, but leave it to the Nats to think up some fresh celebrations as they push towards the playoffs in 2014.  Their latest celebration?  The Jayson Werth 3 Point Helmet shot. Check out these GIFs:

Viva LaRoche! Nats Beat White Sox Behind 4 Homers

White Sox 7, Nationals 8

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
White Sox	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	2		7	11	1
Nationals	0	0	0	1	1	4	1	1	x		8	13	0

Read the full box score at ESPN

Adam LaRoche was stuck in a rut.  He hadn't gotten a hit in his first fifteen at bats this season.  But on Tuesday night at Nats Park, after missing 2 straight games with a sore back, the slugger crushed his first two hits of the season, both homeruns, in a 8-7 win over the Chicago White Sox.

(A character from an HBO show joined the President's Race...lame...)

Gio Gonzalez started for the Nationals, but struggled early on raising his pitch count.  Much to his dismay, Captain Hook yanked Gio after 5 innings at 99 pitches.  Gio only gave up 1 earned run, on a bases loaded balk, and struck out 7.

Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper, and Adam LaRoche aptly named by FP as Murderer's Row

The Nats were in great position with a 6-2 lead heading into the 7th inning but Tyler Clippard gave up 3 runs and made the game much closer than it should be.  The Nats picked up insurance runs in the 7th and 8th, and Rafael Soriano came on in the 9th to seal the 8-5 victory.  Instead the new closer gave up a 2 run homer to Alex Rios and walked the game winning run before closing the game for his 3rd save of the season.

The Nationals finished the game with 4 homers, all big.  Ian Desmond a solo shot in the 5th, Jayson Werth (with a new walk-up song) hit a 2 run homer in the 6th, and LaRoche added one a few batters later in the 6th for his first hit of the season.  Bob Carpenter (continuing the hits) was so excited he exclaimed, "VIVA LAROCHE!" as the ball cleared the centerfield wall.

Later, in the 8th inning, LaRoche belted a second homer.

"He's baaaack!" - FP Santangelo

The Nats are now 5-2 with another 2 games against the White Sox starting tomorrow at 7...

Gio Gonzalez Has Brain Freeze, Gio Gonzalez Goes Yard, Makes Love To His Hand?

After the first inning of Wednesday Night's contest between the Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins, a sleeveless (its freakin' cold out there) Gio Gonzalez walked off the mound appearing to be in pain.  Gio grimaced as he put his hand to his temples, looking to have a headache of some sort.  Gonazlez was shown walking down into the locker room (probably to grab some Advil)

When asked after the game about it, Gio responded:

"My head felt like it was getting nailed right in there like a freaking sledgehammer...every inning I was going down there and (inaudible) was massaging it and massaging it, he's got the lucky fingers right now"

And about the cold weather?

"I felt like I was making love to my hand"

FP Santangelo suggested it could be a "brain freeze" and then asked Bob Carpenter if he ever got a brain freeze from drinking a slurpee.  Bob replied with a little dig at the relationship of himself and FP:

Bryce Harper's Amazing Opening Day

Expectations for Bryce Harper were high going into the 2013 season, but what Harper did on Monday afternoon in front of over 45,000 fans at Nats Park.  During the Washington Nationals opening day matchup against the Miami Marlins, the NL Rookie of the Year started the season by crushing homeruns in each of his first two at bats, sprinting around the bases, and throwing out the I Love You shoutout to his folks in the crowd.

Harper was coming off a strong spring and an even stronger end of spring where he seemed to get on base every time he stepped up to the plate.

After cranking a homer in the 1st inning to get the Nationals offense started, the crowd rose to their feet expecting a curtain call.  Bryce knew that that was just the beginning of a long season, so he remained in the dugout.  However, when he hit an even longer bomb in the 4th inning, the crowd refused to let Harper remain hidden.

Bryce Harper Crushes Homerun While 106.7 Is Live On The Air

On Wednesday afternoon, during a split-squad spring training game between 1/2 the Washington Nationals and the New York Mets, Bryce Harper went 2 for 4 with 4 RBIs.  Harper crushed his 3rd homerun of the spring in the contest, and because most of the games aren't televised, there were no highlights (at least not yet).

I even dropped 20 bucks to watch these games on MLB TV online, and so far I've seen 1 game...

However, 106.7 was broadcasting live from Viera and just as the Holden & Danny show was ending the commercial break was interrupted by a loud crack and then giddiness by the hosts as Bryce Harper's hit soared over the fence.  Fast forward the podcast segment to 9:40 to hear the call:

Holden & Danny were super excited:

Holden "That's your MVP..."

Danny "God that kid is great! That kid is so great!"

Adam LaRoche Curtain Call: 100 RBI Season On A Homerun

On Tuesday night in Washington, DC, during the 2nd to last game of the season, Adam LaRoche hit a solo homerun to give him 100 RBIs on the season.  That was his 33rd homer of the season, a new career high.  LaRoche had a huge smile on his face as he rounded the bases and as he high-fived teammates in the dugout the large Nats Park crowd demanded a curtain call.  Here is the GIF:

Hipster Mets Fan Jumps In No Man's Land To Get A Ryan Zimmerman Homer

Here is a Ryan Zimmerman bomb in the 3rd inning of Monday night's Nats vs Mets game.  The ball goes into the black section in centerfield and a hipster in a neon shirt jumps over the rail and kind of waits for the ball to roll to him.  He then falls on the ground like a dope and celebrates.

Most likely he was ejected from the game, and possibly worse...Well actually there is not much worse than being that guy.  GIF after Jump:

Jayson Werth Pumped After Tying Game On Homerun After Rain Delay

After a 2 1/2 hour rain delay, the Washington Nationals came back on the field in the bottom of the 9th to face the Marlins Heath Bell trailing 6-5.  Jayson Werth led off the inning and he proceeded to jack a game tying homerun.  Unbelievable.  Natitude.

Prior to the homer, the weather was rough in the DC area, and I'm going to officially call this the "Rally Tornado"

Here is Jayson Werth after his homer.  He was AMPED up!  Larry Leadoff!  See him react after the jump:

Bryce Harper Hits 18th Homer, Next Up Tony Conigliaro

On Saturday afternoon in DC, Bryce Harper crushed his 18th homerun of the season, a right field upper deck blast.  The homerun ties him with Mel Ott on the teenager homerun list.  Harper already passed Mantle & Griffey earlier in the season.  The only one left to pass is Tony Conigliaro, who hit 24 as a teenager.  He did that in 1964.

Harper doesn't turn 20 til mid-October, so he will have the remainder of the season, less than a month, to try to catch Conigliaro.  Although, this isn't really that important of a record and he probably isn't "trying" to catch him.  But if he keeps crushing the ball and seeing the baseball, he may end up doing it anyway.

Here is the video of his 18th:

Bryce Harper Signs I Love You Mom & Dad!

On Wednesday night in DC, Bryce Harper cranked his 16th homer of the season off of the Chicago Cubs, tying him with Ken Griffey Jr. for 3rd on the teenager home all time run chart.  After he ran swiftly around the bases Harper gave a signal to his mother and father (Sherry & Ron) who were sitting behind home plate.

As several readers pointed out, this is "I Love You" in sign language.  I wish FP & Bob told me that!  The thumb is out so it isn't Hook'em Horns or the Metal sign.

Bryce never confirmed anything, so you make the call.

Later in the game Harper hit a no doubter, his 2nd of the game helping him pass Griffey, and he gave another signal to the rents.  Not a bad night!  Video after the jump:

Bryce Harper Blasts Two Homeruns In Miami Including This Bomb

On Wednesday night in Miami, Bryce Harper busted himself and the Washington Nationals out of slumps after hitting two homeruns in back to back innings.  Bryce hit one that barely cleared the fence in the 4th inning, but when he came up to bat again in the 5th he hit an absolutely positively no doubter thanks for pitching rocket shot high into the upper level of Marlins Park.

How does that Pine-Tar taste now Ozzie! The video:

Hugs And Low Tens: Peace, Love, & Homeruns

High Fives; Lame.  Fist Bumps; So 2011.  Elbow Bashes; So Steroidy.  Jumping into each other; So Techmo Super Bowly.

Today is a new generation of baseball.  Players are no longer just big brutes who know how to crush the ball.  Players have feelings.

That is why the 2012 Nationals are so special.  They don't want to copy what others have done.  Instead they want to lead the way to the future of baseball.  Peace, Love, & Homeruns.  That is why they have started celebrating in a different way.  With Hugs and Low Tens.

It seems to be working, as the Nats are in the midst of a 4 game winning streak and are in first place in the division.

Cool Gif of Morse smiling and Bryce hugging after the jump

Four For Forth, Nats Offense Rolling

Nationals 9, Giants 4

The Washington Nationals defeated the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday morning at Nats Park behind another offensive explosion that included 4 homeruns.  Edwin Jackson got the win despite giving up 4 runs in 5 2/3 innings and the Nationals are now 15 games over .500.

Clown

The win for the Nationals was their 2nd straight against a team that has been on fire.  The Giants are in first place in the NL West and they have some of the best pitching in the game.  The Nationals however, don't seem to care as they have scored 18 runs in the 2 games so far.

The Nats have now scored 5 or more runs for 8 straight games, a number that you probably wouldn't believe had you heard this a month ago.  Ever since the series with the Rockies the Nats bats have been on fire averaging over 8 and a half runs over the past 8 games.

That is now 6 runs on Tim Hudson, 8 runs on Tim Lincecum, and 7 runs on Madison Bumgarner...very promising numbers.

The Giants scored 3 runs in the first inning, including an All-Star starter Pablo Sandoval 2 run shot, but Edwin Jackson calmed down and the bullpen did the rest.

The Nationals got homers from Jhonatan Solano (solo), back to backers from Zimmerman (2-run) & Morse (solo), and then an Ankiel (solo) bomb.  The whole team seems to be hitting.  If it isn't one guy, then the next guy steps up.

The Nats look for the sweep tomorrow night facing Matt Cain...should be a tough one...

Chicks Dig the Long Ball?

I don't like putting huge stock in stats, which might sound weird when talking about a game like baseball that is ALL ABOUT stats.  I prefer to judge performance out on the field using an "eye-test"  and right now my eyes are telling me that the too many Nat's are going up to the plate looking to hit a home run.  Is that true?  If so, is that such a bad thing?  I guess we'll take a quick look at the numbers:

So what's wrong with this picture...

The Nat's almost have two less homeruns than the Braves and way more homers than the Mets.  So why are the Nats the team with the fewest Runs and RBIs on this chart?   The answer seems to be fairly simple, batting average.  Now this might not be ground breaking news...you hit more, you score more, but there it is in black-and-white.

Now I'm not claiming to have a quick fix for the National's offensive woes.  I am going to say that when you have players like Danny Espinosa who is hitting .219 it probably isn't helping.  If only we had a guy who was hitting .321 or heck even a guy hitting .255 who could play 2B.  Oh hey Lombardozzi and Tracy I didn't see you guys there.

Odds are Espinosa will begin to knock a few more balls over the fence and guys like Zimmerman will start to pick up the batting average slack and everything will be right with the world.  However, if things don't get better, just remember...chicks dig the long ball, but the scoreboard does not.

No really...scoreboards HATE homers. 

RIP DC Legend: Chuck Brown (Nationals Edition)

According to the Washington City Paper, A Washington D.C. music legend, Chuck Brown, has died at age 75 after being in the hospital with pneumonia.  The Godfather of Go-Go was known was not known by all due to his niche style of go-go music, but most people could probably begin to sing along with his most mainstream hit Bustin' Loose.  Chuck Brown put on a show that could be enjoyed by all types of people of all different generations and he will be missed.

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Read The Washington Redskins Edition

Back in 2008, the first season the Washington Nationals played in Nats Park, the team held a fan vote to see which song would be played after the first Nats player hit a homerun during every game.  The #1 vote-getter and winner was Chuck Brown's song "Bustin' Loose"

Well the first ever homerun at Nats Park turned out to be Ryan Zimmerman's walk-off, and so Chuck Brown's homerun song was shoved aside by the victory song, U2-Beautiful day.  Sad.  It probably ended up happening for the 1st time after a Christian Guzman HR.  Sad again.

So in honor of Chuck and his contribution to the city of Washington, D.C., here is Bustin' Loose.  RIP Chuck!