Nats Reduce Stranded Runners
Washington at Atlanta. Tomahawks 8, Nationals 0.
ATLANTA - Nationals President Stan W. Kasten celebrated Tuesday's defeat against Atlanta as proof that his efforts to rebuild the franchise are beginning to succeed.
"As recently as last week, this team went 0-13 with runners in scoring position in a single game," Kasten said. "No team can succeed when it strands so many runners, and this team will never be a contender until it reduces the number of runners stranded on second or third. Tuesday night in Atlanta, this team took a giant step forward, stranding only one runner on second base. That represents a 92 percent reduction in just five days."
Kasten described the steep reduction in runner strandings as a "benchmark" in The Plan, his new strategy to field a contending team by 2009, or maybe 2010. "Now that we've met this important benchmark, it will be up to manager Manny Acta to maintain Tuesday's low level of runner strandings."
Some critical fans questioned whether the reduction was a sign of real progress and threatened to withhold funding for continued baseball operations in Washington.
"I would hope fans will keep showing up and not undermine the players with non-attendance," Kasten said. "The Plan is just starting to show signs of real success, but we need to be patient and resolute to see this team through to victory in 2009, or maybe 2010. Until then, it would be counterproductive to set any timetables for winning another game."
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This year I have attended three of the seven home Nats games and went to numerous games in 2005 and 2006. Before that I followed major league baseball fairly closely, attending games in various cities around the nation from 1967 to the present. I have never seen a continuous and as poor of a performance as the NATS have displayed this past 8 games. They appear listless on offense and defense. The opposing teams get on base early and are stealing bases and playing with an intensity that the NATS lack. The mental errors of not covering first (King) and second (Wilson) are hard to believe. The numrous early inning walks have not changed. Where is the coaching? Sure they are mismatched but to the tune of being outscored 53-18 or nearly 3-1 this early in the season. Even if they hustled and played smart they will still lose more than they win but at least they would be losing with some effort. This team, although overmatched, is not focused to perform even elementary tasks such as trying not to walk the lead-off hitter, a pitcher covering first base when the ball is hit to the left side of the infield, etc. The magnitude of the early failures of this team in April 2007 are stunning and unprecedented in baseball history.
Very nice!