Center Field Gate

The Milwaukee Brewers came into Nationals’ Park the proud owner of a four game losing streak that had put them ten games behind the St Louis Cardinals in the NL East. The Brewers will not likely catch the Redbirds, but they must have been pleased to escape Friday night’s game at Nationals Park with a decisive 7-3 win. There was much to be proud of in the Nats’ play, except for the final score: J.D. Martin threw 6.2 innings, gave up eight hits and struck out four. Perhaps most important of all, he didn’t walk one Blatzman and gave the Nats’ bullpen a rest. His solid showing placed him firmly in line for future starts — and a potential place in a revamped 2010 rotation. But Martin gave up home runs to Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee, which proved decisive: and Brewers’ starter Braden Looper gave up four hits in six innings of work.

The most memorable moment of the day, of course, was Stephen Strasburg’s appearance at Nationals Park, where he was introduced by the front office and Nats’ All Star third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. Nats’ fans packed the stands along the third base line to get a glimpse of the college phenom. Strasburg appeared genuinely complimented by the lavish attention and modest enough to admit that his journey to the big leagues was dependent on his own success — and the decision of the organization’s baseball people. This is amazing,” Strasburg said of the crowd. “To play at San Diego State, where we didn’t get many fans until this year, this is pretty special.” The Strasburg introduction was well-handled, a down payment on the promise made by the ownership at the all star break that things would get better for Nats fans. The Nats front office must believe the Strasburg investment has already started to pay dividends.

There were two other memorable events of the day, both important. The first was the light stand shot that Adam Dunn launched against the Brewers in the 1st inning. The home run, Dunn’s 32nd,  landed on the concourse just off the second deck in upper right field. My guess is that it was the longest dinger hit in Nationals Park. Ever. Dunn’s OBP is at .420 and after a late-July swoon, his batting average is .288. The second post-Strasburg event of note was interim manager Jim Riggleman’s praise of Nats’ fans in his post game comments after the loss to the Brewers. Riggleman seemed genuinely humbled by the fact that Nats fans are still showing up, night after night, to see major league baseball’s worst team. Riggleman noted that the players appreciate the support. Rigs has it right and it’s about time people noticed. Night after night, between 18,000 to 24,000 fans are showing up to see the Nats play. True: the high end numbers (some 30,000 or more) come to see the Red Sox or Cubs or Cardinals. But that hasn’t been true recently, when the Nats have faced the Rockies and Brewers.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: The Yankees-Red Sox tussle is over in Boston, with the final score 20-11. The Empire sealed the victory in the last minute with a field goal by Hideki Matsui. The Yankees drove the ball on the Red Sox with ease, picking apart their secondary. “This shows our character,” a Yankees player said after the game. “This was smash-mouth baseball all night. We were really able to get into their backfield. I just want to thank God for giving me this opportunity . . .” The Back Bay is burning: the Sawx are trailing New York in the NL East by 7.5, and are only one game ahead of the Rays in the wild card . . .

I mean, I can see why the Nats continue to play Ronnie Belliard instead of say, oh, Mike Morse. Can’t you? I mean, really, if we give Morse a chance you never know what might happen. Why, we could even lose some games. We wouldn’t want that to happen. Listen, Ronnie justs needs to get over the nervousness of playing in the big leagues. Like last night for instance: when he got picked off of first base for no damn good reason . . . The Centerfield Gate board of directors (by a very close vote) has instructed me to add three names to my list of underrated MLB Players: Naps’s outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, Belinski’s outfielder Kendry Morales and Ahoys’ outfielder Garrett Jones. So who the hell is Garrett Jones? Jones is the Pirates’ new right fielder, whom the Pirates got from the Twinkies  for ah . . . well, for no one at all. Jones is the guy the Ahoys signed as a free agent after the Twins released him. Will someone please, please, please, wake up the Twins. Garrett Jones has fourteen home runs in 43 games. Every time you turn on the television, there he is, plunking another one into the stands at PNC Park. Then the three people in attendance stand and cheer as one. It’s enough to shake your lack of faith in Neal Huntington . . .

On Baseball Tonight on Friday night, Tim Kurkjian said that the Cubs might be done. What? C’mon, really? There’s forty games left. Are you sure?

Yup.

The San Diego Padres capitalized on four Washington Nationals’ errors Friday night to take the first of a three-game set from our Anacostia Boys, 6-2. After taking two of three from the Mets, the Nats reverted to the sloppy defense that had characterized the first part of their season: two errant throws to first base, a dropped pop-up in foul territory and the misplay of a rolling double in the left field corner. That’s one error on Garrett Mock, one on Jason Bergman, one error on catcher Josh Bard and one on left fielder Adam Dunn. “It was just a bad effort,” interim Manager Jim Riggleman said after the game.

Trade Winds: The St. Louis Cardinals got their man, trading three prospects to the Oakland A’s for outfielder Matt Holliday. The key to the trade for Oakland was the acquistion of third baseman Brett Wallace, who may eventually end up at first for the white elephants. The former Rockie, Holliday paid immediate dividends for the Redbirds, going four for five with one RBI in the Cardinals 8-1 win over the Phillies. Beset by uncertainty over their own financial situation — and with ownership of the ballclub undetermined — the Cubs will have difficulty matching the Cardinals’ upgrade. The Holliday trade reflects the kind of mid-season moves that both the Cards and Cubs are noted for: needing a big bat in May of last year, the Cubs signed free agent Jim Edmonds — a move that fueled their run to the NL Central flag. This year, it’s the Astros who need the bat, particularly after it was announced that Astros’ first baseman Lance Berkman was being sent to the DL for a calf strain.

 

New Redbird Matt Holliday Went 4-5 Friday (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

The news in the NL Central will have an immediate impact on the Nats: it effectively takes the Cardinals out of the running for Adam Dunn (whose availability they reportedly inquired about this last week), while Berkman’s injury puts Nick Johnson on the table for the Astros. Houston called up Edwin Maysonet from triple-A Round Rock to take Berkman’s place, but he’s not the answer at first. The regular first base backup is Darin Erstad, but he’s also injured. Johnson seems a perfect fit for the Astros, with his high OBP and good glove. Astros’ players say they will “step up” to replace Berkman, but it will be difficult to replicate his numbers. ”I’ll just say Lance, being honest and sincere, is a piece of our team that is going to be difficult to replace,” Astros’ outfielder Carlos Lee, who leads the team in RBIs, said. ”The quality of player and what he means to this lineup, it’s going to be difficult to replace Lance. I think we’ll have to get it together and carry all the weight.”

Trade rumors involving Nationals’ players have escalated over the last week: the Phillies are said to be interested in Josh Willingham, the Tigers in Willingham and Dunn and, most recently, the Rangers have reportedly sent scouts to look at Nationals’ hitters. The Nats are said to be looking for “prospects” — primarily pitchers. The trade of Willingham to the Phillies becomes less likely if the Phuzzies pony up a handful of their best prospects (and pitcher J.A. Happ) to Toronto for Roy Halladay. And shipping Dunn or Willingham to Detroit (where the Nats are said to be scouting the Tigers’ double-A affiliate) seems perverse — trading players who are actually performing for a bunch of 21-year-olds who might (or might not) turn into major league players. That we got. Then too, a trade of Willingham to either Philly or Detroit means that we will be forced to watch a struggling Austin “Mendoza” Kearns (.198) learn how to hit. A good decision — but only if you want to drive what’s left of your fanbase out of the ballpark.

Author and friend Paul Dickson — the arbiter of authorities, the wizard of wordsmiths, the emir of ERAs, the sultan of slang — has dispatched an apparently tongue-in-cheek email entitled: ”Entry which will appear in the 2019 4th Edition of the Dickson Baseball Dictionary — The Frank Robby Curse.” Dickson, the author of The Paul Dickson Baseball Dictionary then explained: ”A condition which bedeviled the hapless Washington Nationals from the date they dismissed manager Frank Robinson and which lasted though two catastrophic seasons in 2008 and 2009. When the team finally became aware of the curse it staged a Frank Robinson night in April 2010 during which they named the concession concourse at  Blackwater Field (formerly Nationals Park) in his honor. The team won that night and went on to play one game over .500 for the season. The rest is history making  the NLCS in 2011, winning the NLCS in 2012 but losing to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series and finally the World Championship in 2014 when a new curse named for a long-forgotten manager named Manny Acta came into play. See also; curse of the Bambino, Bill Goat Curse.”

Dickson’s futuristic entry is more than plausible. My only quibble is with the phrase ”When the team became aware of the curse . . .” If they’re not aware of it now, they never will be. Dickson speaks the truth: it would be appropriate for the Lerner’s to keep their promise to honor Frank and it would please the fans, who remember that Robinson is a baseball legend whose understanding of the game is not in question. Robinson is missed, particularly by the younger guys on the club (and most especially by Ryan Zimmerman), who could use his wisdom just now. It would be interesting to hear what the Hall of Famer has to say about the club ownership; and interesting to know whether he would have put up with some of the deals (and the stripping of the ballclub) of the last two years. Nice touch though: “Blackwater Stadium.” Getaload of these charm school graduates. Oh, yeah – one more thing: I am on record with my baseball buddies — “me droogs” (here they are, if you’ve forgotten) – that the Washington Nationals will win the World Series before the Chicago Cubs (see, “Merkle’s Boner“), curse or no curse.

Down On Half Street: It’s possible to say something positive about the Nats, despite their Monday night loss to the Mets — and despite sinking to forty games under .500. While J.D. Martin’s first start in the majors resulted in a Mets’ pummeling, Nats’ reliever Tyler Clippard should now be added to the team’s list of “untouchables.” Clippard faced nine batters over three complete innings and struck out five of them. He looked unhittable (and he was), pumping in his fastball at 94 mph and fooling hitters with a sharp-breaking 12-to-6 curve. “This kid looks like he wants to stay,” MASN commentator Rob Dibble said . . . Logan Kensing gave up a home run to Jeff Franceour (don’t you just hate to see that), but his stuff is better now after his stint in Syracuse. He looked confident. So that’s Clippard, Kensing, Beimel, Burnett, Bergman and (maybe) MacDougal in the rebuilt Nats’ bullpen. It’s better, especially now that ”Coo Coo” Tavarez is gone, but it’s still baseball’s worst (5.54 ERA) and really, it’s not even close . . .

There were two miracles in 1969: Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon and the New York Mets won the World Series. But it’s worth remembering that on this date — when Armstrong landed the “Eagle” at “Tranquility Base – the Mets were nowhere near being a playoff team, while the Chicago Cubs were in first place in the NL East and running away with the division. By early August the Cubs led the Mets in their division by nearly nine games. The North Siders had an almost perfect squad — a mix of power and speed with one of the strongest starting pitching staffs in the majors. The front four of Ferguson Jenkins, Bill Hands, Ken Holtzman and Dick Selma terrorized the National League, accumulating 68 of the team’s 92 wins. The Cubs closer, Phil Regan, accounted for another twelve. Which is to say: in 1969, five Cubs pitchers accounted for 80 of the team’s 92 wins.

The Cubs were assembled by clever design, though baseball experts and onlookers scoffed at a front office that had always proven inept. The key trade brought prospects Ferguson Jenkins and Adolfo Phillips from Philadelphia (two decades later the Phillies traded another prospect to Chicago — Ryne Sandberg) for aging starters Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson. A second, though just as important trade (in 1965) had brought catcher Randy Hundley and starter Bill Hands to Chicago for outfielder Don Landrum and fading reliever Lindy McDaniel. Sports Illustrated howled with laughter — how could the Cubs trade one of the league’s best relief pitchers for two unknowns? The Cubs had a great team of hitters (with Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and Billy Williams the keys), but the Cubs of ‘69 could not have won without the trades they swung to build their starting rotation. 

The Mets, on the other hand, were almost exclusively assembled from within. Future Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver was in his third year (as was Jerry Koosman), Gary Gentry was a rookie and no one in the starting nine was over 30. The unlikely linchpin of this group might well have been Ed “Steady Eddie” Kranepool, an otherwise light-hitting first baseman who swung the bat like Joe Dimaggio from August on out. From mid-August until late September, the Mets went on a tear, while the Cubs faded fast. The Mets won 38 of their final 49 games, while the Cubs suffered a mid-September eight game losing streak that saw them sink into second place. They finished with 92 wins, but it wasn’t enough. The Mets took the division flag, with 100. The difference between the two teams was a swing of a startling 17 games over a period of two months: a swoon that Cubs fans have never forgotten.

The Cubs-Mets pennant race of 1969 is a model of how to build contenders. The Cubs spent nearly half-a-decade ridding themselves of aging pitchers (Buhl and Jackson, but also McDaniel), trading them for well-scouted prospects, like Hands and Jenkins. The staff was supplemented by a gaggle of home grown greats: Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Ernie Banks — but also double play combo Glenn Beckert and Don Kessinger. The Mets rejected the blockbuster trade and stayed patient, being satisfied with developing hard throwing youngsters and very good (but not great) position players. Cleon Jones was homegrown, as was Kranepool, Bud Harrelson, Ken Boswell and slick-fielding-no-hit third sacker Wayne Garrett. While 1969 preceded the era of free agency, it’s still astonishing how the pieces the Mets developed clicked into place in one season.

Fifty years later, the Mets seem to have forgotten the lesson taught by the ’69 Amazin’s. The New York Metropolitans of 2009 are a patchwork of free agents and aging stars — with few homegrown talents that can carry the team. Every major position player except for Daniel Murphy and David Wright is over 30 and the team’s biggest bopper, Gary Sheffield, is 40. Alex Cora and Luis Castillo are 33, Brian Schneider is 32,  The pitching staff is not manned by young rising arms, but by a veritable line-up of sieves. There is one great pitcher on the staff, Johan Santana, but he’s from somewhere else. Livan Hernandez is 34. The one home grown asset, Mike Pelfrey, has a plus-5 ERA and the number five starter is Tim Redding — who is on the verge of changing residences. In 1969, the Mets’ number five starter was 22-year-old Nolan Ryan. Mets’ faithful complain of the baffling injuries suffered by the team, but what’s the big surprise? Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado are 32 and 37 respectively.

This hobbled, aging and choatic group come into Nats Park tonight to face-off against our Anacostia Boys. It’ll be a test for them — they need to win the series to stay in contention. My bet is that that won’t happen and that the fading Mets will fade further as the summer wanes. Of course, the Mets have been counted out before, as they were in 1969. But this team is not the “Miracle Mets” — it’s the wing-and-a-prayer Mets. For them to end up in the post-season would take a miracle even greater than Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon.

The Chicago Cubs got healthy in Washington, taking four games of a four game set, the last an embarrassing blowout with seeming ramifications for both the starting staff and the bullpen. Julian “Coo Coo” Tavarez was designated for assignment after the game and Logan Kensing was recalled from Syracuse. The Tavarez decision came several games too late; Tavarez had a habit of walking first batters and was particularly ineffective in his last three outings. The well-traveled Tavarez (eleven stops in 17 years) was optimistic about his chances of catching on with another club: “Tomorrow I’m going to be running and throwing balls, waiting for someone to give me a phone call. I’ll be back.” Maybe: but Tavarez, who has worn out his welcome, won’t be back in Washington. Logan Kensing, late of the Marlins, was recalled from Syracuse and will be given another chance with the big club.

It’s unlikely the Nats are finished shuffling. After a pre-All Star Game letter apologizing for their first half antics and the firing of Nats good guy Manny Acta, the Nationals and Jim Riggleman are in the midst of a mid-season slump that belies Riggleman’s promise that “We will turn it around.” It was hard to feel that during the Nats’ collapse on Sunday — the combination of a stadium half-filled with Cubs fans, an Alberto Gonzalez booted ball, the unraveling of Garrett Mock and ”Coo Coo’s” antics combined to send Nats’ fans home early. The stadium started emptying in the top of the 6th (it almost reminded me of Shea), leaving fans of the North Side Drama Queens to celebrate their victory. The Slugs are now rolling towards the Redbirds, whom they trail by two games. The Cubs head north to face the Phuzzies, while the Nats will square off against the Chokes, who are coming in from Atlanta — where they lost three of four.

Down On Half Street: It takes time to assess a trade, but Mike Rizzo’s acquisition of Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett is looking more and more like a steal. Morgan has gained the most attention, but Burnett (who should have been on the mound for “Coo Coo” on Sunday) has continued to impress. His ERA has dropped nearly half-a-point since his arrival in Washington. But Burnett has been used sparingly: logging less than nine innings in eight outings. During that same period, “Coo Coo” faced double the batters of Burnett, while his ERA rose by the same rate as Burnett’s fell. I don’t get it . . . MLB Network showed Ryan Langerhans in left field for the Mariners the other day. The former Chop and Nats’ outfielder’s BA has ping-ponged with the Blue and Teal. Meanwhile Mike Morse, the player Rizzo obtained for Langerhans, is hitting the hell out of the ball in Syracuse. Morse, a third round draft choice for the Pale Hose has been haunted by injuries and the Mariners seemingly ran out of patience with him. Morse has played short and third, but he’s now holding down second for the Chiefs. Morse is big, tough and hits the long ball and he has a good glove. He could be in Washington soon . . . 

Around the NL Least: Kingman over at The Real Dirty Mets Blog loves the Ryan Church for Jeff Francoeur trade and says he has not yet given up hope on the Mets’ season. Readers of CFG know we have no brief for Francoeur, but we would probably take the swap. Francoeur was smiling all the way through the Mets’ loss to the Chops on Sunday in Atlanta, while Church looks like the same old Ryan Church that once played for the Nats . . . Braves Baseball Blog, meanwhile, makes a plea to Atlanta’s front office: “Another bat would be all I want. With offense struggling [the Braves] are in dire need of a legitimate bat to give support to McClouth, Chipper and B-Can . . . I’m very optimistic that it will happen, but some players I wouldn’t mind getting would be Holliday, Teahan, Jeremy Hermida, and or Alex Rios. But I don’t want the team to be trading away any potential future studs just so they can win now . . . not worth it in my opinion . . . ” The newest addition to nleastchatter is Fish Guts. This’ll be the last time I agree with a Phish fan, but he’s right about the new stadium and plans to replace the Marlins’ uniforms: ”my dream is that they keep the home whites with pinstripes, as I think those are some of the classiest threads in all of baseball.” That’s true . . .

Despite Nats 3-1 Loss. The Nats were outpitched in their dual against Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs Friday, but Jim Riggleman remained upbeat during the post-game press conference. The shape of the new “Riggleman era” in Nats’ baseball is now becoming apparent: the new skipper will attempt to infuse the Anacostia Boys with a new sense of purpose by accenting the positive. Saying he would attempt to keep from being negative, Riggleman vowed to stay away from words like “frustrating” in describing the state-of-the-team. “I can remember thinking I don’t even want to use those words,” he said. “It projects negative stuff.” Later in his post-game briefing, Riggleman was even more emphatic, while breaking his own rule: “[The team is] frustrated with the record, and they’re anxious to turn it around,” he said. “And I can tell you that. We will turn it around.”

Changing the culture of negativity is one thing, tweaking the line-up is another. Evidence that Riggleman understands the team’s weakness was apparent in the first inning, when he signaled a hit-and-run with Ryan Zimmerman at the plate. With Nyjer Morgan at second and Nick Johnson at first, Zimmerman swung through a 3-2 Zambrano offering. Morgan, running with the pitch, was called out while trying to take third. The classic strike-em-out-throw-em-out play killed a Nats’ rally, but Riggleman’s intention was clear: he wanted to keep Zimmerman from hitting into a double play, which has become a habit for the third sacker. Still, Riggleman was adamant: the Nats had played a good game, with Craig Stammen weathering successive on-base problems and early inconsistencies to pitch a solid six innings. The Nats waited for the departure of Zambrano, but couldn’t solve the Cubs’ bullpen. “To me good baseball is good baseball,” Riggleman said. “Sometimes you don’t hit good or you don’t pitch good, but you do a lot of things good. You play the game well.”

Playing the game “well” is what the Cubs did last night, which was a kind of model for what they had planned all year: their starters (Zambrano, or Lilly, or Harden) keep them in the game, Carlos Marmol pitches the eighth and Kevin Gregg closes it out. In between, one of their boppers (like Aramis Ramirez) puts one in the seats while their up-the-middle “LSU connection” do their wizardry around second. The model worked last night, but it didn’t work so well in the first half of the season, when the Cubs of ‘09 appeared to be the Cubs of old — non-lovable losers who haven’t won anything much since 1945, and are without a world championship since 1908. The history weighs heavily. In the 8th inning of last night’s game, the chant coming from Cubs fans (let’s go cub-bies) was answered by one from a Nats fan sitting several rows behind me — nine-teen-oh-eight!

Down On Half Street: I attended the game with me droogs last night (here they are, once again) and received an earful from one of them — a Mets fan, no less — who pointed out that it wasn’t that long ago that the Nats could claim to be a good team. “They had a closer, a hitter and a couple good pitchers,” he said. He’s right. It might seem eons, but the 2005 Nats finished at .500 with a line-up Brian Schneider, Nick Johnson, Jose Vidro, Jose Guillen and Vinny Castilla. Livan Hernandez was performing miracles on the mound and Wil Cordero, who is now out of the game, was the closer. Those were the days . . . Even so, loyalists have to believe the Nats are still only a closer, a bopper, a veteran pitcher and a second baseman from respectability. Which is true, of course, for nearly every team in baseball . . . 

We’re likely to see more tweaks in the Nats line-up. The one way to keep the strike-em-out-throw-em-out first inning that we saw last night from becoming a habit would be to move Alberto to the second spot and move Zim down, perhaps to the fifth spot. The Nats need to find a way to move on-base machine Nyjer Morgan into scoring position without always having to depend on him to steal a base . . . Ronnie Belliard pinch hit on Thursday and again last night. Why are the Nats still in love with this guy? . . . Gonzalez is 10 for his last 20 and is laying claim to the second base job. He was at shortstop last night because Cristian Guzman was complaining about foot pain. “Fredo” is hitting the hell out of the ball, his triple against the Cubs on Thursday was one of the most impressive scorchers registered at Nats Park this year. Add his name to the list of “can’t touch” Nats, which includes John Lannan, Ryan Zimmerman, Nyjer Morgan, Jordan Zimmermann, Adam Dunn, Jesus Flores, Josh Willingham (mmmmm, well, maybe not) and (perhaps) Craig Stammen. I would put Sean Burnett on the list. That leaves Nick Johnson and Cristian Guzman as the most likely candidates to be packing their bags before the trade deadline . . . The Nats are apparently waiting for the right offer for Johnson, hoping his stock will rise in the next week. But there are reports that Mike Rizzo might be asking too much for Johnson and some “buyers” who might need Johnson could very quickly become “sellers” — especially if they keep losing 11-0.  

So Let’s Put A “Curly L” In The Books: The “Jim Riggleman” era began in Washington last night, with a loss to the Chicago Cubs. Nats fans and baseball analysts and columnists who follow the team are so downhearted, however, that they seem to see no diffence between this “era” and the last. Indeed, the same plague — poor fielding and a collapsing bullpen — seem as ever present now as it did before the all star break. It’s hard to blame anyone for not noticing any difference between last night’s loss and (say) the embarrassing play of the team in Colorado and Houston. But there were, in fact, some fairly obvious differences. Cristian Guzman, for instance, seemed reenergized, snagging two tough grounders that (I can’t help feeling) he would have booted under Manny. And Alberto Gonzalez went two for three at the plate, raising his batting average to .342. Take a bow Manny. Alberto’s hitting is a confirmation of the ex-Manager’s judgment that the kid at second is now ready for prime time, a decision that Riggleman has (thankfully) endorsed. As for Guzman, I get the impression that Riggleman had a little chat with him — or maybe he didn’t have to. 

The NL “Least”: The Nats are the only team in the NL East to not be playing an inter-division rival. While last night’s head-to-head games were hardly the last that the Phuzzies, Chokes, Phish and Chops will have with each other (or with our Anacostia Boys), they were emblamatic of the kinds of knock-down-drag-outs (or perhaps “surrenders”) that are likely to characterize the rest of the season in the NL East. New York’s tussle in Atlanta with “the Chops” not only resulted in an Atlanta win, it symbolized the kinds of problems the ailing New York 9 is having. Chipper Jones stroked an RBI single in the seventh to break a 3-3 deadlock and the Braves went on to win 5-3 in nine. The new Mets’ savior, Jeff Francoeur, went 0-4, with an infield single that scored a run. That’s about standard for the whiney Francoeur, who was swapped for the appropriately named Ryan Church in a straight-up trade of “we-don’t-want-him-anymore” outfielders. The Mets bullpen, a weakness last year but a strength this year, failed to hold the Chops — with the otherwise lights-out Pedro Feliciano serving up the Jones game-winning RBI in 1/3 or an inning’s work.

In Miami, the little engine that could — Jamie Moyer — hooked the Phish, holding them to one hit in seven innings of work. You have to wonder what the Marlins are going to do the rest of the way: their starting five looks suddenly vulnerable and their “closer by committee” plan hasn’t ever worked for anyone. That leaves the Phish depending on the bats of Emilio Bonafacio, Jorge Cantu, Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez and Jeremy Hermida to generate runs, which is not such a bad bet were it not for the fact that the Miami front five went 1 for 14 last night. Okay, so Jamie Moyer isn’t Tim Lincecum, but you see the point. Calling Moyer ”that wily and crafty veteran” doesn’t compensate for a night in which Miami failed miserably to show the Phuzzies that they were going to fight them for the division flag. 

If last night is any indication, the Mets, Marlins and Braves are going to have trouble staying with the Phillies, with the Phuzzies having the inside track on winning the division. The Mets are not only hobbled, the horses they were depending on to put them back in the post-season are not producing: David Wright has suddenly and inexplicably lost his home run stroke and no date has been set for the return of injured semi-stars Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran. And Mets fans counting on the return of Jose Reyes will just have to wait: the everyday shortstop is still nursing his nagging calf and there’s a growing feeling he might be done for the year. But that’s hardly the worst problem facing the Chokes: the team has no starting rotation outside of Johan Santana and screaming and yelling that Mike Pelfrey is the answer doesn’t make it so. He’s not. After working through the off-season to remake “the great collapsable bullpen,” Omar Minaya can feel good that the Chokes have one of the best core of relief pitchers in the game — and very little else. Certainly Minaya must be calculating his own future, knowing full well that this time the Mets’ ownership will look for someone else to fire besides the manager.

The Phish are flopping, the Chokes are choking, and the Chops are struggling. Which is to the point: in comparison to the NL West, where the Dodgers, Giants and Rockies are likely to fight it out for the division flag (and the likely NL wild card birth) and in comparison to the NL Central — where only the Pirates seem out of the running — the NL East looks more like “the NL Least,” with a team that is the worst in baseball and three others that are in various states of collapse. The result is that the division will probably be sorting itself out fairly soon – especially if Philadelphia lands fireballer Roy Halladay in a trade.

But even without Halladay, the Phuzzies are putting distance between themselves and the rest of the division, with Florida five games back and Atlanta six. Halladay will be added, then, though not to finish the Phish, choke the Chokes or sink the Chops — the Phillies are looking ahead to the post-season: to the Dodgers, Cards and Giants. The disparity in talent in “the Least” is obvious: Philadelphia has everything it needs to take on the other NL contenders in the post-season, while the Braves, Marlins and Mets are trying to solve major problems. It’s painful to say it, but if the Nats had any kind of a team at all . . .

MLB Network’s two hour special — 30 Clubs/30 Report Cards — provided a good snapshot of who’s where with a little less than half-a-season left. There were few surprises: the Trolleys are the class of the National League, the Redbirds are the team to beat in the NL Central, “the Nation” and “the Empire” remain the flagships of the AL, the Belinskis finally have competition in the AL West and no one (but no one) thinks the Nats will improve. Former Rangers General Manager John Hart’s on air analysis was sobering. ”I’m not going to beat a dead horse,” he said — and then went ahead with the whipping. Not only has the team little talent, but there’s little talent for Mike Rizzo to call on in the Nats’ farm system. ”I don’t see a lot of good young players waiting in the wings to come up,” Hart said — a statement that debunks the sometime-narrative that the Nats’ development program will soon yield major league-ready ballplayers to the Anacostia Nine. It just ain’t so and John Hart isn’t the only one who thinks so — Baseball Prospectus ranked the Nats’ farm system 29th, which is (if you’re counting), next to last in all of baseball.

What’s so astonishing about Hart’s assessment (little talent — and none coming), is that it’s difficult to see how the team can appreciably improve in the second half. They just have to play better, no matter who’s on the field. This means, as Hart made clear, that new manager Jim Riggleman has to instill a culture of discipline and pride in the players. Easier said than done. “I really look at the fundamentals, that’s where it starts . . .” Hart said. ”This is a club that fundamentally hasn’t been able to get the job done.” He added: “If you look at their pitching staff they’ve got a bunch of guys who are under 25 which is a good thing, they don’t have a lot of power in that staff, so you have to catch the ball if you’re going to compete . . . how did they get here? I think they overevaluated some of their people; I think number two, I haven’t seen a sense of urgency.”  

Hart’s assessment is the harshest I have heard, reinforcing the on-air and in-the-stands complaints about the product the front office has provided. The overriding complaint, in truth, has nothing to do with the team’s talent, but with the players’ desire to win. This is what Hart’s statement about a “sense of urgency” means: forget the on-the-field talent, the Nats are playing like they don’t care — which is the worst thing you can say about any team in any sport.

Down On Half Street: The Nats open against the North Side Drama Queens tonight at Nats Park. Next to the Nats (and the New York Chokes), the Cubs are probably the most dysfunctional team in the game. Cubs GM Jim Hendry traded away all-world utilityman Mark DeRosa, signed bad boy and galactic whiner Milton Bradley, and has continued to coddle “isn’t he cute when he’s angry” underachiever Carlos Zambrano. The baseball gods then intervened to punish Hendry: Aramis Ramirez went down with a shoulder separation, second baseman Mike Fontenot started hitting like Mike Fontenot, Alfonso Soriano started hitting like this guy and, most recently, the answer to all the Cubs woes — Geovany “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” Soto — has been sidelined due to an oblique strain.

The result is that all of baseball has gotten to see the Cubs farm system in action – and, unlike the Nats, the Cubs actually have one. Itsy-bitsy Sam Fuld has replaced Soriano in left field, drain plug Jake Fox is the interim catcher (we have an interim GM, so why not an interim catcher?), potential powerhouse Micah Hoffpauir has been able to show his stuff, oldster Randy Wells has pitched like Zambrano oughta, Kevin Hart has finally been allowed to audition for the rotation and permanent minor leaguer Bobby Scales (who?) has shown Hendry that he should have brought him up from triple-A years ago. Cubs fans have watched all of this with something akin to Jean-Paul Sarte’s view of the universe: hell is other people, or in this case — hell is Milt the Moron lofting the ball into the bleachers after two outs. “I haven’t seen that one before,” Lou said, “I’ll be honest with you . . . I mean, do we need to teach math?”

Okay: none of this is pretty, but you’ve gotta admit, it sure as hell is entertaining.

I would add this caveat. The Cubs aren’t dead. They’re a solid team and should they ever reach their potential (with a middle of the line-up order that is among the best in baseball), they’ll catch the Cardinals and end up in the playoffs. Certainly, Tony LaRussa knows that — it might be the only reason the Redbirds are willing to trade half their farm system (and — unlike the Nats — they also have one) for Roy Halladay.

Somewhere in the back of every fan’s mind is a list of baseball injustices. For Cubs fans it’s that Ron Santo isn’t yet in the Hall of Fame, for Pirate’s fans it’s that Roberto Clemente wasn’t named the NL MVP in 1960. There’s an argument on the net about whether Tim Raines, one of baseball’s great on base players should be in the hall, whether Jeffrey Maier or Steve Bartman should have been called for interference, whether Satchell Paige was justified in being irritated that Branch Rickey chose Jackie Robinson to break the color barrier. But in terms of pure injustice, few can top the unstated but embarrassing slight suffered by Texas Rangers fans who saw perhaps the game’s best second baseman (who came up as a shortstop in ‘04) held out of the all star game. Even Boston Red Sox fans were upset.

It’s not any easier to talk about the Kinsler slight now that the game is over. Not only is Kinsler a possible AL MVP, the American League went into the St. Louis “Midsummer Classic” with (count ‘em) one second baseman – the well-deserving Aaron Hill (who’s an institution on my list of baseball’s most underrated players). Hill became a starter after Dustin Pedroia (here he is, in case you’ve forgotten) decided to spend time with his wife, who’s enduring a difficult pregnancy. To take Pedroia’s place, Hill was made a starter and Tampa Bay Ray Carlos Pena was named to the team. The naming of Pena meant that the AL might have fielded an all-Tampa Bay infield, particularly after Ray’s coach Joe Maddon named hometown favorite Ben Zobrist as a possible second baseman. Zobrist is a hell of a hitter, but Tampa Bay fans look at him as a “super-uilityman” — and he’s played nearly half his games in the outfield and shortstop. And since when does a “super-utility-man” get named to the all star game? Still, there was a chance that Kinsler might appear after Evan Longoria decided not to play, the result of an infection his throwing hand. But AL manager Joe Maddon picked Angels’ third baseman Chone Figgins to take Longoria’s place. Who knows, maybe there’s something about Kinsler that Maddon doesn’t like, but it certainly can’t be his qualifications: he’s hitting .337 with 14 home runs, 58 RBIs, 84 runs and 23 stolen bases — better numbers than any other AL player at the position. Not bad for a guy who finished second in fan voting and got to spend the all star break at a Starbucks in Dallas.

The slight of Ian Kinsler has rightly angered Ranger fans, but this isn’t the first time that a great player and potential MVP was overlooked in “the Midsummer Classic.” In 1954, feared Cubs hitter Hank Sauer was given three days off during the all star break, despite the fact that he was having a phenomenal year. Baseball’s older veterans still talk about the Sauer slight, noting that he’d won the rain-shortened 1952 classic with a home run — a year in which he’d led the league in homers and RBIs — and was one of the game’s most-feared hitters. In 1954, they note, he was having a career year and single-handedly carrying a bad team. Sauer (nicknamed “the Honker” for his big nose) was hardly a defensive whiz (he once misplayed a fly ball during a night game and explained that “I lost it in the moon”) and might have been the slowest outfielder in the National League. But his Wrigley Field blasts were the stuff of baseball lore and Cubs fans loved him: whenever he hit a homer, Cubs fans in the rightfield bleachers showered him with packets of tobacco. On Hank Sauer Day, a celebration of his career, there was so much tobacco on the field that it took five wheelbarrows to remove it. ”I loved playing in Wrigley Field,” Sauer remembered during his retirement. “Fans would throw tobacco to me. What I couldn’t put in my pocket, I’d store in the vines. I supplied the whole club with tobacco.”

The Sauer injustice remained unmentioned by the Cubs outfielder throughout his career and into his retirement. When asked about it he dismissed it with a shrug, adding that a lot of people in the league that year were more focused on Chicago’s new rookie phenom — shortstop Ernie Banks. Then too, as Sauer himself would have admitted, he hardly deserved to be on the starting nine in ‘54. The NL outfield was packed: with Stan Musial, Duke Snyder and Jackie Robinson, a veritable murderers’ row, named as the league starters. But that Sauer should have been on the team is not in question. The same holds true for Kinsler.

Hacks With Haggs: gives us the transcript of an interview with Peter Gammons, in which the wag of Cooperstown says that the Nats and “The Nation” have had talks about a Nick Johnson for Manny Delcarmen swap. That’s not shocking news, nor is Gammons’ opinion that Nats acting GM Mike Rizzo would like to solve the club’s bullpen problems. The Nats can part with Johnson, shift Adam Dunn to first base (where he belongs), and give Josh Willingham some more playing time. And the Sox are one of the teams with a well-stocked bullpen. The question is: is Delcarmen — “the pride of Hyde Park” (gag)– the guy we need?

Delcarman is not a closer – he has been used mostly as a bridge to the ninth, recording 53, 44, and 74 innings of work in each of the last three years since 2006. But he’s incredibly effective. His current ERA is 0.95. Delcarmen has also been through the Tommy John point of his career, having the surgery back in May of 2003. He has a 95 mph fastball and a good 12-to-6 curve. He’s 27, doesn’t get rattled and he’s cheap, at $495,000. Which is something the Lerner’s love. What’s not to like?

I can think of a few things:

– Despite his history of injuries, Nick Johnson is a lot to give up and the Nats are not as desperate as Gammons or the rest of us might think. We’re not going to contend for the pennant with Delcarmen, he might not even lift us into fourth place. And the common notion that “you can always find relief pitching” happens to be true — despite the Nats’ failure to do so;

– Let’s not kid ourselves, Delcarmen in Washington will not be the same as Delcarmen in Boston. This is a guy who’s waited his whole life to play for “The Nation” and this trade could raise his ERA a couple of points (which, granted, would still place him at the head of the Nats bullpen class);

– As a fan said over at NationalsFanBoyLooser, Dunn “has shown that he is not an everyday first baseman.” Yeah. Of course, he’s also shown he’s not an everyday left fielder too. Still, I would rather have him at first base. He won’t need to hit the cut-off man. 

Mikey Rizzo will decide, of course, but Nick’s contract is up at the end of the year and he’ll be looking to get out. And you never know when he’s going to go down. He’ll probably slip on the dugout step. The Bosox may need another week to convince themselves of what the rest of us in this part of the galaxy already know: Big Papi’s bat speed is gone and it isn’t coming back. We can get a better deal, maybe another-player-plus-Delcarmen, in early June. Or we pull the trigger now. 

We’ve Studied Your Condition and We Think We Know Your Problem: spontaneous demonstrations broke out all over D.C. yesterday when Manny Acta told the press that he would only bring Danny Cabrera into a game when no one was on base. We have a better idea. We think he should only bring Danny in when the Nats have a 12 run lead. Or maybe he should bring Danny in when the Nats aren’t playing . . . there was a good match-up on “Extra Innings” last night, with Tim Lincecum facing off against “the most underrated player in baseball” — Adrian Gonzalez. It was the 6th inning of a tie ballgame. Lincecum worked him outside and inside – in-the-zone, in-the-zone, foul, foul, ball out, ball in, ball down and Gonzalez (15 home runs) was flailing, shaking his head. He just wasn’t catching up to the fastball. Lincecum read the frustration and threw him another heater — 95 mph. Gonzalez lined it past his left ear. Lincecum played self defense, with the ball ricocheting off his right wrist. Another six inches and Gonzalez would have buried the ball in his ear. The kid is lucky he’s alive. Standing at first, Gonzalez stared at Lincecum, who barely gave him a glance. You could have read Gonzalez’s thoughts: ‘hey stupid, do you really think I can’t hit your fastball?’ It’s worth watching . . . The Giants lost the game at “the dog bowl“ in the ninth, but that’s no surprise. They’ve been swept there twice, losing six in a row . . .

And now from the Department of Redundancy Department: when the Friars faced the McCovey’s last night, one of the promos said — “Coming Up After the Game: the Post-Game.” I kid you not . . . Manny Acta has said that one of Danny C’s problems is that he has been improperly toeing the rubber, placing his spikes on top of it, instead of in front of it. Ohhhh, so that’s the problem. Now the Ministry of Truth has discovered there’s more to the story. After telling Danny he has been setting up wrong, Manny also told him that the object of being a starting pitcher is to throw strikes. Danny was shocked. “I had no idea,” he said. ”I’ve been doing that [throwing balls] that way my whole life.” Whew, things’ll-be-okay-now . . . I know this sounds crazy, but my bet is that this guy is on his way out of Chicago …