Center Field Gate

The Washington, DC chapter of the Internet Baseball Writers Association has voted Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman its 2009 Goose Goslin MVP Award. The award is voted on by the DC-IBWA — an organization that represents Washington Nationals’ internet writers, on-line media outlets, and bloggers. Goslin was a left fielder for the Washington Senators from 1921-30, 1933 and 1938. He also played for the St. Louis Browns (1930-32) and the Detroit Tigers (1934-37). As Nationals News Network notes in quoting from the Hall of Fame’s description: “Burly and strong-armed, Leon Goose Goslin swung the bat with Ruthian effort and forged a reputation as a powerful clutch-hitter. He spearheaded his teams to five American League pennants — three with the Senators and two with the Tigers. He drove in 100 or more runs on 11 occasions and hit .300 or better 11 times, compiling a .316 lifetime average and 2,735 hits. He led the Senators to a World Series title in 1924 with a .344 average and three home runs.”

Zimmerman played in 157 games for the Nats in 2009, hitting .292 with 33 home runs. 106 RBIs and 110 runs scored. His amazing defensive play at third base puts him in line to receive his first gold glove award. Zimmerman finished seventh in at bats, seventh in plate appearances, fourth in runs scored, eighth in extra base hits and sixth in RBIs in the National League. By any measure his was an extraordinary season.  

Zimmerman took first place honors with 88 points, including 14 first place votes. Nyjer Morgan finished second and Willie Harris a distant third. The Walter Johnson Starting Pitcher of the Year Award was given to John Lannan, with second place going to Jordan Zimmermann and third to Craig Stammen. The Frederick “Firpo” Marberry Relief Pitcher of the Year award was given to a deserving Tyler Clippard. Other awards were given to Adam Dunn (Frank Howard Slugger of the Year), Nick Johnson (Mickey Vernon Comeback Player of the Year), John Lannan (Josh Gibson Humanitarian Player of the Year), and Derek Norris (Minor League Player of the Year). Zimmerman took three awards in all: the MVP award, the Sam Rice Hitter of the Year award and the Joe Judge Defensive Player of the Year award.

Voters for the awards were asked to name first, second and third place for each category. First place votes received five points, second place votes received three points and third place votes received one point. Twenty ballots from association members were submitted from the following online media outlets: Nationals News Network, Nationals Pride, We’ve Got Heart, Centerfield Gate, FJB, Federal Baseball, The Nationals Enquirer, DC Sports Box, Nationals Inquisition, Nats Fanboy Looser, Planetary Nats, Bang! Zoom!, Nats Nation, Let Teddy Win!, Nationals Review, DC Sports Plus, and Passing Time Between Wil Nieves Bombs. Full results can be found at Nationals News Network.

Matt Holliday loves St. Louis. Since coming to the Cardinals, the former Colorado Rockies-Oakland Athletics outfielder is hitting .376 with a .438 OBP for the Redbirds. On Saturday, his three run homer all but decided the 9-4 contest, giving the loss to Nats’ starter Craig Stammen. And so after taking two of three from the struggling Cubs in Chicago, the Nats have now dropped two in St. Louis, but with hopes that the team can recover on Sunday in the final game of a three game set. On Sunday night, the Nats will travel to San Diego to take on the resurgent Friars, who are riding a  miraculous three game winning streak against the sinking Florida Marlins. Holliday’s homer came in the first, and while it did not seal the game for the Redbirds, it cast a bright light on the Cardinals’ strength since the trading deadline, when Holliday arrived: a team that could break out the big bats and score a slew of runs in backing what is one of the N.L. strongest starting staffs.

A disappointed Elijah Dukes struck out with the bases loaded in the 7th (AP/To Gannam)

“That’s what makes their lineup good,” Stammen said. “They’ve got multiple guys that can hurt you, back-to-back-to-back,” Craig Stammen admitted after the game. “When I went out there, I was like, ‘You know what? Have fun. Have fun trying to get the best hitters in the game out.’ And for the most part, it was kind of fun, except when they got me.” Stammen was not only victimized by Holliday. A key error by Cristian Guzman in the fifth inning helped the Cards score four unearned runs after two outs. Stammen defended his shortstop. Guzman has made enough plays for me this year that I’m not really worried about the one mistake that he makes,” said starter Craig Stammen. Adam Dunn provided Washington’s power, hitting his 35th home run in the 6th.

Down On Half Street: It seems the only time anyone in the N.L. Least can win a game is when they play each other. At least that’s the way it’s been lately. The Mets, reeling from a raft of injuries and the effects of age, were pummeled by the Cubs on national television on Saturday, 11-4, with Cubs supersub Jake Fox hitting a grand slam off of Mets youngster Bobby Parnell. Parnell is the hope of the future, but he’s had a rocky August. Nevertheless, the team pledges that “The Bobby Parnell Project” as they call it, will continue. Parnell is fairly philosophical about it all, admitting that his last outings have been “up and down.” Mostly down, actually . . .

It’s not possible for things to be worse in Florida, but they (nearly) are. You get the feeling that this is a ballclub that is on the verge of taking itself apart. On Friday, versus the little brown priests, Chris Volstad barely made it to the top of the dugout steps before he was shipped out to New Orleans.  Volstad, all 6-8 of him, lasted 1.2 innings (but just barely) and gave up six earned runs. He had a 5.08 ERA in the show. (We’ll take him.) On Saturday, the Marlins (hoping to catch the Phillies) sent out their ace, Ricky Nalasco. But they forgot to bring their bats. In six innings they mustered four hits against no-name Friars’ hurler Wade LeBlanc. Don’t underestimate Wade — he has an ERA of 9.58. Either Wade looked like Roger McDowell, or the Phish looked like the Bad News Bears. One guess . . .

Up in Philadelphia, things are proceeding apace for the Phuzzies, who are breezing their way to a division crown. Out in South Philly, the guys who stand around on the corner and talk tough are even trying to figure out the dimensions of the statue to Cliff Lee that will grace the front of the Philadelphia Art Museum — where they never go. Right next to the one of that other great Philly cultural icon, Rocky Balboa. But the Cliff Lee Express was derailed on Saturday, when the Chops decapitated Lee in front of a sold out crowd at Citizens Bank Park. The Chops barrage of homers (Diaz, Escobar, Anderson, Jones) reached such a din that it was like listening to the 1812 Overture. “It’s hard to get good results when you’re throwing pitches belt high and down the middle of the plate,” Lee said after the game. ”That’s basically what happened. I feel good about throwing strikes, working ahead and not walking people, but I put myself in positions to put them away and I missed up and down the middle. If you consistently do that, that’s what’s going to happen.” The final butcher’s bill? 9-1 Atlanta.

Craig Stammen pitched 6.1 innings and the Nats rapped out ten hits — including three home runs — to take the third game of the four game series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Nationals Park on Sunday, 8-3. Stammen was not brilliant, but in firm control of the strike zone, moving his fastball in and out against a baffled Milwaukee line-up. Stammen, who has had several good outings of late, threw 97 pitches, 60 of them for strikes. Stammen consistently moved players off the plate by throwing his fastball inside on hitters. ”My No. 1 goal is to pitch six or seven innings and throw a quality start,” he said after the game. “But it was really important today to save the bullpen, give some of the guys a couple of days of rest and pitch late into the game so we could win.” Sean Burnett and Tyler Clippard pitched in relief and were able to close out the game.

As was the case in the previous two contests, the Nats’ bats came alive, but this time the effort was in a winning cause. And the wallbangers in this case were not from Milwaukee. Home runs by Cristian Guzman (number 6), Adam Dunn (his 33rd) and Ryan Zimmerman (his 26th) paced the ballclub. The club was even able to pull off a suicide squeeze, with Nyjer Morgan laying down a perfect bunt in the second inning to score a sprinting Mike Morse. “It was one of those plays where we had to get that run in and put a little more pressure on them,” Morgan said. “We got it down and executed the play. I was trying not to show the bunt too early. It worked out in our favor.” Morse started in right field, his first major league start for the club since coming over from the Mariners.

Some People Call It A Kaiser Blade, I Call It A Sling Blade: Ronnie Belliard has been hitting the ball well lately, stroking a grand slam homer in a losing cause to the Brewers on Saturday. He’s raised his batting average by twenty points in the last week and had a key hit on Sunday. So, despite our constant criticism of Ronnnneeeeee here at CFG, we’re all happy for him. In fact, we’re so fracking ecstatic we’re wetting our pants. A young guy who can hit .300 and field his position? Who won’t get picked off first? Who won’t boot a ball at a key point in the game? Fogeddaboudit  . . . we want Ronnie. That said, don’t ya think it’s a little much when Bob Carpenter described Ronnie as “a really good hitter” during the Sunday broadcast? 

The game of the week took place after the Nats-Brewers match-up today, but before the Red Sox battled the Yankees in Boston. Out in Colorado, the Rockies faced off against the Giants in a tussle of NL West contenders vying for a wild card spot. And, at least at first, it seemed a cinch that the McCoveys would stifle the Rockies’ bats. Tim Lincecum was dominant: he pitched seven innings of three hit ball and struck out seven. He had a no hitter through five. He was overpowering. In comparison, Ubaldo Jimenez looked merely average — giving up two runs to Frisco in the top of the second. But in the seventh, Lincecum left a change-up out over the plate and Rockies’ Seth Smith put it in the seats. The Rockies went on to win the game, 4-2, saddling Lincecum (now 12-4) with the loss. Jimenez, whose win might well have put a very large post hole in the “let’s give Lincecum another Cy Young” bandwagon, is now 12-9 with a 3.36 ERA. Coors Field was filled to capacity (47,704). The Rockies are now three up on the Giants in the wild card race, and only 3.5 back of the fading Trolleys, who lost to the North Side Drama Queens. This was one hell of a game.

Would you like some Coors Light with that Whine? The announcers on FSN Rocky Mountain were going on a bit today about how “those guys out on the east coast” (I’m not kidding) are ignoring just how good the pitching is out in the west, and how good the Rockies and Giants are. Yeah, there’s a little of that. I’ve even mentioned it here in the well-read and highly influential pages of CFG. But you know, they went on and on. And on. And on. It would help, of course, if major league baseball didn’t schedule the Giants-Rockies dust-up for a mid-afternoon in August. But, really, who knew? Then too, it’s hard to see how ESPN could have guessed that, during the third week of August, the most important game being played in baseball would be between the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies. Then too, the comment is just not accurate: it’s not as if Tim Lincecum hasn’t been celebrated.  Yeah, sure. We oughta pay a little more attention to the Rockies. But ignored? Give me a break.

The Nats won their fifth in a row, sweeping the reeling Florida Marlins 12-8 at Nationals Park. With the exception of shaky starting pitching (Craig Stammen lasted an inning-and-two-thirds, giving up five runs on six hits), the Nationals seemed to be hitting on all cylinders. The key word is “hitting” — the Anacostia nine accounted for twelve runs on fourteen hits, with the red hot Ryan Zimmerman going 4 for 4. After struggling at the plate since his recall from Syracuse, Elijah Dukes’s bat came alive: the former Floridian battered Phish pitching for four RBIs and three hits, accounting for two runs and raising his BA to .247. The Florida bullpen flopped around all afternoon. Former Nats’ reliever Luis Ayala was snagged with four runs in one inning of work, while Brian Sanches had a blown save. Phish starter Chris Volstad couldn’t make it out of the fourth; the Nats hooked him for seven runs, four of them earned.

Down on Half Street: Anderson Hernandez was traded to the Mets for a minor league second baseman. The Nats grew disenchanted with Hernandez, a point made clear when Manny Acta said he would be spending time on the bench to make way for Alberto Gonzalez, who would get more playing time. It slowly dawned on Hernandez that he was not going to be the team’s second baseman of the future. He pouted and the front office decided he had to go. He was dealt to the Mets; who need him. Chokes’ players are not only having problems in the field, they’re having problems walking down the dugout steps. Luis Castillo was the latest Mets’ player hit with the inexplicable team injury bug: he suffered a slight strain when he dodged a pair of shoes on his way to the pine. The Nats had high hopes for Anderson, at one pointing envisioning him and Alberto Gonzalez as a good combination up the middle . . . 

Speaking of injuries, last night on MLB network, color analyst and former reliever Mitch Williams said that the “freakiest” injury he ever saw took place even before the season started, when Texas pitcher Oddibe McDowell cut his hand trying to butter a dinner roll during the team’s “Welcome Home” luncheon. He was slated to start for the Rangers in their home opener the next day, but instead went on the 15 day DL . . .

Ryan Zimmerman is sizzling after seeing his average dip precipitously following the all star break. His power has also returned. Here’s my theory: all this stuff about “he’s now opening his hips better,” or “he’s seeing the ball better,” or ”he’s not dipping his back shoulder any more” or (and I love this one) “he’s bringing his bat through the hitting zone better” is a load — the kind of incoherence I associate with this guy. Analysts should be called on their bass ackwards explanations: Zim is starting to hit, so therefore he must be seeing the ball better. Of course he’s seeing the ball better; if he were seeing the ball worse he’d be in a slump. My theory is that a rising tide lifts all boats — Willingham and Dunn’s good at-bats have had a team-wide impact. Truth is, Zim was hanging his head a little bit at the end of July, but not anymore. That’s what winning does . . . then too, Carl Yastrzemski hit .278 in 1966 and .326 in 1967. That’s forty-eight points. What — did his eyesight improve? Did he start “squaring his hips”?  . . . The Nats picked up Daryle Ward and Norris Hopper from the Pale Hose today. Ward is a good pinch hitter. Then too, he’s only 34 . . .

The Nationals took two of three from the New York Mets, completing the series win with a 3-1 victory at Nationals Park. Stammen pitched a beaut: seven-and-one-third innings with one earned run. The young righthander threw 95 pitches, 62 for strikes. The bullpen backed up Stammen’s start (Bergman, Beimel, MacDougal) by closing out the Mets over one-and-two-thirds innings. Josh Willingham began to hit the ball authority, after going 0-14, raising his average to .297. Willingham is now an institution in the outfield. The former Marlin went 4-4, putting one into the left field stands in the sixth. “I didn’t feel I was in a slump,” Willingham said after the game. But the story of the night was Stammen, who threw an effective sinker before being relieved after walking Angel Pagan. A crowd of 23,583 — about what the Nats’ drew the night before — was at Nationals Park to see the win.

Trade Winds: The Boston Red Sox have gotten the first baseman they long coveted, acquiring the dissatisfied Adam LaRoche from the Pittsburgh Pirates for two minor leaguers. The LaRoche acquisition takes the Sox out of the market for Nats’ first baseman Nick Johnson, who is still apparently being dangled to a number of teams in need of late-season help. In fact, it seems the Nats are on-again off-again about dealing Johnson. The oft-injured first baseman could stay in Washington, holding down first base until Nats’ prospect Chris Marrero is ready. The problem is that Marrero is probably not going to be at Nats Park anytime soon, while Johnson’s contract with the Nats is up after this year (they’re paying him $5 million). Then too, the front office and fans fear that Johnson is one errant throw away from a pulled hamstring. Nats interim GM Mike Rizzo is being cagey about Johnson’s future with the team; at the end of May, Rizzo praised Johnson (”We need him here, we like him here and we want him here,” he said) while, two months later, Bill Ladson reported that interested MLB teams thought Rizzo’s price for Johnson was too high.

So which is it? Are the Nats committed to Johnson staying in Washington or is he on the block? The evidence points to an unlikely answer. The Nats would love to keep Johnson (he’s a steady presence at first base and Adam Dunn is not the solution there), but Rizzo would deal him if he was able to get major league-ready prospects in return. So the price is high. Then too, as Rizzo is undoubtedly calculating, the problem with trading for prospects is that they’re prospects and the Nats need to start winning, which is a lot easier to do with Nick Johnson at first base.

Rizzo is facing the same kind of conundrum when it comes to Josh Willingham. The Phillies are reportedly interested in Willingham, but the steady outfielder is a fan favorite and one of the team’s steadiest hitters. Why trade an everyday player who will only get better (and who’s making just $3 million) for a couple of triple-A outfielders (or even a hardthrowing but unproven pitcher) who might or might not make it with the big club? It’s all well and good to have a highly rated farm system, but what’s the point of having the best farm system in the majors if your team is in last place? The goal of all franchises is to build a major league winner. You can’t do that when you trade away your best players. The Nats should hear offers on Johnson (he’s going away after this year in any event), but they should keep Willingham — who’s a better outfielder than any prospect they could get for him.

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.