Everyone Makes Mistakes (The AP Does So Often)

We could spend days agonizing over things such as five team errors and the Future of the Team accounting for three errors and four strikeouts, but why? Why dwell on that when the headliner of the 2007 draft class, Ross Detwiler, made a flawless Major League debut? Why dwell on the negatives when everyone makes the occasional blunder? To point, look at this nonsense from the Associated Press story regarding this very game:

"Shortstop Felipe Lopez had the other miscue, throwing one into the Braves dugout after field a routine grounder."

Now, we at the DCO are not above making a grammatical or spelling error now and then, but we: A. Do not (at least in theory) have a battery of editors at our disposal to catch such things. B. Do know the difference between "field" the noun and "fielding" the verb (yes, sometimes "field" can be a verb, but most certainly not in this context). Also, "Braves" would be better served as the plural possessive "Braves'" (a little muddled with the quotation marks, but you get the point).

Thus, the AP is declared unfit to detail the Nationals' error-prone night, as they are unable to avoid errors even as they write about an error. The irony is astounding. Shakespeare-worthy, even. They have the unfair advantage, however, of being able to correct their botch after the fact. Poor Ryan Zimmerman does not have such a luxury. If only we had videotape of the AP drone who wrote this story making his/her mistake. Now that would be Sportscenter-worthy.

Averages

Sweet merciful crap! Is that Dmitri Young running away with the NL batting title (and making Gold-Glove-worthy defensive plays from first base)? Is that Ryan Zimmerman flirting with .260? Is that Austin Kearns increasing his RBI total by 6% in one game? Is that really a commercial for License to Wed on TV right now??? With all these questions and more answered in one day, what is a blindly optimistic Nats fan to do?

Let's start with the batting. The untradable and critical to the future of the Nationals (please be reading, Jim) Dmitri Young again improved his NL-leading average, this time all the way to the dizzying height of .342. Ryan Zimmerman, showing that getting a hit in a game doesn't prove anything or necessarily contribute to a winning effort, stayed withing spitting distance of .260, just another stop on the inevitable journey to .300. Every starting outfielder contributed: the aforementioned RBI-machine Kearns, the sneakily rising Ryan Church (average .262 and counting), and the power-hitting-monster-in-waiting Ryan Langerhans (halfway to double digits!).

Pitching. Six brilliant innings by Jason Bergmann (nothing of note happened after that). A pair of Holds and a Save later and we have a our 39th victory, again creeping up on these Houston Astros, the Reds, Pirates, Royals, Cardinals and, perhaps most importantly, cursed Orioles.

Not a bad initially rainy afternoon game. All of a sudden, the Nats have won five out of their last eight. Might we be returning to those glory days of May 11 - June 24?

Summer of Ryan (but which one?)

Everyone looking for a bright spot in this Nationals season inevitably mentions Ryan Zimmerman, as well they should. In his second full season, he is expected to improve on his magnificent rookie year numbers. Yet DCO asks, what of the other fine Ryans on this team? Those who may yet make us smile during this potentially (and it is still only potentially, ye harbingers of despair) dismal summer: Ryan Church and Ryan Wagner.

Zimmerman is no longer on his record-setting pace for triples, but nevertheless is still in line for a respectable 20 three-baggers. He has yet to hit a home run but, as Barry Bonds will testify, hitting home runs never proved anything.

Church leads the Nationals with 2 home runs, double that of any teammate, and only 2 off NL leaders Miguel Cabrera and Adam Dunn (though their numbers should be adjusted to reflect that Cabrera has faced Nationals pitching and Dunn has not). He also leads the team with 5 RBI and his .355 batting average is second only to teammate and NL pace-setter Ronnie Belliard, who is making the frozen body (or is it just the head?) of Ted Williams shake with his astounding .444 average.

Wagner looked good in his first four appearances,allowing only one earned run and one hit through 5.1 innings, though his ERA has taken a temporary statistical hit with the 3-run bomb he gave up last night. DCO attributes this freakishly long-hit ball to nothing more than the unusually cold air in Atlanta. Had typical southern April weather been present, no doubt would that ball have died at the warning track. One simply cannot always predict Divine Intervention.

See, there's a little more to look forward to already than 8-x losses and inning after inning of multiple-run deficits to overcome. Enjoy the Ryan Show.

Nats Challenging for Division Lead

Already surpasing expectations for the season, the Nationals are only one game out of first place with 161 left to play. This gives the club, expected by most to finish last by a large margin, ample time to make up the defecit.

Today's Opening Day, a (result redacted) versus the Florida Marlins, gave a glimpse of the many things to look forward to at RFK this season, most notably the play of Ryan Zimmerman. He launched a triple into the right field gap in the first inning (he is now on pace to have a record-shattering 162 triples this year), and made a pair of sterling defensive plays at third base, one from his back.

Those who waited on long lines for food and drink should not be dismayed, as later this season there will almost certainly be a greater ratio of vendors to fans, resulting in much more personal service. Likewise, the crush of traffic exiting the stadium will abate, giving fans a more pleasant ride home. These improvements will enhance the gameday experience and, coupled with more gorgeous weather like that of Opening Day's, make for a very promising season, one that is not lost by a long stretch.