DCO Mailbag / Series Preview

Regular DCO commentator (bless you for that) and Phillies fan Pop Cultured writes, "Our series starts Tuesday, brother...what do you think?" We've only done a series preview once before, and while that prediction may have been, on a purely cold, results-tilted scale, slightly incorrect (though on a 'Tism-weighted scale it was dead-on, with only dastardly circumstances preventing what might [should] have been), we nevertheless put our prognosticating skills to the test again and look at the important aspects of the crucial upcoming Nationals-Phillies series.

Mildly interesting fact: both teams are 6-4 since the All-Star break. This record marks a tremendously successful stretch for the Nats, putting to bed the unpleasant memories of late June (selectively looking back a little further, they have won 8 of 12), and igniting hopes that we are about to re-live the glory days of mid-May through mid-June. The Phillies' recent streak has pushed them up above .500. Still, a 6-4 stretch is much more of a big deal to Washington than it is to Philadelphia. Advantage: Nats

The Phillies boast some gaudy offensive statistics, with players with more than 20 HRs, 80 runs, and 80 RBI. The Nationals have a feel-good story sitting in second place in NL hitting. Dmitri has only temporarily vacated the top spot in favor of Chipper Jones, whose recent fluky hot streak is no match for Dmitri's two-months-and-counting hitting extravaganza. Dmitri is scheduled to come off a minor injury to continue the extravaganza in a starting role on, coincidentally enough, Tuesday, in Philadelphia. Advantage: Nats.

The Phillies franchise recently lost its 10,000th game, to the apparent delight of wacky disc jockeys. The Nationals are unlikely to lose even 1/100 that many games this year, to the disappointment of every baseball expert in the entire universe, but to the surprise of no one in the Washington clubhouse. Advantage: Nats.

Matt Chico takes the mound on Wednesday in the second game of the series. According to his biggest fan, Chico=American Icon/Hero, presumably a bigger icon than, say, the Liberty Bell, and a bigger hero than, say, Ben Franklin, both of Philadelphia. Advantage: Nats.

The Nationals have signed second-biggest-feel-good-story-in-baseball (at least baseball in Washington) Ronnie Belliard to a contract extension. The Phillies have not. The move suggests that other re-signings of other key players may be forthcoming as The Plan perhaps transitions from "jettison-all-currently-good-players-in-favor-of-long-term-prospects" to "keep-the-good-players-you-have". Advantage: Nats.

With these undeniable and unassailable facts such as they are, there is only one possible result to this series. We report. You decide (please don't sue us, Rupert).

MAO of the Week (7-20)

It's a day late, but we nevertheless present this Manny Acta Optimist of the Week award to Capitals' captain Chris Clark. Besides showing his dedication to the "other plan" in town by re-upping for three years, Clark vocalized his foresight and bubbling optimism by saying "I like where I am right now. I like the organization. I love the area."

Clark's attitude flies in the face (again) of the optimism-hating perception that "nobody wants to play for the Capitals." Just as the Michael Nylander DC-is-way-better-than-Edmonton situation showed, players coming off career years do want to play here. Clark could have walked after next year and had his soul purchased by the blackened hearts in Philly or New York, but he chose to stay. There may yet be hope that traditional team-building will win the day over the elite-player-grabbing-and-overpaying that is more and more becoming a strategy in the NHL (salary "caps" notwithstanding).

We are also exuberant about Clark's re-signing for more selfish reasons. The extension presents us with three extra years of opportunities to pose pressing questions to the benevolent captain, who seemed to genuinely enjoy his brief chat with our own Bobtimist Prime at last month's uniform unveiling. There's plenty more where that came from, Chris. We're glad you're sticking around for it.

Self-Promotion Friday

The dearth of recent posts is not due to some sudden (and tragic) drop-off in optimism levels on this site. Such levels are, in fact, unmoved, and may even be higher, thanks to everyone's new favorite pinch hitter, D'Angelo Jimenez. With a simple stroke of his .040 bat, DA won last night's game and exacted a measure of revenge on drunk-with-power and optimism-hating homeplate umpire Rob Drake, who had the unprecedented gall to eject the inspirational Dmitri Young in the third inning. How is winning a game revenge against an umpire? It just is.

No, we've been relatively post-less because of our careful crafting of a guest post for master of the Bog Dan Steinberg. Head on over to the Bog and read the compelling evidence for cutting two local teams some slack in the record books. If, after reading, you'd rather chalk up our downturn in posting to utter laziness, feel free.

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?

Manny's Happy Place

In an almost throwaway statement on Washington Post Live prior to last night's victory over the Houston Astros (question: the flippin' Astros bring opposing fans to RFK? What the hell?), Manny Acta cracked open the window to his soul . When host and DC Optimist fan Russ Thaler asked Man Act how he copes with "mounting loses", the Master of 'Tism replied that he will simply "watch the 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' with my daughter." It is, apparently, that simple. We only wish Russ had relentlessly pursued this angle in the same way he aggressively sought details surrounding Manny's upcoming experimentation with the country music scene in Philly.

Though we lack specifics as to how the wacky exploits of the Banks family give Manny a quick upper, DCO nevertheless fully endorses this revolutionary 'Tism Therapy. To that end, we recommend that after every Nationals defeat fans tune in to the WB at 1:00 AM, lest they go to bed the least bit upset at what transpired on the diamond.

Had the Nats lost last night, for instance, solitude would have awaited us in the form of "As the Will Turns", in which "The lead in a daytime drama (Leanne Hunley) wants Will for her co-star." Oh Will, what have you gotten yourself into this time? Of course, even botched calls at first base and late-inning comeback attempts could not deny our boys victory, so such viewing is not required this early morning. However, should things take a turn for the worse tonight, we have
"Save the Last Trance for Me" to pull us out of any funk that may ensnare us. This time, "Carlton hires a hypnotist for Will's bash; Nicky interviews for school." If such zaniness does not put you to bed with a smile on your face, your name is Lou Pinella. Ha!

But seriously, how can you not love this guy? While other local coaches may be known for brooding about Redskins Park the office at all hours even during successful stretches (not a knock on you, Joe. Love you too), ChairManny kicks back at home and enjoys the journey from West Philadelphia to Southern California, recharging the batteries to bring optimism to his players and the masses no matter the situation. I may tune in tonight after all. Just in case.

Not So Obvious MAO of the Week (7-13)

Sure, we could have gone the obvious route, again choosing our mascot/inspiration/savior/friend whose umpteenth 'Tism profile (this time in the Post), seems to follow the path beaten by a certain optimism-themed web-blog, (with the paper again neglecting the rightful percentage owed to us). We could have blah blah blahed again about Manny and his "successories collection" and his motivational attitude and how everyone in the organization has faith in his teachings as if he were the head of a red-colored revolutionary party that overthrew a corrupt dynasty system, spreading the good word to the downtrodden. But redundancy is not the reason we draw 50+ users a day (except on Fridays). No, the MAO of the Week feature is meant to spotlight optimism in areas that may be bereft of light, areas that may even be encased in the darkness of 'Tism-hating.

There hasn't been much baseball (of meaningful, or of the well-coached variety) this week leading to lots of reflecting over what has transpired so far in the 07, and one of our favorite season wrap ups so far has come from DCO homie Chris Needham over at Capitol Punishment whose half-way analysis is just dripping with 'Tism like sweat from Dmitri Young's prodigious nipples after legging out a triple. Anyone who reads Punishment on the reg knows that its a place where things can get a bit snippy in regards to management and their embrace of a legitimate team-building strategy. We wonder if the presence and ultimate influence of Manny has permeated Needham's MASN2-airing flatscreen and brightened up this oft-downtrodden Natosphere regular. The first recipient of lavish praise is the ChairManny himself:

"He's setting a positive example and isn't letting the players get down on
themselves, constantly teaching and keeping the team from getting down and
falling in on themselves."

We nodded our head steadily while reading as if we were Leo Mazzone watching Daniel Cabrera walk 9 batters on the way to not fullfilling his potential. We too love everything Manager Acta brings to the team (in the least redundant manner possible), and we are happy to see his influence reach all aspects of Nationals coverage. What would "Good thing number 2" be? Why none other than the Greatest Hitter of All Time Dmitri Young:

"What more can you say about what he's done on the field?"

Well I'm sure there are a couple of more posts we can eek out on his remarkable turnaround especially if he keeps lacing bases-loaded doubles like he's doing for Bergmann and his lack of stuff tonight. Of course the pending fruitless debate over whether or not to trade D'Meat Hook (designated the MVP by Needham) come next month ought to provoke more sayings. In our quest to keep Dmitri where he belongs it's good to see an ally in MAO veteran Tom Boswell instead of the alternative. I'm sure Needham feels similarly. And for good thing number three? Why tonight's bouncing back starter Bergmann, whose profile is, in Needham's eyes, almost as made-for-the-big-screen as Dmitri's:

"Bergmann needed to be in DC, with St. Claire over his shoulder and with Bowden
barking in front of him. Right place. Right time. And he has a future. Take any
individual piece of that away, and he's likely back in NJ teaching bored
children how to dissect frogs."

Well he certainly wouldn't be playing terribly for the Orioles, like most pitchers who arrive near the inner harbor, inhale its toxic fumes, and take in the disturbing blight that surrounds the area. We also love how Needham has stretched his 'Tism post to include "other things" including Matt Chico, Ronnie Belliard, and jokes about Jesus Colome! Bravo!

An MVP Snubbed, And All Signs Point to Selig

Bud Selig, obviously still miffed over his lack of lordship over the Washington Nationals, has again taken to poisoning deserving Washington players instead of rewarding them for their vital contributions to this most-important (REALLY IT COUNTS) game where people from the Pirates are forced to play. Instead of rightfully anointing Nationals first baseman-cum-inspiration Dmitri Young a most valuable player award, for sparking the bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out rally with his karma('tism?)-tinged infield single, Selig thought to dole out the award to a big money overseas commodity.

Selig, whose commisionership boasts such luminous episodes as a tied All-Star game and sparsely attended regular season games in Puerto Rico, decided for once to check his heavy-handed dictatorial ways at the door and declined to step in and award Dmitri his obviously deserved MVP honors. If flashy inside-the-park home runs are such a strong criterion in determining an MVP, then surely Austin Kearns is high on the list of potential season MVPs for pulling off such a feat on May 12. If Selig is at all fair and consistent, he will make sure Austin is seriously considered.


While we are fostering most of the blame on the rarely accounting-for-himself commish, more finger wags ought to be pointed in the direction of National League coach Tony LaRussa. LaRussa's Cito-Gaston-like decision to keep his own star player on the bench in a key bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the ninth was eclipsed in idiocy only by his decision to sit Dmitri for 8 2/3 innings. We at DCO have analyzed Dmitri's limited playing time and have projected, based on his lone at bat, what his stats would have been had LaRussa done the right thing and played him the whole game:



AB = 4
R = 4
H = 4
RBI = 4
AVG. = 1.000

2B = 1
3B = 1
HR = 1

And the most important statistic, often not charted:
Most inspirational story in sports - 1

Maybe oft-confusing flip-flopping 'tism supporter/hater Mark Zuckerman ought to check these projections out next time he wants to throw out insane suggestions regarding the Nats' clubhouse lifeforce.

Crosby Contract Good for Caps

Rest assured, this will be the only piece we ever post with the word "Crosby" and the phrase "good for Caps" (excepting extreme circumstances involving early retirement, the dissolving of the Penguins franchise, an unlikely trade, or a move from Mario Lemieux's house to Jaromir Jagr's). With that in mind, let’s look at the good fortune Washington reaps from Sid’s new 5-year, $45 million contract.

If Alex Ovechkin’s cryptic “it’s a little bit secret” response to questions about a contract extension (plus pure common sense) is to be interpreted to mean the Caps are in negotiations to extend his soon-to-be-expired (after this season) rookie contract, we can assume that both parties are looking at comparable contracts around the league. Before today, the only close benchmarks were the gratuitously overpaid Daniel Briere (8 yr./$52M), Chris Drury (5 yr./$35.25M), and Scott Gomez (7 yr./$51.5M).

While Briere’s contract may not be completely ludicrous (if you have a fetish for diminutive centers who specialize in doling out cheap spears while hiding in the comfortable shadow of a defenseman twice their size), the Rangers giving out $7 million+/year contracts to a pair of guys who didn’t top 70 points last season was at the very least a disturbing harbinger of future contracts (will the likes of David Vyborny, with his Gomez-like numbers, demand similar terms in future negotiations?). The Crosby Precedent, with it’s $9 million/year average, presumably puts a reasonable limit on individual player salaries in a way that the ever-rising NHL cap cannot.

With a comparable contract at last in place, the Capitals can safely offer Ovechkin a fair-market deal before he becomes a restricted free agent next summer. With the jilted Kevin Lowe’s ridiculous offer (since matched) to Thomas Vanek as a potential benchmark, RFAs may not be as unattainable to a deep-pocketed (or desperate) team as they used to be. It’s not hard to imagine the Rangers or a like-minded-and-financed team making an equally over-the-top offer to Ovechkin next July, which the Caps would then have to match (or lose their franchise player, then their already tenuous fanbase, then their franchise), to the likely detriment of the rest of the squad. The NHL “cap” on individual player salaries (no more than 20% of the total salary cap) is no protection against such a thing. With the team cap rising from $39 million in 05-06 to $50.3 million only two years later, it’s not hard to envision a “cap” of $11.5 million+ or more for individual players within a year or two. It’s a salary that our friends in New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, or Toronto would be more than happy to provide, probably with an insanely front-loaded contract.

In the end, Crosby may have saved the Caps a few million dollars over the next several seasons, enough to put another Viktor Kozlov or two on the roster. So thanks, Sid (also the only time such a phrase will appear), for restoring some relative form of sanity to the league. Too bad your submissive servant Commissioner can’t do the same.

Recognizing Dmitri (and others)

Throughout this occasionally glorious baseball season, we had eagerly anticipated someone taking down Dmitri Young's incredible story, knowing that his "troubles" in the past and his redemption via bat swinging was the type of stuff that gives misty eyed Field of Dreams-watchers chubbies. But no one had stepped to the plate yet, not while he was in the major's top five in hitting, not during his also-sort-of-troubled-brother's breakout year, and not immediately after he was selected to his second all star team. We anxiously waited while premature Guzman redemption stories were printed, while Manny's glorious attitude was detailed, while Zimmerman breakouts were anticipated, while bargain bin pitchers' second, third and umpteenth chances were looked upon, but there was nothing of this majestic comeback story. ESPN was busy with their yearly puff pieces about heroic athletes spending a day shepherding around a disease survivor neglecting to mention Dmitri's greatness when a promotional tie-in wasn't readily available (putting him on the Budweiser Hot Seat would be a little classless, no?).

Finally the post and Barry Svlurga came through on Sunday, delivering a multi-paged, multi-photoed, and multi-sourced piece that featured Dmitri's well-deserved grin spread across the sports page. While some golf tournament with some dude seemed to be the highlight of the local sports scene all week, we thought that it was fitting for this story, which likely wrote itself (even if, as Dmitri said, "you don't have enough paper") to gain its rightful prevalence. There are a few other stories brewing in the local sports landscape that we feel need to be explored, and they are listed below.

1. Adam Archuleta's workout tape. According to the promotional website, "As you master these beginning exercises, you too will realize dramatic improvements in strength, speed and explosiveness and be on your way to reaching your ultimate athletic potential!" Early reviews say that while the exercises look nice and can deliver some nice results, they often leave you in the wrong position. The tape is incredibly expensive as well.

2. Anthony Anderson's prodigious Clinton Portis jersey and matching Redskins laniard worn throughout hollywood blockbuster, Transformers. Speaking of product tie-ins, enter the Danny's latest. Every great Hollywood movie needs actual authentic branding to slip product choice influencers into our youth's maleable brand loyalty tendencies, why not include one from the most valuable sports franchise this side of the Atlantic? There is no doubt that Snyder saw paralells between the skins and this overdone, overglossed, overpriced flick about toys that were better and more popular in the eighties. Could the skins be in the midst of their own big budget transformation? Are they ever not?

3. Oleksiy Pecherov "boxing out" Harvey Grant for an imaginary rebound. There is an imaginary post battle that I never want to imagine even if the hustle was implied (The whole "Man this guy has some size" quote is also disturbing). Sure we are all excited about the 7-footer's development with the regression of other 7-footers on the roster and all, but I don't know if I need those kind of hustle details. The fact that Pecherov looks more and more like a psychopath with every bloodshot-eyed photo doesn't help.

4. Jason Simontacchi's "reason for optimism." Just because.