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Joel Hanrahan: From Roberto Clemente nominee to traded
There’d be days like these my mama said. (And remember, my mom is a lifelong Cubs fan so she’d know)! Quite a shakeup over the last few days. I’m sure they’re not done yet. Joel Hanrahan and Lastings Milledge (who I never did high five) were traded to the Pirates for LHRP Sean Burnett and OF Nyjer Morgan. Elijah Dukes was optioned to AAA Syracuse. More trades/moves in the works? Yet, the results have remained the same. The Nationals were swept by the Marlins in games they led at one point. Burnett gave up the tying run in his debut yesterday.
It appears the de-Bowdenization of the team has aggressively begun. I know Joel’s had a rough season, but I’m bummed to see him go. He did well last season, but something wasn’t clicking this season. It’s too bad he was out of options because I would have rather seen him go to AAA for a while to straighten out and then come back. I still believe the talent is there, plus he’s good with the fans and in the community. The ideal ball player the club seems to be seeking. Good luck in Pittsburgh to him!
Watching four errors in a game, swings at balls in the dirt, wild pitches that score runs… oh the list could go on… makes this fan want to bury her head in her hands and squeeze her eyes shut. I have found myself frequently watching a game recently and wondering “why?”. Why do I give up three hours of my life nearly every day to watch? Why do I spent beaucoup bucks each season for a share of a season ticket plan? Plan my schedule around games and make sure I have a working radio or internet card for my laptop when I’m not home near a TV? I tried out a little experiment of shutting off my caring, detaching, and looking at it as “just a game” to see if I could turn it off and walk away. It works for about 10 seconds. Then I get right back in the game mentally and emotionally. But the experimenting has shown me that yes, I probably could turn it all off, view it logically, and stop devoting so much of my life to it. Maybe. At least for 10 seconds.
I think I need my head examined. There’s just something about rooting for your home team, feeling their pain of losses and gaffes, cheering their victories — that defines a fan and keeps them coming back for more. There’s probably a psychological diagnosis for it as well. Someday this team will rock and shock the country making news for something other than misspellings and I can say I was there from the beginning. Until then, I may need to come up with more mental devices to survive series with my sanity intact. But I was raised knowing there’d be days like these. Seasons even.
I’m working out some issues with YouTube, but will stick that player in here when (if?) that gets resolved. Nevermind - I think I’m done with YouTube, using Facebook instead. Here are a few clips from Blogger Night hosted by the Nationals with Adam Dunn’s now-famous line asking what a blog is. Funnily enough, he will now be blogging himself at MASN! Also, never before seen footage of the Manny Acta bobblehead (miniature and life-sized) from Nationals Night at Bethesda Big Train featuring impACTA Kids Foundation and a special performance by author Jim Hartley (awesome!).
[ Photoset ] Rookie vs. All Star. Classic moment! The All Star? John Smoltz. But on this night, the all star performance comes from… Jordan Zimmermann! 7 innings of 1 run ball. And that Big Papi guy? Struck him out!
Ok, had to be done. I am *so* glad the Nationals won at least one game out of that Boston invasion series, and even more thrilled it was on the night I was there and set a ballpark attendance record for the third night in a row. Sadly, work and traffic caused me to miss the first two innings in person, but I heard on the radio. Hopefully Nick’s okay. What really tickled me driving home from last night’s win in my red Jeep with the Nationals tire cover and passing a dark blue Jeep with a Red Sox tire cover… on I-66 westbound. They were probably going home to Fair-fax (not that there’s anything wrong with that!).
Now on to Baltimore for the never-ending interleague play. Seriously, doesn’t it seem like we’ve been playing the AL forever at this point? To kick off the battle of the beltways, it’s baseball on the barn tonight! Or in the basement. Weather depending!
[ Photoset ] ESPN Zone hosted catcher Wil Nieves yesterday in the Nationals Q&A series. He has a great sense of humor and answered questions about his walk-off homerun against the Cubs that sparked a MASN Defining Moment commercial (Who?). He also chatted about how he got into baseball, how he became a catcher and how impressed he is by his mom as president of the Boxing Commission of Puerto Rico. I think what struck me most was hearing him say Latin players’ names natively. Very cool! Read the rest of this entry »
[ Photoset ] I covered Bloggers Night hosted by the Washington Nationals as an event of its own rather than covering the game. Don’t get me wrong, I did score the game (A win! Go Willie!) and tweet like crazy, but the event itself was so progressive for the team, it deserved its own coverage, plus it’s right up my alley. However, it did not afford me the opportunity to cover the game the way I normally do, so I improvised. Had blogger night been offered by the Nationals two or three years ago, my world would have been so totally rocked! It was still pretty rocking for those “new media” who have never been in the press box or on the field before and that’s awesome for them. Plus, not many MLB teams have done this yet — to my knowledge only the Dodgers have. So pardon me while I do a little navel gazing (sorry, Chris!). It took me a while to even figure out what to say about the night as I have a mixed reaction.
Yesterday at the Wil Nieves ESPN Zone Q&A, I received one of the best compliments to date. The woman who handles the events told me she loves my photos and that they always make events feel fun and like she was there when she wasn’t able to attend. Even gameday sets. Wow! That’s totally my goal, and dare I say forte, but to hear someone say it was phenomenal. (Thank you!) The other came last weekend when the editor of SBNation said I know more about the Nats than anyone he knows (probably not reflected here because I tend to cover the quirks). I’ve done my own thing, often unconventional, since the Nats came to town in 2005. I’ve forged relationships and had the good fortune of credentials for the photo pit and field pre-game a handful of times until they stopped doing that last year. Those are the credentials I crave, fit what I do perfectly, and I think I have the credibility at this point given I’ve sold and had several photographs published and not made any glaring faux pas. I mean, do teams allow freelance photographers in the pits? I would think so given the scene one particular Mother’s Day when a photographer visiting town came on the field dressed.. um… well let’s just say that was her faux pas! Read the rest of this entry »
July 2, 2009 
Posted in MLB, Washington Nationals 
1 Comment » 
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