Pesky Nats,Swelled Bonds and Unsung Moose

buzz... Remember back when spring training began in February and the Washington Nationals brought 37 pitchers to camp? buzzzz... Remember how the writers and baseball experts from all over this great land of ours predicted that the Nationals would not only be terrible--what with such a collection of has-beens, never were's and almost-were-going-to-be's filling out the starting rotation--but would be historically awful. buzzzzzzz... Did you hear that? Nah, my imagination I suppose.

The word in the papers, on the talk shows and everywhere else in the baseball world was that the 1921(?) Cleveland Spiders and the '62 New York Mets would be giving up their titles as the worst teams in baseball history and that the 2007 Washington Nationals would take over that dubious honor on their way to losing more than 120 games by seasons end. buzzzzzzzzzz... The fans of DC would be incensed and stop buying tickets to RFK this season and maybe not even buy tickets to the new Nationals Park in Southeast for next season. buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...The new owners and front office were playing Russian Roulette with a very sensitive and disgruntled fan base. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... What the-? I know you heard it that time. Didn't you?

Well, its June 2nd, boys and girls, and the Nats are not only 9 games under .500, but they only have the 6th worst record in baseball. The patchwork rotation has kept them in most games this year, and the offense has been on a tear since hardly producing in the first 5 weeks of the season. BUZZZZZZZZZ... Looks like as each month passes and the Nats keep playing good ball and winning (7 out of their last 10 and 14 out of the last 21....BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...) the team keeps proving that the brain trust of Al Lerner, Stan Kasten and Jim Bowden knew what they were doing over the winter. BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....There are 4 months to go, I know, but it's been more than fun so far; it's been great! BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ... Holy crap! Do you hear that buzzing sound, or is it just me? What they hell is that?!


Bonds Spits in the Face of History

-Barry Bonds was quoted as saying he is keeping all of the historic memorabilia during his march to the homerun record to, "Look out for me." Bats, gloves, jersey's, you name it. All of it is being catalogued and stored in a warehouse for future Bonds generations. He also claims not to care about his place in history or if he gets into the Hall Of Fame. Which is probably for the better. His head has grown so much in the last five years that he nor his hat could fit thru the door to Cooperstown anyway.


Under-Appreciated Moose

A few things I did not realize about former Oriole Mike Mussina:

--He has 241 career victories! When did that happen? Imagine if he had not pitched for such crappy teams in Baltimore in the 90's. (Jim Palmer finished his career with 268.)

--He has 104 career No-Decisions! Christ, if he had gotten run support in just half of those games, he would be a no-brainer, first ballot Hall of Famer and we all would be watching him close in on 300 wins! (Palmer had 138 career no decisions but started 38 more games than Moose.)

--He has 2590 strikeouts to date. Now, that doesn't make Mussina Nolan Ryan or Roger Clemens, but Jim Palmer only had 2212.

--His winning percentage, as of June 2nd, 2007 is .638. Palmer's? The exact same, .638. Cool, huh?

--In his 17 year career, Mussina has walked 726 batters. Palmer walked 1311 in his 19 seasons. Mussina gave up 350 homeruns, Palmer only 303 plus Palmer never gave up a grand slam. Mussina has given up grand slams, but I can't find the stat to tell me how many.

--Palmer won 20 games eight times, Mussina never has but has won 19 twice, 18 three times and 17 twice. Palmer started at least 36 games in each season he won 20, the highest total being 40 in 1976. Mussina has never started more than 36 games in a season, which he did once in 1996 when he won 19 games.

--Career ERA for Moose: 3.66. WHIP: 1.178. Palmer's ERA was 2.86, WHIP was 1.180.

--Palmer won a few World Series titles and had much better teams around him for the majority of his career, while Mussina has only played on a couple good Oriole teams in 96 and 97, and lost a few World Series with the Yankees, although not due to his performances.

What's the point of all this? I am bored. Also, Mussina definitely benefited from playing in New York. His stats would be much different if he had stayed in Baltimore. In comparing the two pitchers, and considering the different eras, I think you could make a good case for Mussina to be sent to Cooperstown. He might not and probably won't, which would fit with the rest of his career: just missed out on 20 games a few times, just missed a few no-hitters and perfect games, just missed winning a few World Series trophies and had some bad luck on days he pitched better than good.

Hats off to the guy. He has pitched well for 17 years. Only three more seasons with 20 wins and he can reach 300 wins.