Concession Locations

I think Dukes may have the most raw talent on the team, but he is just not putting the bat on the ball right now. ST stats might not mean much, especially if a player is working on a specific aspect of their game (i.e. hitting to the opposite field). But when a guy is striking out frequently in ST games you have to take notice. If Dukes should be a starter anywhere, it should be in Columbus to get his timing and confidence back.

Uehara's got a perfect game going right now.
There, I said it, go Nats!!!

Any other updates out there? I'm too far to hear Charlie and Dave, and for some reason nats/com doesn't have the live box score today

sike, the Orioles site has the box.

2-0 Os after 3, on a 1st inning homer by Markakis. Cabrera has been effective since.

Thanks, HotNats! Zimm gets a two-run shot.

I'm getting the 30-second refresh at
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2009_04_03_wasmlb_balmlb_1&refresh=30
Uehara walked Johnson! Perfect game denied!

Beers, Ben's and baseball,
Take me out to the ball game!
Smooth, hot, and sublime.

Seriously, Adrian? This damn mlb link I just posted still has Baltimore leading 2-0, and the Nats are no-hit halfway through the 4th.
Hmmm something's amiss here...
Wish I had my trusty am radio.

For serious. Charlie had the call on Gameday audio.

Ah, there it is.
Right on, Zimm, thing of beauty!

What is that, 4 jacks in a week for our FotF? Maybe even in his last 3 games?

2-2 after an RZ homer but Cabrera is getting himself into a pickle here.

I was thinking 3, too lazy to check...
Outstanding regardless, and adding credence to his "let's get the ST over with, and make these games count" comment with every recent AB.

Mmmm. pickle.

4 homers for Zim in 4 games, after not having any all spring.

Damn yo.

Can someone remind me how much we're playing Cabrera and why? May be the worst Nationals signing EVER.

Was down near NatsTown today and there's so much construction going on I couldn't even get to the ballpark. For those who take the Blue/Orange lines to Capitol South and walk down to the park, be aware that New jersey Avenue is closed at Eye Street, SE to pedestrian and vehicular traffic for the foreseeable future because of construction. Also couldn't turn off M Street to Half Street to go to the park because the street was closed to traffic.

I think the Os have inside info on Cabrera...ya think. Bombs away.

sorry, "paying," not "playing."

That was an awfully quick trip through waivers for Casto and O'Connor. Does this happen quickly, and the player has 3 days to decide? It seems to take longer with established players.

+1/2St.

Here it is, nattaboy. No need to go there:

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2009_04_03_wasmlb_balmlb_1

Oh, HotNats had the link. Top of the 5th and it's 5-2 (Blo's).

"That was an awfully quick trip through waivers for Casto and O'Connor. Does this happen quickly, and the player has 3 days to decide? It seems to take longer with established players."

I was thinking the same thing! The article on Casto hoping to still make the team comes out the day he clears waivers? Weird.

HotNats, the live boxscore is not yet in regular season form.

+1/2 Street - Lots of teams hold their out of options waivers until the end of camp. With everyone focused on trimming their squads, it is a bit easier for guys to slip through.

I've been on the road since 6 AM - any news from Tampa Bay on Hammel and Niemann?

Also - on the list of vendors - Is there a return of the Kosher stand. I'll miss the knish. And, the thought of the Kosher stand prompts another Montreal linkage that should be at Nats Park -Smoked Meat.

"That was an awfully quick trip through waivers for Casto and O'Connor. Does this happen quickly, and the player has 3 days to decide? It seems to take longer with established players."

They probably put them on waivers a couple of days ago. They don't have to tell the player or announce it publicly when they put a player on waivers. Remember how it was only revealed recently that Kearns was put on waivers last season?

No it aint. Also, where's the Gameday feature when you need it?

I'm as excited as anybody about our improved offense this year, but I gotta say we really haven't seen too much of it in the spring. The spring average of this lineup is .223, and it's mostly our starters.

I know, this doesn't mean much, but I wish it didn't mean much the other way.

jca: I saw the Kosher Stand when I was there today so I am sure it's returning.

Another quick why-is-it-still-not-5-oclock fact:
Nats have 4.32 runs per game this spring. Higher than I thought it would be. I wonder what the league average is?

The theory behind Cabrera was he'd do better when he was out of the AL East and in neutral or pitcher-friendly ball parks. To give the O's some credit, they had a terrific offense last year, 2d half, and should be as strong or stronger this year.

Tracee - sounds good. It'll probably not be up and running until after Passover.

Cabrera may turn out to be a mistake. I'm worried.

Here's a GameDay link, nattaboy. It's also a little rusty, though.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2009_04_03_wasmlb_balmlb_1

Why couldn't it be Cabrera who has inside info that he can use against his former teammates? Oh, never mind....

One more negative Cabrera thought/prediction: forget all this talk about how facing opposing pitchers in the NL will help him--watching Cabrera on the mound against his opposite number will churn guts, induce migraines, and drive teetotallers to drink.

How about #26 for Inventory's #?

I second that, NattyDread! However, some earlier posters mentioned the fact that he is facing his former team. :)

Me, too, nattydread.

Also, thanks for the food info and photo links, Tracee. You're swell! I introduced myself to Screech's Best Friend (the proprietor of Nats320) at a P-Nats winter caravan event. Was nice to meet him and his spouse.

He-he - true, Cap.

Come on, Nats: let's score some runs! (channeling Harry Caray, a little early)

#26 could work, Cap, but it makes me think of Marlon Byrd. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I always liked him.

Okay, Zimm singles to lead off the inning.

Git R Dunn steps up to the plate!

My obligator positive post for the day:

How about the bullpen??? What everyone was freaking out about at the start of camp has turned into a very solid group IMO. Adding Beimel was key, but some of the guys struggling early (Shell, Hinckley, Mock) have been strong lately. Bergmann was nails (but has options). Hanrahan and Rivera are looking decent. Mix in Ledezma and the Wacko Tavarez and I am happy with our options there.

Wouldn't mind Arredondo, however.

I'm not worried any more about Zimmerman.

Natsfan1a1,

Keep up the nice play by play!

And Git R Dunn grounds into a FO. But it doesn't matter because of the DP that Willingham hits into. It gets late early for the Nats in the 7th.

Say, Tracee, did you happen to notice whether there are additional tables around the ballpark? I know that they added a few stand-up tables late last season.

grounds into a FO?

FO = force-out. Zimmerman out at second, Dunn safe at first.

Force out. Sorry.

The O's scored another run in the bottom of the inning (reached on error; a wild, wild, wild pitch per Charlie and Dave; a sac hit, and an RBI single).

got it. thanks.

Weird because it was a Tavarez error, but the run is unearned. At least, I always thought that rule was weird.

Thanksmuch for the gameday link natsfan1a1!! Watching the paint dry on the box score was as Joe Namath once put it: "Struggling."

As for the vendors, no clue about the kosher stand (it'd be great if around), but man-o-man, they should really change the super-unfortunately-named Senators Sausages.

You're welcome, HotNats. The Nats go down in order in the top of the 8th. Bet that Charlie and Dave are tired of saying that.

natsfan1a1: Yes, they have added a lot of picnic tables all around the park, Kasten said, and the "drink rails" will help, too; those aren't in as yet.

Regarding the kosher stand, my bad, I didn't see the Tracee message, glad to see it'll still be around.
And natsfan, agreed about the C&D line, I kept thinking that about the Nats park announcer last season:
"No runs, No hits, and no runners left on base..."
over... and over... and over...

"Weird because it was a Tavarez error"

Was it a bad throw over to 1st base?

I don't want to go to the Fan Appreciation Day and then kill time if the gates don't open for awhile. Does anyone know what time the gates will open? 5, maybe?

Milledge with a 1-out solo homer off Matt Albers in the top of the 9th.

His first HR and RBI of the spring.

Finally...he lives up to his Blastings Thrilledge nametag.

Thanks on the tables, Tracee.

It was a fielding error, skippy. Don't remember specifics as I was multi-tasking (hehe).

Dang. We lost. We'll get 'em tomorrow. On the bright side, Milledge had a solo HR (6-3 final score).

faNATic and coke had the dinger covered. mmm, Dingers (TM).

I think I read that the gates will open at 3:30 tomorrow for those who won't be attending the Fan Appreciation, Alex.

Catching up: good point about the bullpen, kfisher. Another positive, it's almost time for baseball that counts. Yay!

I know that ST doesn't count, but I don't ever like losing to the O's. On the plus side, their ST record is 13-20 while ours is 14-17. Yay!

Did you know that you can watch for free any game being televised on the computer today and tomorrow by going to mlb.com. I'm currently watching the Red Sox and Mets from the new citi-field in NY. Yanks and Cubs are up around 7pm. Pretty neat.

Livan Hernandez pitching for Mets today.

Thanks for the mlb.com tip, coked.

Drat!
Work is the curse of the baseball fanatic class.

Tracee - if one or more of the three statues are missing I promise not to rat you out if you give me a guided tour of the BSL.

NatsNut - mom, mom, mom....priceless!

Boz - Welcome!

Let's play two!

No photos of Tracee? Bummer.

I was wondering whether she might be in one of the group pics by Cheryl Nichols?

Also, forgot where I saw it amongst all these threads, but thanks for sharing the good news about AP sticking with the boxes as-is for now, Tracee.

What does this have to do with fielding a good baseball team? Fluff reporting from WaPo and they fell for it.

And yet here you are reading and posting about it, mort...

Hey, look! I found a video on concessions:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2009/04/03/VI2009040303252.html?hpid=topnews

Which one and/or where is the kosher food stand? It was there last year . . . ?