Tag: Washington Nationals (Page 3 of 14)

      Strasburg responds to Dibble’s comments about father’s alleged e-mail

      April 9, 2011 /
      Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg pitches to the Kansas City Royals in the sixth inning of their MLB interleague baseball game in Washington, in this June 23, 2010 file photo. According to the team’s website, Strasburg has a significant tear in his ulnar collateral ligament will likely require Tommy John surgery, the team announced in a conference call on August 27, 2010. Picture taken June 23, 2010. REUTERS/Gary Cameron/Files (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      Friday I posted a story from the Washington Post that included comments by Rob Dibble on how he believes an e-mail sent by Stephen Strasburg’s father to Nationals’ owner Ted Lerner was the reason he was booted from the MASN broadcast booth in D.C. last year. (The alleged e-mail stemmed from some comments Dibble made on air after Strasburg hurt his elbow during a game last year and the broadcaster told him to “suck it up.”)

      After hearing about Dibble’s comments about his father, Strasburg took to Twitter in attempts to set the story straight:

      For those of you wondering my dad doesn’t even have the Lerners’ email… Actually was a fan of Dibble believe it or not

      Actually, if I’m deciding between whether or not to believe that it was Strasburg’s father that wrote the e-mail or one of Dibble’s fans, I’m going with Strasburg’s father. I wouldn’t put it past Lerner to a) give his e-mail to the franchise’s father and b) try to get Dibble off the air after he made some controversial comments about said franchise. But maybe that’s just me.

      Either way, the whole situation is ridiculous. As I wrote yesterday, MASN hired Dibble to share his opinions and you don’t give Rob Dibble a job without taking a risk that he’s going to say something controversial. This is the same guy who was once involved in a brawl with then-manager Lou Pinella following a Reds game during his playing days. You hire Dibble to be a little edgy.

      Alas, like all ridiculous stories, this one will die off soon enough. I actually think the only reason Strasburg responded to Dibble’s comments is because he’s hurt and isn’t pitching. If he had to take the hill in less than five days, I doubt he would be worried about anything that comes out of Dibble’s mouth. (Or at least I hope he wouldn’t.)

      External Sports, MLB

      Rob Dibble: Starsburg’s dad got me booted from broadcast booth

      April 8, 2011 /
      Washington Nationals’ pitcher Stephen Strasburg pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Nationals Park on August 15, 2010. UPI/Kevin Dietsch

      A year after he told Stephen Strasburg to “suck it up” after the Nationals’ starter injured his elbow (which resulted in him having Tommy John surgery), Rob Dibble is opening his mouth again.

      According to Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post, Dibble claims that he was let go at MASN because of an e-mail that Strasburg’s father wrote to the Nationals’ owner Ted Lerner.

      “Listen, it’s their team, they acted in their own interests,” he told FoxSports.com columnist Mark Kriegel. “And I’m gonna tell you something that I’ve never told anybody before. It was basically Strasburg’s father [who] e-mailed the owner and basically was offended by what I said.

      “Now remember, I said that on my own radio show on another network, and his father e-mailed the owner and the owner wanted me out of there. so that’s the bottom line. So that should end it. I want Stephen to go on, never have my name brought up and have a great career. I had a great career, I had fun, had a great seven years, and it’s sad for me that people still associate me with him. There should be no association with him.”

      As Steinberg points out, if Dibble doesn’t want his name to be associated with Strasburg then he shouldn’t be telling a national audience that the young pitcher’s father is the reason he no longer works for MASN. That’s just dumb.

      That said, if Dibble is telling the truth then this entire situation is ridiculous. A father of one of the younger players got his feelings hurt so he wrote an e-mail to the team’s owner to get him kicked off air? Oh, brother. Is Strasburg’s father going to write an angry letter to every person who criticizes his son over his career? Because if he writes in to TSR, I’ll delete. I swear to God I’ll delete it.

      Dibble is a loudmouth with little or no tact, but he shouldn’t have been let go for speaking his mind (regardless of whether you think he was wrong to tell Strasburg to “suck it up” or not). I mean, that’s what MASN paid him for, right? You don’t hire Rob freaking Dibble to sit there like Monte from the “Major League” movies and you certainly don’t fire him for being brash. Again: He’s Rob Dibble.

      This isn’t high school athletics and millionaire players (or their fathers for that matter) shouldn’t be protected from the stinging words of the big bad media.

      External Sports, MLB

      The difference between Jayson Werth the National and Jayson Werth the Red Sox? One year.

      February 25, 2011 /
      Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Jayson Werth bats against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on September 2, 2010 in Denver. The Phillies lead the NL Wild Card race. UPI/Gary C. Caskey

      It’s cool, Jayson Werth. You signed with the Nationals because they offered you $126 million. Nobody will fault you for that. I’d probably smash my femur with a hammer for half that.

      But don’t spit in my face and tell me it’s raining.

      When Werth signed with the Nationals back in December, he concocted this speech about how he’s always “been a fan of an underdog” and how he noticed that the Nationals had a “grittiness and a will to win.”

      Everyone knew he was blowing smoke but nobody cared, because how could anyone blame him for cashing in? Hey, it wasn’t his fault the Nationals paid him $127 million despite the fact that no other team was willing to offer him that much dough.

      But he shows up for Nationals spring training this week and the first things out of his mouth were about how the Phillies could have had both him and Cliff Lee had they not traded Lee away last year, and how he had a “great meeting” with the Red Sox and would have signed with them had they offered six years instead of five.

      For those scoring at home, he admitted that he would have signed with the Boston freaking Red Sox (a legitimate World Series contender) instead of the perennial doormats of the NL East (no offense Nationals, I think you’re beautiful on the inside) had the BoSox offered him six years instead of five. Holy mercenary, Batman.

      And talk about bitter: it’s not up to Werth to play GM of the Philadelphia Phillies. Maybe they could have had both him and Lee had they not traded Lee last year, but correct me if I’m wrong, the Phillies are the favorites to win the World Series this year because of Lee and Roy Halladay. I haven’t seen any respected analyst say, “The Phils aren’t World Series contenders this year because they don’t have Jayson Werth in right field.”

      Again, nobody cares that he took the money in Washington. Good for him. But considering they gave him a contract that nobody else was willing to give him, maybe he should spend more time being a National and less time sounding so greedy and bitter.

      External Sports, MLB

      Strasburg starts light throwing, may return in September

      February 11, 2011 /
      Washington Nationals’ pitcher Stephen Strasburg pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Nationals Park on August 15, 2010. UPI/Kevin Dietsch

      According to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, Stephen Strasburg has begun some light throwing, which is the first positive sign in his recovery from Tommy John surgery.

      Strasburg made the short tosses in Southern California, where he is rehabbing from ligament-replacement surgery, which he underwent Sept. 3. Making his first light throws now, a week before spring training, means Strasburg remains on schedule on his 12- to 18-month road back to the majors.

      While recovery time varies from pitcher to pitcher, Zimmermann’s experience sheds some light on when Strasburg may make his next major league appearance. The Nationals treated Zimmermann with extreme caution, and he made his first post-surgery appearance in the majors Aug. 26 last year, about 121/2 months following his August 2009 surgery. Since Strasburg underwent his surgery Sept. 3, he could feasibly return in the middle of September, at the very end of this season.

      I’ve read the comments sections of various media outlets and some fans are predicting that Strasburg is the next Kerry Wood or Mark Prior. They say he’s over-hyped and won’t ever fully recover from the surgery.

      To those people I would say this: If you’re a true baseball fan, then knock it off. You have the right to your opinion but let’s hope that this kid makes a full recovery because he’s great for the game. Sports need young stars like Strasburg to shine and it’s unfortunate that he’s suffered a bad fate early on. Hey, maybe he is the next Kerry Wood but let’s not wish it.

      Thanks to the steroid era, baseball was ruined for almost a decade. Now that it has climbed out of the wreckage, the sport needs its young pitching stars to stay healthy. Baseball got a new lease on life and let’s hope that last season wasn’t just an anomaly.

      Here’s hoping Strasburg makes a full and speedy recovery.

      External Sports, MLB

      Nyjer Morgan gets close lined by Gabby Sanchez [video]

      September 2, 2010 /

      Nyjer Morgan probably expected the Marlins to seek revenge on him after he bowled over their catcher Brett Hayes on Tuesday night and separated his shoulder.

      So what does he do? Well, go apesh*t of course.

      Here’s the scene from last night’s Marlins-Nationals brawl, which is making national headlines:

      Only a marginal leadoff hitter on a last place team like Nyjer Morgan could garner this much attention.

      The ironic thing is, Morgan also took out Cardinals catcher Bryan Anderson last Saturday night on a similar play and had this to say following the game:

      “You go out there and play hard and don’t try to hurt somebody. It happened to maybe look like that. I don’t want to be perceived as a dirty player. It was just an intense play. From what I saw, I saw [Albert] Pujols threw a nice little pump fake. I was going full-speed around third. It was just what I saw. I thought maybe the ball was coming. I saw the catcher maybe tense up. I could have took the kid out if I wanted to, but I kind of grazed him. It wasn’t, in my eyes, intentional. From what I saw, I guess have should have slid. Next time, I’ll slide.”

      Only next time he once again decided to take the catcher out instead of sliding. And had he slide on Tuesday night, he would have scored and the Nationals may have won instead of dropping the game, 1-0.

      The shot he took from Sanchez was well deserved and like the announcer from the broadcast said, baseball needs to do something about Morgan (a suspension that lasts the rest of the season should do the trick) because obviously the guy doesn’t get it. Collisions at home plate happen, but guys can’t be looking to deck unprotected players – I don’t care if the catchers do have gear on. If you come full steam at somebody that’s not looking, you’re going to cause more damage than he is. Plus, the main point is that Morgan didn’t have to go into home that way. He could have slide both times, despite his claims that he could have gotten hurt when he bashed into Anderson.

      It’s too bad, because if Morgan stopped doing stupid things he’d probably be a popular player. Dude is actually pretty funny…

      External Sports, MLB, Video

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