Yardbarker: Washington Nationals

Juiced Sports wants to know: What city should be Loser-ville, USA?

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:42:11 -0500

In honor of ESPN's horrifically dumb idea to turn 20 places into Titletown, the good folks at Juiced Spots figured, what if you flip the script. What if there was a competition for the Anti-Title town? The area so bad, that their fans are almost ashamed to root for their so called 'teams.' What if you had to pick "Loser-ville?" What city or school would fit the bill? Well, here's the criteria. It's rather simple really. The town has to either: a) been absolutely awful recently, whether it be in pro sports or college. And if you can find a high school bad enough in sports that they deserve to be on this list, well, we commend you, and we'd be more then happy to consider them. b) historically bad, whether it be an area that hasn't won a championship in years (like 20) or if its a college, a school that hasn't won a meaningful championship in only who knows when. c) have atrocious fan support, so bad that the teams are either just about out the door or that their fans stopped showing up. d) have been run so poorly that there seems like there is absolutely no hope whatsoever, and that makes you sad. So get your city or school out there because, we're looking for the worst of the worst. Cities so bad that if ESPN featured them on Titletown as a joke, you'd laugh so hard you'd pee yourself. In the meantime, as we garner your suggestions and eventually compile our list, we'd like you to suggest some players or coaches or even owners, that would represent "Loser-ville" and make them proud. So that's it. That's our story and we're sticking to it. Your only job is to give us your city or town, or just a place that you think fits the title of "Loser-ville." Remember, in this competition, no one wins. But everybody loses!

AccuScore: Waiver Wire Wonders

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:06:04 -0500

We are now in the post All-Star break portion of the season, which means it's that magical time where guys like Paul Konerko and Adam LaRoche turn things around.

AccuScore: MLB Trade Market

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:51:32 -0500

Rarely do you have a trade where both parties agree to the original offer. Chances are one owner wants one thing, while the other owner has a different approach in mind.

Coming up

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:19:18 -0500

The Cubs begin the so-called 2nd half tomorrow night in Houston. They have 32 at home and 35 on the road the rest of the way. The average record of their opponent is 47-47. In the Central, Cincy, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh have an average opponent record of 46-48 the rest of the way while Houston and St. Louis have to face better than .500 opponents, on average (48-46). The Cubs have 14 games left this month. 10 of those 14 are on the road. The Cubs play 3 in Houston, 3 in Arizona, come back home for 4 against the Marlins and then go up Milwaukee for 4 games closing out the month. August is a friendly month to the Cubs. 19 of 28 games in August are at home. Between August 1st and August 27th the Cubs have a chance to open up an even more comfortable lead in this division. They do play a couple tough teams, but the month begins with a 9-game home stand with 3 each against the Pirates, Astros and Cardinals. The Cubs go on the road for 6 after that. They play 3 in Atlanta and 3 in Florida. And leading up to the 27th the Cubs then open up a 6-game home stand against the Reds and Nationals and then play 3 in Pittsburgh. In that span from the 1st to the 27th of August, the Cubs play the Pirates 6 times, Reds, Astros, and the Nationals. The Cubs should beat up on these teams. They also play the Cardinals, Braves and Marlins. The finish out the month of August with 4 at home against Philly. As friendly as August was, September is the opposite. Only 9 of 25 at home. The first couple weeks, however, are relatively easy. They begin the month with 3 at home against Houston. They then head out on a 9-game road trip to Cincy, St. Louis and Houston. Just 13 games left at that point, 6 at home and 7 on the road to finish the season. Milwaukee and St. Louis come in for 3 games each before the Cubs hit the road for the final week of the season. They play 4 against the Mets and then finish the year with 3 in Milwaukee. A lot of Houston, St. Louis and Milwaukee left for the Cubs.

DC Council Considers Raising In-Stadium Ticket Tax

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:05:18 -0500

The Washington, D.C. Council is considering raising in-stadium taxes by 5 percent on items such as concessions, tickets, and parking in an effort to close the gap on what is reportedly a shortfall in revenues used to pay down the stadium debt on Nationals Park. The $611 million ballpark, almost entirely funded with public dollars, uses a variety of taxes tied directly to the ballpark. With that, attendance at the ballpark impacts the level of tax revenues garnered at any given time. The Nationals are averaging 29,700 over 50 games at Nationals Park going into the second half of the season. That ranks the Nats 16th in attendance and well below what was predicted with the new ballpark opening just this season. Add in the fact that ownership of the Nationals and the District are mired in an acrimonious relationship already. The Nationals are withholding their $3.5 million rent obligation (index.php?option=com_content task=view id=2345 Itemid=1)stating that the ballpark is not fully completed. The District has countered that all revenue-making aspects of the ballpark were delivered well in advance by the construction firms building the facility. As reported by the Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/a-1489665~Council_considers_raising_taxes_on_Nationals_tickets.html), the proposed tax increase involves both the low attendance and the Nationals withholding rent: Legislation introduced Tuesday by at-large D.C. Councilman David Catania, and co-sponsored by seven of his colleagues, would boost the gross sales tax charged on Nationals tickets, concessions, merchandise and parking to 15 percent. The District currently charges 10 percent — the city’s existing 5.75 percent sales tax plus an extra 4.25 percent. If approved, the cost of a $5 bag of french fries would increase by 33 cents. […] D.C. is unlikely to collect the $42 million it needs this year to pay the debt service, contribute to a capital reserve fund and maintain its property damage insurance, Catania claimed. The fund, the council member said, could fall $35,000 to $3.5 million short. It should be noted that Councilman Catania was a staunch opponent of the public funding of Nationals Park. His shortfall figures are being countered by the District’s CFO, Natwar Gandhi. Gandhi claims that the 15 percent increase would be “excessive” by federal law and that the debt service would be reached in full and on time. How did Catania react to the CFO’s claims? “Absurd,” Catania responded.Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/), which includes The Biz of Baseball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/), The Biz of Football (http://www.bizoffootball.com/), The Biz of Basketball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/) and The Biz of Hockey (http://bizofhockey.com/). He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus (http://baseballprospectus.com/news/?author=124), and is available as a freelance writer.Brown's full bio is here. (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content view=article id=47 Itemid=18) He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_contact view=contact id=2 Itemid=29).

The Second Half: NL Predictions in Ten Words or Less

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:46:53 -0500

Nobody wants to slog through a bunch of stuff they already know along with some hack predictions. So, I figure, why use 10 paragraphs when all we really need about a team is 10 words? If you want to 1,500 rambling words that finally come to what is usually a wrong conclusion, you can go read Bill Simmons or S.A.S. Here, we try to streamline our wrong conclusions to maximize efficiency. And laziness...

One Long Tuesday Night

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:31:46 -0500

Check out Bazooka Jones' live blog/ poem about the MLB All Star Game Tuesday night, Nothing to do, I'll watch the All-Star game, And have some brews. It's normally dull, Annoying as hell, But usally not Played this well. Fox really sucks; Joe Buck is a hack, McCarver's retarded, The production is whack. The scoring starts slow, Gaining with time, Going back-and-forth, Just like this rhyme. Into extras, The plays jaw dropping, In and out of jams, Flash bulbs still popping. Entering the 13th, Bud Selig appears, It looks like he wants to go, And end it right here. Why the long face? Looking suicidal, This game is amazing, I can't even stay idle. The Flat Breezy appears, Throwing the cheese, He blows 'em away, And buckles their knees. Uggla makes another E, His 3rd of the game, This isn't the way, He wanted to get some fame. Another stolen base, This time by Drew, Still no McCann, What's a Braves fan to do? Marmol on the bump, Did he deserve his roster spot? No, Not a chance, But that fastball was still hot. More Yankee Stadium BS, They've done it a ton, When this game is over, Can it please be done? Grounder to short, Young eats it up, Sherrill's through another, Yeah, this kid is tough. Sportscenter is weak, It's on the other TV, They've got nothing to cover, Except meaningless Marcus Camby. Martin still in, Catching for Webb, If McCann isn't hurt, I want Clint Hurdle's Head. To 15 we go, Kazmir is in, Uggla is up, To the NL's chagrin. I keep hearing the word "tie," Even though this is baseball. Damn you Bud Selig, You changed it all! Bottom 15, A B-Mac sighting, Brad Lidge comes in, And the AL comes up fighting. Ludwick with the dive, Showing some skill, He may be unknown, But he's still here to thrill. For unknown reasons, The camera suddenly loves Youk, All the Yankee/Red Sox attention, Makes me want to puke. With Drew back in the box, The game on the line, Lidge we have a problem, You just bounced it 3 times. Bases juiced for Young, Looks like a sac fly, Morneau just gets in, Hart's throw was just off line. A marathon game, This time it counted, No matter the consequences, At least no one got routed.

The 2008 Sleepers that Were and Weren't

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:27:51 -0500

With half the season already over, we thought it be a good time to go back and see how our 2008 sleeper picks are doing. Read what we said back in March and see who we got right and who we got wrong.

Lerner Talks Cheap, Adds to Nats Misery

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:20:16 -0500

Last night while watching the HR Derby, Mrs. Relevant, bless her heart, asked which Nationals were in it. Little did she know that the Derby is so exclusive that only the biggest stars decline an invitation. But what if a Nat did swing? Their token All-Star, Christian Guzman, has five homers, and no one on [...]

Quick Hits: Marte, Rauch, Fuentes, Mahay

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:25:09 -0500

-Interest in Pirates reliever Damasco Marte is growing by the day. Teams with a professed interest, as of now are the Yankees, Cards, Mets, Rays and Boston.
-The Nationals are shopping closer Jon Rauch, who may be of more interest than others because he is under contract until 2010.
-With Royals LH Ron Mahay and Rockies Brian Fuentes also being offered up as the trade deadline approaches, it will be interesting to see who goes first among all these available relievers and for how much.

Piling On - More Nats Abuse

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:53:17 -0500

Norman Chad (a writer between his annual stints killing what's left of the poker craze) has a comical though scathing column in the Washington Post this week about Nationals Park. He's not a fan.

Get Ready For Another Scandal: FBI Investigates Dominican Signings

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:57:52 -0500

The LA Times announced this weekend that the FBI is investigating allegations of skimming by individuals involved in the signing of Latin players. There is suspicion surrounding the amount that these players are being paid and whether MLB employees or Dominican scouts (buscones) are pocketing a portion of the signing bonus...

Lima Time 2: Back in the States

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:10:47 -0500

Yet, after toiling for almost two years in Japan, Lima Time is back in the States pitching for the independent Camden Riversharks. With the dearth of pitching among the MLB's worst teams, Lima will certainly be called on in the near future. It will be a triumph for career clingers with hot wives everywhere...

MLB Power Rankings: Cubs and Rays Swap Slots

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:22:26 -0500

The Chicago Cubs jump two slots to lead the MLB. Boston maintains the # 2 slot; the Rays fall to # 3.

This Isn’t Funny Anymore

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:14:11 -0500

In chronological order, here are all of the good things to happen to the Washington Nationals this year: March 30 — Ryan Zimmerman hits a walk-off home run on opening night And that pretty much gets us up to present day. After the jump, all of the bad things to happen to the Washington Nationals this season. March 20 [...]