For several years I shared the same plight as my friend Dave
Kaufman, and quite possibly the majority of Montreal,
in being overtly depressed over the Montreal Expos relocating to Washington, D.C.
We were, and are still extremely saddened by the move at the end of the 2004
season; however, different motives fueled our emotions. For Dave, he had lost
the one team he grew up with. For me, I lost the team I
grew to love, and even more so, lost the team that quite possibly could have
ended up in my backyard in Portland.
Regardless of our feelings, the overall feeling of a team moving back to a city
which lost two teams previous never made much sense, even if the money was
right.
For starters the Washington Nationals played all of their
home games at the old Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, the same stadium that was
built for the second incarnation of the Washington Senators back in 1961. A
stadium, mind you, that they shared with a professional soccer team, DC United
of Major League Soccer. From 2005-2007 the Nationals played all of their home
games at RFK while a new stadium, Nationals
Park was being
constructed. Despite the new ownership, the team still performed as mediocre as
the Expos had before their move. I’m not trying to dog on the team, but it’s
unfortunately the reality of things. The team went 225-261 under then managers
Frank Robinson and Manny Acta. In 2008, the team’s first year in nationals Park, the Nats went 59-102, and to cap
things off they posted the exact record the following season which prompted
Acta’s firing, only to be replaced by Jim Riggleman midway through. Despite
their poor finishes, the team was starting to spend money on trying to keep and
attract talent like Josh Willingham, Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman.
From 2010-2011 the Nats starting spending a significant
amount more, especially after the acquisition of Jayson Werth (WOOF WOOF WOOF
WOOF!!!) and utilized their draft picks to their utmost potential. By the time
2012 rolled around the Nats were stacked. Analysts saw the heavy-hitting and
stellar-pitching lineup as more of a fluke and didn’t expect them to do much.
Ha! Try 98-64, the best record in Major League Baseball. On top of which the
Nats made the playoffs for the first time in their history, and the second time
in the franchise’s history.
The team I saw on the field this last season certainly shook
off any bit of the lingering cloud left over from the old Montreal days; a mixed sentiment felt back in
the old country. When I visited Montreal
over the summer I overheard a few people talking about the Nats every
now-and-then. Some was good, a lot was negative; and while I don’t feel that
people should let go, the fact of the matter is that the Expos faded out in
D.C. at the tail end of the 2010 season, the same time this hat became defunct.
From 2009-2010 this cap served as the alternate cap, something I felt was way
too short of a time frame. The Nats certainly went through a dark period under
this cap; however, it was because of those gloomy times that the team was able
to pull some solid draft picks and make some phenomenal trades for the 2012
season. Moves which totally justify the numbers I dropped on this beast.
#47- It was an extremely sad day in Oakland Athletics nation
when Gio Gonzalez got traded to the Nats; however, in return the A’s got Derek
Norris and Tommy Milone, a move which proved to be extremely beneficial for both
sides. On April 16, 2012 Gio, Edwin Jackson and Ross Detwiler made their way to
New York and in through the doors of the MLB Fan
Cave. Since there wasn’t
a Nationals rep in the Cave I had always taken it upon myself to rock the gear
of any team whose players paid a visit, but only if none of the other eight
were reps of their teams. My mother raised me right, in the sense that as a
host I am always obligated to make the guests feel welcome. So sure enough the
gang came strolling in, full of life. Detwiler was a bit standoffish on account
that he was making his season debut against the New York Mets that night, but
Gio and Edwin took to the Cave as if it were a funhouse. I was given the honor
of leading the tour, something which felt really cheesy to me considering that
these guys were grown men who just wanted to hang out, put their feet up and
take a peek on their own time. As the tour came to a close Edwin and Gio were
called over by the production crew to shoot their scenes for a video they were
making on doing Detwiler’s chores for the day to keep his mind clear for his
game. It was also during this time that the cat was let out of the bag on the
Jayson Werth (WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!) rule.
A few days before they came in there was a rule established
by Ricardo Marquez and Ricky Mast that anytime anyone said the name Jayson
Werth (WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!) I had to bark like a dog. No exclusions applied.
One of the two had tipped Gio off and in between takes he shouted Jayson
Werth (WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!) from across the Cave. This happened somewhere
between 15 and 20 times, including his ordering the cab driver to stop and wait
for him so he could run back inside and yell it at me one more time. Prior
to his visit Gio had gone two games without a decision on the season and with a
3.38 ERA. After he left he went on to win seven of his next eight, dropping his
ERA down to 2.04 at the end of May. It was also around this time that I had
picked up this cap from the New Era Flagship Store from across the street. As
soon as I got it back to the Cave I felt compelled to drop his number on the
front for being such a cool dude. Unfortunately for me, I got the axe from the Fan Cave
the following day.
Gio and I had been talking sporadically throughout the season
on Facebook; however, when I started my road trip we stopped talking for the
sake that we were both clearly busy with real life. On August 17 I made my way
to D.C. to catch two games versus the Mets. It was during this time I met a
longtime Twitter buddy Rachel Wynn (@RachWynn), a die hard Mets fan. Rachel and
I hung out during the first game where we proceeded to get “white girl wasted”
throughout the night along with one of her friends who came down to the games
with her. The one thing I remember most from the first night was ending up at
The Bullpen, an outdoor bar across the street from Nationals Park.
There, we proceeded to crush a heavy amount of Bud Light with Lime and walk
around the joint making fun of all the frat guys we saw. At one point the conversation
turned really weird and I started coming up with ways to make a train wreck of
a scene. The best idea? Yelling, “Who wants to get fuuuuuuuuuuuucked!?!?” as
loud as I could. The rest of the night is a blur, but I had to get back to the
game the next day so I slept in the car as to not cause an accident.
Game two came around and I headed in earlier with the hopes
that I might be able to go say hey to Gio. Apparently luck was on my side as I
stumbled into this sign on my way through the gate…
I’ll admit, I was a bit hesitant to drop in to say hello.
I’ve never been much of a “fanboy.” You know, those guys that hound for
autographs and photos and such. I literally just wanted to say hello… and maybe
get one photo. I got in line pretty early and had to wait about 35 minutes to
get inside, which wasn’t a big deal as I had time to kill anyway. I finally got
close to the table he was sitting at when I noticed a sign that said “no
photographs.” As in no photographs with the player so that more people could
file through during the designated time. So, I popped this photo as fast as I
could before I got up to the table.
I had promised a friend, Toni Taylor (@condorsfan06) back in
Bakersfield, California an autograph of Gio’s. Not having
anything else on me I slid my ticket across the table while his head was still
down. He signed it and handed it back. In the process of his arm reaching out
to his head tilting up he went from chill mode to jumping over the table to
give me a hug in less than a nanosecond. “Heeeeeyyyyyy!!!” he yelled as he put
me in a bear hug. We chatted for a very quick second as to not hold up the
line, at which it ended with his asking, “Are you coming to see me pitch
tomorrow?” My original plan was to drive to my friend Tom’s house in South Jersey the next morning; however, when a ball
player asks if you’re going to be at their game, you do it.
I met up with Rachel and her friend again after game two
somewhere in DC, along with another group of people we had partied with after
the previous night’s game. This time around; however, I kept a cool head and
kept my drinking light so I could go back to my hotel to shower and sleep.
Luckily for us there was a bar we stepped into that had a Nintendo 64 set up
with Mario Kart 64 in the console. Needless to say, Rachel and I made it an all
out war. Can’t remember who won though. So I’ll claim it.
The next day came and it was pouring rain. Somehow in the
two and a half months I had been traveling I had yet to deal with a rain delay.
With nothing else to do I decided to grab a few beers and a few smokes to kill
time during the three-hour delay. During my tour of the stadium I was spotted
by two hardcore Nats fans who had been following me on Twitter since my time in
the Cave. What was funny is that when I passed by them I had an apparent scowl
on my face, which is common for me whenever I’m in the zone and on a mission. I
got back to my seat when Gary (@SperryGary) had hit me up asking if it was me.
I immediately remembered who I had passed and went right back to make
introductions. Gary, his friend Ryan (@MyGuyRyan) and I hit it off really well,
crushed a few more beers before the rain finally let up and Gio got to his
warm-up routine. I dropped down, snapped a few photos and sank into my seat.
Gio pitched a solid 5 2/3 innings with three strikeouts and I met up with Gary
and Ryan front row on the first base side for the last two innings of the game.
The Nats won 5-2 and Gio’s record jumped to 16-6 with a 3.23 ERA.
Gio unfortunately finished in third place for the National
League Cy Young award, which in all honesty could have gone to Clayton Kershaw
easily as well, but it was RA Dickey who took home the treasure. Last night Gio
was tapped to make his season debut for the USA Baseball team in the World Baseball
Classic. And, in classic Gio form, he dealt five solid innings only giving up
three hits, no runs and punching out five batters. Oh, and if I didn’t
emphasize this earlier, Gio is clearly one of the Top 10 raddest dudes on the
planet.
#34- If you haven’t been following me on Twitter for very
long there’s a very specific thing I always refer Bryce Harper as: “some Mormon
kid.” Being a fellow Mo-Mo myself I always find it incredibly awesome to see a
strong kid of faith following his dreams in the same footsteps as such greats
as Wally Joyner, Cory Snyder, Jeff Kent and Harmon Killebrew. Harper was taken
with the first overall pick in the 2010 amateur draft; something that really
didn’t shock anyone. I mean, the kid is the real deal. Despite being the #1
ranked prospect, Harper started the season in AAA Syracuse for the Chiefs… for
21 games. The Nats promoted him to the Show and he made his MLB debut in Dodger
Stadium on April 28, 2012. In that same game he cracked his first Major League
hit, a double over the head of Matt Kemp as which he jammed around the bases so
fast his helmet flew off, exposing that sweet power Mohawk-rat tail combo he
had going. It wasn’t too much later after a game in Toronto that we were given
one of Harper’s quotable gems after a reporter asked him what his favorite beer
has been since getting to Canada where he can legally drink on account of his
age. His response, the priceless, “That’s a clown question bro” that we’ve all
said to a friend and/or co-worker at some point in time since that night. While
people want to clown the kid for saying that, I have to tip my cap to him for
having the foresight to get that quote trademarked and copyrighted for
licensing purposes.
Harper churned out a phenomenal season, which merely added
to the magic that was the 2012 Nationals, with his NL Rookie of the Year award
after posting .270/22/59 and 18 stolen bases. The one thing that I will forever
appreciate about this kid; however, is his attitude. He doesn’t fake it, he
owns it 100%. I recall an interview he did for a magazine round the time he was
drafted at which he commented on why he’s so arrogant on the field. His
response, "There are so many people out there who will tell you that you
can't. What you've got to do is turn around and say 'Watch Me'” That’s pretty insightful
for a 19-year-old.
While I never had the chance to meet Harper when he stopped by the Fan Cave,
I hope I get the opportunity to pick his brain sometime down the road. It’s
very rare for me to admire someone so much younger than me, but if it was going
to be anybody, who better than a person who puts his money where his mouth is?
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