Ol’ Robbo plans to confine himself to posting on religious and spiritual matters during Lent. And since Opening Day will precede Easter, I wanted to get in a post on my beloved Nationals before knocking off.
As regular friends of the decanter know, ol’ Robbo has been a loyal Nats fan since the beginning. I got swept up in the brouhaha when the team first came to town back in ’05. However, unlike some summer soldiers and sunshine patriots (to borrow from Tom Paine), I stuck with them when initial enthusiasm turned to consternation and then humiliation. I suffered patiently through the ‘Nat’nal” years, through the back to back 100+ loss seasons, through being the laughing-stock of the League.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have a feeling that this is going to be the season where it all pays off.
Last year, despite key injuries and some less than stellar batting, we still managed to finish 80-81. This year, if everyone can stay healthy, if Werth is now over and done with his first season jitters, and if we can solve the lead-off problem (I hope Desi can do it), I’m going to call it right here and now: The Nats are going to win between 85 and 95 games and be in serious wildcard contention. (I won’t say we’re going to take the division just yet. Give that maybe another year or two.)
I, for one, can’t wait to watch them do it.
LET’S GO, NATS!
5 comments
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February 22, 2012 at 1:48 pm
The Maximum Leader
You know… We should try and meet up for a game this season. Why has this not occurred to me before? If we could get a number of other bloggy types (and their families) we could buy group rate tickets for a game…
February 22, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Robbo
Eeeexcellent! And didn’t we also have some idea of standing Father M a dinner?
February 22, 2012 at 4:55 pm
The Maximum Leader
So we did. Father M is a hard one to nail down. I’ll revisit getting him aboard as well.
February 23, 2012 at 1:36 am
ChrisN
I for one don’t think the wild card will come out of the NL East. The division is easily one of the toughest in baseball. The Phillies, Braves, Nats, and Fish should all be very good (thank goodness for 18 games vs the Mets!). Not only that, but in the interleague rotation this year, the NL East has the OTHER toughest in baseball, the AL East. I foresee a season of NL East teams struggling against each other and against the Yanks, Red Sox and Rays, while teams in the NL Central and West cruise against lesser competition.
February 23, 2012 at 1:38 pm
Robbo
Well, what’s that line from Major League? “Only one thing left to do…win the whole damn thing.”