Then he wrote "this ship is sinking" on the clubhouse chalkboard.

Operation Shutdown Part II is in effect.

Is Manuel losing the clubhouse in Philly?

Does that mean he didn't want to bat 7th or didn't want to play LF?

Not gonna lead the league in triples batting 7th bro!

Bat 7th

If I were making $9.5 million, the manager could make me the bullpen catcher for all I cared, let alone hit me 7th.

Wait, this sounds like BAD news. Are you sure you're talking about the right team?

Manuel said after the game that he sat Victorino because he appeared somewhat depressed over his recent performance.

FWIW.

MLB.com article

Manuel said after the game that he sat Victorino because he appeared somewhat depressed over his recent performance.

FWIW.

That makes sense. I'm sure the reason he turned around & walked out after seeing the lineup was because he was about to burst into tears.

Then he wrote "this ship is sinking" on the clubhouse chalkboard.

The ship has completely disappeared below the waterline, and the fully manned lifeboats are all rowing silently to shore.

The ship has completely disappeared below the waterline, and the fully manned lifeboats are all rowing silently to shore.

And the boats holding Jim Thome and Chad Qualls have made it to shore already.

I posted in another thread, but it fits better here. The Phils lost their 50th game (37-50). Last year when they lost their 50th game, they had won 94 games. Even if the Phils could somehow manage the same pace (47-25), they would be 84-75 with 3 games left and possibly already eliminated from Wild Cards and the division.

The Nats will hit a big bump somewhere along the road, but they will be fighting for the division to the bitter end. Ruben Amaro must be convinced by now it's time to sell. I'm okay with Manuel as a manager in general, but at this point bringing in Ryne Sandberg is the right thing. See what Sandberg's got and see if he can get the team playing with a little spunk.

Clearly, what the Phillies need is Larry Bowa at the helm. I hear he's available.

Charlie Manuel was fired as manager of the Indians on July 11, 2002. This is shaping up to be one of those great historical coincidences.

[14] To solve the Victorino and Manuel issues in one move, I hear Alfonso Soriano is available as a player-manager. :)

The Nats will hit a big bump somewhere along the road

This is certainly possible, but it deserves to be pointed out that the Nats have already faced the toughest stretch of their schedule by far -- the Bataan Death March of the end of May through June, with series against the Mets, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees, Orioles, Rays, and THREE TIMES through the Braves -- and passed through it with an impressive record (19-13 during that span against their own division and the brutal AL East). The rest the schedule is comparatively smooth sailing: lots of games against the Marlins, Astros, Cubs, Brewers, and Phillies.

Anything can happen, so it's foolish to get cocky now (especially with Strasburg set to be shut down in September). But the Nationals have already weathered the storm, so to speak; June was supposed to be their big test, and they passed.

with Strasburg set to be shut down in September

Have the powers-that-be given any indication of how much they're planning to rely on Strasburg in the playoffs if they make them?

Have the powers-that-be given any indication of how much they're planning to rely on Strasburg in the playoffs if they make them?

Yes, and the answer is "not at all, even the slightest bit." When he's shut down, it's for good this season.

Yes, and the answer is "not at all, even the slightest bit." When he's shut down, it's for good this season.

Wow, that's bold. I can't decide if that warrants a "good for them for sticking to the plan" or a "what are they thinking? flags fly forever and future playoff appearances aren't guaranteed".

Wow, that's bold. I can't decide if that warrants a "good for them for sticking to the plan" or a "what are they thinking? flags fly forever and future playoff appearances aren't guaranteed".

They're thinking about Kerry Wood, I guess.

Not sure if I disagree with the decision or no. Were I them, I'd be having him skip starts now and resting on my comfortable lead so Strasburg could pich in the playoffs.

what is with the skipping starts stuff? it would make a lot more sense to pull him after 5 innings every 5th day

Not sure if I disagree with the decision or no. Were I them, I'd be having him skip starts now and resting on my comfortable lead so Strasburg could pich in the playoffs.

This was my thought too, but I'm going to assume that Top Men (and Indiana Jones-referencing sarcasm aside, I feel pretty confident at this point that Mike Rizzo and his staff are indeed actually Top Men as far as baseball is concerned) know more about these things than I do.

One thing that's worth keeping in mind: Strasburg has left rather early in his two of his last three starts (I'm guessing it's related to the insane, ungodly heat here in DC, though hey: Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmermann are handling it well enough), which pushes his "shut down" date further into the month of September.

They're thinking about Kerry Wood, I guess.

Just pull him after the 19th strikeout then.

what is with the skipping starts stuff? it would make a lot more sense to pull him after 5 innings every 5th day

Making that a regular practice would stress the bullpen, unless the other starters suddenly began throwing complete games.

eso, I don't have a magic formula -- my (unoriginal) observation is that teams are not as good as they look when they are going well and not as bad as they look when they are going bad. It's a long, long season. For every player that I could name who is playing out of his head, you could point to someone who will improve in the 2nd half. The Nats are a good team, and I thought so from the start. They've weathered some injury problems too.

I expect a donnybrook with the Braves at season's end.

well i guess it deserves mentioning that despite losing their big name outfielder (werth), their promsing young catcher (ramos), their other slugging outfielder for most of the first half (morse), their superstar third baseman stinking it up and their best all around player being a 19 year old the nationals just keep on keeping on.

davey johnson, that guy can manage a little

Not sure if I disagree with the decision or no. Were I them, I'd be having him skip starts now and resting on my comfortable lead so Strasburg could pich in the playoffs.

Four games at the break is "comfortable?"

Making that a regular practice would stress the bullpen, unless the other starters suddenly began throwing complete games.

Hey, this is the team that was supposed to have a 6 or 7 man rotation entering the season. I guess Wang has been pretty bad but they have Zach Duke down in Syracuse, he could do multiple spot starts. And Cuban non-phenom Yunesky Maya who has virtually identical AAA stats.