I don't think anyone expected a 4.1 (b-ref)WAR out of Harper this year, either, which actually leads the position players (Gonzalez is 4.3). Eventually, but not as a rookie...

It hasn't received much attention, but Harper broke the all-time record the other day for most extra-base hits in an age-19 season. Pretty good under any circumstances, more so since he wasn't called up until the first month of the season was almost over, and there is still some baseball left to play. Tough to predict his future, but don't rule out a Trout-like or A-Rodian age-20 season.

wtop.com has the Nats' clinching as its lead story this morning... I'm honestly surprised. It's above the fold at the Post as well.

Why the big surprise? Both have promoted local teams' successes on slow news days. The Post made Maryland's 2002 men's and 2006 women's NCAA basketball titles "above the fold on the front" stories; heck, in 2009 it ran a standalone picture on the front after the Terrapin women won the ACC tournament for the first time in 20 years (the game was on a Sunday, which helped).

With good management, Washington should be in the economic tier just below the NY/LA teams. No reason they can't end up supporting payrolls in the Red Sox/Phillies range.

I concur; it's merely a matter of the team's success catching up with the market. The same thing has happened with the Texas Rangers, though it helps that the Metroplex is undoubtedly the best sports market in the Sun Belt. (To me, that's a better analogy than the Phils or Bosox, who each have more than a century of heritage. The 33-year gap and decades of non-contention on top of that has meant that the Nats essentially had to start from scratch.)

dodgers look like toast. the cards are my team but if they stumble, i'll go nats.

dodgers look like toast. the cards are my team but if they stumble, i'll go nats.

The Reds have already won the NL Central.

So it looks like the going rate for the tickets I picked up for game 3 are 3 times the face value. So do I sell 2 of them and keep 2? My game 5 tickets are going at twice the face value. How does that work with resale on stubhub? If I sell my game 5 tickets on stubhub and the series ends before game 5 do I just get refunded the face value of the ticket and keep the profit? I kind of doubt that is how it works but you never know.

So it looks like the going rate for the tickets I picked up for game 3 are 3 times the face value. So do I sell 2 of them and keep 2? My game 5 tickets are going at twice the face value. How does that work with resale on stubhub? If I sell my game 5 tickets on stubhub and the series ends before game 5 do I just get refunded the face value of the ticket and keep the profit? I kind of doubt that is how it works but you never know.

This post summarizes well the newly expansive Natinal bandwagon, methinks.

Why? This is how season ticket holders operate. I bought 4 tickets. I can sell two of them which will pay for all 4 tickets and still go to the game with a buddy. I can then sell game 5 if I want and probably pay for a couple of games in the NLCS.

There are some ground rules that go along with getting on board this victory wagon though. Rule #1 is that once you're on, if you jump back off you don't get to jump back on again later. Rule #2 is that once you're on, you forfeit the right to whine that tickets are too expensive.

Now that we got that out of the way: all aboooooard, and take your seat quickly please so that the next person can get on.

Well, I disagree. Every fan gets to complain about ticket prices for going to games.

I'll also say I'm not on the bandwagon either. If I move to Atlanta tomorrow I won't give a fig about the Nationals and will go to Braves games. If I move to Pittsburgh after that I won't give a fig about the Braves and will go to Pirates games.

There are some ground rules that go along with getting on board this victory wagon though. Rule #1 is that once you're on, if you jump back off you don't get to jump back on again later. Rule #2 is that once you're on, you forfeit the right to whine that tickets are too expensive.

Now that we got that out of the way: all aboooooard, and take your seat quickly please so that the next person can get on.

So, if I want the Nationals to win the NL Pennant, and loose to the Yankees in the WS, but would root for them to beat any other AL team, where does that place me, bandwagon wise?

So, if I want the Nationals to win the NL Pennant, and loose to the Yankees in the WS, but would root for them to beat any other AL team, where does that place me, bandwagon wise?

With me.

I missed checking in as a Nats fan here yesterday, but I assume my moniker gave that away.

If someone traveled through time to visit me back in March and told me that by the end of June, Wilson Ramos would be out for the year, Michael Morse and Jayson Werth would each have 3 HR, Drew Storen would have 0 saves and Ryan Zimmerman would have a .642 OPS, I would have been ready to burn my season tickets. Instead, I've spent this season gradually coming to terms with the fact that this team has suddenly became the kind of team I always hoped I would get to root for.

dodgers look like toast. the cards are my team but if they stumble, i'll go nats.


The Reds have already won the NL Central.

???

as far as i can tell, the cards are still hanging on to WC2. they're not out of the picture.

personally i think it would be hilarious if they won the WS from the WC2 position after winning it from the wild card spot the year before.

I THINK that long time Expos fan and Primate fra paolo still roots for the team.

This is true, although I have a difficult relationship with the Nationals' fan base at times, when they are a bit insensitive about the Expos' past of the franchise. I also found the Bowden years extremely difficult. I really dislike him as a person, not just as a GM making decisions I don't agree with. I wandered away in 2006, but once he was gone I jumped back on the bandwagon, in 2009.

Not being from Montreal, or having lived there, I came to realize I can be attached to the franchise wherever it plays.

I've been really pleased with this season, not just because the Nationals' have made the playoffs, but also because they've had an exciting season, with their difficulty in scoring runs at times making many 'tough wins' entertaining viewing and listening.

Also, I think they have the best radio-broadcast duo in baseball, with Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler. They prove that you don't have to have an ex-player to get great, knowledgable baseball commentary. As an out-of-market gameday-audio-er, that alone has kept me a fan of the team. They are fun to listen to.

112. Natty Fan Posted: September 22, 2012 at 01:13 AM (#4242774)
I missed checking in as a Nats fan here yesterday, but I assume my moniker gave that away.

Actually, I just figured you were a fan of a certain Bohemian beverage.

Actually, I just figured you were a fan of a certain Bohemian beverage.

It's not a true D.C. dive bar unless they'll do a beam and bo' for less than 8 bucks.