Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In the month of June after 59 games, the Nats are in 1st place and no longer look like a JOKE of a franchise. The front office acutally made moves and showed interest in winning and not content with being the NL East doormat. I mean three ago the players for this team swung at balls over their head and at their feet and tried to steal home base with 2 outs and a 3-2 pitch count-lol
It's nice to see that the team has a winning attitude now and won't have a 100 losses this season like they used to all the time. Thumbs up to the Nats organization for this quick turnaround because it didn't seem like that long ago when this franchise paid players to FAIL instead of SUCCEED.
In 2009 after 59 games they were 16-43. Now they are 36-23. What a turnaround
Strasburg and Harper will keep this team competitive for awhile now. I think Harper is just going to get better and better. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in the running for MVP next season.
Strasburg and Harper will keep this team competitive for awhile now. I think Harper is just going to get better and better. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in the running for MVP next season.
I saw the early sign last season that something was different when the Nats went 6-6 after their first 12 games.
I'm jealous of the Washington fans at the moment because they are presently enjoying what I think is the very best possible sports rooting experience....the first time that the team you have been following becomes a contender. Whether it is a new franchise which had never had a winning season before, or an existing one which had fallen on bad times and been out of contention for a long period of time, that awakening, that sudden relevance...nothing beats it for fun.
For me it was the Miami Dolphins. I sat through every one of their home games in their first four years when the head coach was George Wilson and the QB was his son, George Wilson Jr. The biggest star on the team was Wahoo McDaniel, who was much more famous as a pro wrestler than a football player. In those four years they were 15-39 and a league joke. They won 3 games their first year, 4 games in their second, 5 in their third, but back to 3 lousy wins in the 4th.
Then in 1970 they fired Wilson, stole Don Shula away from the Colts and traded for Paul Warfield..and went 10-4 and made the playoffs. Even though they were to win the next three AFC championships and win two of the three Superbowls in the following three seasons, those years were not as exciting to me as 1970 when suddenly football was relevant.
Same sort of deal with the Giants. I moved to SF in 1973 and sat through five stinko Giants seasons where they were never in the race at all...then in 1978 they turned it around and were not eliminated until the final week of the season. That was electrifying for me....games in September that actually meant something, games where winning or losing really counted.
The '70 Dolphins and the '78 Giants remain my all time favorite teams and seasons.
Enjoy this, it will never be quite the same, even if the Nationals become regular contenders/winners.
I've been a Nats fan since the franchise first moved to DC. It was a lot of fun the first two years when people were just happy to have a team. The next several years were awful and the stadium disappointed some people who wanted to see Camden Yards v.2.0, but those bad times in some ways paved the way for the current success by letting the Nats have the top overall pick in the draft two years in a row allowing them to get Strasburg and Harper.
Things are very exciting now. The team looks good and there is a palpable energy in the stadium and the city about this team. I don't live in DC anymore, but I've been to two games this season. Both had great crowds. Also, after the games when I was hanging out in DC I had people ask me how the games came out. That is something that never happened in 2007-2010. DC is hungry for a winner. The Wizards and Skins have both been underachievers for a while now. The Caps are good and have a dedicated fan-base, but their mainstream appeal is kind of limited. If the Nats are able to keep winning and keep this core of players together for several years we will see the birth of a new powerhouse.
And I agree with Grandstander that those first few years of success are the best. I was a Braves fan growing up in the 1980's and those teams were awful. 1991 when they went from worst to first was my favorite season...even more enjoyable than when they finally won it all in 1995.
Nats in 1st and Phillies in last? This is really weird.
I thought I would be 50 years old before that happened-lol
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
