Congrats to the Nats

[SeaBird]

I just don't think they can can by the Braves or Reds.

Really? Head to head they went 10-8 against the Braves and pretty much owned the Reds going 5-2 against them this season.

[Spy Fox]

If Strasburg was still pitching I think most people would be looking at the Nats as the WS favorites.

Strasburg/Gio/Zimm... Not sure there's a better top 3 in baseball. Of course EJackson and Detwiler are pretty good too.

This Nationals team is going to be a contender for many years. I'm rooting for them to take the NL crown. But just like with the O's, I think a diehard Nats fan is going to wind up seeing this season as an overall success regardless of playoff outcome.

[OFFNY]

I don't think we count Browns World Series here. Or Super Bowls.

I may be wrong here, but I think they kept the Expos records as do we with the Browns. The Twins have the first Senators team's records and the Rangers have the second one's. I may be wrong though, but the Nats aren't the old Senators. The only thing they have in common with them is the city they play in.

You're not wrong. Everything that you said in this post is correct.

O

[Crazysilver03]

Really? Head to head they went 10-8 against the Braves and pretty much owned the Reds going 5-2 against them this season.

To be fair, the First Reds/Nats series started the season. And the Braves played the real well the last time they met up.

[Frobby]

I am happy for the Nats. I'm hoping for a Nats - O's World Series, as I'd probably be able to get tickets to the DC games through my Nats ticket group. That would be intense!

[CharmCityLights]

Good for them.

Clippard has been a little shakey. Storen looks great. I wonder if he gets his old job back soon.

[blid]

I hear Teddy's going to win a race. Big mistake! Hopefully a fan jumps out of the stands and takes him down.

[DrungoHazewood]

They have clinched Washington's first postseason baseball spot since 1933.

The last postseason major league baseball team in Washington gave a plate appearance to a guy born in 1876, during the Ulysses S. Grant administration. Seriously.

The '33 Senators also had 60 homers on the year, to go along with 86 triples, 65 steals, and 396 strikeouts. They featured 19-year-old future All Star Cecil Travis playing a few games at third, WWII spy/tall tale teller/weird guy Moe Berg reading the paper in the bullpen, and 43-year-old future HOFer Sam Rice as a reserve outfielder.

Also, last night the O's hit 7 home runs at OPACY. The '33 Senators hit 14 homers in Griffith Stadium all year. It was one of the worst home run parks of all time.

[zkeller97]

Screw the nats. They stole Orioles fans for their team, and they stole some business and money that would have gone to the Orioles. I despise the Nationals. They are our rivals. They are the Orioles business competition.

[JDubs]

Screw the nats. They stole Orioles fans for their team, and they stole some business and money that would have gone to the Orioles. I despise the Nationals. They are our rivals. They are the Orioles business competition.

Meh. All the nats do is make the O's organization put a quality product on the field. Otherwise, the youth will go next door. I'm not going to get all worked up over that.

[Austin]

Screw the nats. They stole Orioles fans for their team, and they stole some business and money that would have gone to the Orioles. I despise the Nationals. They are our rivals. They are the Orioles business competition.

You can't "steal" fans. They weren't really Oriole fans in the first place if it was that easy to switch. I like the Nats and until they play us in the World Series, I'm rooting for them.

[Slappy]

NL East champs, and deserving. Good luck in the DS.

[Migrant Redbird]

NL East champs, and deserving. Good luck in the DS.

They'll need it. Losing 3 of the last 4 doesn't bode well. Of course, the Phillies won game 1 of the previous series too, then lost the next 2.

If you're the Nats, would you rather go to San Francisco and play the Giants, who are 6-4 in their last 10, or face the winners of the wild card play in game? The Braves, Dodgers, and Cards are 7-3; the Dodgers need to run the table and then beat the Braves to get to the NLDS, so they would be on a 4-game winning streak and higher than a kite contest.

Cards have won 10 of their last 14 and would probably start Chris Carpenter in game 1 of the NLDS, having won the play-in behind Lohse. The Phillies remember Carpenter well from game 5 of last year's NLDS.

[Slappy]

They'll need it. Losing 3 of the last 4 doesn't bode well. Of course, the Phillies won game 1 of the previous series too, then lost the next 2.

If you're the Nats, would you rather go to San Francisco and play the Giants, who are 6-4 in their last 10, or face the winners of the wild card play in game? The Braves, Dodgers, and Cards are 7-3; the Dodgers need to run the table and then beat the Braves to get to the NLDS, so they would be on a 4-game winning streak and higher than a kite contest.

Cards have won 10 of their last 14 and would probably start Chris Carpenter in game 1 of the NLDS, having won the play-in behind Lohse. The Phillies remember Carpenter well from game 5 of last year's NLDS.

I believe I read somewhere back there was a study that investigated if a slow finish affected teams in the playoffs. The conclusion was that it did not, but who knows...

The Nats have played pretty well this year against all the NL playoff teams:

10-8 v. ATL

5-2 v. CIN

5-1 v. SFG

4-3 v. STL

[blid]