NatsFest, which was held in the DC convention center, was full of Nationals players available for photo ops. We met manager Matt Williams and relief pitcher Drew Storen, as well as TV and radio personalities. The rich people were able to get autographs from several players while the rest of us watched a Q&A with some of the players. It was a nice event, though I would have liked more free stuff (don't give us a big plastic bag when we get there and not give us free stuff to put in it! Haven't you ever been to a fitness expo where the Bic pens and the lanyards are free for the taking?).
The SABR conference was a completely different experience. Members of the Society for American Baseball Research are (believe it or not!) nerdier than I am. These people can rattle off statistics that the normal person would never consider to be a statistic. Did you know that Tony LaRussa managed a total of 647 players? No, I didn't either. How about the fact that on two occasions, a team scored 13 runs with all RBIs coming from home runs (the Yankees and the Reds)? Nope, I didn't know that either. Also interesting to note was that at a game in April of last year, every Orioles starter scored a run. Yep, that's what these people do all day - try to out-do each other with interesting but unusual statistics. If these people used their nerdiness for good, we would have a cure for cancer, vision loss in humans could be restored, and colonoscopy preparation wouldn't be such a nightmare. But hey, I got Jayson Werth and Manny Machado bobble heads in one of their drawings, and a very good lunch was included with the price of our registration.
So now what? Now we wait for the players to start trickling in and for the predictors to do their predicting for the upcoming season. As I read all the projections, the one thing that makes me happy is that neither the Yankees nor the Braves appear on any of the "Top 10 teams" lists. Most experts put the Nationals on top, with the Dodgers and Cardinals close behind. I would actually like to see the Seattle Mariners do well this season. They have Robinson Canó and Nelson Cruz offensively, and one of the best arms in Felix Hernandez. And the Royals did so well last year that it would be nice to see them do well this season too, especially with their good run production.
As far as my Nationals are concerned, they have six good arms in their starting rotation. That's right - most teams have five starters and the Nationals have six since they signed Max Scherzer. Rumor has it that Tanner Roark will be moved to the bullpen, :-( and some are even saying that Stephen Strasburg could be traded (!). All I know is that Bryce Harper needs to grow up and step up, Jayson Werth served his 5 days in jail for driving too fast (though he probably won't start the season because he is recovering from off-season shoulder surgery), and Ryan Zimmerman is being moved from third base to first base. And by gosh, Wilson Ramos, can you stay healthy for one full season? So let's wait and see if the predictors and experts and SABR analysts are right about the Nationals - only six weeks left until Opening Day!
In the meantime, you should know that Gary Sheffield played in 51 different ballparks. Yep! Now you can go back to shoveling snow...
