The Oscillating Fan

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(Posted 8-9-26)

Greetings from The Booth!

What a difference 8 games makes. Think about it. 8 games in a 162-game Major League baseball season is a proverbial drop in the bucket, but in this 2026 Washington Nationals campaign, 8 games recently changed the direction and philosophy of the team.

It’s said that over the course of a full MLB season, a team’s strengths will be revealed, and it’s weaknesses exposed. Going into last weekend’s key series against the Atlanta Braves, the Nats were one of the top offensive teams in all of baseball, and despite a suspect starting rotation and terrible bullpen, were finally relevant after a 7-year rebuild. With his analytical approach to the game, Manager Blake Butera had the Nationals 2 games over .500 and in the thick of the Wild Card race.

Then, they were exposed. In a 4-game sweep by the Braves, Washington proved to be a pretender, not a contender. While Atlanta came up with the clutch hits and made stellar defensive plays, the Nats left numerous runners on base, and in the field, threw the ball around like little leaguers. Oh, and let’s not forget the “Gas Can Gang,” who wasted several solid efforts by Nats starting pitchers by giving up late-inning runs with games on the line. It didn’t take an analytical genius to see who the better team was in the series.

By the time Monday rolled around, the Nationals went from buyers to sellers, and ahead of the trade deadline dealt Curtis Meade, Luis Garcia, Jr., and Foster Griffin. Garcia led the league in slugging percentage, while Griffin posted a 12-3 record with the Nats.

While the Nationals received some promising prospects in return, namely some much-needed arms, the malaise of the trades and the 4-game sweep by Atlanta carried over into the next series in Philadelphia, where former Nats Bryce harper, Trea Turner, and Kyle Schwarber had their way with Washington, winning 3 of 4. And just like that, the season was effectively over. Going into the trade deadline I was, like lots of Nats fans, all in on a possible postseason run. Just days later, I did a complete 180.

But hold everything. Like the oscillating fan that I am, I may be changing direction once again. After a 3-game weekend sweep of the Reds (their first series sweep since mid-April), the Nationals are clawing their way back to .500, and maybe with any kind of win streak, can get back in the conversation. I know, it’s a stretch.

No matter what happens with regard to the postseason, it could still be a fun remainder of August and September. CJ Abrams, still a National, is worth the price of admission. Former Yankee Yovanny Cruz gives Washington a live arm out of the pen who can hit triple digits. Cade Cavalli has been looking like an ace recently. And Trevor Williams is back and has pitched to a 0.00 ERA since his return. Although Abrams probably won’t be with the team next season, I’m filled with hope for 2027 (if there’s baseball).

But, check back with me the next time the Nats lose 3 in a row…

Until the next Visit from the Booth…GO NATS!

RW

 

 

 

 

Views From The Booth: “Stopper”

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(Posted 6-29-26)

Greetings from The Booth!

Despite 2 wins to close out the weekend, it was not a great week for the Washington Nationals’ bullpen. Three of the losses in the 4-game losing streak were due to blown saves by the Nats’ “Gas Can Gang,” including a ridiculous 14-9 loss to the Phillies in which the Nationals pen gave up 8 runs in the ninth, all after two were out! Folks, that is Randy Woodward vs Jefferson stuff from 1977. The Nats’ starters deserved a better fate in the Philadelphia series, and you could easily make the case that Washington should have swept that 4-game set, arguably the biggest series for the Nationals since the Championship season of 2019.

To be a contending team in Major League Baseball in this day and age, you’ve got to have a quality bullpen, and it doesn’t seem that the Nationals put a high priority on that going into the 2026 season. The pleasant surprise, though, has been the starting rotation, who have been solid recently. Cade Cavalli has had nasty stuff, Zack Littell has been reliable, and even Miles Mikolas, who was acquired to eat up innings, has given the Nats some quality starts in recent weeks.

That brings me to Foster Griffin, who should (but probably won’t) be an All-Star. Griffin is 8-2 with a 3.15 ERA. The 30 year-old Griffin is a throwback, and what was known back in the day as a “stopper.” That term refers to a starting pitcher who can take the mound and put a stop to a losing streak, and that’s exactly what Griffin did this past week against the Orioles. Griffin threw 112 pitches in 7 innings, limiting the Birds to just 3 hits, a truly “old-school” performance. Alas, he did not get the “W” because the bullpen (you guessed it) gave up the tying runs late in an eventual 4-3 Washington win that ended a 4-game skid.

His performance this weekend was reminiscent of two of my favorite pitchers: Max Scherzer and Bob Gibson. “Mad Max” was another old school throwback, who dared a manager to come get the ball. Win or lose, Scherzer wanted to go 9 innings in an age where 6 innings is a “quality start.”

Scherzer would have fit nicely in 1968, the “Year of the Pitcher.” Pitchers were so dominant in ’68 that the following year the mound was lowered and the strike zone was changed to benefit hitters. It was the year Detroit’s Denny McLain won 30 games, a feat that surely will never be duplicated. And 1968 was the year that Bob Gibson dominated like no pitcher has since. Gibson gave up just 38 earned runs the entire season, and pitched to an ERA of 1.12 on his way to that year’s NL MVP honor.  I remember coming home from school that October (yes kids, World Series games were played in the afternoon) to see Gibby mow down 17 Tiger hitters via strikeout in Game 1 of the Fall Classic. I think that’s when I realized I wanted to be a pitcher.

Foster Griffin is a pitcher who has surely come to the Nats in 2026 from a 1968 time machine. Note to Griffin: next time Manager Blake Butera comes to take the ball, wave him back to the dugout. Somewhere, Bob Gibson will nod his approval.

Until the next visit from The Booth…GO NATS!

RW

 

 

Sports Dogs Podcast: Rapid Barking on FRLL, Caps trades, Nats pitching, and more

The Dogs are back together, and have takes on a number of topics, from:

  • the Gas Can Gang Nats’ Bullpen
  • Caps trades
  • Front Royal Little League’s 10U domination
  • AJ2DC
  • World Cup
  • and more…

Listen to the latest Sports Dogs Podcast HERE.

Brought to you by Energy Windows LLC. No need for 5 contractors…call Dave at 540-671-9243 or visit https://energywindowsllc.com

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.

Hedgesville grad makes MLB debut in playoffs

Hedgesville High School graduate and former JMU Duke Chase DeLauter made his MLB debut on Wednesday for the Cleveland Guardians in their playoff game against the Tigers.

Cleveland won 6-1.

DeLauter reached base with a walk and defensively added an outfield assist after throwing out a base runner at third in the fourth inning with the bases loaded after rebounding from a defensive error in the 1st inning.

In the start, DeLauter became the first Hedgesville player to reach the majors,  just the 6th player in MLB history to make his debut in a playoff game, and the 2nd player in JMU history to play in the MLB playoffs.

He was drafted 12th by the Guardians in 2022 and was listed as their 2nd best prospect heading into the game.

Injuries have plagued his minor league career and the playoff game was his first time back in a lineup since July 11th after needing surgery for a fractured wrist.

DeLauter and the Guardians ended their season last night after a 6 to 3 loss to the Tigers.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.

Sports Dogs Podcast: Front Royal Cardinals HOFer and World Series Champ Jeff Manto

Special Guest Sports Dog Jeff Manto joins Ryan Rutherford before taking the field for the Front Royal Cardinals Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Jeff played for the Cardinals in 1984 and then went on to play in three World Series including winning the title with the 1999 New York Yankees. He also shares two MLB records regarding home runs hit in consecutive at-bats from his time with the Baltimore Orioles.

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Opening Day & The Pitch Clock

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Greetings from The Booth!

I’m writing this week’s post on one of the great days in sport: Opening Day. Countless writers have waxed poetic about Major League Baseball’s Opening Day, and I’m not sure I can add anything new or original, but as has been said many times, Opening Day signals the renewal of all things, a true rite of Spring, when the outfield grass is greener, the uniforms are whiter, and everyone is 0-0 and filled with optimism about the upcoming season.

It’s only been 3 years since the Washington Nationals won the 2019 World Series (although we won’t count the 2020 COVID-plagued season), and what a tumble it’s been from World Champs to a 107-loss 2022 campaign. Gone are most of the players who were a part of that Championship year as the Nats continue their rebuild. One of those players is Patrick Corbin, who gets the Opening Day start in DC.  The lefty had his struggles last year, and although we aren’t supposed to pay attention to wins and losses in today’s world of metrics, Corbin was 6-19 last season. Corbin is now a pitch-to-contact hurler, who by accounts has had a great off-season and is in great shape, and ready for a comeback year.

The Nationals will need him, because (again) Stephen Strasburg is on the shelf. Since his $240-plus million dollar extension several years ago, Strasburg has pitched 26 innings. Do the math, and that’s almost $10 million per inning!  Pretty good money if you can get it. Unfortunately for the Nats, they are probably stuck with Strasburg, hurt or healthy, because no one is going to want to pick up that contract.

As Nationals’ GM Mike Rizzo continues his rebuild, the future does look bright with a restocked farm system and several promising young prospects on the Opening Day roster. Patience is not in the lexicon of most fans who basically want to win now, but a realistic expectation level should be set for the 2023 season. Still, unexpected things can happen. You only need to look 40 miles away from Washington to see an example of that. The Orioles, another team in rebuild mode, contended for a Wild Card spot most of last season with a group of youngsters who had a collective “why not us?” attitude. Again, everything is rosy on Opening Day.

One of the things you’ll see this year when you go to an MLB game is the pitch clock. Generally, I’m a baseball traditionalist, but as games become longer and longer, younger fans have become less interested in the pastoral pace of the “grand old game,” so I’m generally for the pitch clock. Something had to be done to attract a younger demographic. No one wants to see a pitcher pace around the mound after each pitch, fidgeting with his uniform, going to the resin bag a dozen times, while the batter adjusts his batting gloves and takes forever digging into the box. It’s estimated that this change will cut 26 minutes on average from the length of a major league game.

As football has long since become “America’s Pastime,” baseball is now on the clock.

Until the next visit from The Booth, have a great Opening Day!

RW

 

 

 

Revisiting “Ball Four”

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Greetings From The Booth!

It’s hard to believe but this week, some area students went back to school. For you “children of the 60’s” like me, let that sink in. Had we been forced to go back to school in early August, there would have been a revolt. For me, the back-to-school signpost was always the Jerry Lewis Telethon on Labor Day weekend. When Jerry and Ed McMahon unveiled the final totals, and Lewis broke into “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” we knew the Summer vacation was over. The butterflies in my stomach were as big as 747’s. August 9th?!? I’m not even sure the Little League World Series is over yet.

Speaking of school, it seems we hear a lot these days about how the United States is falling behind on the education front. While there is cause for concern, I was delighted to see the great results from the Handley Library Summer reading program. It’s great to know that students are still reading, even in the Summer months. Seeing this positive news took me back to the Summer vacations of my youth, when my mom would take us to the Martinsburg Public Library every Monday (first, there was a stop at a local donut shop right next door–chocolate with white icing). We had to pick out 3 books, read them that week, and get 3 new ones the following Monday.

I gravitated toward sports books, usually sports biographies or works of fiction. The bios were usually tales about heroic feats and clean living, with the athletes reminding us kids to get plenty of sleep, practice hard, and take our vitamins.

Then came Ball Four. Written in 1970 by major league pitcher Jim Bouton, Ball Four chronicles his 1969 season with the expansion Seattle Pilots. It’s considered baseball’s first “tell all” expose. Unlike sports books before, Ball Four gave fans a detailed look at what happens in a major league clubhouse, in hotels, bars, on the field, and the bullpen. And MLB didn’t like it one bit. What goes on in the locker room is supposed to stay in the locker room.  Ball Four humanized our heroes and made them real, and for his efforts, Bouton, who passed away in 2019, was basically shunned by baseball, calling himself a “social leper.”

Because of it’s mention of drug use, drinking binges, and sexual exploits, Ball Four was a book I read at night with a flashlight, and hoped my mom didn’t sample. For me, it marked the end of innocence where sports was concerned. Despite then-Commissioner Bowie Kuhn’s comment that Ball Four was “detrimental to baseball,” it never diminished my love for the game. Truth be told, it probably made me love baseball even more.

This Summer, I revisited my worn copy of Ball Four, and though it is mild by today’s standards, it is still a great read, and this time I didn’t need the flashlight.

Until the next visit from The Booth…GO STUDENTS!

RW

Alienating The Fanbase

Greetings from The Booth!

It’s a great time to be a Hornet. Shenandoah University Women’s Basketball are the ODAC Champs after completing a 3-day run through the conference tournament this past weekend, taking down the 5, 1, and 2 seeds on the way to the crown. Sunday’s win against Randolph-Macon gave SU a 22-5 mark, which is the best in program history. Now it’s on to Lexington, Kentucky this Friday to play another Virginia team, Southern Virginia, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It’s been a fun ride–let’s hope it lasts a little longer.

Meanwhile the nationally-ranked Hornet baseball team is off to a 7-1 start, and are number 18 in the country as of this writing. Death, taxes, and Shenandoah Baseball. Get out to the newly-renovated Bridgeforth  Field for a game or two this Spring and cheer on one of the best programs in the country.

Speaking of baseball, it’s not a great time to be a fan. Once again, MLB and the players are at odds as we head into the 2022 season. That season will probably not start on time, due to the bogged-down talks between the two sides. I’m probably being simplistic, but this is about MONEY. It always is. In the COVID year of 2020, the players showed their greed while the owners paid them for playing in front of no one. In 2021, limited crowds were allowed back into the ballparks, but MLB got political by moving the All-Star Game from Atlanta to Colorado, in effect hurting lots of people and surrounding businesses in already tough times. In each of those years, my passion for the game eroded.

This year, MLB may have lost me for good, and that’s saying something. I have always come back to baseball. Through the strikes, steroid era, and my general interest in other things, I have always kissed and made up with the grand old game. I’m not so sure I can do that again. While the National’s Juan Soto says no to a $350 million offer from the team to stay with the ballclub, the average fan is struggling to put gas in his vehicle and food on the table. How much is enough?

I’m not sure MLB knows that it is facing a crisis. Baseball’s demographic is traditionally older and is shrinking. A youthful, time-starved America has little time for the pastoral game of baseball, while older fans like me are being turned off by the constant bickering between billionaires and millionaires.

For Major League Baseball, it’s the bottom of the ninth, and they’re down to their last strike.

Until the next visit from The Booth…GO HORNET LADIES!

RW

 

 

 

Spitballin’

SU field oversight
SU field oversight

Greetings from The Booth!

We start this week’s post with Fathers Day wishes to all the Dads out there. Whether it’s playing a round of golf, grilling a perfect ribeye, or being “allowed” to watch the Nats or the US Open, here’s hoping your day is perfect! Thanks for all the sage advice over the years that you’ve handed down from your La Z Boy, like “go ask your mom.”

In all seriousness, I thank my Dad for things like my sense of humor, my work ethic, and teaching me at an early age to love math by showing me how to calculate batting averages and ERAs. We may disagree on some things, as all fathers and sons do, but we can always find common ground in sports, especially baseball.

Speaking of baseball, I had to chuckle when I saw this week that MLB was going to crack down on pitchers doctoring the baseball. I did not realize that this season has so far seen record strikeout numbers, as well as the lowest collective batting average in a half-century. Pitchers who are caught applying a foreign substance or doctoring the baseball will be ejected and suspended for 10 games.

I laughed because for as long as there has been baseball, pitchers have scuffed, cut, or applied things like Vaseline or KY Jelly to baseballs. The spitball was in fact legal until 1920, with several “spitballers” grandfathered in and allowed to practice their craft beyond that year. Some doctors of the baseball are looked upon as folk heroes and are even in the Baseball Hall Of Fame.

One such pitcher was Gaylord Perry, who won 314 games in his MLB career. His exploits are chronicled in his famous autobiography, “Me And The Spitter.” Perry is quoted as saying that he tried everything on a baseball except salt and pepper and chocolate sauce. But Perry, who was only caught once in his 22-year major league career, thrived on making batters think the greaseball or spitter was coming, as opposed to actually throwing it. A batter just didn’t know for sure.

I’m not sure how to reconcile my indignant anger at the Astros’ Jose Altuve for “allegedly” wearing a buzzer under his jersey to alert him on what pitch was coming, with my acceptance of Whitey Ford scuffing a baseball to get a batter out. Maybe it’s the technology angle, which just seems like cheating to me. Perhaps it’s because I was a pitcher. Or maybe it’s my nostalgia for the characters from baseball’s colorful past.

It’s a slippery slope for sure, probably due to the Vaseline on the ball.

Until the next visit, Happy Fathers Day from The Booth!

RW