Nationals Baseball: To Be (Angry) or Not To Be (Angry)

Monday, February 01, 2010

To Be (Angry) or Not To Be (Angry)

Chris, back (for a visit?) brought up an uncomfortable truth last week. Allow me to review:

Point 1
The Lerners and Kasten have been saying the same thing since the franchise was purchased. "We've hired the right people" "We're putting money to build up the team" etc etc.

Point 2
The team seems to currently be moving in the right direction.

Point 3
In comparison to the current situation, it's objectively apparent that the team was NOT moving in the right direction in past years.

Conclusion

The Lerners and Kasten were a bunch of lying liars who were also CHEEEEEEEEEEEEP. We can't trust them or at least they have to re-earn trust before they can be praised.

This is how I feel. When I see an article with quotes from Kasten and or Lerner I want to shout, "No! YOU don't get to say anything! YOU should be quiet and be happy you weren't run out of town for the crap you did to save a few bucks before your sweetheart stadium deal was set! Sit down and shut your Curly W pretzel holes until you do, for several seasons in a row, what needs to be done. What you said you were doing, but obviously weren't doing, since buying the team."

but I am not hanging on the Nats record. If they win, I'm not filled with goodwill. I'm filled with "That's nice, " so it's easy for me to maintain a high level of animosity toward folks that I think were misleading people. I don't think that's the case for everyone. I sense a lot of good feelings about the Nats as it stands today.

This isn't misplaced. It's completely understandable. The Nats stunk. The fans wanted the manager and (let's face it REALLY wanted) the GM fired. They have been fired. Riggleman (with the help of star-powered Nyjer Morgan) seemed to get the Nats to play decently. Rizzo has been making strategic, sound decisions. The Nats have a stud pitcher in the minors. It's a new day! No matter that this is exactly what Lerner and Kasten et al were hoping for. That they'd get the "first pass" on the crap that's taken place so far. Maybe they got what they want, but right now so are Nats fans it appears. It's still better now then it was 12 months ago. Why be angry?

So are you angry? Do you hold a grudge against Lerner/Kasten for not doing then what they are doing now? Or do you believe that in sports all that matters is the season in front of you?

6 comments:

Bryan said...

100 years of losing can be erased, overnight, by a truly great season. The Phils proved that the last 2 years.

A perinnially "poor" team that considered itself a "small market" team despite having a home in one of the larger cities in the league has become a league favorite. They have gone from being dumped upon by their local fans, to being considered heroes.

I don't think that the Nats are nearing the Phils in quality, but it can turn that quickly. One or two things break right, and bammo.

Really, if Strasburg is, say, Lee or Hamels good, and you get one more pitcher and one or two fielders end up being even Victorino/Burrell/Abreau good, you're talking about a decent team.

Yes, that's a lot of "what ifs" and a long stretch of road to run. But that's what it takes for most every team. If the Phils had truly known what they had in Ryan Howard they wouldn't have had him wasting away down in the minors until he was in his late 20s.

Harper said...

You don't sound angry. I don't like you when you are not angry.

This is pretty much what I expect. The only way fans can not get excited about a winning team is if the franchise has shown a proclivity to destroying winning teams because they'll be too expensive (see: Marlins, Florida). Everyone else - it's Just Win Baby.

This is what makes the dragged out firing of Bowden so brilliant. As long as he was here - he was going to draw the fire. If I was a new owner buying a team and looking to cheap out for a few years - Bowden would totally be my first phone call.

Sasskuash said...

I'm kind of mad at that blog post Needham wrote, simply because I WANT to give Rizzo the benefit of the doubt. I WANT to have hope for this season, and the seasons after that. I WANT to be able to tell myself things are different now, the organization is getting the right guys and changing its habits. Needham was dead on, and now I'm looking at everybody, including Rizzo, with a lot of skepticism. I'm ready to give them a fresh start, but they have to give something back first- like a season where the team is not the worst in MLB. Or some progress (beyond Strasburg who came gift-wrapped and doesn't count) in the minor league system. If I don't see something better, I'll be as angry and bitter as ever.

Harper said...

In short I would say:

They probably are on the right track,

Don't cut them slack though, and

Dammit they're going to get away with it aren't they?

Chris Needham said...

Sasskuash -- To be clear, I HOPE they're on the right track, and I've seen enough to believe they are... but I'm not going to ASSUME they are as I did before.

Mickey said...

Not actually angry anymore, but I don't trust them or believe anything they say anymore. After years of spin (utterances formerly known as lies) just shut up and build the team and organization.

But baseball is supposed to be fun, and I'm pretty good with separating my disgust with management from enjoying the games.