Monday, June 18, 2007

Nats Pride: Minor League Edition

Well, Happy Monday to all. It's especially a good day if you're Columbus Clipper Brandon Watson*, who yesterday broke a 95-year-old International League Record with a hit in his 43rd straight game. Watson bumped Jack Lelivelt and his 1912 42-game streak from the IL record books with a single against the Ottawa Lynx. The Clippers are now the AAA affiliate of the hometown Nats after being the Yankees AAA franchise for years.

It's great to see Watson experiencing such success with Columbus (thanks to the streak, he's second in the league with a .338 BA), because his brief stints in the bigs have not gone too well. Watson has hit just .176 with 1 HR and 5 RBI in 68 big league ABs. In 2006 he was actually the Opening Day starter in CF and the lead-off hitter for the Nats, but was quickly demoted after struggling mightily.

No offense to Ryan Langerhans, who might be the greatest defensive OF ever, but it would seem to me the big league club could now find room for Watson at the expense of the .167-hitting Langerhans. That's right folks, not a misprint - Langerhans is hitting .167 in 120 2007 ABs. He's a career .241 hitter in 777 big league ABs. I don't think he's getting any better. Come on Jim Bowden, do something right for once and get Brandon back up to RFK during the summer and let's see what he can do.

*Interesting Watson nugget - he is the godson of former All Star outfielder Eric Davis (thanks wikipedia)

52 comments:

The Drizzle said...

Langerhans must have been on a tear since we shipped him off in exchange for the rotting corpse of an unnamed minor leaguer and the promise that Billy Beane would at least answer the phone when Schuerholz retires, cause I'm pretty sure he was clipping at about .041 at the time.

T.J. said...

The infatuation with Langerhans is absolutely bizarre. I'm telling you, I have never seen a more clueless guy at the plate in my life.

Mark said...

Really? He's worse than Swint?

T.J. said...

I think Swint has a better chance to get a hit off a major league pitcher than Ryan Langerhans. There, I said it.

Swint, expect a drunk dial from Jim Bowden this week.

Whitney said...

Crash Davis would tell you that a 43-game hitting streak in the minor leagues is kind of a dubious honor, but don't you believe that, Brandon.

T.J. said...

The starting OF for the Clippers - Watson, Restovich and McDonald - should immediately switch places with the Nats current OF trio.

T.J. said...

You have got to be kidding me...

'Pacman' Jones may be involved in shooting incident

Troubled NFL star Adam "Pacman" Jones is wanted for questioning in a shooting early Monday at a DeKalb County strip club that left one man with minor injuries.

DeKalb police confirmed they want to talk to the College Park native, whose entourage got into an argument with three other men about 4:16 a.m. at Club Blaze, a Moreland Avenue strip club, according to Officer Ariel Toledo, a department spokesman.

The Drizzle said...

Why I was on Moreland Avenue just the other night. I did manage to clear out a bit earlier than 4:16 a.m. Clearly a mistake on my part.

T.J. said...

Sam Perlozzo is about to get canned as manager of the woeful Orioles. I don't know why anyone would want that job (I'm looking at you Joe Girardi).

Dennis said...

I love it! A personal highlight in my brief Gnats fandom is the sweep of the O's last week at Camden Yards. Hey, Pete Angelos....Fuck You, pal.

That reminds me, remember a few years ago when that list of celebrity personal phone numbers got leaked on the Internet?? Mr. Angelos was a recepient of several voice messages from his boy, Dennis.

Sooze said...

and he's down on the farm because...?

T.J. said...

Two words:
Jim. Bowden.

Geoff said...

PacMan is kind of a real-life caricature of the Chapelle skit "When Keppin' It Real Goes Wrong."

T.J. said...

I figure no one saw this last night, but the Robot Chicken Star Wars half hour special was pretty damn funny. Head on over to YouTube and watch some of it...

Geoff said...

Triva question: Who holds the VA High School football record for most INTs in a single game (seven)? Clue: it was set in 1995.

T.J. said...

My guess is Iverson...and I did not google it.

kungpao said...

Interceptions Made or Thrown? Thrown, i bet it's iverson or vick.

Geoff said...

It is interceptions made...and TJ got it right away--Iverson, who played both ways (QB and safety) and returned kicks.

kungpao said...

Rumor: Green to return to Georgetown.

T.J. said...

For some reason, I have either heard you mention that stat before, or had read it somewhere, so I deserve zero credit. It's a fucking ridiculous stat.

T.J. said...

If Green had come back, Georgetown would've been the pre-season #1 (in this guy's eyes).

kungpao said...

I saw Iverson as a McDonald's All American High School senior at (I think) the old McDonough Gym. He was twice as fast as the second-fastest player on the floor.

kungpao said...

I think that's probably right. Jeff Green needs a nickname.

kungpao said...

Also- since when is Columbus the Nationals' AAA club? i thought that was Yankees.

T.J. said...

I believe the switch occurred just this year. I too was baffled.

In other draft news, GW's leading scored Maureece Rice withdrew his name and will return to school...seems like a smart move. Next smart move on his list should be to spell his god damn name right.

kungpao said...

I also wonder what UVA will be if Singletary comes back.

Mark said...

There's some great Iverson football footage floating around on youtube.

Whitney said...

The Nats went from New Orleans to Columbus, the Yankees from Columbus to Scranton/WB, the Phillies went from Scranton to Ottawa (next year they will be in Allentown), the Orioles went from Ottawa to Norfolk, and the Mets, alas, went from Norfolk to New Orleans.

Quite a shuffle. I love New Orleans, but the Mets' AAA team playing that far away is asinine.

Mark said...

In related news, the closeted (not well, mind you) former ticket manager of my former minor league team is now employed by the Yanks' AAA affiliate in Scranton. Sheds a little light on Clemens' "fatigued groin", no?

T.J. said...

Many of the cities involved in those switches suck serious ass. At least Scranton has the Dunder-Mifflin office.

T.J. said...

"Can I write check?"

MIAMI (Reuters) - The New York Yankees have become the first major league side to sign Chinese players after bringing in two teenagers, the team said on Monday.

Left-handed pitcher Kai Liu and catcher Zhenwang Zhang, both 19, have signed for the team with the approval of the Chinese Baseball Association, the Yankees announced on their official Web site (http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com).

kungpao said...

Me rikey

kungpao said...

A rot

kungpao said...

shit, lavar's in the hospital

T.J. said...

Athletes...stop riding motorcycles.

Whitney said...

The Nationals came back tonight to make it a close one, but I knew their epitaph had been written when Tigers pitcher Eulogio de la Cruz came into the game.

BZArcher said...

As a Columbus native (and Clippers fan for the past 10 years) the best reason I can give for the Nats not calling Watson up is that they realized he was within 10 games of the record, and wanted to give him the chance to break it.

My guess is that either he will get called up at the end of this month, or within a day or two of the streak breaking, whichever comes first.

T.J. said...

I am not a big fan of it being 90 fucking degrees at 8am. Especially not when people crowd me on the metro like we're out clubbing.

Mark said...

Aww, poor TJ had a rough morning on the metro? That's what you get for riding public transportation, you hippie.

T.J. said...

Metro every morning my man...it's just 100 times worse when DC Summer hits, which it did this week.

rob said...

i'm enjoying the mental picture of teejay out clubbing

T.J. said...

Um, guess who didn't get a hit last night?

The Curse of GTB is a powerful force indeed.

Geoff said...

Rick Berry is on Mike & Mike right now ripping LeBron a new asshole. He doesn't know how to use a screen properly, he's fundamentally bankrupt, etc. It's phenomenal stuff.

Greg said...

Ever been on the metro when it's 100 degrees, totally packed AND it breaks down. I swear, people start crying and yelling and carrying on. It really sucks but come on.

Mark said...

Is that Chuck Berry's brother? Why is he talking about basketball? Or do you mean Rick Barry?

Geoff said...

I'm all a fenetic spelling theze dayz.

T.J. said...

Rick Barry is a straight shooter with upper management written all over him.

Geoff said...

I'm pretty dumb this morning...like most mornings...and afternoons. By "a" I meant "about"...a simple misspelling where I simply left our four letters in a five letter word.

rob said...

you say dumb, i say efficient

Whitney said...

w t y m

kungpao said...

My dad just told me he was out at 50 and the Beltway yesterday and he saw Lavar's motorcycle. He said he just assumed that whomever had been riding it was dead. I wonder if Lavar gave route 50 a concussion when he hit it.

Geoff said...

I don't wish Lavar ill...but I don't wish him well either.