Dear friends, sorry to say, this time there will be no jokes or poems- or even a jolly Glarph cartoon to break the gloom this writer feels gummed down and in. As the Rolling Stones so aptly sang, long ago, “You can’t Always Get What You Want,” and surely by now we’ve “Got No Expectations,” nor any “Satisfaction” from the performance post-All Star Game from our renegade baseball club the Nationals.
Scherzer melting down, repeatedly gifting inferior National League rival teams with freebie homers; Drew Storen tossing gimmes into the camera well and other inappropriate zones around the ballpark; and Zimmerman’s endless exits caused by relatively insignificant but nagging injuries. Only Strasburg’s rallying on the mound (thank God!) has offset this cacophony of crisis for Lerner and Rizzo and beleaguered manager Matt Williams.
Just listen to any of Matt’s mealy mouthed press briefings after any number of scoring disasters. ”We uhh, could have given it more effort,” or “It’s a, umm, question of motivation.” Come on Skipper, just whatever happened, for instance to “Run-building?” Not only did the Mets mow us down with a sweep at home between September 7 and September 9; in the opening pair of away losses weekend in Miami (Sept. 11, 12) the weary Nats managed a total run output of ONE, against the motley Marlins!
Hope reigns eternal, however, for we broke Florida’s meager grip (with Mad Max on the bump no less!) by handing them a 5-0 shutout on Sunday’s closer (lucky Sept. 13). So, as this observation goes to press, our team, once vaunted for a sure World Series slot; needs only to capture about a dozen and a half near consecutive victories out of about 28 games total to nail down a wild card slot. Keep praying, Loyal Fans, but be sure to dig out those lucky rabbit’s feet and mojo juice as a saver!
