by
Thu, Oct 11 2012 06:13:02

Sports

This isn't a St. Crispin's Day Speech.

  1. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    Yesterday, the A’s, Giants, and yes, Yankees, show that there is to be fight in these playoffs. Today is the Nationals’ turn.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 04:42:01
  2. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    The A’s faced a “lesser” opponent and found themselves need to win out at home. They’ve made it further than any would imagine.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 04:43:34
  3. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    The Giants are David facing a brutal Goliath in the Reds and have won on the road to stay alive.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 04:44:02
  4. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    The Yankees are a seasoned team of veterans fighting off the upstart O’s, and they’ve taken to late inning heroics amid slumps.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 04:44:43
  5. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    In these Nationals, there is strength. In these Nationals, there is pitching dominance. In these Nationals, there is bone-crushing power.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 04:45:35
  6. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    Look at this club, my fellow Nationals fans, and see a smooth double play, the natural progression from six to four to three.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 04:46:13
  7. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    Look at this club and see a bullpen that has been a place where rallies go to die, where tough situations have been defused.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 04:46:57
  8. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    Look at this club and see a set of bench bats that have started and continued more rallies than any other in the National League.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 04:47:26
  9. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    Look at the strength of our leaders and the moxie of our rookies. Start this day knowing that there’s a club there that can win.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 04:48:05
  10. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    And while we can’t control what happens on the field, what we can do is raise the dead in the stands.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 04:48:32
  11. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    I want to be able to hear, from every corner of this city a mighty roar when that game starts at 4:07pm. This is a city that loves its team.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 04:49:28
  12. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    Alright, here ends your morning devotional. I’m not in the box today, that honor falls to @davidhuzzard. Follow along at @welovedcsports.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 04:50:59
  13. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    Alright, it turns out there’s a second reading in this thing, so I’ve got a few more things to think about.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 05:37:23
  14. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    There were games this season that could have – some say should have – broken this team, but they did not.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 05:38:16
  15. Nationals Collapse in Ghastly Fashion: Lose 11-10 in 11 to Braves
  16. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    So yes, our pitching has been struggling late in the season, and our offense has been lackluster. It doesn’t have to stay that way.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 05:38:58
  17. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    These last two losses feel worse to the fans because of their timing, not because they were any worse than ones from the regular season.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 05:39:54
  18. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    This is a team that rebounded. That won 2 of 3 against the Braves in July when we were told – when many said – the Nationals were done.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 05:40:24
  19. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    Yet here the Nationals are, possessing the best record in the regular season, unaffected by that loss. In fact, steeled by it.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 05:40:49
  20. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    I watched a piece last night on PBS about the tempering of steel. Where they plunge a forged blade straight from the fire into oil.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 05:41:25
  21. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    The plunge changes the molecular structure of the steel and it hardens it, makes it stronger, so it can be sharper. That’s what this is.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 05:42:05
  22. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    This is those ten seconds after the plunge when you wait and hope and see what happens next. This is a finely-crafted team, yes, missing one
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 05:42:48
  23. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    But did we not see Gio dominate all year? JZimm, too? Nats fans wanting to see Stras right now, I feel for you, I really do.
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 05:43:22
  24. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    Watching him in October is something I look forward to, but we don’t see it now. What would the narrative be if he’d pitched and faltered?
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 05:43:44
  25. tbridge
    Tom Bridge@tbridge
    Instead of the GMs laughing at us, they’d just be laughing at us. This changes nothing. They’d say from their homes, “Shoulda rested him.”
    Thu, Oct 11 2012 05:44:15

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Tom Bridge

I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I'm happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I'm done.

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