WASHINGTON (AP) -Nationals president Stan Kasten, GM Jim Bowden and manager Manny Acta all love to throw around the word “progress.”
They love to talk optimistically about the team’s “plan.”
So no member of that trio would have told you this would happen: At 58-98 entering Tuesday night’s game against the visiting Florida Marlins, Washington needs to go 5-1 the rest of the way to avoid the franchise’s first 100-loss season in since 1976.
Indeed, back in February, Bowden sat in his office at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Fla., and declared his team was “ready to win more games than we lose.”
Asked last week how long it will be until the Nationals are a winning team, Bowden wouldn’t say.
“I can’t put the timetable on it, because I don’t know, you know, what trades you make, what signings you do,” he said. “There’s too many intangibles you can’t jump into.”
up wound up on the disabled list, along with closer Chad Cordero and others) and limited free-agent spending that wasn’t well spent (Paul Lo Duca signed for $5 million, then was released after hitting .230 with 12 RBIs in 46 games).
Washington ranks 14th of 16 NL teams both in ERA and in runs scored.
Perhaps that helps explain why Washington is 13th in the league in attendance during its first year in $611 million Nationals Park, with an average of 29,206 at the 41,888-capacity stadium. And why the team’s telecasts are drawing only about 8,000 households in the D.C. area per game, according to The Nielsen Company.
What Kasten, Bowden and Acta are saying these days is that they’re not concerned with exactly how awful the final numbers look or whether the Nationals wind up with the worst record in the majors.
As Acta put it: “The only difference between ’99’ and ‘100’ is two zeros.”
His players tend to agree.
“If we win out and only lose 98, it’s still a horrible season to our standards, compared to if we lose 104,” third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. “I think it’s to the point now where it’s been a disappointing season.”
It’s not easy to lose at least 100 of 162 games: No major league club did it last year.
A total of only four NL clubs did it during the 13 years from 1995-07.
(57-98 through Sunday) have a shot at joining the 100-loss club.
“It’s not a number that organizations like to see,” Padres manager Bud Black said.
As bad as the Montreal Expos were – so bad that Major League Baseball was ready to fold the franchise before moving it to the nation’s capital, remember? – they played their final quarter-century in Canada without once losing as many games in a season as the 2008 Washington Nationals will.
The Nationals entered last weekend’s three-game series against San Diego tied with the Padres for the NL’s worst record. After his team was outscored 26-9 while losing three in a row to the Padres, Kasten – as is his wont – played down the significance of the sweep.
“I’m a ‘big picture’ guy and I continue to focus on that,” he said. “Whatever progress was made this year – and I think it was considerable – is something we’re going to be building on in the future, and any single game or single series pales in comparison to that.”
He also shrugged off the significance of finishing with 100 losses or the league’s fewest victories.
“I’ve done both before – and built from there,” Kasten said. “So, again, if you focus on the big picture, it’s not something we will fixate on for very long.”
sses each year.
And the next season, 1991? The Braves went from worst to first, starting a record run of 14 consecutive playoff appearances.
No one is ready to say the Nationals are headed there that quickly, but many associated with the team sure are looking for silver linings.
The most popular version goes like this: If it weren’t for all of the injuries, there wouldn’t have been as much playing time for developing pitchers such as Collin Balester (3-6, 4.83 ERA) or Shairon Martis (0-3, 6.23 ERA) or developing hitters such as Elijah Dukes (.270 average, 13 homers, 44 RBIs) or Jesus Flores (.256, eight HRs, 59 RBIs).
“You’ve got to look at the positives, I think,” said Zimmerman, who missed nearly a third of the season and is batting .280 with 13 homers and 49 RBIs. “Looking at the negatives all the time is not a good thing to do. Obviously, you have to look at them to get better, but stay with the positives, go into the offseason and work hard and come back next year.”
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