William World News William F. Yurasko's blog v.14 – Nats, Penn State, Redskins, greater DC , travel, more

Lots of Washington Nationals news and comment as we slowly move closer to pitchers and catchers reporting. I wore a Nats cap today to work for the first time in a long while.

First off, Wilson Ramos kidnapping in Venezuela is detailed in this week’s Sports Illustrated.

Breaking this morning was the Nats plan to have a DC/VA/MD only presale for the first Phillies series. Too little too late, but at least they are trying, I guess. I doubt I’ll even make it to a game in that series.

The Nats farm system was rated #1 by Baseball America, a complete reversal in 5 years. Nats Enquirer puts it in the best perspective, but that’s not unusual. One thing though, if it is the best farm system, why hasn’t it produced a leadoff hitter or a centerfielder?

That #1 ranking was before the trade for Gio Gonzalez that sent three pitchers — A.J. Cole, Tom Milone and Brad Peacock along with catcher Derek Norris to the Oakland Athletics. No worries though, you build up a farm system for inventory as well. Yay for The Plan. Or Phase II. Good job by Mike Rizzo in getting to this point, it certainly is his strong suit. It helps that he had Jim Bowden precede him as general manager to build all the awful teams that meant high draft picks.

One of the few early alumni of the Nats minor leagues, John Lannan just lost arbitration and will have to settle for $5 million instead of $5.7 million. Had Edwin Jackson not been signed, he’d have been the highest paid starter in the D.C. rotation. Lannan is almost certainly on the trade block though. I’ll admit to being sentimental about Lannan, he was pitching out of position in the #1 spot for so many years when the Nats were dreadful and holding his own (except against the Philadelphia Phillies). Lannan has also increased velocity over the years and finally broke the 10 win barrier in 2011. He has the second most wins on the Nats staff since 2005.

Back to Jackson, he’s a good pick up with a one-year deal. Plus, Rizzo has had a thing for him, like Jim Bowden did with Wily Mo Pena. Rizzo’s infatuation is much more defensible. Jackson is looking for a big season to hit free agency with next year in full force and the Nats get another pitcher who strikes people out. This is interesting:

Over the past three seasons, the league has hit for a .283 batting average, .344 on-base percentage and .438 slugging percentage with no runners on base against Jackson, when he is pitching with a windup. The league has hit .246/.308/.385 with men on, when he’s pitching from the stretch.

They are going to work on that.

The pitcher with the most Washington wins in the 21st century has moved on. ¡LIVAN! singed a minor league deal with the Houston Astros. I got over my sentimentality for him sometime between his last appearance and the end of the season because at the end of the day, you can’t rely on charitable umpires forever. Good memories though, I like what Natsradamus had to say.

When are we going to get a nice printable schedule for our office cubes? The Yankees already have theirs out.

I’m thinking about keeping score this season. I know Bob Carpenter isn’t everybody’s favorite, but how is his scorebook?

Not that long ago, my father mentioned in passing that one of the best whiskeys he had ever tasted was corn whiskey out of a jug. His recollection was that he had it during an epic cross-country road trip (the top was up for less than one hour over the course of a month) many decades ago. He mentioned that Platte was part of the name. I became intrigued and tried to find it. I determined it must have been Platte Valley Corn Whiskey and he later confirmed it. My next step was to contact my friend Joe a legendary assistant manager of a liquor store in Northwest Washington, D.C. He found a liquor store in Southern California that carried it and I had it shipped to me.

The other day, we finally opened it up. It had strong aroma and in a way, felt like rye, but didn’t smell like it. It poured clear and yellow. The taste — not as sweet as I would have expected from a 100% corn whiskey. It was not terribly distinctive, neither sweet, nor bitter or harsh. It was pleasantly warm going down, like most whiskey.

Did the taste live up to the memory? Apparently not, but it was interesting experience nonetheless. It were aged more than 30 months, it probably would have more going for it — perhaps there was/is a variety that is aged longer and more tasty.

OUR LONG NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT DAY NIGHTMARE IS OVER

I say that every year at this time. Here is the Nittany Lions recruiting run-down from Black Shoe Diaries.

I don’t follow recruiting and doubt I ever will, but there are significant energy in following it. There are 2 major national outfits focused primarily on recruiting. Me, I prefer following the players who are actually on the team and play in games. Oh and read For the Glory by Ken Denlinger about the 1988 Penn State recruiting class if you aren’t convinced that following recruiting is a mostly waste of time.

Streetcars to return soon to the District | Gallery – The Post
The last street car in Washington, D.C. stop running 50 years ago this past Saturday. That system had been in decline following World War II. Street cars served the nation’s capital for a century. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History’s On the Move Exhibit Web site has a feature called “A Streetcar City” about Washington’s street cars.

Street cars are expected to return to D.C. in the next few years with tracks being installed on H Street NE and in Anacostia.

If you want to see what the old-time street cars were like, head up to National Capital Trolley Museum in Colesville, Md. I went once as a kid and will probably be going again this spring. The FAQ is also worth reading because it explains that traditionally it was “street cars” in Washington, instead of “streetcars.” It seems that custom is no longer observed, though I’ll do it. The difference between trolley, street car and light rail is also explained.

Lastly, the Wikipedia page on D.C. Street cars is very informative.

I am only getting to my obituary for Joe Paterno now because I wasn’t sure what I could add to the thousands of tributes already out there. I’m going to try and fill in something that I think has been overlooked. That aspect was also a little hard to find online until late last week.

Paterno won 409 games, 2 undisputed national championships, had undefeated seasons in 4 different decades, won 3 Big Ten Championships, every bowl game that mattered and more than any one else for that matter. His on-field legacy is secure. His “Grand Experiment” of having football players who were students is unsurpassed in big time college football. Paterno’s football players graduated a rate higher than the Penn State population in recent years and probably over his entire tenure. The praise he gathered for that was well-earned.

An aspect of Paterno that I feel that may have been overlooked was his direct role in shaping the Pennsylvania State University. The fame that his successful football teams brought raise the profile of the university. Paterno would have been a memorable figure for that, particularly the the way he did it. However, Paterno did not settle for that and at the peak of his power and prestige, he decided that the Penn State could not settle for being #1 just in football. Following the 1982 National Championship, Paterno was invited to speak to the Board of Trustees. Instead of a pep talk, he outlined a vision for the university. Here is an excerpt from Paterno’s January 22, 1983 speech to the Board of Trustees, 29 years to the day before died (Google Doc):

So we do have a magic moment and we have a great opportunity, and I think we have got to start right now to put our energies together to make Penn State not only Number One, but I think we’ve got to start to put our energies together to make this a Number One institution by 1990. I don’t think that’s an unfounded or a way-out objective. I think we need some things. I talk to you now as a faculty member. I talk to you as somebody who has spent 33 years at Penn State, who has two daughters at Penn State, who probably will have three sons at Penn State, who has a wife that graduated from Penn State, who has two brother-in-laws that graduated from Penn State, and I talk to you as somebody I think who knows a little bit about what’s going on. Who has recruited against Michigan, Stanford, UCLA, who has recruited against Notre Dame, Princeton, Yale, and Harvard and who has had to identify some things that they have that are better than we have and has had to identify some of our problems. I talk to you as somebody that I think knows a little bit about what’s going on in the other guys, and I think a little bit about what’s going on here. We need chairs. We need money so that we can get some stars. We need scholarship money. We need scholarship money to get scholars who can be with the stars so that the stars will come in and have some people around that can stimulate them and they can be stimulated by the stars. We need a better library–better libraries would be a better way to put it–so that the stars and the scholars have the tools to realize their potential. We need an environment of dissent and freedom of speech and freedom to express new and controversial ideas.

Paterno was vice chair of the first “Campaign for Penn State” the raised $352 million from 1984-1990. He continued to raise money for Penn State for decades and with his wife, Sue, contributed over $4 million. He specifically raised money for the library which now bears his last name. The modern Penn State, a modern research institution with many nationally ranked colleges, schools and departments is his greatest legacy.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Over the years, I have wondered out loud why the Washington Nationals marketing has been so bad. They have done a poor job putting their brand out there, I’m not saying the Nats need have co-branded sponsorships for EVERYTHING or that they need “The Toyota Scoreboard brought to you by Honda” like the Washington Redskins do, but you get the idea.

One of my specific observations was that every time I went to Harris Teeter, I was greeted by a sign that said it was the official grocery store of the Washington Redskins. I knew, mostly from going to the games, that Harris Teeter was the official grocery store of the Nats too and wondered why their wasn’t a sign out front like the Redskins one. This week, for the first time, I started seeing the familiar curly W whenever I have entered a Harris Teeter (Tysons Corner, Ballston, Alexandria). I don’t know why it wasn’t there before, whether it was Harris Teeter or the Nats that kept it from happening. Regardless of why, it apparently isn’t a reason any more. Progress!

PREVIOUSLY A minor marketing success: Nats pocket schedules at Harris Teeter – April 12, 2011

IN ROSTER NEWS

P Gio Gonzalez had his press conference yesterday and came off well, despite taking Matt Chico’s number #47.

Recaps

Nationals introduce Gio Gonzalez to Washington – The Post
Gio Gonzalez makes himself at home with D.C. blitz – The Wash. Times
Gonzalez understands his role in Nationals’ rotation – The Wash. Examiner

Brad Lidge is now a Nats setup man (Nationals Journal, The Post). Seems like a great low-risk/high reward signing. There is this:

“Brad is one of the more interesting teammates I’ve had,” said Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth, who played with Lidge in Philadelphia. “Not your average athlete. Very intelligent on and off the field. He will bring culture to our clubhouse, along with his nasty slider. Good guy, glad we got him. He will be a perfect fit for our young talented bullpen.”

Hey, why not?

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Washington Redskins last super bowl victory and the last D.C. championship in the four major sports (football, baseball, hockey, basketball). DC United has won several MLS championships since then.

I remember telling a friend that year that the NFC was the Redskins to lose — the Dallas Cowboys were a year away, the New York Football Giants lost Bill Parcells, the San Francisco 49ers were in transition and the NFC Central was the NFC Central, so no worries. Washington hosted the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions the playoffs — there was no way either of those teams would come into RFK Stadium and win. Just impossible.

The Post has a big section about the Super Bowl XXVI team today that is full of excellent nostalgia, including Tony Kornheiser’s Bandwagon columns. Don’t take their word for it though, let Donald Sutherland (?!) narrate the whole season for you!

That was an episode of America’s Game the 1991 Washington Redskins from NFL Films (via Hulu). It is pretty good.

Here is the Super Bowl XXVI game highlights from NFL Films (via Hulu), but narrated by Jeff Kaye:

I also remember that the great Glenn Brenner died right after the NFC Championship — I forgot to acknowledge that here.

Board of Trustees Approves Pegula Ice Arena Design – Intercollegiate Athletics
More details about The Pegula Ice Arena were released at Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting. The future home of Penn State Nittany Lions ice hockey will have 6,000 seats, including 1,000 behind the opposition’s net.

The exterior is nothing special, likely the same brick as the Bryce Jordan Center with lots of glass on the north (or east according to the Penn State compass) side. The interior looks good, kind of intimate without being cramped. It should be fun going to games there. Opening is scheduled for Sept. 2013.

This is also a good reminder to Pat Chambers and the men’s basketball team — get respectable by 2013, you have winter sports competition coming!

The Hot Stove has gone cold for the Washington Nationals — Prince Fielder, the biggest free agent left, signed with the “mystery team” — the Detroit Tigers . The terms 9 years, $214 million for a player who weighs 275 lbs and has “early onset old player skills” written all over him. Good luck Tigers, at least you can make him a DH.

The Nationals likely would not have met Boras’s price, anyway. They were wary of offering more than six or seven years, according to one person familiar with the Nationals’ thinking, and Boras believed from the start he could get Fielder a contract of $200 million. – Prince Fielder chooses Detroit Tigers over Washington Nationals (The Post)

Fielder would have certainly made the Nats better for several years, but you have to wonder what happens after he hits the wall, a near certainty 4 or 5 years into the contract.

So, what are Nats fans going to tweet about now?

Now, the Nats focus can return to extending Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals Journal, The Post). I don’t expect anything to happen this offseason unless Zimmerman really wants to sign.

Sorry, Nats fans who wanted Fielder, it just wasn’t to be:

Paterno’s final days: no bitterness, just marveling at his fortunate life – Sports Illustrated

In the moments after Joe Paterno died, it became common for people to write and say that he died of a broken heart. He did not. Joe Paterno died of lung cancer and the complications it caused. He did not die a bitter or broken man.

Joe Posnanski spent the fall in State College preparing to write a book at Joe Paterno and Happy Valley. It was something that I looked forward to reading, even though I have read countless Paterno biographies. Posnanski is just such a good writer and I was sure he would come up with a great book that would provide additional illumination.

Paterno had said that he would not speak with Posnanski due to the commitments of running the program, but following the dark days that Jerry Sandusky brought to Penn State, Paterno had the time. Aware of his mortality facing lung cancer, Paterno changed his mind and spoke with Posnanski.

I am sure there will be more in Posnanski’s book, but this short article makes it pretty clear that the “died of broken heart” narrative is a false one. All of those books and all that I knew of Paterno suggested this would not be the case and this confirmed it. Cancer (especially diagnosed as late as Paterno’s was) and cancer treatments puts a tremendous toll on someone. I suspect the latter proved to be the specific cause of Paterno’s death.

I am still trying to piece together my thoughts on Paterno’s legacy and it may be a few days yet. I need to give the same consideration to that as I did my post-Sandusky posts that were critical of him. I stand by those, but they are not the whole story by a long shot.