Some recent Washington Wizards videos that you might have missed ….

Number ten on the Wizards’ top plays of the 2009-10 season is of particular interest … because one could argue it was the play of the year (or perhaps the play of the last five years), but it also could have been one of the worst bad luck plays imaginable. And it’s nothing more than a Cedric Jackson game-winning three-pointer that gave the Wizards a 98-97 victory over the Indiana Pacers in the last game of the season. So what significance is that?

It’s of John Wall-level significance.

Let me explain by quoting something I wrote on the night of May 18th when the Wizards won the NBA Draft Lottery:

Irene Pollin spoke before the fourth quarter of the last game of the season. The Wizards, down by six and looking everything like a 25-win team heading into the final 12, came back to beat the Indiana Pacers by one point. Flip Saunders played his most inexperienced, least talented squad down the stretch. But little-used Cedric Jackson bucked and scored the last five points of the game.

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Hi there. Welcome to this Washington Wizards blog. Now let’s talk baseball.

I went to Stephen Strasburg’s major league debut last night. And oh man, what a night it was. Jamie Mottram hit the nail on the head with his observations on Mr. Irrelevant.

I’ll add that Strasburg’s focus must be intense. The kid is not wired like anyone else on this earth.

ZERO walks and 14 strikeouts? Sure, the kid had a couple bad pitches, in particular the 2-run dinger given up to Delwyn Young with two outs in the top of the 4th. But don’t forget the broken bat double-play he got Pittsburgh’s 4-hole batter, Garrett Jones, to hit into with men on first and second right before Young’s homer. And definitely don’t forget that after giving up those two runs in the fourth, Strasburg struck out eight of the next nine batters he faced to close out his night — all went down swinging except for one, and the guy who didn’t strike out, Jason Jaramillo, had a measly ground out to first.

The best part of the evening was obviously seeing the game live. But the second best was much later when I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep. Something clicked inside as thoughts on Strasburg’s debut ran through my head, making me realize how amazing it was to see that 21-year old pitch; “special” doesn’t even begin to describe. Strasburg is going to revolutionize the pitching position. Chicks will no longer did the long ball that much, they’ll want to get with those Ks.

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Last night, Washington National and San Francisco native, Nyjer Morgan, attended the Wizards game to put on for his Golden State Warriors.

Known in gentlemanly circles as “Tony Plush,” the center fielder showed up at the Verizon Center dressed in a warrior outfit and sat adjacent to a similarly dressed bro, who some have speculated to be the exact physical appearance opposite of Mr. Plush. Both rooted for the enemy.

The presence of Morgan was first noted on the Nationals blog, The Nationals Enquirer, which has a screen-grab of Plush throwing up a numero uno. Site photographer Adam Douglas was also able to get a couple shots of the baseball player. Read more »

Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog has a quick Q&A with Diamond District-bred San Francisco Giants shortstop Manny Burriss. It’s a must read if you put on for the DMV. Here are a couple of the better excerpts (h/t @macg_og):

I should know the answer to this, but did you grow up rooting for all D.C. teams?

All of them. All of them. The only one I didn’t really do was the Bullets when I was growing up, because that’s when everybody loved the Bulls. But yeah, I loved all of them. And once they turned into the Wizards and moved back into the city, that was my team. I love D.C. When the Nationals came here, that was my team, for real, until I got drafted.

Is it weird though, to be representing another city and still root for D.C. sports teams?

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Baseball season is just over a month away. And while the expectations of the Washington Nationals run the gambit (well, up until the scenario involves making the playoffs), I personally can’t wait to head out to the ball park for doses of friends, beer & relaxing.

Nats opening day will surely get attention as Obama is scheduled to throw out the first pitch against the World Champion D-Bags from Philly……their baseball team that won the most recent World Series will be playing as well.

What does this have to do with the Wizards on this purported “Wizards” blog? Not much…..other than I came across the below picture of Reggie Bush wearing a Nationals hat…..and I hold the right to post about DC sports in general.

Not exactly sure how I feel about this. Bush’s playing habits convey a slightly douchey persona. Oh well, if the curly dub is getting repped in public, then I’m cool with it.

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If New York Yankees catcher, Jorge Posada, ends up needing surgery on this shoulder, and thus required to miss the rest of 2008, could Paul Lo Duca be an option for Hank Steinbrenner?

Posada is scheduled to have an MRI on his left shoulder today, the results of which will chart the path of the Yankees future. For one, the Yanks have some options in the event that Posada can’t make it back behind the plate. Jose Molina, who A-Rod called an “angel,” filled in the other day, and Chad Moeller is available for spot duty as well. Moeller was actually with the Nats during spring training, but was later cut and signed to a minor league contract by the Yankees.

Second, I doubt the Yankees would want to make some drastic move, giving up prospects in return for a playoff rental. Making the post season this year is far from guaranteed, and this tactic has failed the Yankees in the past as their farm system has been pilfered by ill-advised moves.

Which brings me back to Lo Duca. The Nationals should have never signed the guy. In my opinion, Jesus Flores showed enough last season to earn more time in the pros this season, others feel the same way. And if Kasten, Bowden & Co. are in full rebuilding mode, why throw $5 million to PLD for a year in the first place? Quite the waste of money for a bunch of penny-pinchers.

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Ok, so when Dan Uggla is involved (in a tragic manner), I can’t resist punning his name in a headline.

What a huge goat he almost was (and to an extent, still is), in hitting into a double play in the top of the 10th and then booting two balls on the first two batters in the bottom of the inning. I bet his mouth was as dry as a bone under a heat lamp in the desert when Grady Sizemore grounded to him in a bases loaded FC out at home-plate after Carlos Guillen was intentionally walked. I know this, Aaron Cook pitched a helluva 10th inning keeping all hit balls on the ground and in the infield. If the American League had prevailed in the bottom of the 10th, the headline would’ve read: National League Hits Every Stick On The Uggla Tree.

Getting struck out by Joakim Soria on a “knee buckler” with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 12th didn’t aid Uggla’s redemption efforts. In fact, yet another boot to the chest, the 3rd error of Uggla’s night, in the bottom of the 13th pushed him lower. Joe Buck had plenty of sympathy for the kid giving Dan the benefit of the doubt with a bad hop call.

In the end, the National League could not survive the marathon. Hopefully, next time, Dan Uggla will have a much better looking effort than going 0-4, striking out three times and leaving six on base.

Defensive MVP?
In the bottom of the 11th, Nate McLouth made a great throw to put out Dioner Navarro at home. If the National League would’ve went on to win in the 12th, I was ready to give Russell Martin the All-Star MVP for blocking the plate and making an unbelievable tag….the 3rd of the last five outs which came at home plate.

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See the full photo slide-show here.

I love to people watch. Coffee shops are good, but metro rides on the way to the debut of Nationals Park are even better:

• You got your enthusiastic 12-year-old, complete with a mitt and a blue & red Nationals “crazy hair” wig…..along with his suspiciously effeminate father, who was wearing a purple-blue jacket with a pink collar, glasses with frames you’d expect to see on a 14-year-old schoolgirl from the 1960s, and a tan Nationals hat. “It’s opening day son!…Time to break out the tan Nats hat!”
  
• The couple of mid-60s white women with beauty-parlor dyed hair and pudgy mid-Western décor hustling and bustling into the green line train from their blue/orange transfer at L’Enfant Plaza. Beware of such determination to find one of the few open seats for a two-stop ride…. women with their own seat cushions don’t mess around.

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Unfortunately, I probably won’t be able to witness the Wizards handle the Lakers in La-La land tonight. Bummer. Combine my distaste for the Lake-show (mainly as a result of Kobe) along with bragging rights over an LA-bred co-worker, and I hate having to neglect my Wiz this evening.

Remember when the Lakers came to DC? It was the game where Caron Butler probably re-injured himself and ended his consecutive FTs made mark at 73. A truly tragic loss, 103-91, for which I stayed the entire time, and then was forced to watch a SuperBowl between two teams I genuinely dislike. Not the best DC sports Sunday.

Today, I believe, will provide some reconciliation for that February 3rd. And I have a higher mission than the Wizards-Lakers game at 9:30 tonight. I’ll be taking the trusty green line down several metro stops to check out the debut of the Washington Nationals new ball park, Nationals Park and the domestic debut of the 2008 Major League Baseball season on ESPN (8:05 pm).

I’m really looking forward to it. I’m not a sentimentalist, nor some type of baseball purist (basketball is obviously my main squeeze), but there is something about the crack of the bat and a sporting environment which is most conducive to a day of social interaction with family and friends…..awww, screw all that, I’m just ready for the cold weather to be put out to pasture.

And who knows, if the DC metro system doesn’t betray me, I just might be able to catch the end of a game where the Wizards will hopefully have the upper-hand over the Los Angeles Lakers.

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(refers to the page number on the bottom of the Mitchell report pages, not in the PDF)

Paul Lo Duca – Page 208

Who he got them from: Radomski

When he got them: July 26, 2004 – $3,200; August 7, 2004 – $3,200; at least 4 additional transactions.

When they worked: Probably when he started dating pop star Rietsa

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