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The Nationals victory Monday afternoon assured them of a winning season for the first time in decades. The importance of their 2-1 win over the woeful Chicago Cubs will barely register in the standings, where they are above every team in the major leagues.
But math and history raised the significance of Ross Detwiler's seven outstanding innings and Adam LaRoche's monster home run. Winning five of their last six games pushed the Nationals' record to 82-52.
That means the Nationals clinched the first winning season in Washington since 1969, the year Ted Williams managed the Senators to 86 victories while playing at RFK Stadium. Since the return of baseball in 2005, the Nationals had not done better than the 81-81 record of their inaugural season. Washington has 28 games remaining. Each passing day increases the chances of the District's first post-season baseball since 1933 for the squad whose lead over the second place Atlanta Braves held at 6 games.
Monday morning, general manager Mike Rizzo, manager Davey Johnson, and pitching coach Steve McCatty met with Stephen Strasburg to discuss his inevitable shutdown. In the afternoon, Detwiler pitched the entire game with no more than a one-run lead. His seven shutout innings lowered his ERA since the All-Star break to 2.79.
Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard wrapped up the win. Storen pitched a scoreless eighth with the help of Bryce Harper, who ran down a ball at the fence. Clippard got his 30th save, but not before he created a dramatic situation.
He gave up a leadoff single to Anthony Rizzo, before retiring the next two batters. He worked a 1-2 count on Welington Castillo, who fouled off several Clippard offerings. Finally, he hit a soft liner to left-center field. Rizzo, who had taken second base, scored.
Enter Tony Campana to pinch-run, Clippard made a wild pickoff throw to first base, which allowed the tying run to go to second. Having increased the anxiety, Clippard struck out Josh Vitters swinging.
Johnson exited the dugout a looked at owner Mark Lerner, who was sitting in the front row. Johnson tapped his chest and smiled, to signal how fast his heart was beating. The Nationals formed a line and shook hands, now the most successful baseball team the District has seen in more than forty years, and their best baseball could be ahead of them.
Howard University (HU) officials issued a statement April 4, stating the school is conducting an internal investigation of possible NCAA rules-violations.
As a result of this process, the University temporarily withheld a number of student-athletes from competition as a self-imposed action. Most teams will compete as scheduled and university officials are working diligently to fully resolve this matter as quickly as possible.
"This is a self-imposed action while the University conducts a review," said HU spokeswoman Kerry-Ann Hamilton. "We are working quickly to review this issue."
HU is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). The University, located in Northwest D.C., has 17 athletic teams which include six spring sports that are currently in season and affected by the suspension. They are the men's and women's track and field, men's and women's tennis, softball and women's lacrosse teams.
HU is a historically black, federally chartered school. The suspension of athletic activity sent shockwaves throughout the campus, where sports are heavily supported.
The University did not provide details for its decision. However, a source that chose to remain anonymous, indicated that a senior athletic administrator stated that HU is investigating a possible violation of NCAA rules relating to athletes who had been given textbook vouchers.
Helping Hungry Homes Food Donation Event Kicks Off Nationals’ Annual Food Drive for Capital Area Food Bank
During “Battle of the Beltway” Weekend Games
WHAT: Washington Nationals players and first ladies will join Smithfield Foods and spokesperson Paula Deen* in delivering more than 100,000 servings of donated protein to Capital Area Food Bank as part of Smithfield’s Helping Hungry Homes initiative. The event is a collaborative effort between the Nationals, Smithfield, Harris Teeter and the Capital Area Food Bank, and will feature the “ham brigade,” with volunteers from each organization passing hams from the Smithfield truck to the Food Bank truck outside of Nationals Park.
The donation will kick off the Nationals’ Annual Food Drive, which gives fans the opportunity to make their own contributions to those in need by bringing non-perishable food items to Nationals Park during the Battle of the Beltways series on Saturday, May 22 and Sunday, May 23. Volunteers will be stationed outside the Center Field Gate from the time gates open through the fourth inning collecting non-perishable items, including whole grains such as dried pasta and rice, soups and canned vegetables, as well as paper products.
" Just being aggressive, playing my game," said Kobe Bryant at the post game press conference. " Got shots, took them. Got lanes to the basket, took them." Bryant who sat out most of the fourth quarter was in "attack" mode especially in the fourth quarter when he torched the Suns for 21 points. Bryant led the Lakers with 40 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.
The leg of Ovince Saint Preux of Knoxville, TN cracks the right wrist of Sao Paulo,
Brazil's Claudio Godoy during a light heavyweight contest at the DC Armory.
Godoy retired from the bout when the wrist was injured.
during the Washington Combat "Battle of the Legends" card at the DC Armory. Buckner won the bout by third-round submission.
Gary "Big Daddy" Goodridge of Toronto, CA (facing camera) tries to press the action against
Pedro Rizzo of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil during the main event bout of the "Battle of the Legends"
card at the DC Armory. Goodridge later retired on his stool at the end of the second round.
The leg of Ovince Saint Preux of Knoxville, Tenn. cracks the right wrist of Sao Paulo, Brazil's Claudio Godoy during a light heavyweight contest at the D.C. Armory in Northeast. Godoy retired from the bout when his wrist was injured. Photos by John E. De FreitasThe present and future of pro Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) converged during a Washington Combat-promoted “Battle of the Legends” card at the D.C. Armory in Northeast, Sat. May 15.
The main event saw veteran heavyweight Pedro Rizzo of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil defeat Toronto, Canada’s Gary Goodridge after two rounds when Goodridge could not come out for the third round. Rizzo was able to use sound jiu-jitsu and grappling techniques to defeat his taller opponent. Rizzo has a won-loss record of 18-9 while Goodridge falls to 23-21-1.
Washington, D.C. Highlighted in U.S. Bid As One of 18 Potential Hosts for Matches
President William Jefferson Clinton has accepted the invitation to join the USA Bid Committee in its efforts to bring the FIFA World Cup™ to the United States in 2018 or 2022 and was named today the Honorary Chairman of the USA Bid.
In his role, President Clinton will be involved in promoting the USA bid’s cause in the months leading to the final decision in December.
“Few heads of state, if any, have played as important a role in positively affecting social change in their years after office as President Bill Clinton,” said Sunil Gulati, Chairman of the USA Bid Committee and President of U.S. Soccer. “The work of his William J. Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative has played a crucial role in consolidating relief efforts and improving agency efficiency around some of the world’s worst natural disasters of the last decade.
Former Kentucky guard John Wall. Courtesy Photo.
Wizards Get No. 1 Pick in the NBA Draft Lottery
And then there were three. At the NBA Draft Lottery, as the ping pong balls popped up through the circulating air machine and the fortunes of young men were about to be forever changed, the top three teams to emerge were the New Jersey Nets, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Washington Wizards.
The suspense was building. They key question was: Would Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, new owner of the New Jersey Nets and one of the key players in the LeBron James sweepstakes, get the pick?
Standing on the stage representing their respective teams were Sixers guard Jrue Holliday, Prokhorov, and Irene Pollin, widow of Abe Pollin, who died last November at the age of 85 after owning the Bullets/Wizards franchise for more than four decades.
Former Olympian Tommie Smith (left) and Michael Melton (right) admire the medals that Ian Weaver (#588) and Reginald Gardner (#531) received during the track meet at Dunbar Senior High School in Northwest, Sat., May 15. Both youngsters represent the Upper Marlboro Track Club in Upper Marlboro, Md. Photo by John E. De FreitasThis year more than 600 athletes, comprised of 26 teams from across the nation, competed in the event.
"A lot of teams can win at home, but we're a mentally strong group," said Pierce at his post game press conference. "You can't expect that calls are going to go your way, and I like playing in front of a hostile crowd." The Celtics won 26 games on the road this season. "It’s just the group. I don't know the answer, honestly. Our team personality, its an edgy team and I actually like that part about them. It doesn't take much to get them riled," said Celtics head coach Doc Rivers.
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