You probably haven’t heard much from good ole’ Elijah Dukes lately; playing in Washington has that kind of effect on players.  But just games before the conclusion of the regular season (and for Washington, the 2008 season), Dukes did what we’ve been waiting for him to do over the last few months.  Implode.

After crushing a second inning home run last night off Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey, Dukes took offense to the first pitch he saw in the fourth.  Pelfrey threw it inside, about chest level, as a message to Dukes.  Instead of acting like a baseball player about it, Dukes immediately started walking towards the mound weilding his bat like a club.  After being restrained by the umpire, Dukes took it to the next level.  While the Mets faithful rained down a chorus of boo’s, Dukes stuck his tongue out, began to waive to the crowd, and blew kisses at them.  Classic.  Nothing quite like a bat shit crazy baseball player getting center stage in New York to do mature things such as sticking his tongue out.  What is this, third grade?

This incident coincdentally segways into an opinion I have about the lost art of the inside corner.  Batters getting bent about pitchers throwing inside is some of the dumbest crap I’ve ever heard.  Where are guys like Pedro Martinez vintage 1999 who weren’t afraid to kill it on the inside corner and, if a batter took offense, hand out a beat down too.  Even Roger Clemens used to grind it inside without much opposition.  Now, with all the prima dona’s in baseball, having a ball come anywhere close to the batter is worthy of a stare down and bench warnings.  If you ask me, that’s kinda gay.

Hosts: Sonny, Ryan and Rich: This episode focused solely on the National League East. With Johan Santana now in the mix in New York, can the Mets rebound from last year’s epic September collapse? Or will the Philadelphia Phillies, led by their three MVP candidates, make it two titles in a row? Or…will the Atlanta Braves return to the postseason after a two year drought? All of this and more on this episode of the Sportable Spot.

Note: You may have noticed we haven’t recorded podcasts for the AL Central and AL East. Those will be posted in the next few days, we had a slight mishap with the order of divisions.

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New Stadium… and New Hopes! Finally, the Washington Nationals’ franchise has a place to call their own. After years of playing in baseball’s purgatory, Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, and a three years in ghetto dive RFK Stadium, the Nationals finally have a home. Just days before the first game at beautiful Nationals Park, the franchise is hoping their new digs can translate into newfound success.

Bats. The Nationals were one of the most active teams in the Major League Baseball offseason, trying desperately to build a stronger lineup to open their new park in style. They brought in a couple enigmatic, albeit talented outfielders in Elijiah Dukes and Lastings Milledge. When Dukes isn’t threatening to kill his wife, there’s obvious signs of baseball ability. Milledge is a very talented player who never seemed to get comfortable with the Mets, largely because of prick veterans like Billy Wagner. Austin Kearns will get the starting nod in right field, but look for two other offseason acquisitions, Rob Mackowiak and Wily Mo Pena, to get plenty of at-bats also.

The centerpiece of this lineup (and franchise) is third year stud Ryan Zimmerman. After a Rookie of the Year campaign in 2006, Zimmerman had some thinking sophomore slump when he struggled to start last season. However, he picked it up in the second half and finished with a .266-24-91 statline, not as impressive as 2006’s .287-20-110, but good nonetheless. Look for Zimmerman’s offensive production to climb this year outside of the pitcher’s paradise of RFK. On the left side of the infield, Zimmerman is joined by Cristian Guzman, who played in just 46 games last year. However, his injury problems may have been a blessing in disguise for Washington considering Guzman was making a run at “worst offensive player in baseball” in 2005.

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Yesterday the Washington Nationals honored the victims of the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech on Monday. They did so by wearing Virginia Tech hats during their home game against the Atlanta Braves. I feel that this is a fitting way for a baseball team to recognize what is happening just down the road from them.

The Nationals are the closest thing Virginia has to a Major League Baseball team, and for them to show their support like this probably meant a lot to the community. There is nothing that they can do to heal the hurt caused by the attack, but they can show their condolences and their support and that is exactly what they did. What I feel is the best part of this story is that Major League Baseball actually allowed them to do this. It shows that this is an organization that really cares about what is happening in the world outside of their sphere of influence. This stands in direct contrast to the National Football League which tries to prevent any sort of honors that are emblazoned on jerseys.

In the last week Major League Baseball has shown that they are a socially conscious organization and that things that are going on in the world do matter to them. They have a uniform policy, but they are willing to bend it to allow for appropriate tributes, and I think that’s a lesson that everyone should take to heart.

For the past week I think everyone has had a kick making fun of the Washington Nationals. Up until last night, they had led a game for exactly one at bat the entire year. Unfortunately for everyone outside of Washington D.C. that streak was snapped last night when the Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 2-0.

The good news is they were only in the lead for a few batters because they scored their two runs in the eighth inning so we will continue to be able to make fun of them. The bad news is, they’re just terrible. I think a lot of people had high hopes when this team moved from Montreal to Washington, those hopes have been completely destroyed. There are a few bright spots to this team but overall they are absolutely terrible.

Chad Cordero earned his save, one of maybe 15 he’ll get with the Nationals. The Nationals improved their record to 2-8 while Atlanta fell to 7-2. Basically, you can’t expect this to happen too often throughout the year but for now, the Nationals can bask in the glory of a victory.

For the entire month of March, the Sportable Staff will look at one Major League Baseball team a day. We?ll look at their lineups and pitching and in the end, assess their playoff chances. Previews will be done by division, starting with the American League East. Each new division will also feature a new podcast devoted entirely to that division.

Even worse than Natty Ice. The Nationals start their third year in Washington without the Expos name. Unfortunately the last two years have been much of the same misery that they experienced in Montreal. This team will probably find itself in the cellar of the NL East again, but does have a few bright spots that they can look forward to, notably Frank Robinson not crying anymore.

Bats.
The Nationals are really going to find themselves struggling on the offensive side. Their bats are seemingly limited to Ryan Zimmerman and Nick Johnson. There are multiple problems with this. One, they’re relying on Nick Johnson, two that’s only two players, and three, Nick Johnson is out for awhile with a broken leg. This team just doesn’t have the bats to do it. Brian Schneider is a good catcher, but just doesn’t get it done offensively. Felipe Lopez decided to stop playing after he got traded from Cincinnati last year. Christian Guzman at shortstop hasn’t had a decent year with the Nationals, and probably won’t be able to put together a season like he did once in Minnesota. Their outfield is a disaster with some power. Austin Kearns Ryan Church and Nook Logan aren’t striking fear into the hearts of anyone in the NL East. If the Nats want a chance, they’re going to need their pitching staff to get it done.

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