MLB Washington Dc

Television ratings across baseball haven't been great this season, according to an article in Sports Business Journal, but nowhere are they worse than in Washington D.C. That's not surprising. The Nats are terrible, thanks to factors ranging from injuries to poor work by the front office, but the cold hard facts are still eye-opening.

The Nats have lost 43.5% of their viewers this season and rank last in baseball in viewership. Just 9,000 households in the D.C. market tune into games which results in a 0.39 ratings share, numbers which could easily be mistaken as people who leave their TVs on to keep their cats company. For comparison, the Royals are 28th in households (the Blue Jays weren't included) at 28,000 while the Angels draw a 1.24 share.

Is there really that little interest in the Nats? Dan Steinberg's DC Sports Bog has hosted a lively discussion about that question and the reaction seems mixed. The team's lack of talent gets mentioned a lot, as does the nature of Washington being a city full of people from other places because of government jobs.

There's a fair amount of complaint about MASN's coverage, especially the lack of HD coverage on every game, but Steinberg also mentions that Washington Post web traffic figures on the Nats could be deemed very disappointing. There's no doubt that it takes time to develop an avid fanbase and it appears that the Nats have a lot to work to do on that front.

Considering that Elijah Dukes is only 24 years old and hasn't even played a full season's worth of games in the big leagues, he's already had quite a career. Unfortunately, just about everything Dukes is known for has occured off the field or after games. We're all more than familiar with his text messaging habits, and we also know that Elijah has a problem with his manager from time to time (seriously, just click on his tag and see all the fun he's had).

Lately, though, Elijah has been getting talked about more for the way he's hitting with the Nationals. After getting off to a very slow start to the season, Dukes hit .292 with four homers and 15 RBI in June. He has carried that play into the first week of July as well, as he's currently hitting .368 with two homers and three runs driven in this month. That's why it's such a shame that Dukes hurt his knee making a catch on Saturday, and he's going to be out four to six weeks because of it.

Dukes tore cartilage and partially tore a tendon in his right knee when he slammed into the left-field wall after catching a flyball in the seventh inning. He grabbed his knee and was taken off the field on a cart.

Dukes will have surgery on Monday. The Nationals didn't immediately replace him on the roster.

Let's all just hope that Elijah spends his time off working his way back from this knee injury, and not taking advantage of his unlimited text messaging plan.

It's been a highly disappointing season for the Nationals, to say the least. Injuries to Paul Lo Duca and Chad Cordero didn't get the season off on the right foot. Then they lost Nick Johnson for the season and Austin Kearns for a month. In the past week alone, they lost Lastings Milledge and Shawn Hill to the DL, and just found out today that Cordero is out for the season. Throw in a 33-51 record, and it's already a lost season in the District.

But here's a beacon of light: Hill's injury has paved the way for Collin Balester to make his anticipated major league debut:

"It's awesome. He is gong to have an opportunity up here. Hopefully, he is going to do well," said Nationals left-hander John Lannan, who is a good friend of Balester's. "It's a long time coming. He has worked hard. It will be good to see him up here." (...)

"He is a great pitcher," said right-hander Steven Shell, who played with Balester in Columbus. "He is a power pitcher. He has a great fastball. He's a good kid."

And he gets to face the Marlins in his major league debut ... the team that leads all of baseball in home runs (that fastball had better be a little more than great tonight). So while his first start might be rough, Balester will have a few starts to show what kind of prospect he is.

Chad Cordero hasn't pitched in a game since mid April, but when he was orginally placed on the disabled list the hope was that he'd be back sometime in June.

That obviously didn't happen, and following an examination yesterday, Cordero shouldn't plan on returning anytime before 2009. Doctors discovered a torn labrum in his right shoulder yesterday, an injury the Nationals now think Cordero probably had the entire time. He'll undergo surgery soon and his rehab will extend into next season.

The last-place Nationals need all the help they can get, but honestly, Jon Rauch has been more than adequate as a replacement closer. Rauch has saved 16 of 21 games while posting an excellent 2.55 ERA (0.92 WHIP) and 8.29 K/9 -- Cordero hasn't posted numbers over a full season that strong since 2005.

In fact, considering Cordero is arbitration-eligible this winter and set to be a free agent in 2010, I wouldn't be entirely surpised if the team actually cut ties with him this winter, not when they have a cheaper, healthier and (most importantly) better option in Rauch.

Paul Lo Duca is a fiery man. This you know. That fire has not always been endearing. More often than not, it's been incredibly annoying, and Lo Duca's proponents -- the kind that believe you need to have "passion" and "swagger" to succeed at baseball -- don't help. Also, dude did steroids. Not cool.

Still, this prolonged outburst is impressive. After the Nationals' Thursday night game, Lo Duca soliloquized the Nationals' situation:

I hope [people listened to my message]. I'm not saying I've got a lot of wisdom, but you know, I've been through a lot of hard times in this game. The last three years of my career have been hell, off and on the field, off the field more than on. But I've straightened my life out, I'm happy, I'm gonna get married again. I went through a bad divorce. I went through all of it. You name it -- and there's not one person in this clubhouse who can say, 'Give me a sob story.' I've been there. So, that's part of life. We've all got skeletons in the closet. But when you come to the ballpark, get here early, get your crap done and get ready to play.

Of course, that's just a tiny piece. There are, like, 900 more words, should you care to read them all. More importantly, I really, really want to make fun of Lo Duca for being such a clown, but it's hard. He clearly cares very much about what he's talking about. That's sort of admirable.

The news for Nick Johnson isn't totally unexpected ... but it still doesn't take the sting out for him. Johnson, who has been sidelined since mid-May with a wrist problem, has been diagnosed with a small tear in the ulnar-side ligament in that wrist, and will miss the rest of 2008.

If you're counting, that's the entire 2007 season lost to injury because of a broken leg. And outside of 38 games, the entire '08 season with a bum wrist. That's 286 games lost to injury during two seasons that constitute the prime of Johnson's career at ages 28 and 29. Add in the 155 games he didn't play in during 2003 and 2004, that's pretty much three seasons out of his first eight wiped out due to injury.

You can make the argument that the wrist injury could turn out to have more of an adverse effect to Johnson's career than the horrific broken leg. You never hear people talk about a broken leg lingering throughout a players career. But for a baseball player, especially an accomplished hitter who knows how to get on base (career OBP of .396) to have a torn ligament in his wrist, it's something that has a chance to linger, affect his swing later on, and worst case scenario: become chronic.*

*I am not a doctor.

Indecency, like obscenity, is a funny thing. The famous line by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart says "I know it when I see it" and I think that's a pretty good guide. Drunken loutishness and Hideki Irabu are indecent things I've come across in major league ballparks. A kiss between a couple and shirtless men on a hot afternoon, depending on their girth, don't qualify.

The people running the fine ballyards of this country disagree. First, two women who shared a brief kiss were nearly ejected from Safeco Field and now, in our nation's capital no less, topless men are being shooed toward the exits. A Washington man wrote a letter to the editors of the Washington Post to complain that he and his buddies had been told to put shirts on or be ejected for "indecent exposure."

Given the long history of shirt-doffing fans in American sports, Dan Steinberg of the D.C. Sports Bog decided to investigate this policy.

More to the point, the Nats have no specific policy against male shirtlessness, and much of interpretation of the code of conduct is left to the discretion of employees, who may or may not be strict constructionists. You can imagine some being offended by particularly hairy shirtlessness, or by a low pantsline, or by an out-of-shape or dripping chest.

Nationals fans, chest painters everywhere are looking for you to stem this tide of prudishness! Take to the stands in hairy-chested glory and support your team for only then shall we all be free!

Paul Lo Duca is a gritty player. He's a gutty player. He's the kind of player who you trade and lose your job shortly thereafter, even if you get an All-Star starter in return. Those kinds of intangibles plus steroids used to equal a decent major league player. Minus the juice, however, Lo Duca's game is somewhere south of mediocre which is why the Nationals have to be privately dreading his return from injury.

Lo Duca is set to come off the disabled list this week and he returns to a team that has absolutely no need for him. Jesus Flores, 23 and possessing a future, has the best on-base and slugging percentages on the team. Lo Duca was only around to give him a year to ripen but that's no longer necessary. Lo Duca, who has never really been charmed by Spanish-speaking teammates, has just the right kind of personality to make this a problem in the clubhouse.

Perhaps to avoid that problem, the Nats are coming up with alternate usages for their third catcher. The Washington Post reports that he'll play some left field and first base. Yes, the Nats are actually going to put a guy who had an OPS+ of 80 last season at a corner position. That would be worthy of mockery if it weren't for the fact that the guys they have been playing haven't even mustered that kind of production.

(H/T BBTF)

Earlier this week, Manny Acta came to Elijah Dukes' defense when umpire Doug Eddings complained about being shown up after Dukes seemed to glare and gesture in his direction after hitting a home run.

In hindsight, though, you have to wonder if Acta was actually privately annoyed because he didn't have much patience for Dukes' on-field celebration after scoring on a Lastings Milledge home run last night. From Mark Zuckerman of the Washington Times:

As Dukes and Milledge crossed the plate, Dukes looked back at Capps (who blew his first save in 16 tries this season) in a move that could have been perceived as taunting the opposing pitcher. When Dukes returned to the dugout, Acta had words for him. Dukes yelled back at his manager, prompting Acta to yell back himself and players to get between the two. [...] As the Nationals gathered in the middle of the diamond to congratulate each other at the conclusion of the game, Dukes did not offer his hand to Acta, who only smirked.

If you haven't seen it yet, you have watch the video to fully appreciate how awkward it was for Dukes to leave Acta hanging. It's both immature and hilarious, but it's also a blantant sign of disrespect. Might it result in a team suspension? That seems a bit much, but I wouldn't be surprised if Dukes is fined, even if it's in the clubhouse kangaroo court and never gets reported in the papers. The Nats have enough to worry about to let silly incidents like this spoil the few nights they get to go to sleep a winner.

Elijah Dukes has always been an emotional fellow. Time and again, though, that emotion has gotten him into hot water. From text messages to his wife to Gatorade assaults on underage sex partners he's impregnated, Dukes has never been able to keep his worst impulses from rising to the surface. Thursday night he proved that he hasn't learned from his mistakes.

After jacking a home run, his first as a National, Dukes gesticulated a bit too wildly for the home plate umpire.

Plate umpire Doug Eddings apparently thought so and wasn't happy that Dukes turned and thumped his chest after hitting the ball several pitches after showing frustration with a borderline strike call. Dukes also appeared to gesture toward Eddings just before he crossed the plate after rounding the bases.

Manny Acta said that word got back to him about Eddings's upset at Dukes's behavior but backed up his player. Oddly he said he didn't think anyone was offended which pretty much contradicts what he heard from Eddings.

I'm not sure I've ever heard of that happening before. Showing up a pitcher or an opposing player, sure, but showing up an umpire after hitting a home run is novel. It's good to see that doing community service at a zoo nor entering the game with a .155 batting average did anything to make Dukes a more humble man.