Nats Speak the Truth

Not all of what I love about baseball happens on the field. To a life long baseball fan like me, the regular quotes and cliches after games are as comforting as a home cooked meal. If I didn't regularly hear or read that a player was "just trying to make good contact," after a games winning home run; if a pitcher didn't admit that he "actually felt terrible in the bullpen" before pitching a three-hit shutout; if the manager didn't allow that "this kid is a good hitter and he's going to come around" after his starting shortstop starts the year in a 6 for 52 slump I'd take it as a sign that something was terribly wrong in the universe.

After Nats fans were treated to an uplifting 11-4 win against the Mets yesterday here are a few truths spoken by our local heroes:

"It wasn't a must-win games." - Frank Robinson. That's right, skip, you're not in the playoffs yet.

"For any pitcher, when the team makes some runs the game's more easy." - Livan Hernandez, who understands that the team with the most runs after 9 innings wins.

Brad Wilkerson noted that "when you score early it just carries throughout the whole game," aware that hard as Christian Guzman tries, nothing he does at the plate will cost his teams runs that they have already scored.

And our favorite leadoff hitter also reminds us that "now we're going home." That's right, Brad. The homestand begins tonight with the Phillies.