Awhile back the NQ designed a shirt to show our support for Bryce Harper and our love for one of our vices, Jack Daniels Whiskey. We put the”Black Label” shirts up for sale in the NQ store and they were going like hot cakes before the company we were going through, Cafepress, decided to pull them due to certain rules and restrictions. After much debate and just utter disgust dealing with the company, we finally switched to Spreadshirt.com where once again you can now score a Black Label 2.0 shirt.
To grab some swagger, you can visit our online store at Spreadshirt RIGHT HERE or click on our Shop The Inquisition image on the sidebar . You will notice the shirt is now cheaper which is always a good thing. Right now we just have men’s sizes, but we’ll have some other sizes and products up soon.
The old Nationals Inquisition Online Store is still available if you want to pick up some other crap to look cool at Nationals Park this season. The NQ shirts make great diaper wipes and tarps while at the same time they attract chicks like crazy.
My apologies for not jumping on the blog with more flavorful content recently, but my world is pretty much upside down. I’m basically working two jobs, my kids have started to act like the creatures from Aliens and Manchester City won the Premiere League. I have little time these days for more consistent posting, but when something as mind boggling as what happened to ace pitcher Stephen Strasburg on Tuesday, I sort of have to post.
Icy hot ointment on the jock is definitely our territory.
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg suffered his worst loss of the season to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday, going only four innings and giving up four runs– to the Padres. Of San Diego. Yeah, that seemed a little uncharacteristic of the phenom and there was worry he might have injured himself. The full story didn’t come out until after the game during Manager Davey Johnson’s post game presser and even then it came out a little cryptically. Video is HERE.
Translation: Somehow Strasburg got “Hot Stuff” icy hot ointment on his jock which made him more than a little uncomfortable on the mound. Basically it was like someone smeared Kryptonite in Superman’s tights while he tries to hold up a meteor from hitting earth. If you’ve never experienced an ointment of this type, let me tell you first it feels great and then it burns like hell, especially if not watered down. Sports peoples use it to loosen up the muscles or something.
No one is sure how the ointment got on Strasburg’s jock, no one is fessing up, but it is just yet another situation that will enter Washington Nationals lore alongside the jersey misfires and Jesus Colome’s Butt Abscesses. What started out as a season of respect for the Nationals is quickly deteriorating into a circus. How and why this type of crap seems to only happen in Washington, I don’t know.
But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thoroughly entertained.
Above is video of Nationals rookie outfielder phenom Bryce Harper stealing home on Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday night. Yes, you read that right. He stole home. I thought that sort of thing only happened in the movies. It was a move of incredible balls and talent. Please enjoy.
What makes Harper stealing home even more satisfying was the fact it was on Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels who during Harper’s first at-bat, drilled the young phenom with a 94 mph fastball. Harper took full advantage of his free pass as he advanced to third on a Jayson Werth single and then put the Nationals on the board with the first run of the game with his steal.
That should be the end of the story right there. Hamels hit Harper, Harper embarrassed Hamels. It should be all good, except at the end of the game Hamels confessed to hitting Harper on purpose. Of course, depending on who you ask, the reactions have been different. If you ask a Philly fan what he/she thought of Hamels comments they of course see nothing wrong with being a complete and total douchebag out to hurt other players. Ask a Nationals fan and they are furious and want Hamels disciplined by MLB.
But it is so odd. Why would Hamels do such a boneheaded thing? It isn’t totally clear, but the best explanation we can figure comes from the Philadelphia Enquirer and Deadspin.com:
I was trying to hit him. I’m not going to deny it. It’s something I grew up watching. That’s what happened. I’m just trying to continue the old baseball. Some people get away from it. I remember when I was a rookie, the strike zone was really, really small and you didn’t say anything. That’s the way baseball is. Sometimes the league is protecting certain players. It’s that old-school prestigious way of baseball.
Oh, so Hamels was just protecting an old-school prestigious way of baseball. He was just being traditional drilling another player with a 94 mph fastball. Oh, now I understand. No, it is totally okay now– Cole Hamels is a douchebag.
What an absolute douche and coward. Who the hell is Hamels to enforce such a “traditional, prestigious old-school way of baseball?” What a piece of sh*t. He totally had this planned going into the game. He did. The fact he decided to suddenly pull this ridiculous stunt on this past Natitude Weekend against the first place team of the NL East (suck on that, Hamels) and to their hottest rookie player– he knew what he was doing.
Fitting he is a Philadelphia Phillies player. That team and city seems to breed rats and douchebags. I thought no one could be a bigger douche than Chase Utley after he took out Jesus Flores’ knees in 2008, but Hamels proves me wrong. Natstown wants justice from MLB, but I doubt they will get it considering Hamels and the Phillies are part of those “protected players” Hamels rants against. What an absolute coward…
I’m not going to say it is okay, because it isn’t, but what does Bryce Harper have to say about it? Nationals.com:
“[I'm not mad] at all,” Harper said. “He is a great guy, great pitcher, he knows how to pitch, he is an All-Star. It’s all good. … Hamels threw a good game tonight. You have to give all the props to him. He came out there, he threw the ball well. There is nothing we can do about it.”
Wow. Harper takes the absolute high road. Hard to see who the rookie is in this situation. Harper looks like an upstanding, young Major League baseball player. Hamels looks like– an asshole.
Looks like Harper stole home on Hamels– again.
UPDATE: I am almost wanting to completely delete the post above and just replace everything with the words of General Manager Mike Rizzo on the subject. INSANELY great quotes and we totally agree with every one of them. Here is our favorite:
“Cole Hamels says he’s old school? He’s the polar opposite of old school. He’s fake tough. He thinks he’s going to intimidate us after hitting our 19-year rookie who’s eight games into the big leagues? He doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.”
Nationals.com reports that Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth has suffered a broken wrist, a clean break, during the Nationals 9-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday night. Werth was attempting to make a sliding catch in right field when he pile drived his left hand into the ground and immediately reacted in extreme pain. Nationals.com:
“We seem to be getting a little … healthier and — boom,” [Manager Davey] Johnson said. “One of our main guys goes down. We dealt with it before. We’ll deal with it again. … That was a tough blow. I was anxious to get a lot of the guys back on Tuesday.”
Werth is expected to be out six weeks if not more. He will see a specialist to determine what comes next.
I’ll tell you what comes next: an outfield platoon of Roger Bernadina and Xavier Nady and that is as exciting as– I don’t know. I haven’t had my coffee this morning and I’m feeling uncreative. But it is going to be boring and more of a strain on a line up that already isn’t guaranteed to collect hits.
Jesus, what is with this team and injuries? Did they piss on the Honey Bunches of Oats of the Baseball Gods? Do they have a black cat as a clubhouse pet? Maybe they all walk under a ladder as they go down the tunnel of the dugout?
Whatever the case, call a priest. Not only should he perform an exorcism on home plate at Nationals Park, but he can lead us all in what we should be doing:
Dr. W, the NQ Apprentice, attended Tuesday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks and took in Bryce Harper’s Washington debut while snapping a couple of nice shots of the young phenom and his blood brothers. The outcome of the game was miserable and it seems the (not so) shocking revelation that the Nationals offense is going to be a major problem from here on out seems to have really hit Natstown hard last night.
But Harper had an incredible throw from left field. Really. He gave a taste of the type of player he is going to evolve and grow into and it was wonderful. A couple of naysayers said it was nothing special since he didn’t actually get the out (replay showed he actually did) but that sort of thing hasn’t stopped everyone from talking about Armando Galarraga’s “no-hitter.” We all know he didn’t get the no-hit bid because of an umpire error– but yet we say he pitched a no-hitter technically anyway.
Alright. Too many words already. On to the photos. All credit goes to Dr. W.
And Bryce Harper gets crap for his eye black and hair…
It is no secret around here that when I am not blogging or at Nats Park I am either fighting to the death in underground martial arts tournaments or sitting in a tree stand waiting for deer. Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche would totally understand me or at least the deer stand part. LaRoche is an avid hunter and is part of the Buck Commander hunting troop who also has ex-Nat Ryan Langerhans as a member as well as other MLB players.
The trailer is for Buck Commander: Redemption, a new, fun filled, hairy, fiery hunting vid.
A very hardcore name. I guess I am to assume the whitetail deer have committed some sort of atrocity that has embarrassed or shamed the Buck Commanders. Perhaps the deer launched a sneak attack on the Buck Commanders under the command of a planted, face-shifting nanomite President who is in league with the deer. Now, the remaining Buck Commanders seek redemption by coming together with Bruce Willis and going all out wide open in one final ditch effort to save the country–
Or that is the plot of the new G.I. Joe sequel. I can’t remember which.
On the night of Decemeber 25, 1776 after having his forces embarrassed in the defense of New York City, General George Washington spoke the immortal words “F**k it” and crossed the Delaware with a young American army and militia to bring new meaning to the words “American Revolution” to a bunch of British and Hessian soldiers in New Jersey.
It was a last gasp effort on Washington’s part. He couldn’t risk another full frontal engagement with a better trained and world famous army like the Redcoats and he couldn’t risk not attacking in fear his virgin army would go stagnant and momentum for the Cause would wane. No, on that cold night Washington decided to go for it and in doing so not only did he pull off one of the more remarkable military achievements in history, but he unknowingly gave birth to what we know as the “good old American spirit”: full of ingenuity, f**k you and rebellion.
What Washington did took spirit and a whole lot of balls. Fast forward to now and you’ll find Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper fighting a similar battle on a different kind of battlefield, but instead of crossing a river to invade an invading army, he has crossed the waters of the Nationals farm system to invade the Majors and bring a style of play and attitude (Natitude?) that can only be described as “totally American.” It is an attitude many of us have long forgotten.
Bryce Harper is America.
Bryce Harper is the American spirit.
Bryce Harper is the old belief that if you put your mind to it, you desire it and you work hard for- you will achieve your goal. He is that young, vibrant hope and eternal youthfulness of this country’s spirit. He is humble, but yet strong. He is wild, yet loyal. He is fearless, he accepts the challenge even if it seems impossible. In Bryce Harper just as in America, anything is possible.
Looking at Bryce Harper is like looking at the space shuttle: a modern marvel of man’s magnificence. To not want Bryce Harper to succeed is thoroughly un-American. You don’t have to like him to hope and believe someone can make it somewhere in this country these days who has a dream and with hard work achieves it…
Where was I going with this?
Why am I formatting the post like this?
I have no idea.
I guess I am still oddly confused at the reaction he got from the L.A. crowd this past weekend. When you dream about making the Majors and being in that first game the dream doesn’t usually include the crowd booing you every time you go to bat, having some nut run onto the field right at you and being mooned. What sort of degenerates do that to a kid? It is like being booed at your high school graduation.
I am more than positive Harper will get a different sort of reaction Tuesday night as he debuts in Washington for the first time. My, they grow up so fast. It seems like only yesterday his first Spring Training. He enters MLB amid curiosity, confusion and controversy, much like George Washington entered his command. There are still many on the fence on how they truly perceive Harper and what he means to a baseball universe that immediately changed when he stepped into it. Fortunately he is finally on the stage where he can do the talking with his game.
General Washington changed the world when he stepped onto that boat. Bryce Harper will change D.C. baseball when he steps out of that dugout.
