...from today's Post:"Reliever Jon Rauch had his first child -- Aubree Elizabeth -- in December, and he arrived at spring training with a tattoo of his daughter's feet on his right calf. 'We were all ready and prepared,' Rauch said, 'and then she came, and you're not prepared for any of it.'"

Well, winning is fun, isn't it?Honestly, I can't say I've been watching very much or even listening. Life is so busy right now. I have a new job with weird hours and a commute that leaves me literally with only one hour of non-work time at home per weekday. With a newlywed wife and a baby on the way,...

Subtitle: "Short answer yes with an if, long answer no with a but."Jim Bowden took seven hours of my life yesterday, and I want them back! Seriously, it was a bit anti-climatic to get all worked up in anticipation of the 4 p.m. trade deadline yesterday and then have nothing happen.My desire before th...

I didn't want it to happen. And I certainly didn't want it to happen against my favorite team.But as CNN.com loaded when I opened my internet browser at a quarter till the ass crack of dawn this morning, my eyes jumped immediately to the blank stare of Brian Schneider and my heart sank.And so it is. ...

...for now. (You may have noticed I took down the "Fire Me" banner.)I'm going to reserve final judgement under the assumption that more deals are coming -- which is almost undoubtedly going to be the case.But on the surface, it looks like Bowden just fleeced his old team.Basically, we got Kearns and ...

Why the hell should I care about a team that's going to be run by this crazy-ass douchebag?We all know Bowden is a Grade A brown-noser. I guess our only hope is that his lips are glued so firmly to Kasten's ass that he follows Kasten's vision to the letter.It could happen; sucking up to the Lerners i...

Well, Mrs. Rocket and I finally made it to a game together during the 2006 season. We bought a pair of $5 rollback tickets in Section 506 for Saturday's game and piled in the car to make the drive into DC from the hinterlands of Prince William County. I had gone to two previous games this year -- Ope...

What, you expect me to actually write something?!Seriously, good for the Nats. It sounds like a great hire. A young guy eager to prove himself, but also someone who already commands some respect - both in the Nats clubhouse and throughout baseball.I already can't wait for spring training.

Well, the newest Nats fan has entered the world. Little Rockette was born at 2:22 am Friday morning, weighing in at 6 pounds, 2 ounces.Mrs. Rocket and I are very thrilled. We're excited to teach our little one all sorts of new things, like why "The Plan" is our ticket to the promised land, why Cristi...

With apologies to the great Ernie Harwell...For, lo, the winter is past,The rain is over and gone;The flowers appear on the earth;The time of the singing of birds is come;And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. ~Song of Solomon 2:11-12 (KJV)

We're thinking about you, NJ.

Who would have imagined? The Nats two-hit the Braves and beat John Smoltz behind Jason Bergmann. (And of course, the Chief gives us all a heart attack nailing down the save in the ninth.)It's good to know the Nats can still make me smile.

It's bad enough that we have to witness the abomination that is interleague play, this weekend the Baltimore Orioles and their fans come to RFK. If you're going to the stadium this weekend, be sure you're up to date on your shots.And I hope the Nats aren't letting the enemy mascot in the park this we...

One thing about having children I've always looked forward to is the joy of taking them to ballgame. And although she's too young to have appreciated it, Little Rockette made her debut at yesterday's rain-soaked slopfest of a ballgame at RFK.We planned this trip probably as far back as a month ago, a...

Time to dust off the ol' blog and post some thoughts that have been rattling around my head the last 24 hours.In the wake of Monday's Opening Day drubbing at the hands of the Marlins, a prominent storyline emerging from the media, the Natosphere and the message boards was the horrible fan experience

(My stupid computer froze and ate an almost finished post. You'd think with my infrequent blogging, the blogger gods would make it easy for me to get a post up. But noooooooooo...)Last night the Rocket family spent much of the evening taking in the ballgame on the tube, taking advantage of the fact t

Our old friend Jose Vidro reports to Mariners Spring Training...First day of workouts, and it looks like at least a dozen grounders have already gone through his legs.

I think it's about time to stick a fork in this thing, don't you?The clearest sign of my lack of motivation and opportunity to blog is the fact I've been meaning to write this sine die post for over a month now!There's another reason too. For those of you who don't know, and I'd imagine that's most if not all of you, Little Rockette is going to welcome a little brother or sister...

Before anyone asks: No, I was not in Miami yesterday. But if I was, I would have been thrown out too. Bastard probably deserved it. I would have thrown peanuts at him.And yes, it warms my cold little heart to see that my 2005 rants are the #2 result on a Google search of the bastard's name.

Second video in a continuing series:(View the first video.)Too bad his teammates blew it.

Robert:While on occasion Nats fans might secretly smile at your unabashed homerism or grin when you actually get off a good line (see the 6:24 mark on this video), this Nats fan would like to put you on notice as to the following:* When the Nationals score a run to cut the deficit from two runs to one, that run did not put them "back in the game." Believe it or not, the Nats are...

Nats 7, Phils 643 wins, pendejos! Eat our dust, 1962 Mets!And shove it up your tailpipe, Wendelstedt! (video link) It sounds like Tubby Wendelstedt will make a worthy inductee to the Paul Schrieber Umpire Hall of Shame. Looking forward to catching at least part of the MASN replay tonight.(UPDATED: I captured and put up the MASN video. I think I love Don Sutton.)On to 63!(And by the...

Washington Nationals Draft ListRoss DetwilerJosh SmokerMichael BurgessJordan ZimmermannJake SmolinskiSteven Souza (yes, he plays baseball too)Derek NorrisBrad MeyersJack McGearyPhilip "P.J." DeanAdrian AlanizMark GildeaPat McCoyBill RhinehartCraig StinsonSteve ShepardDan LyonsPatrick ArnoldChris BlackwoodLuke PiskerSawyer CarrollJeff MandelDaniel CookAnthony BennerJake RogersDavid...

So tonight, the graphic scoreboard on the Nationals broadcast read "O's/WSH."I really loathe the arrogance of refusing to refer to your own team by the city. But it's infuriating when it extends to the Nationals broadcast. And again, it's just a reminder that the Nationals are still influenced by the mafioso in the Warehouse on West Camden Street.(Yes, it's much easier to bitch about...

More MASN bullcrap, and another reminder that the Nationals still have the ugly hand of the ogre up north in their affairs.This is the Baltimore MASN broadcast...O's" and "WSH" are on the graphic scoreboard. Typical Baltimore "we're-a-regional-team" baloney. Nothing new here.Now look at the Nationals MASN2/DCA 20 broadcast..."O's" and "Nats." I mean, that's either insulting or patronizing...