Bad News Nats...tennis has a Mickelson...

You can call the Nats many things...but you can't say they're not somewhat versatile. In the club's recent sweeping by Colorado, their bats failed Monday (no runs on 5 hits in a 1-0 loss)... their gloves bedeviled them Tuesday (three errors leading to three unearned runs in a 5-4 defeat)... and Wednesday it was the pitching's turn (8 extra base-hits allowed in a 10-4 thumping). And we get 80 more games of this! Please let the Redskins begin training camp a week early this year.



One recent bright spot amidst the shenanigans has been the trade for centerfielder Nyjer Morgan... the new addition has hit .333 in the last week atop the batting order while providing speed on the basepaths and solid defense in the outfield. To get him the Nats parted with flammable reliever Joel Hanrahan (7.97 ERA and 5 blown saves) and enigmatic outfielder Lastings Milledge (a major adventure ever time the ball was hit to him). The Nationals also pick up reliever Sean Burnett--who's tossed four innings over three appearances out of the pen. Hey, Rudy Stein would be an improvement at this point of the season.

Baseball's All Star Game takes center stage next week. In the "damn, I'm getting old department" I recall a day when it not only was the centerpiece to the summer--there wasn't anything else on the sports calendar. No training camp countdowns, post-draft prognostications, no Joe Lunardi and his weekly offseason bracketology updates. Just bikes, the town pool...and trips to the Cape (where my grandparents had HBO and Cinemax). What I also remember is how dominant the National League was (from 1961 to 1982 the AL won just once)--and how frustrating it was living near an American League city at the time (Boston). That's why in 1983 Fred Lynn's grandslam was a major watershed moment that still resonates.

Other thoughts during the post-NBA/pre-NFL month...

Federer at fifteen--he's already been crowned the greatest by many... and Roger Federer's marathon match against Andy Roddick further cemented his status among the games elite. While Pete Sampras' 14 majors was the mark to beat, Rod Laver lost 5 years and 20 grand slam opportunities due to eligibility rules during the 1960's. It's safe to say Laver would have won a few during that span to increase his total from eleven to the high 'teens.

Roddick remains a runner-up-- there have been comparisons drawn between Federer and Tiger Woods (Roger with a one-major lead right now)...so it's only fair to look around and see who might be Federer's Phil Mickelson-- a people's favorite who seems just a few shots away from upsetting the applecart. Andy Roddick's incredible play during the finals overshadows his solid play just to get to Sunday--some were saying he was playing the best tennis of his career-- even better than when he won the US Open in 2003. Age 26 is a tipping point for many male tennis players (McEnroe, Courier) and one wonders much like with Phil, how many championship runs does Roddick have left?

There's no question, however, that Sunday's Wimbledon final was clearly one of the best ever... ranking up there with last year's marathon between Federer and Nadal--as well as McEnroe-Borg from the early 80's. A moment you feel blessed just to be watching.