Series Preview: Fun Facts About the Washington Nationals

MILWAUKEE BREWERS @ WASHINGTON NATIONALS

Friday, April 16, 2010, @ 6:05 p.m. (CDT)

Yovani Gallardo (0-2, 6.75) vs. John Lannan (1-1, 8.31)

 

Saturday, April 17, 2010, @ 12:05 p.m. (CDT)

Randy Wolf (1-0, 4.05) vs. Livan Hernandez (1-0, 0.00)

 

Sunday, April 18, 2010, @ 12:35 p.m. (CDT)

              Doug Davis (0-1, 12.27) vs. Jason Marquis (0-2, 12.96)

The Nationals aren't really a good baseball team.  That being said, they have been playing well thus far this season.  They beat the NL-favorite Phillies yesterday and have gone 4-5 thus far, with six of those games against Philadelphia. 

Here are some quick, basic stats on the Nationals thus far this year:
Runs Scored: 33
Runs Allowed: 58
Best Batting Average: Pudge Rodriguez (.407)
Best OBP: Rodriguez (.467)
Best SLG: Josh Willingham (.633)
Most HR: Willingham (2)
Most RBI: Willingham (9)
Most Strikeouts (Hitter): Ian Desmond (9)
Most Strikeouts (Pitcher): Tyler Clippard (9)
Most Walks (Pitcher): Brian Bruney (7)
Best ERA: Livan Hernandez (0.00)

Fun Facts after the jump

(Many of these are courtesy of Wikipedia)

• Nyjer Morgan likes to call himself "Tony Plush".  He says it's a gentlemans name.  I have absolutely no idea on the story behind it and I'm OK with that.
  
• Pudge Rodriguez had a great day back on June 20, 1991.  That day, he married his first wife, Maribel.  Then, later that night, he made his Major League debut, throwing out two baserunners and his first hit, an RBI single. 
  
• Tyler Walker's nickname is "The Gobbler".  A former college teammate says the name started in at the University of California when Walker had changed from a catcher to a relief pitcher.  To overcome  nerves, before he came out of the bullpen Walker would do a shot of Wild Turkey Whiskey.  So apparently drinking is legal during baseball games.
• John Lannan, according to Wikipedia, is "not to be confused with John Lannon or John Lennon".
• When Brian Bruney was a kid, he was in extra in Arnold Schwarzeneggers "Kindergarten Cop".
• Rick Eckstein, the Nationals hitting coach, is the older brother of David Eckstein.  So I guess the Nationals are looking to be scrappy and try hard and still be bad.
• The Nationals have two authors on their team.  Miguel Batista is a fairly popular writer in Latin America, as he has published both a book of poetry and a thriller about a serial killer.  Christ Coste has also written two books, "Hey...I'm Just a Catcher" and "The 33 Year Old Rookie" both about his experiences playing professional baseball.  Coste has been approached by movie executives to translate his story into a script for the big screen.
• Oh, and Pudge Rodriguez is younger than Gregg Zaun.  Weird. 

Feel free to post any fun facts or cool stats that you can find about the Nationals in the comments.