Going Down the Road to DC
Jason Reid, a columnist for the Washington Post, joins the guys to talk about the Nationals' second collapse in the postseason, as well as DC's football team's failure of late. Coming into the 2014 MLB season, one would find it difficult to find a blog site or magazine that didn't have the Washington Nationals taking at least the National League pennant, if not the World Series. But that Nationals stumbled in the postseason yet again, this time being the most disappointing run. "They won 96 games, had the best record, [an] outstanding bullpen, outstanding [starting] pitching, but every sport is different in the postseason," said Reid. "You don't change anything you did in the regular season, but you have to account for the pressure. You have to account for everything being on the line."
Due to that disappointing finish despite so much talent on the roster, manager Matt Williams is under tremendous criticism. "Matt Williams made some crucial mistakes. I don't think there's any way around that. For me, the decision to pull Zimmerman did them in," Reid said.
However, although game management was appoint of blame for most, the team's "heart" has also been called into question. "If you're going to be a championship team, a lot of it does come down to who has the most heart. I'm not saying they don't have heart, but the Nat's scored nine and the Giants scored nine as well. The Giants just found more ways to win," said Reid.
The Nationals have some important decisions to make regarding off-the-field choices, including a number of key hitters becoming free agents. "I believe Desmond, Span, and Zimmerman are all free agents at the end of the season. The organization has clearly turned the corner and they sell tickets, but you have to look at it and say the window isn't closed, but it is closing," said Reid.
"It's getting to a point where they've got to get it done next year if they're going to get it done at all. They haven't gotten it done two times in three years now," Reid added. Whereas the baseball team is expected to win in DC, it appears there are far different standards held by players for their own football team, given their own reaction to a 10-point loss against Seattle on Monday. "I've been in a lot of MLB, NBA, and NFL locker rooms. In that locker room, there were some team leaders who were joking around after the game, and they were basically saying that losing to the Seahawks was a moral victory," said Reid.