Back To Classic Pinstripes.

I should have posted this a week or two ago, but didn't get around to writing it until now.

Anyway... Nick Johnson who at one time was the first baseman for my beloved Washington Nationals was traded to the Florida Marlins during the 2009 season. I first blogged about that on 31 July in my NO Nats NOT NICK! post.


Nick began his Major League Career with the New York Yankees in 2001. Around the time I wasn't really paying much attention to baseball let alone the "Damn Yankees".

Well then in 2003 at the end of the season he was traded to the Montreal Expos, it was around this time that I was beginning to get back into paying attention to baseball, a little before the talks about getting an MLB team back into DC started. Nick was with The Expos when they made the transition to become the Washington Nationals. Once the Expos/Nationals were established in DC I immediately followed them, since I had been a Senators fan from way back. Nick when he was healthy with the Nats was one of the best at finding a way to get on base. His On Base percentage is exceptional. I got used to seeing number 24 on first base for DC. That was until around the middle of this past 2009 season when the Nationals traded him to the Florida Marlins just before the deadline for mid-season trades. The Marlins switched his number to 20.

Well now Nick has traded in his "fishstripes" for the classic pinstripes of the Yankees. He signed a one-year contract 23 December, 2009 with the Yankees for a cool $5.5 Mil. Well he's back to his roots, I'm not too thrilled with the team he is on now, but I will still sort of keep track of his career (at least through baseball cards LOL). Well it looks like both numbers 20 and 24 are already taken on the Yankees Roster so I don't know what number he'll end up with.

Schneider-Man moves from NY to Phillie

Well once again my favorite current MLB catcher Brian Schneider is moving on to another team. This time he's going to Phillie. When I first got back into baseball around the time the Montreal Expos were set to become the Washington Nationals Brian "Schneider-Man" Schneider was their catcher. He began his Major League Career with the Expos in 2000, and was their starting catcher during the transition to Washington DC to become the Nationals in 2005 and my favorite current catcher in the game. He was with them until the off-season in Dec 2007 when he was traded along with outfielder Ryan Church (who is now on the Atlanta Braves) to the New York Mets for youngster Lastings Milledge (Now on the Pittsburgh Pirates). That trade really got me upset, but I started getting used to seeing Brian and Ryan in The Mets Blue and Orange (or are they Blue and Purple with black?).


Well now Brian is going to once again be wearing red.

Um remember this from 2007? The media seems to have all but forgotten. The media circus of the "Race to the Record" is a thing of the past, but it still turns my stomach every now and then.

OK I said wearing RED!

There that's better, except now he will be looking more like this:


Wait that's the guy he will be backing up Carlos Ruiz. Oh well you get the idea. Anyway Brian signed a 2-year deal with Phillie for $2.75 Million. Well now that sort of rounds out the NL East division with Ex-Nats, Schneider now with the Phillies, Church with the Braves, 1st Baseman Nick Johnson with the Marlins, and Pitcher Tim Redding with the Mets.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

NICK JOHNSON

Nick started out his MLB career as a DAMN YANKEE, then was traded to the Montreal Expos and they became the Washington Nationals when the team moved to DC for the 2005 Season.

OK so what is wrong with the following picture?


Well old familiar #24 is now #20 and is back in pinstripes, excuse me now in fishstripes with the Florida Marlins. I was really annoyed when the trade happened, but I'm not too upset anymore. I've always sort of liked the Marlins except when they play the Nationals.

NO NATS! NOT NICK!

Yeah Nick's Grimace in this pic just about shows how much I liked today's Mid-Season Trade Deadline Trade.

The WASHINGTON NATIONALS announced a Mid-Season Dead-Line Trade with the Florida Marlins. The Nats just traded one of my all-time fave NATS, who was part of the Original 2005 Season Nationals who were the Montreal Expos, First Baseman Nick Johnson (The last Expo who was still with the Nats) for pitcher Aaron Thompson from Florida's Minor League System Oh and some cash considerations. The biggest sucky part of this is we won't see Thompson in DC for at least a year, maybe two since he's still Minor League.


I haven't been this annoyed at a trade the Nationals made since the Church & Schneider for Milledge trade with the Mets during the winter of '07 just before the 2008 Season. Chruch is now with the Atlanta Braves (after a recent trade a few weeks ago) and Milledge is with the Pittsburgh Pirates from another recent trade. I think Schneider is still with the Mets, thank goodness.


I wasn't even annoyed when the Nats traded away their closer Chad "The Chief" Cordero (another fave of mine), who was their last real closer they've had for sometime.

I know there had been rumors of trading away Nick for sometime, probably even when he was out due to that collision with Austin Kearns in 2006 vs. the Mets in New York that broke his leg.


The Nats are saying they would have gotten rid of Nick at the end of this season anyway. Say What?

OK so how long will the rest of my Fave Nats remain Nats? Ryan Zimmerman, Austin Kearns, Jesus Flores, Will Nieves, Josh Willingham, Jordan Zimmerman even Adam Dunn and the new kid Nijer Morgan. Well at least Nick looks pretty good in pinstripes. After all he did start as a Damn Yankee.

Nats + Mets Trade = Uh Oh.

OMG!

The Washington Nationals and New York Mets made an off season trade today (Friday 30 November, 2007), that has upset me. If this sort of thing goes on again I might have to switch to being a Dang Mets fan. The Mets traded outfielder Lastings Milledge for outfielder Ryan Church (one of my faves) and one of my Favorite Nationals ever catcher Brian Schneider. I first heard about the trade on my way home from work, I almost had a heart attack and crashed. Here is the Yahoo News article about the trade http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AgwiFA4jlwbvGQz1ioxhnqgRvLYF?slug=ap-mets-nationalstrade&prov=ap&type=lgns Both now Ex-Nationals are among my top faves especially Schneider-Man. IMO he is one of the most Underrated Catchers in the entire League, and is the number 5 catcher in picking off base stealers. Oh man the Nationals are going to be aching in the catching department, sure they have Jesus Florez but he is still a little green in my opinion, I think he needs another couple of years before he is a high caliber catcher. Dang it. Now I'm mixed about Church because although he is a pretty good outfielder he isn't great.

The Nationals think they are getting a great deal in the young Lastings Milledge, they mostly want him for his power hitting and the hope that he will solve their centerfield problems.

Dang it, Dang it, Dang it. Two of my favorite Nationals that I hoped would never be traded away. I used to think the same thing about closer Chad Cordero but I never imagined they would trade away someone like Schneider. Oh Man, I hope the Nats never ever trade away my other fave players first baseman Nick Johnson and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. Well at least Ryan and Brian were not traded away to the Damn Yankees.

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=was