{"id":20624,"date":"2013-04-01T08:09:24","date_gmt":"2013-04-01T12:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yurasko.net\/wfy\/?p=20624"},"modified":"2013-04-01T08:09:24","modified_gmt":"2013-04-01T12:09:24","slug":"i-love-waking-up-knowing-it-is-nats-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yurasko.net\/wfy\/2013\/04\/i-love-waking-up-knowing-it-is-nats-opening-day\/","title":{"rendered":"I love waking up knowing it is Nats Opening Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning. It is Opening Day. We made it!<\/p>\n

WEATHER FORECAST<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are like me, you’ve been checking in on it for the last 10 days or so. It looked more promising mid-week last week, but after the weird, slushy March, low 60s, slight chance of rain sounds good enough for me.<\/p>\n

TEAM FORECAST<\/strong><\/p>\n

In one way of thinking, the challenge for the 2013 Washington Nationals is simple — create a greater moment to put on a banner than Jayson Werth’s Game 4 NLDS walk-off home run<\/a> (DC Sports Bog, The Post<\/em>). As great as it was, it wound up extending the first postseason of baseball by another day, another game.<\/p>\n

The Nats enter 2013 as favorites to win their division, their league and the World Series. Can they overcome the Sports Illustrated cover jinx<\/em>? The glossy magazine put Stephen Strasbug on the cover<\/a> and called him Mr. October which is just stupid. Another glossy, ESPN the Magazine, picked the Nats to go all the way too<\/a>. <\/p>\n

PREVIEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nationals preview 2013: Ready to go the distance<\/a> – The Post<\/em>
\nLots of good stuff from the paper of record.<\/p>\n

Nationals Opening Day<\/a> | Nationals hoping for a healthy start<\/a> – The Wash. Examiner<\/em>
\nEnjoy it while you can, this paper is folding in a few months.<\/p>\n

Nationals 2013: Talented Nats enter season as favorites, but they know luck is a factor, too<\/a> | Nationals 2013: It\u2019s \u2018World Series or bust\u2019 as Johnson prepares to cap five-plus decades in game<\/a> – The Wash. Times<\/em>
\nThey didn’t put everything in a PDF, but after all the autoplay ads, maybe they should have done so. Bush-league Web site.<\/p>\n

Nationals ready to dominate, even if they won’t say so<\/a> | SI.com 2013 MLB Experts’ Picks<\/a> – Sports Illustrated<\/em><\/p>\n

The World Series winner will be \u2026<\/a> | ESPN predicts the 2013 season<\/a> – ESPN<\/em><\/p>\n

COLUMNS<\/strong><\/p>\n

THOMAS BOSWELL:<\/strong> Washington Nationals opening day: Embracing a season of great expectations<\/a> – The Post<\/em><\/p>\n

THOM LOVERRO: <\/strong>Drinking a Big Gulp of the Nationals’ Kool-Aid<\/a> – The Wash. Examiner<\/em>
\nLoverro drinking the Kool-Aid?<\/p>\n

RICK SNIDER:<\/strong> Nationals fans, enjoy the ride<\/a> – The Wash. Examiner<\/em><\/p>\n

WHAT’S NEW IN NATSTOWN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Washington, Let’s Play Ball! (2013 Version)<\/a> – JD Land Near Southeast DC
\nEverything you need to know about changes in and around Nationals Park. A Gordon Biersch opens today, another local brewery, Bluejacket<\/a>, later this spring.<\/p>\n

PREDICTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is what I submitted to the Idaho<\/strike> District Sports Page<\/a>:<\/p>\n

1) Who will lead the Nats in home runs in 2013?
\nBryce Harper<\/p>\n

2) Who will lead the Nats in RBI?
\nRyan Zimmerman<\/p>\n

3) Who will lead the Nats in stolen bases?
\nDenard Span<\/p>\n

4) Who will lead the staff in wins?
\nStephen Strasburg (followed by Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmerman)<\/p>\n

5) Who will make more appearances for the Nats this season: Rafael Soriano, Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard or Craig Stammen?
\nCraig Stammen (Clippard’s arm is going to fall off)<\/p>\n

6) Who will get more at bats for the Nats this season: Kurt Suzuki or Wilson Ramos?
\nWilson Ramos<\/p>\n

7) Which minor leaguer are you most interested in keeping tabs on this season?
\nAnthony Rendon<\/p>\n

8) Date of Anthony Rendon’s Major League debut?
\nJune 24<\/p>\n

9) How many all-stars will the Nats have? Who?
\nStephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman<\/p>\n

10) Total wins and what place in the division?
\n94 wins and first place
\n
\nMEDIA PREDICTIONS<\/strong>
\nFrom Mark Zuckerman at Nats Insider<\/a>. Bill Ladson is so, so crazy.<\/p>\n

TODAY’S GAME<\/strong><\/p>\n

First pitch 1:05 p.m. Strasburg for the Nats, Ricky Nolasco for the Miami Marlins. Honorary first pitch by Clint Romesha<\/a>, a Medal of Honor recipient. Theodore Roosevelt’s great great grandson Winthorp Roosevelt<\/strong> will be there as well.<\/p>\n

ENOUGH ALREADY!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Washington, D.C., play ball!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good morning. It is Opening Day. We made it! WEATHER FORECAST If you are like me, you’ve been checking in on it for the last 10 days or so. It looked more promising mid-week last week, but after the weird, slushy March, low 60s, slight chance of rain sounds good enough for me. TEAM FORECAST […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,106],"tags":[343,532,1222,1711],"class_list":["post-20624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-natsmlb-2013","category-washington-nationals","tag-bryce-harper","tag-davey-johnson","tag-nats","tag-stephen-strasburg"],"yoast_head":"\nI love waking up knowing it is Nats Opening Day - William F. 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