ABCDE
BASEBALL
Obama’s pitch
The president will throw out the first pitch on opening day at Nationals Park. D2
Getting it in order
The Nationals name their first four starting pitchers, leaving the door open for the fifth spot. D6
SPORTS
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tuesday, march 30, 2010
BLOGS, MULTIMEDIA AND CHATS washingtonpost.com/sports
First Things First Today, 9:30 a.m. Chat with Tracee Hamilton about whether the Caps should rest players. D.C. Sports BogToday, 11:30 a.m. Dan Steinberg will take your questions about the Final Four and more. Nationals Journal Adam Kilgore is in Florida as the Nats make final decisions before opening day.
PRO FOOTBALL
Keeping an eye out
Redskins General Manager Bruce Allen is among several NFL talent evaluators on hand to watch QB Sam Bradford work out. D4
When you lose, no matter how much toothpaste you use, you still have that bad
taste in your mouth.” Wizards Coach Flip Saunders, on his team’s 15-game losing streak. D3
TRACEE HAMILTON
Deciding how much to rest is a real test
chat rooms as the regular season winds down and the playoffs approach. The Caps have secured the top seed in the East and with it, home-ice advantage through the conference finals. So should Coach Bruce Boudreau give some players a day off during the final seven games of the regular season? On the one hand, a little rest before
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the playoff grind would be a good thing. On the other hand, a little rest could lead to a little rust. It disrupts lines and timing and karma and everything else. So coach, what’s the answer? “I don’t know,” said Boudreau after
Tuesday’s practice at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. (God, I love a coach who doesn’t deliver his answers on two stone tablets. I also love a coach who signs autographs for the spring-breaking horde at Kettler while wearing his skates.) “I’m going to find out,” Boudreau added. “Actually, right now we can’t rest anybody because everybody’s hurt. That question is taken out of the equation. “I don’t know what’s best. You’ve seen it work both ways; you’ve seen it fail both ways. You’ve seen guys not play as hard, and that’s how they get hurt. You’ve seen them play too hard and get
hamilton continued on D5
o rest, or not to rest? That is the question that is keeping Caps fans chattering on message boards and
Desmond gets his shot at the show
Long journey pays off for starting shortstop of the Nationals
by Adam Kilgore
viera, fla. — Ian Desmond faced his stall in the mostly empty clubhouse inside Space Coast Stadium, a room in which he had logged memories from adolescence to adulthood. He pointed out the first locker he occupied, when he was only 19. “It was right down here,” Desmond said, gesturing toward the corner to his left. “Next to Carlos Baerga.” Desmond shook his head and considered what that meant. “I’ve been in this locker room, may- be, longer than anybody in here,” he said. “I’ve been wanting to be in the big leagues with these guys for a long time.”
Six years, or one full quarter of Des-
mond’s life, have passed since he first stepped into this clubhouse and pulled on a Washington Nationals uniform. He was a part of their future before they had a past. The tests he faced — a comparison to Derek Jeter, a Class A demotion, a shaky batting average, a broken hand — all seemed worth it Sunday morn- ing. The day after he recalled that first spot in the clubhouse, Desmond snuck out of the room so he could call his parents and tell them what he had just found out. He had made it to the major leagues.
Desmond will begin the season as
the Nationals’ starting shortstop, the job earmarked for him since he first wowed Nationals officials and team- mates in spring 2005. “Man,” a catcher named Gary Bennett said then. “That kid has some tools.” They came togeth- er last year and formed a shortstop ready for the majors, a player steeled after a long ride. “Internally, he had his doubts,” said Chris Charron, Desmond’s stepfather.
PAUL SANCYA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Melvin Goins and Tennessee came two points away from where Butler, Duke, Michigan State and West Virginia are.
ON BASKETBALL
John Feinstein
This Final Four has it all
Indianapolis comes pretty close. It has a Cinderella practically playing on its home court. It has a team that hasn’t been to the
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Final Four in 51 years but is going back after a prodigal son came home. It has a team whose coach always seems to find a way this time of year, playing in its sixth Final Four in 12 seasons.
And it has a villain, the team people love to hate, whether because it wins so often or because people have to have someone to root against once their team has gone home. Those four teams, in case you spent the weekend wondering who the Redskins are going to draft, are Butler (Cinderella), West Virginia (prodigal son); Michigan State (coach who finds a way) and Duke (villain). Butler and Michigan State, both No. 5 seeds going into the tournament, will play the first game and Duke and West Virginia, a No. 1 and a No. 2, will play in the second game. Before looking at those games, let’s not forget who isn’t going to be playing at Lucas Oil Stadium. To begin with,
on basketball continued on D4
Close to being considered a dynasty, this team of veterans may find the window closing
Jimmy Rollins
Chase Utley Ryan Howard
by Dave Sheinin
in clearwater, fla.
J
immy Rollins is at an age, 31, and a point in his career, almost a decade in, where he has begun to think of such things as legacies and dynas- ties and the day when it all comes to an end. Because there will be such a day.
Back when the Philadelphia Phillies
started this run, with a division title and a first-round playoff loss in 2007, their core was in its prime, and it was hungry, and the future seemed boundless. Two
World Series appearances and one championship later, the greatest sort of legacy — being known as a dynasty, or at least what qualifies as one in today’s game — is within the Phillies’ grasp. But the core is no longer so young, the future is no longer boundless and the window that keeps The End at bay is closing fast.
“If we could be considered a dynasty?
It’d be nice to be remembered that way when you’re done,” Rollins said. “But I think if you focus on winning, and you win, that’s how you become a dynasty. “Today’s game is different. Back in the
day, you had to win for a long time. But there weren’t all the trades and free agency — so when you had group of
“If you focus on winning, and you
win, that’s how you become a dynasty.”
— Jimmy Rollins
PHOTOS BY NICK LAHAM/GETTY IMAGES
Shane Victorino
here may not be such a thing as a perfect Final Four, but the one that will begin on Saturday in
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
“I’ve been wanting to be in the big leagues with these guys for a long time,” says starting shortstop Ian Desmond.
nationals continued on D6
Baseball ’10 COMING TOMORROW: AN EIGHT-PAGE SPECIAL SECTION PREVIEWING THE 2010 SEASON
The Phillies are almost famous
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guys, you had them until they played their careers out. Nowadays, it’s hard to establish that because of the eco- nomics.” This season, the Phillies will attempt to become the first team since the 1942- 44 St. Louis Cardinals to win three con- secutive National League pennants. There is no hard-and-fast rule as to what defines a dynasty in the modern game — though surely it would require at least another World Series title, per- haps two, to go along with the one the
phillies continued on D6
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