THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2010 COMMENTARY


going under the knife, or at least the scope, at Sibley Hospital, having surgery for a torn rotator cuff. If rehab goes well, I should be ready to go by spring training 2011.


A


s you read this — well, at least if you’re reading this Thursday morning — I am


A pop, a cough and a trip to the DL TRACEE HAMILTON


I knew something was wrong when I could no longer hold up my right arm long enough to wash my hair or hold the steering wheel. More tragically, it hurts the most when I’m sitting in my recliner. Oh, the humanity! I was hoping for Tommy John


surgery — well, I was hoping for Angelina Jolie surgery, but that’s not available. Anyway, I’m told Jordan Zimmermann got the last of Tommy John’s tendons. The poor guy has been stripped bare of ligaments and connective tissue, and they’re starting to eye his organs and bones. I signed up for a hip; might as well plan ahead. You’re probably wondering how a sedentary columnist managed to get an injury normally associated with hard-throwing hurlers. Good question. It probably started with a golf injury suffered in 1997. Did I overextend on a drive? Slam a wedge into the side of a sand trap? No. I was riding a shuttle bus to the final day of the U.S. Open at Congressional, trying to hold on to one of those hanging straps — for which I am much too short — while the bus took hairpin turns at high speeds and much taller men sat, watching me swing like I was a science experiment. At one point, I heard what I thought was a pop, followed by what I was sure was a scream, because it was mine. Physical therapy seemed to solve the problem for a while, but every now and then, it would flare up. When that happened again this April, right after a three-week bout of pneumonia, I got a cortisone shot, which normally helps. Not this time. Although we don’t know for sure,


the long-suffering Dr. Marc Connell thinks a small tear might have become a large one from sleeping in the La-Z-Boy for three weeks combined with rampant coughing. So to review: I got injured riding a bus and aggravated it in a recliner. You can understand why I call it a golf injury. Although there are no slow times on the sports calendar these days, I decided that it was better to be out of action in July than, say, October. So we scheduled the surgery between the Redskins’ mandatory minicamp — I was under the impression mandatory meant “must attend;” silly me — and the start of training camp. I’ll be wearing a yellow blouse, so no one will tackle me.


First, though, I had to go on


vacation. I’ve learned this from more than a quarter-century of following sports: Never have surgery during the offseason. Hence the number of baseball players deciding to have knee surgery around Feb. 10, so they can miss all of spring training. I didn’t want to do Kansas with one arm — it’s really a two-arm state. Plus, I can’t use just one dousing rod; I would only have found half a body and that would be very disconcerting, to say the least. I’m told it’s a six-month


recovery, but I think Dr. Connell was referring to athletes when he said that. I’m sure with my tremendous will and determination, I can stretch that into 12 months, no problem. I decided to consult the Nats’ pitching staff to find out about rehab. After all, with all their arm injuries, surely one of them had torn a rotator cuff. Surprisingly, the closest I came


HOCKEY


KLMNO


S BASEBALL


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was pitching coach Steve McCatty, who had a torn labrum. He got his the old-fashioned way: strenuous throwing. No shuttle bus/recliner injury for him!


I assume the worst part will probably be wearing a sling for a month (well, next to the pain, which I assume will be the very worst part). Apparently I will have to spend four weeks typing with only my left hand. This will mean a return to my e.e. cummings phase — no capital letters! — and my James Joyce phase — endless sentences because it hurts too much to stretch for the period key. (Little-known fact: Joyce lost his right pinky finger when it was bitten off by an English player during a game of rugby, and that’s how “Ulysses” was born. cummings was just lazy.) It will also mean that a column on the July 4 Nats game will appear in the July 7 paper. New marketing campaign: If you don’t get it, it’s because I can’t type fast enough. I know what you are probably thinking: Am I using this alleged shoulder injury as an excuse to hide my abuse of human growth hormones and steroids and to avoid discussing the rapid disintegration of my personal life that culminated in that embarrassing auto accident over Thanksgiving weekend? Yes.


On the bright side, this


experience should make me more sympathetic toward injured athletes. Heck, my bout of plantar fasciitis made me more tolerant of Ron Artest, if you can imagine that. Then I will develop an addiction to painkillers, which will help me understand a whole new group of athletes. And if I don’t come back at full strength, the Post can turn me into a closer. Boz can write the first 30 inches and I’ll handle the last paragraph. This also means I need a new


La-Z-Boy. And that may be the brightest side of all. hamiltont@washpost.com


KEVIN C. COX/GETTY IMAGES Fan interference on the road is just another incident that dogs Ryan Zimmerman and the Nationals.


Nationals’ woes on road continue


nationals from D1 well.”


Despite a slow start, the Na- tionals put themselves in posi- tion to potentially win the game. The Nationals left the bases loaded in the fifth inning and stranded two runners in scoring in the sixth. By squeezing just one run out of those opportuni- ties, the Nationals gave them- selves little chance. “It’s been like that all year,” Dunn said. “I don’t know what’s going on.” J.D. Martin pitched adequate-


ly after a rocky beginning, but the 37 pitches he threw in the first inning squelched any no- tion of a long outing. Martin’s start was neither sharp nor ruin- ous — he allowed three earned runs in five innings on six hits and two walks. But he was not himself. Martin had walked two batters in 292


⁄3 innings this year.


In the first inning, he walked two consecutive Braves. “I was all over the place,” Martin said. “I missed a lot of spots today.” The most costly came in the third, against his counterpart, Jair Jurrjens. With a man on third, Jurrjens pulled back a sac- rifice bunt and slashed an RBI single past Ryan Zimmerman. Martin had tried to throw a fast- ball down and in, but when it stayed up and over the plate Jurrjens could drive the ball to left. Fresh off the disabled list and making his first start since April 29, Jurrjens cruised for four in- nings. He did not allow a runner past second base, allowed two hits and struck out six, including four of the first six batters he faced. The Nationals finally mounted a rally in the fifth, load- ing the bases with two outs. Rog- er Bernadina, though, grounded out to second to end the threat. In the sixth, the Nationals


ROSS FRANKLIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS Phoenix’s Matthew Lombardi (career-high 19 goals) might be the most intriguing center on the market.


As NHL free agency begins, Capitals figure to be cautious


by Tarik El-Bashir When the doors to NHL free


agency are flung wide open Thursday at noon, the Washing- ton Capitals plan to enter cau- tiously, General Manager George McPhee said. “We’ll be involved but I don’t


expect to do a whole lot,” McPhee said, tamping down fans’ expec- tations as he often does ahead of the annual frenzy. He was also rather candid when assessing this year’s class, which is widely con- sidered the weakest since the lockout, saying, “There’s not much out there.” The Capitals’ most pressing need is a second-line center to re- place Brendan Morrison and complement star winger Alexan- der Semin. McPhee said that role potentially could be filled by a prospect, such as Mathieu Per- reault, but he also conceded that he’s contemplating adding a free agent, so long as the player is an upgrade and is willing to accept a short-term deal. “We think we have centers that are ready to go,” McPhee said. “So we want to be really careful not get drawn into any long-term deals at that position. The issue is: Are they ready this year or next?” The Capitals are about $4.5


million below the $59.4 million limit after computing the team’s 16 current players’ salaries and projected earnings for their four restricted free agents. That might allow for the addi- tion of a center such as Saku Koi- vu, Matt Cullen or another play- off-tested veteran. Koivu, 35, had 19 goals and 33 assists in 71 games with Anaheim last season and earned $3.25 million. Cullen, 33, had 16 goals and 32 assists in 81 games for Carolina and Ottawa and made $2.875 million. Matthew Lombardi, meantime, might be the most intriguing cen- ter on the market. The 28-year- old notched a career-high 19 goals and 34 assists for Phoenix, but figures to command a signifi- cant raise over his $1.8 million salary and perhaps more of a long-term commitment than the Capitals would be willing to make. McPhee also said he doesn’t feel pressure to spend up to the ceiling. In fact, he would rather hold back some of the $4.5 mil- lion just in case the team suffers injuries or needs to stock up at the trade deadline. “We don’t have to spend it,”


McPhee said. “You don’t ever want to go into the season right up against the cap. Ideally, you put a good team on the ice and you have room.”


McPhee said he “probably


won’t make any changes” to the defense, despite the fact that it ranked 16th and 18th in goals against and shots allowed, re- spectively, last season. “We’ve got seven guys ready to go,” he said. Even if McPhee does stand pat,


Washington’s blue line figures to be improved next season with the addition of Karl Alzner and John Carlson, touted prospects the general manager said are ready to take on full-time roles. It’s also possible the Capitals will cut loose Shaone Morrisonn, who is set to become unrestricted after five seasons in Washington. In net, McPhee said 22-year- olds Semyon Varlamov and Mi- chal Neuvirth will be the tandem next season. “We’re going with our young


goaltenders,” he said. “We actu- ally think this is going to be good for both of them because there isn’t going to be the pressure on either one of them to play 65 games. It’s an opportunity for both of them to play more games at the NHL level without the pres- sure of trying to carry the team. “We’ve done a good job of draft- ing and developing,” McPhee added, seemingly summing up his approach, “and it’s time to give these players their opportu- nity.”


elbashirt@washpost.com


managed to knock Jurrjens from the game. Zimmerman and Dunn lashed consecutive sin- gles, and after Josh Willingham walked Jurrjens exited. With Iván Rodríguez coming to the plate, Bobby Cox summoned


side-winding right-hander Peter Moylan.


On the first pitch Moylan


threw, Rodríguez grounded to short, and the Braves turned a 6- 4-3 double play. Zimmerman scored, making it 3-1, but the chances for a big inning had been slashed. Rodríguez had grounded into his 15th double play, the second-highest total in the National League. “What was the pitch?” Rodrí- guez said. “The pitch was a strike. That was a great pitch to hit. I hit it hard, right at the shortstop. My job is just to make solid contact, and I hit it good right there.”


When Cristian Guzmán


walked, it seemed the Nationals could cut their deficit. Moylan threw a wild pitch to Alberto González. While Guzmán scoot- ed to second, Dunn wandered halfway down the third base line and watched Brian McCann gather the ball at the backstop, which at Turner Field is close to home plate. “If it doesn’t kick back to him,” Dunn said, “I make it.” The ball deflected right to


McCann, and Dunn retreated to third. Down by two, he had to ex- ercise caution. He could not have known McCann’s throw would skip past Moylan. The Nationals still had two more men on scoring position with two outs. González, fresh off a 4-for-4 night and a single in his last at-bat, flailed at a slider from Moylan for strikeout. Two more runners, the tying runs, had been stranded. “We needed to get a little more out of that,” Manager Jim Riggle- man said. “But that’s why Bobby [Cox] brought in Moylan. That’s what he can do.” Their final wasted opportuni-


ty led another road loss and an- other lost series. “We got to find something positive,” Riggleman said. “June is behind us. We’re going home. Let’s play some good baseball be- fore the all-star break, start feel- ing a little better about our- selves.”


kilgorea@washpost.com


Nationals Journal 6voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal Trade deadline


a month away With June ending, baseball moved precisely one month away from the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. General Manager Mike Rizzo has no precise expectations, other than making the team younger and more athletic in any trades the Nationals decide to make. “I want to improve the ballclub,” Rizzo said. “That could be by acquiring talent in a trade. That could be by trading some players away. We just want to get better for the remainder of 2010, but always beyond. We want to get younger, better, more athletic, more pitching. “There’s no mantra of what’s a successful trade time or anything like that. We like the ballclub we have. We want to improve the product. Get better. Get younger. That’s what we’re going to look to do in anything that we do trade-wise.”


Rizzo has a list of players he deemed untouchable, although he would not share any of those names. (One assumes


BRAVES 4, NATIONALS 1 Washington


Morgan cf


Bernadina rf Morse ph Slaten p Batista p Capps p


Zimmerman 3b A.Dunn 1b


Willingham lf I.Rodriguez c C.Guzman 2b


Jo.Peralta p Atlanta Prado 2b


Me.Cabrera rf C.Jones 3b McCann c Glaus 1b Hinske lf Saito p


Wagner p


Y.Escobar ss G.Blanco cf Jurrjens p Moylan p Conrad ph Venters p Infante lf Totals


Washington Atlanta


AB R H BI BB SO AVG 3 0 1 0 1 1 .252 3 0 0 0 0 1 .285 1 0 0 0 0 0 .333 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 4 1 1 0 0 2 .284 4 0 2 0 0 1 .274 3 0 0 0 1 2 .273 4 0 1 0 0 0 .299 3 0 1 0 1 2 .295


Alb.Gonzalez ss-rf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .290 J.Martin p


1 0 1 0 0 0 .286 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---


Desmond ph-rf-ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .248 Totals


32 1 8 0 3 12 — AB R H BI BB SO AVG 4 1 1 1 0 0 .333 3 1 0 0 0 0 .257 3 0 1 0 1 0 .254 3 0 1 1 0 0 .260 3 0 0 0 1 1 .261 2 1 1 1 2 0 .297 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- 3 0 0 0 0 1 .242 4 1 2 0 0 0 .353 2 0 1 1 0 1 .143 0 0 0 0 0 0 --- 1 0 0 0 0 1 .273 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 .304 29 4 7 4 4 4 —


000 001 000 —180 100 200 10x —470


LOB: Washington 8, Atlanta 9. 2B: A.Dunn (23), J.Martin (1), Prado (25), McCann (13). RBI: Prado (34), McCann (33), Hinske (31), Jurrjens (1). CS: G.Blanco (1). S: J.Martin. SF: Prado.


Washington


J.Martin (L, 0-4) 5 6 3 3 2 2 96 3.38 Jo.Peralta Slaten Batista Capps Atlanta


Jurrjens (W, 1-3)


Moylan Venters Saito


IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA 1 0 0 0 0 1 18 0.00


B 0 1 1 1 0 16 3.14 C 0 0 011 9 3.95 1 1 0 0 0 0 10 3.38 IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA 5 6 1 1 2 6 85 5.59


1 0 0 0 1 1 11 3.19 1 1 0 0 0 0 8 1.27 1 0 0 0 0 2 10 3.81


Wagner (S, 16) 1 1 0 0 0 3 16 1.15


Jurrjens pitched to 3 batters in the 6th. Inherited runners-scored: Batista 3-1, Moylan 3-1. HBP: by Jo.Peralta (Y.Escobar), by Slaten (Me.Ca- brera, McCann). WP: Jurrjens, Moylan. T: 2:57. A: 20,091 (49,743).


HOW THEY SCORED


Braves first: Prado doubled. Me.Cabrera popped out. C.Jones flied out, Prado to third. McCann dou- bled, Prado scored. Glaus walked. Hinske walked, McCann to third, Glaus to second. Y.Escobar popped out. Braves, 1-0. Braves fourth: Hinske singled. Y.Es- cobar popped out. G.Blanco singled, Hinske to second. Jurrjens singled, Hinske scored, G.Blanco to third. Pra- do hit a sacrifice fly, G.Blanco scored. Me.Cabrera fouled out. Braves, 3-0. Nationals sixth: Zimmerman sin- gled. Dunn singled, Zimmerman to second. On Jurrjens’s wild pitch, Zim- merman to third, Dunn to second. Willingham walked. I.Rodriguez hit into a double play, Zimmerman scored, Dunn to third, Willingham out. Guzman walked. On Moylan’s wild pitch, Guzman to second. Alb.Gon- zalez struck out. Braves, 3-1. Braves seventh: Prado grounded


out. Me.Cabrera was hit by a pitch. C.Jones walked, Me.Cabrera to sec- ond. McCann was hit by a pitch, Me.Cabrera to third, C.Jones to sec- ond. Glaus popped out. Hinske walked, Me.Cabrera scored, C.Jones to third, McCann to second. Y.Escobar struck out. Final: Braves, 4-1.


NATIONALS ON DECK


VS. NEW YORK METS Thursday, 7:05 (MASN) Friday, 7:05 (MASN2) Saturday, 4:10 (WTTG-5, WBFF-45)


“Strasburg” is written in bold, upper case, size 72-font letters.) Rizzo said he could see the team making a flurry of moves or making no trades at all. “We’re not going to make


trades just to make a trade,” Rizzo said. “We’re going to make a trade that improves the club long-term.”


Wang update The Nationals know that


Chien-Ming Wang will throw live batting practice in Viera, Fla., on Friday, when he will fire 45 pitches from a mound in his second such session of rehab from shoulder surgery. Anything beyond that, they remain as uncertain as they have been all along in regard to Wang’s status. The Nationals originally hoped Wang would make his 2010 debut in mid-June. While he has not experienced any setbacks, the Nationals have not been able to target a return date because of the unique nature of his injury, Rizzo said. Wang suffered a shoulder dislocation more typical for a football player, Rizzo said. — Adam Kilgore


Sunday, 1:35 (WDCW-50, MASN2)


VS. PADRES Tuesday, 7:05 (WDCW-50, MASN2) Wednesday, 7:05 (MASN2) July 8, 7:05 (MASN)


VS. GIANTS


July 9, 7:05 (MASN) July 10, 7:05 (MASN) July 11, 1:35 (WDCW-50, MASN)


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