Washington Nationals nearing 100 losses

By Howard Fendrich The Associated Press
Published: September 22, 2008

WASHINGTON — Nationals president Stan Kasten, GM Jim Bowden and manager Manny Acta all love to throw around the word “progress.”
They love to talk optimistically about the team’s “plan.”
So no member of that trio would have told you this would happen: At 58-98 entering Tuesday night’s game against the visiting Florida Marlins, Washington needs to go 5-1 the rest of the way to avoid the franchise’s first 100-loss season since 1976.
Indeed, back in February, Bowden sat in his office at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Fla., and declared his team was “ready to win more games than we lose.”
Asked last week how long it will be until the Nationals are a winning team, Bowden wouldn’t say.
“I can’t put the timetable on it, because I don’t know, you know, what trades you make, what signings you do,” he said. “There’s too many intangibles you can’t jump into.”
This season’s Nationals were done in by several factors: a lack of talent and experience, a slew of injuries (eight members of the opening day starting lineup wound up on the disabled list, along with closer Chad Cordero and others) and limited free-agent spending that wasn’t well spent (Paul Lo Duca signed for $5 million, then was released after hitting .230 with 12 RBIs in 46 games).
Washington ranks 14th of 16 NL teams both in ERA and in runs scored.
Perhaps that helps explain why Washington is 13th in the league in attendance during its first year in $611 million Nationals Park, with an average of 29,206 at the 41,888-capacity stadium. And why the team’s telecasts are drawing only about 8,000 households in the D.C. area per game, according to The Nielsen Company.
What Kasten, Bowden and Acta are saying these days is that they’re not concerned with exactly how awful the final numbers look or whether the Nationals wind up with the worst record in the majors.
As Acta put it: “The only difference between ‘99’ and ‘100’ is two zeros.”
His players tend to agree.
“If we win out and only lose 98, it’s still a horrible season to our standards, compared to if we lose 104,” third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. “I think it’s to the point now where it’s been a disappointing season.”
It’s not easy to lose at least 100 of 162 games: No major league club did it last year.
A total of only four NL clubs did it during the 13 years from 1995-07.
This season, the Nationals, the NL’s San Diego Padres (61-95) and the AL’s Seattle Mariners (57-98 through Sunday) have a shot at joining the 100-loss club.
“It’s not a number that organizations like to see,” Padres manager Bud Black said.