Separating the Wheat from the Chass

Once again, there's not any news to report, but here I am anyway. I'll have a couple of book reviews coming up in the near future. I just finished Beyond the Shadow of the Senators, and I'm leafing through The Washington Senators, 1901-1971 by Tom "Frenchy" Deveaux. I have plenty of time to read what with the Metro being broken EVERY DAMN DAY. Not that I'm bitter.

Turns out that Seattle Times story that had everyone so bummed is actually from Murray Chass of the New York Times (I'd link to it, but I can't find it, and we already know what it says). In case you missed it, Bud Selig reportedly stated twice that he woudn't do anything with the Expos that would make Peter Angelos unhappy. Yesterday, however, a Norfolk paper had a denial from Bob DuPuy, the Admiral Stockdale to Bud Selig's Ross Perot.

DuPuy, the second most powerful man in baseball , disputed a New York Times
report indicating that the Expos would not relocate to Washington or Northern
Virginia. . .

“The story is inaccurate, and you will note unsourced,” DuPuy said in an e-mail Monday to The Virginian-Pilot. “No decision has been made. Discussions are continuing with all candidates.”

Denials from DuPuy are like delays on the Metro; it seems like there's a new one EVERY DAMN DAY. A waiter asks him if he wants fries or baked potato and he's all, "no decision has been made. No potato preparation has been ruled out." Bagboys ask him if he wants paper or plastic, and he's all like . . . well, you see what I'm getting at. Take it for what it's worth - no one who writes for the Times would ever make anything up, right?

The Orioles are coming to town!

The Baltimore Orioles will hold their 6th annual "D.C. Summer FanFest" on
Wednesday, August 18, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Farragut Square.

Apparently the Orioles are trying to appeal to people without jobs. Which makes sense, actually, if they want fans to be able to get to Baltimore in time for weeknight games. I went to one of these things a couple years, and Jeff Conine signed my free Sportstalk 980 t-shirt. My roommate addressed him as "champ." Anyway, go down there and protest if you have nothing to do. I work for a living, at least until this blogging gig starts paying the mad scrilla, and I ain't in Sullivan territory just yet.

There's another DC baseball message board out there. It's bigger and even nastier than the Fanhome one. These people can't say anything without resorting to sarcasm. But it's informative, at any rate.

Apropos of nothing, here's why Wins and Losses are the worst stats in baseball: Walter Johnson is possibly the greatest pitcher in Major League history. He spent his entire career with the Washington Senators/Nationals, and they were terrible for almost all of it. Johnson lost 26 games by a score of 1-0. Those losses had nothing to do with Johnson and everything to do with his crappy teammates, yet pitchers are still judged by "their" wins and losses.

Hey, the Orioles can beat the Mariners! Who needs a team in DC?