Saturday night the fine people at the Bethesda Big Train were celebrating “Nationals Night” and were gracious (or crazy) enough to invite NatsGM and the Red Porch Report to make an appearance. Due to circumstances beyond even Greg Maddux’s control, Andrew and Phil were unable to make an appearance, leaving yours truly alone to represent the group.

In an effort to get better acquainted with the Bethesda Big Train, I arrived a few hours before the game to interview President and General Manager Adam Dantus. During our conversation, Adam explained the history of the Bethesda Big Train, their goals as a non-profit organization, and how they construct the roster each season. If you can tolerate the loud country music in the background, our interview is certainly a worthwhile listen.

Next legendary Big Train manager Sal Colangelo graciously sat with me to discuss the job of managing a summer league team. Sal made a particularly wise observation when he stated that summer league games are often won or lost in the 6th through 8th innings, when starters tire and bullpens are exposed; it makes sense as these pitchers have already thrown 100+ innings during their college season and have grown weary. Please make sure you give this interview a listen, it a must-listen.

Afterwards Sal was nice enough to call over a few players to share a few minutes after batting practice but before their pregame meal. Remembering what it is like to be a hungry college student, I kept the conversations short, but both players could not have been nicer.

Maryland Catcher Justin Morris

The first player I interviewed was former DeMatha Stag and Maryland rising freshman catcher Justin Morris. Morris was one of my favorite prospects in this recent draft, but unfortunately fell to Arizona in Round 35. Morris especially caught my attention when I asked him what he learned from the various pre-draft workouts he attended and he said “there’s a lot of how good players out there”.

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Secondly I was eager to interview Maryland sophomore infielder Brandon Lowe, recently named to the Freshman All-American team. While I was only able to speak with Brandon briefly, he recounted the historic Terps’ 2014 season, told me the toughest pitcher he faced this year was Clemson’s Daniel Gossett (Oakland 2nd round) and the Maryland pitcher he would least want to face is lefty Ben Brewster.

As part of the festivities of Nationals night, and primarily because the Big Train are friends of NatsGM and the Red Porch Report, assistant GM Eddie Herndon graciously invited me to throw out the 1st Pitch prior to the game. I was fortunate enough to throw out the 1st Pitch earlier last week, but after leading the team to a dominating 3-1 victory on Tuesday evening, they shrewdly invited me to pitch again Saturday night.

One might expect my nerves and anxiety to subside on my second attempt, and you would be as correct as the O.J. Simpson jury 20 years ago – I was straight knee-knocking nervous. Of course it might have had something to do with the fact that Tuesday I was throwing a knuckleball to Tim Yandel who was wearing a glove, and Saturday I was throwing to a glove-less Homer, the Big Train mascot. So I uncorked a mid-40s “heater” toward Homer, which unfortunately grazed his left paw – I guess it is not easy catching a baseball without a thumb. After retrieving the baseball and receiving my first standing hug from a dog mascot, the Big Train took the field for their 19th game of the summer.

Once the game was underway the fans were treated to an outstanding game between the 1st place Big Train and the 2nd place Baltimore Redbirds. University of Maryland sophomore Taylor Stiles started for Bethesda, pitching 5 innings and allowing 1 unearned run on 4 hits and 1 walk against 5 strikeouts. This outstanding performance, in addition to the offense scoring 2 runs in each of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th innings, staked Bethesda to a large early lead. As Sal Colangelo prophetically mentioned pregame, the top of their lineup spurs the offense, and Saturday, Stephen Alameis and Logan Farrar combined to go 5-8 with 3 runs scored and 4 runs batted in to help send the home fans happy with an 8-6 win.

In conclusion I want to thank the Bethesda Big Train organization for including the Red Porch Report in their celebration of Nationals Night, in particular Eddie Herndon for allowing me to throw out the 1st Pitch. Also, I want to thank Adam Dantus and manager Sal Colangelo for sharing a few minutes with me, along with and Big Train players Justin Morris and Brandon Lowe, to talk some baseball. The Bethesda Big Train is excellent family-friendly local entertainment and I cannot encourage you enough to watch a game before the season concludes next month.

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On a picturesque summer evening under the stars, Tuesday night I had the opportunity to throw out the 1st Pitch at the Bethesda Big Train game. The Big Train is one of the many teams in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, a premier wood bat college summer league located throughout Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia. In front of a crowd of several hundred fans, I can dishonestly say that I helped lead the Bethesda Big Train to victory over the visiting Baltimore Dodgers.

My 1st Pitch

After a playing career that ended abruptly during high school, prior to Tuesday it had been nearly 15 years since I stood on a pitching mound, and it was quite a bit farther away than I remembered it. This, along with the fact that I foolishly guaranteed to throw a Knuckleball – what was I thinking – had me as nervous as a boy on his first date.

Quickly my name was announced over the loudspeaker, and I grabbed the ball on the seams. I reared back and somehow threw one of the most mediocre Knuckleballs in recorded history toward home plate. The catcher caught it somewhere near the strike zone, and walked toward the mound to hand me my newest memento, the baseball. I asked the catcher how “he liked my Knuckler” and he looked at me and said “it was a strike”. And just like that, baseball history had been made, as I will state with confidence I am the 1st person in history to throw a Knuckleball as a 1st Pitch at a game.

Once the highlight of the evening, my 1st pitch, was finished, the fans were treated to a spectacular summer evening and a terrific game between the Big Train and Baltimore. Bethesda scored one in the 1st, while starting pitcher LHP Bo Logan went 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 1 walk against 4 strikeouts. The Big Train scored again in the 4th and the 5th, which was enough offense as their bullpen threw 4 shutout innings to win the game 3-1. This victory pushed the Big Train’s 2014 record to an impressive 15-1.
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U of Maryland Brandon Lowe

From a scouting perspective, I was particularly intrigued with the sweet left-handed swing from Bethesda Big Train and University of Maryland’s Brandon Lowe. Lowe was serving as the designated hitter, so I was unable to observe his skills defensively, but Lowe has a solid physique, physical projection remaining, quick wrists, and notable bat speed. He will not be draft-eligible until 2016, but is a quality name to remember in the future.

Brandon Lowe

In conclusion I want to thank the Bethesda Big Train organization and in particular, Adam Dantus and Eddie Herndon for allowing me to throw out the 1st Pitch and for just a brief moment relive my teenage glory days. If you are looking for a casual way to spend a beautiful summer evening, do yourself the favor and attend a Bethesda Big Train game – you will not regret it.

For the second consecutive year, this weekend the fine gentleman from Baseball Prospectus stormed Washington DC with their Stadium Tour. This weekend included appearances from such luminaries as Joe Hamrahi, Jason Parks, Ben Lindbergh, Harry Pavlidis, the men of Cespedes Family BBQ, along with numerous members of the BP Fantasy and Prospect Team.

Like Rickey Henderson in his prime, Baseball Prospectus lead off this DC Stadium Tour weekend in style Friday evening, hosting an informal meet-and-greet at Jake’s American Grille. The bar was tremendously accommodating, and there must have been 15+ members of BP, along with Mike Ferrin from SiriusXM, socializing with fans like myself while downing a few adult beverages.

My personal highlight of the evening was being asked multiple times for my autograph, including one lady who wanted me to sign a copy of the BP Annual. I acted modestly and did not sign, but now in hindsight I wish I had signed and started a new trend “autograph-bombing”.

This casual atmosphere allowed me the opportunity to spend considerable time discussing prospects with Jordan Gorosh and CJ Wittman of the BP prospect team. Both guys are extremely knowledgeable and will no doubt work for an organization in the future; in fact, I hope to book them as guests on THE NatsGM Show before they are called up to the majors.

Saturday afternoon I was fortunate enough to meet up with Jason “Professor” Parks and his new wife for lunch and an exclusive combination interview with them. I hope to have our interview, also known as Episode #4 of THE NatsGM Show, available later this week, but just a few of the many highlights from our conversation include:

– Jason making a passionate and interesting case that the season Michael Jordan spent at Double-A batting .202 is the single most impressive feat in sports. MJ was 31-years-old, had not played baseball in 10+ years, and consistently hit in the high minors, making it not a fluke but a truly remarkable accomplishment. I am not sure I agree, but it was a fascinating bar discussion.

– In addition Jason and I spent a considerable time discussing Nationals top prospect Lucas Giolito, who he revealed to me will be BP’s top pitching prospect in the minor leagues when their revised top prospect list is unveiled next month. There are some present weaknesses in Giolito’s game but Jason legitimately was grinning when talking about his ceiling and what he could develop into in a few years.

– Finally I received confirmation from both Jason and Jackie that #BathNight, is indeed a weekly thing.

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The first panel, consisting of Nationals baseball operations staff including Mark Scialabba – Director, Player Development, Bryan Minniti – Assistant General Manager, Adam Cromie – Director, Baseball Operations, Samuel Mondry-Cohen – Baseball Analytics Manager and Michael DeBartelo – Baseball Operations Analytics were forthcoming answering questions from the audience. A few of the highlights from the discussion include:

– The panel answered my question about the Nationals approach toward the draft, including my observation that the team has found a market inefficiency when selecting injured prospects. The men responded they did not feel like they were exploiting a “market inefficiency” but rather that now that the team is good, they are able to take greater risks in the draft. They probably would not have chosen a supposed riskier selection like Lucas Giolito or Anthony Rendon a few years ago.

– Another individual asked the panel about the organization’s use of public data verses proprietary information, with the theme being how much of the data could be seen publicly on the internet to the average fan. The panel answered the question honestly and made a fascinating distinction, noting that the team’s goals in terms of analytics are primarily focused on predicting future results, in stark contrast to the information on websites which tends to emphasize analyzing past performance.

Immediately afterward the members of Baseball Prospectus overwhelmed the relatively small dais with more than a dozen people. The audience peppered the Prospect Team with questions about several prominent minor leaguers and Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark.

– Jason was asked about Nationals prospect AJ Cole and to the satisfaction of much of the audience, he spoke glowingly about him, highlighting his powerful mid-90s fastball and solid changeup. He said Cole has a floor as a late-inning reliever but Jason thinks he eventually settles in as a #3 or #4 starter.

– As mentioned a question was asked about Tanner Roark and his sustainability as a successful major league pitcher. Jason honestly stated he labeled Roark an “NP” when he was in the Texas minor leagues, as he was not a very good pitcher while in their organization. Both Jason and Harry Pavlidis stated that he is not a #1, #2, or #3 and questioned this success in the future, but he continues to let the hitters put the ball in play and prove the doubters wrong.

After watching Doug Fister lead the Nationals to a 3-0 victory over Atlanta, most of the BP staff ventured over to Bluejacket for an after party, hosted by yours truly and NatsGM.com. The BP guys and I enjoyed their fine selection of craft beers and were treated to an appearance from Twitter legend, #Mort, Zach Mortimer. It was an overwhelming turnout, and I spent much of the time talking baseball with Tucker Blair from BP and Orioles Nation and Charlie from Nationals Review. I also want to thank the Doorman at Bluejacket, who specifically made sure I secured a ride home at the end of the night.

In conclusion I want to thank the members of Baseball Prospectus, specifically Joe Hamrahi and Jason Parks, for being so generous with their time this weekend and for collaborating to create one of the best weekends in recent memory. We demand you return for an encore performance before the end of 2014.