Last Straw? 'Harper reaches 7 times without official at-bat'

[Blue in the Face]

I couldn't see on baseball-reference.com where to see yearly MLB total attendance ... guessing it's on there, just couldn't find quickly.

I did find some neat graphs here:

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/201...ends-1950-2013

Not that it's particularly relevant to the overall trend in those graphs, but the fairly big spike in 1993 is due to a change in how attendance is reported. The national league had previously reported turnstile attendance, while the american league reported tickets sold. In 1993 the nl joined the al in listing tickets sold.

[YmoBeThere]

*Of the many baseball conventions that I think are silly, the lefty/righty match-up obsession might be at the top of my list. Baker won't put two left handed hitters in the line up back to back, despite the fact that Murphy is hitting .444 against LHP.

Ahh, the joys of Dusty Baker. It was this steadfastness that ended his tenure in Cincinnati IMHO.

[Olympic Fan]

Nothing is going to change in Washington until:

(1) Zimmerman starts hitting -- he's .227 for the season and was hitless the last two days while Harper was walked nine times (and HBP). He left 14 men on base in Sunday's game -- that's a staggering figure -- only one TEAM has left 14 men OB this season. He added five more LOB Monday ... one of those came when the Tigers walked Harper to load the bases.

Until he gets a hit or two, why pitch to Harper?

(2) Dusty relents and moves somebody else into the spot behind Harper. Right now, the best choice is Murphy, who is hitting .398, but of course he won't do that because that would mean having two lefthanded hitters in a row and you can't have that (Ruth and Gehrig say Hi!).

[wavedukefan70s]

I hate intentionally walking a player.my boy has been intentionally walked 4 out of 7 at bats .frustrating. he currently sits at .714 6 rbi.the thing that kills me is he has 9 steals.which i think defeats the purpose.
I believe if you are playing 60 90
You should have the option to decline.

[sagegrouse]

Nothing is going to change in Washington until:

(1) Zimmerman starts hitting -- he's .227 for the season and was hitless the last two days while Harper was walked nine times (and HBP). He left 14 men on base in Sunday's game -- that's a staggering figure -- only one TEAM has left 14 men OB this season. He added five more LOB Monday ... one of those came when the Tigers walked Harper to load the bases.

.

I agree with your position, Oly (man I miss that beer!). On Zimmerman's behalf I would point out that seven of the LOB were all Bryce Harper.

[JBDuke]

Zimmerman woke up tonight with two HRs for the Nationals, but when Harper was intentionally walked in the 9th to put the winning run on base with one out, Ryan failed to come through again - striking out. Daniel Murphy came up after Zimmerman and flew out to give the Tigers the win, 5-4.

BTW, another option for hitting behind Harper is Wilson Ramos. The Nats' catcher is currently batting .372/.407/.558, and he's a righty.