Losing begets bickering for Guillen, Nationals

By Hal McCoy

Dayton Daily News

MILWAUKEE | This is why multitalented outfielder Jose Guillen quickly puts holes in the welcome mat wherever he plays and seldom lasts more than one year with one team, including the Cincinnati Reds.

When a team is winning and in first place, as the Washington Nationals were most of the first half of the season, it can put up with some, uh, idiosyncrasies that Guillen displays.

When a team is losing, the way the Nationals are, and the season is swirling in the toilet, things change.

The Nationals held a 1-hour, 44-minute meeting last week, their third team meeting in two weeks. Guillen and team leader Brad Wilkerson verbally sniped at each other after Wilkerson complained that Guillen often doesn't stretch with the team or take batting practice.

"It's easy to look like you're mature, look like chemistry's going well when you're winning," Wilkerson said. "But when you're losing, you kind of get the test of time, see how strong you are as a team and see if you're really a team. And this team has been struggling with that."

After leading the National League East for most of the first half, the Nats went 9-24, and entering the weekend were only one game out of last place.

Boone on the Hall

Former Reds manager Bob Boone was honored on Philadelphia's Wall of Fame last week and weighed in on Rafael Palmeiro and steroids.

"It's a sickening, stupid thing, but I think differently about the Hall of Fame than most," he said. "I think of it not as a club, but as a fan's museum. That's why Pete Rose should be in it. If you want to put an asterisk to tell about the ugly parts of player's career, so be it."

Young, not restless

The newest pitching phenom is Seattle's 19-year-old Felix Hernandez, 1-1 with a 0.69 ERA in his first two major-league starts. He is only the third 19-year-old to start a major-league game since 1984 (Dwight Gooden in '84 and Todd Van Poppel in '91).

After beating Minnesota, 1-0, in his second start, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, "Poise? We're not talking poise. We're talking about a 97 mph fastball with a curve from hell."

Said Mariners catcher Wiki Gonzalez, "His first pitch, a two-seam fastball, just exploded and I dropped it. I peeked at the radar reading and it said 97. The next pitch, I dropped that, too. I said to myself, 'Oh, my God, the way this kid is throwing I've got to be ready.'"

Eight innings later, the last pitch Hernandez threw was, ta-dum, 97.

The Duke of Pittsburgh

And then there is Pittsburgh's Zach Duke, the second pitcher in Pirates history to start his career 5-0. It isn't a shock.

The 22-year-old Duke who would be king was Pittsburgh's minor-league pitcher of the year last season when his 1.44 ERA was the best in professional baseball. And he was 12-3 with a 2.92 ERA in 16 starts this year at Class AAA Indianapolis before his July 2 promotion.

And how often is a 22-year-old rookie the staff stopper? Veterans Mark Redman and Kip Wells both have lost eight of their last nine decisions.

Long and short

Entering the weekend, the Kansas City Paupers (these aren't Royals) had lost 13 straight games, and Terrence Long is calling out his teammates.

"In some respects, we're too content with losing," he said. "I'm not. I guess everyone takes if differently. I don't like losing. I'm just going to sit back and keep trying to get getter and keep trying to help this team win. Hopefully, we'll learn it's not fun losing. It's embarrassing. You go to different parks and people laugh at you. I don't like that. I'm not here to just collect my paycheck. I like to win."

Padres, by default

That's some division, that National League West. Since June 1, five of the six worst records in the league belong to NL Westers, mostly because most of those games were interleague against the American League and against rivals in other divisions.

The first-place San Diego Padres, 25-37 since June 1, have extended their lead by one game over second-place Arizona during that span and by a half-game over third-place Los Angeles.

Jonny who?

Because he plays for the Tampa Bay Deviled Eggs, Jonny Gomes (who?) doesn't get much ink. But he already has set a club record for most home runs by rookie with 14, and he is hitting a home run every 13.14 at-bats.

Only seven rookies in major-league history hit home runs more frequently. One was Cincinnati's Adam Dunn, who hit one every 12.54 at-bats in 2001 (19 homers in 244 at-bats).

Come and go

There is a slight chink in the 10-inch armor that is the St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff. In their last 52 games, the Cardinals are 32-20. They are 31-10 in games not started by Jason Marquis, who has lost eight of nine decisions after Friday's defeat in Chicago.

Oh, if the Cardinals want to replace him, they, of course, have somebody. They brought Anthony Reyes from Class AAA for one start so manager Tony La Russa could give his starters an extra day of rest.

In his major-league debut, the 22-year-old Reyes, a draft pick out of the University of Southern California last year, allowed two runs and two hits in a 5-2 win over Milwaukee.

Then he packed up his fastball and changeup and returned to the minors. The two runs came on a home run by Bill Hall, and Reyes said, "I pulled my hat down low and tried not to listen to anything after the home run."

It was the Brewers running around with their hats pulled over their eyes.

Contact Hal McCoy by e-mail at hmccoy@DaytonDailyNews.com