W in Washington

First of all, this ballpark is awesome?I enjoyed coming into the ballpark on the team bus today and seeing the monuments on our way in and then getting to the beautiful new Nationals Ballpark. The clubhouse here has all the bells and whistles from flat screens all over to a full kitchen. It is top of the line for sure. I also like the ballpark because it is pitcher-friendly and plays to the pitcher's advantage. About tonight's game, I almost ruined it for us with the dumb throw I made to allow the go-ahead run to score in the 7th inning. But you know what, just like always, our guys got my back and made up for it by responding with two runs in the 8th. These guys picked me up big time tonight. We don't care how we win, just as long as we get it done. We just need to keep these thing going and stay healthy and the Halos will be where we should when it's all said and done. Looking forward to my next start which will come against the Dodgers on Sunday in LA. Thanks for visiting "The Yard" and I will talk at you guys soon.

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• mvbuckeye01 said June 23, 2008

  Thanks for the update John. What are your thoughts on interleague play in general? In particular you having to hit in NL ballparks? Is is something you look forward to, do not mind, or dread like the nerdy kid who's dad forced him to play baseball. Great game tonight and thanks for posting!

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  • lizmoses replied June 24, 2008

    the only nerd, and it shows to everyone, is obviously you.
  • John_Lackey replied June 25, 2008

    Aside from us pitchers looking like clowns in the batters box, Interleague play is pretty cool. This Eastern swing to Phily and Washington has been unreal. Without Interleague Play, we would have to meet up in the World Series to experience these yards and cities. I definitely enjoy it.
    • lizmoses replied June 26, 2008

      I apologize I didn't understand the comment! I thought you were putting John down, I can be soooo dumb sometimes, sorry.
• Dewey said June 23, 2008

  What are the fans like in Washington? I've heard they only care about the Skins and that's it.

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  • JReddish replied June 23, 2008

    Dewey, can we get some Orioles on here?
    
    John, feel free to take the weekend off. I've got love for the Yardbarker boys, but O's before hoes.
  • lightitup replied June 24, 2008

    Over on the Angels message board we have two Angel fans living in DC and each went to the game last night and said they ran into lots of Halo fans, some were local, some from various areas and some from SoCal. Seems we're representing well where ever our guys go these days! They said the Nats fans were cool with them in their Angel gear.
  • John_Lackey replied June 25, 2008

    Tough to say in just three games here but the Nats have been drawing pretty good despite their record. Nationals Park is awesome and maybe that has been drawing the fans. For the most part, the city and fans seemed to be jazzed about having a team back in DC. For sure, the Skins are the darlings of DC.
• lizmoses said June 24, 2008

  I don't think there's any of us that think you make dumb throws.
  
  .........and by the way, thanks for being on the mound tonight, you're a great looking guy, thanks for pitching.

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• BrianC6234 said June 24, 2008

  It was great to see the offense pick you up in the 8th. Hopefully they'll start blowing some teams out though. K-Rod can always use the saves but he seems to be pitching too many days straight lately. A couple big blowouts the next couple nights would be good. Then go sweep the lowly Dodgers.

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  • John_Lackey replied June 25, 2008

    Thanks for the note. Yeah, I'm sure our bullpen could use the rest with a few blowout wins.
• æBLAKEæ said June 24, 2008

  LOL, that lady is one serious bitch!

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• 1Halo_Luvr said June 24, 2008

  Hey Lack-
  it just shows that you are human....and why there are 8 other guys on the field with you. You guys are in my opinion, the best team out there. We have great players, who play as a team....not a bunch of big headed individuals. Once again, The Angels kick into gear when the need is there.
  High fives to all the guys...

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  • John_Lackey replied June 25, 2008

    You hit it on the head. We have a a team focus around here and we know that we all need to contribute to get where we want to be.
    Thanks for reading the blog.
• siddFinch441 said June 24, 2008

  Who would do the most cooking in the full kitchen? Does anyone have a speciality dish of their own? Thanks!

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• jjackflash said June 24, 2008

  As a fan, it's really thrilling to see one great performance after another by you and your teammates in the starting rotation. I read that the team took the train down from Philly to D.C. instead of flying; was that fun? Do you think it would be nice to always travel by train, as the teams did back in the days before jet travel (and back when there were to teams west of St. Louis)?

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  • John_Lackey replied June 25, 2008

    I would love to travel by train all the time but it would be tough for any West Coast team. It was so different, just get on a go, we had our own cars for players, staff and coaches. It was very relaxing and you could look outside and see the views coming into Baltimore and DC. I hope we use the train again out on the East Coast.
• Reneeskates said June 24, 2008

  i was watching it around 11p last night and i never saw you bat before. i almost did a double take and you did a good job considering you don't bat regularly. i loved all the history of the 1971 team. oh if only i could have lived in the 70s.....that would have been awesome! Go angels!

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• Reneeskates said June 24, 2008

  and hey we're not all O's....:(

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• halocrazed said June 24, 2008

  Way to rack up another win! Keep up the good work!!!

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• cdobyns7 said June 24, 2008

  What was the deal with baseballs last nite ?

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• siddFinch441 said June 24, 2008

  Good question. Too clean?

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• Gregster87 said June 24, 2008

  Thanks for giving the DC stadium some props, John!

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  • John_Lackey replied June 25, 2008

    Of course, this place was well thought out. They did it right, I would love to come back to this yard.
    • siddFinch441 replied July 06, 2008

      When are you a free agent? ;)
• lightitup said June 24, 2008

  Way to hang tough in there last night, Big John! It sure looks like we have a special collection of guys on the team... 10-1 this month in 1 and 2 run games. That's awesome!

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• dsiano6447 said June 24, 2008

  Great game! Good luck tonight and when you play the Dodgers. Donna

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• kingfish said June 25, 2008

  Hey John,
  I live in Philly now and miss you guys a lot. It was great to come out and see you guys sweep the Phills, and I cant say enough about the way that Irvin pitched on Friday. The Phills park (Citizens) is new too. What did you think of that park? How were the ammenities?

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• dsiano6447 said June 26, 2008

  Hi John, So I hear your getting married. When is the big day? I wish you all the best. Donna

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