3C
SPORTS^Je CJatUttc ^oKt
Thursday, June 30, aX)5
Nationals postseason vets
look to repeat success
Continued from page 1C
the one Baerga got in
Clevdand. But Bowden has
made some shrewd moves to
bring productive veterans to
Washington.
“We’ve got players who
have been good players other
places - people like Wnny
Castilla and Jose Guillen —
who have never been stars,”
Baerga said. “But they’re
doing the job here.”
Washii^ton also possesses
impressive postseason pedi
grees.
Hernandez was the MVP
of the ‘97 World Series as a
Florida Marlin. Third base-
man Castilla has been part
of four playoff clubs.
Shortstop Cristian Guzman
played on three straight
Minnesota Twins playoff
squads from 2002-2004.
Outfielder Guillen, first
baseman Nick Johnson, sec
ond baseman Junior Spivey
utility man W1 Cordero and
right-hander Esteban Loaiza
also boast postseason experi
ence.
Johnson grew up in a New
York Yankees organization
where vtinning was an
expectation.
While the Nationals
haven’t developed the cocky
swagger that carried the
Yankees to six World Series -
and four titles - since 1996,
Johnson has noticed a more
assured demeanor among
his teammates.
‘When we go out on the
field, we’re confident. We’ve
got guys who have done it
before, who have been in
those situations. Hopefully if
we’re in it later in the sched
ule, we won’t panic,” said
Johnson, a World Series par
ticipant with the Yankees in
2003.
Perhaps no one is more
familiar with quick tum-
aroimds than manager
Frank Robinson
In 1989, Robinson skip
pered a Baltimore Orioles
club that had gone 54-107 —
including an 0-21 start — the
previous season. Robinson
engineered a 321/2-game
improvement and kept the
Orioles in the pennant race
until the final weekend of
the campaign.
“(Washington) is a com
pletely different club than
I’ve ever managed before, on
and off the field,” Robinson
said. “There’s just a different
mixture here, a different
attitude, a different
approach here. It’s been
more successful from the
start of the season until now
than any club I’ve ever man
aged.”
While Robinson won’t
draw comparisons between
the 1989 Orioles and 2005
Nationals on the field, he
beheves the fan fi'enzy
around both teams is simi
lar.
The Nationals, who di’ew
sparse crowds at Montreal’s
Olympic Stadium in recent
years, are averaging 32,402
fans through 36 home dates.
They’ve already surpassed 1
million fans at RFK
Stadium, and thefr 26 home
wins are the most in the NL.
‘People take it for gi’anted
sometimes and they imder-
estimate it, but it makes a
difference,” he said. ‘You see
the people in the stands. No.
1, and you hear them. It
makes you feel like you can
overcome any obstacle that
happens out there on the
field.”
Washington’s loss Sunday
ended a 12-game winning
sti'eak at home, one victory
short of matching a fran
chise record. The Nationals
have won eight straight
home series.
Rice promotes N.Y. Olympic bid
By Anne Gearan
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretaiy of State
Condoleezza Rice is offerir^ herself as a per
sonal ambassador for New York’s bid to host
the 2012 Olympics.
Rice will was scheduled to appear with New
York Gov George Pataki and New York City
Mayor Michad Bloomberg at a rally on the
steps of City Hall on Tiesday It is a send-off
rally for New York’s emissaries to the
International Olympic Committee, which is to
choose a host city July 6 at a meeting in
Singapore.
‘New York is an internationally recognized
symbol of unity, hope and opportunity and
Secretary Rice believes it is the perfect place
for the Olympics,” Rice senior adviser Jim
Wilkinson said Friday
The committee working on New Yorks bid
had asked Rice to make a personal pitch for
New York at the Singapore meeting, and at one
point Rice had agreed. When she was forced to
cancel for scheduling reasons, she agreed to
Tliesday’s appearance.
“She was extremely disappointed not to go to
Singapore to do the bid herself,” \\^lkinson
said.
French President Jacques Chirac and British
Prime Minister Ibny Blair will travel to
Sir^apore for the meeting. New York is com
peting against Paris, London, Madrid and
Moscow to host the games.
“There’s no question that having the
Olympics in New York would showcase the
very best of the United States,” AA^lktnsoii said.
“That’s part of her job.”
While in New York, Rice will also meet with
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Arman.
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