![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/credit-dayton-daily-news.jpg\")
<\/a>The Mets cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded their NL<\/span> East cham\u00adpi\u00adonship on Sat\u00adur\u00adday night, leav\u00ading the Nats stuck in their cul\u00adture of under\u00adachieve\u00adment. [Cred\u00adit: Day\u00adton Dai\u00adly News]<\/p><\/div>John Boehn\u00ader shed the bur\u00adden of what had become one of Washington\u2019s most cheer\u00adless jobs last week. Next week, Matt Williams may fol\u00adlow him.\n Both Boehn\u00ader and the Wash\u00ading\u00adton Nation\u00adals\u2019 man\u00adag\u00ader began the year with high expec\u00adta\u00adtions. Boehn\u00ader presided over the largest GOP<\/span> major\u00adi\u00adty<\/a> since 1931. Williams led a high pay\u00adroll team<\/a> rich in tal\u00adent. Both were under\u00admined by peo\u00adple they were cho\u00adsen to lead, then blamed for fail\u00adures that were the fault of their followers.<\/p>\n I was among those who thought the Nation\u00adals were a lock to win baseball\u2019s weak\u00adest divi\u00adsion, pre\u00addict\u00ading<\/a> ear\u00adli\u00ader this month that the Mets would squan\u00adder a six-game lead<\/a>. They didn\u2019t. By Sat\u00adur\u00adday night, New York had secured the divi\u00adsion cham\u00adpi\u00adonship. How did I get it so wrong?<\/p>\n I was right about the Mets pitch\u00ading, wrong about their hit\u00adting.<\/strong> In win\u00adning six of sev\u00aden games over ten days against the woe\u00adful Phillies, New York\u2019s pitch\u00ading staff showed pal\u00adpa\u00adble signs of wear. The Phillies, who rank 28th<\/sup><\/a> of 30 major league teams in offen\u00adsive out\u00adput, had hung up 19 runs in three games against the Mets. If the punch\u00adless Phils could pum\u00admel their staff, sure\u00adly New York\u2019s fabled arms were wear\u00ading down. Turns out that they were. Through the end of August, the Mets post\u00aded an envi\u00adable 3.30 ERA<\/span>. This month, it is near\u00adly a run per game high\u00ader at 4.29, plac\u00ading them 19th<\/sup> in baseball.<\/p>\n Their hit\u00adting has more than com\u00adpen\u00adsat\u00aded for that dete\u00adri\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion, some\u00adthing I did not antic\u00adi\u00adpate. Through games of Sep\u00adtem\u00adber 3, a dis\u00adpro\u00adpor\u00adtion\u00adate share of their offen\u00adsive out\u00adput had come at the expense of the Phillies<\/a>,<\/span> a team with ghast\u00adly pitch\u00ading. But that anom\u00adaly dis\u00adguised a fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion that coin\u00adcid\u00aded with their July 31 acqui\u00adsi\u00adtion<\/a> of Yoe\u00adnis Cespedes.<\/p>\n Almost imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly, the Mets evolved from a team that relied pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly on its pitch\u00aders to one car\u00adried by its hit\u00adters. Through yes\u00adter\u00adday\u2019s games, the Mets had scored more runs since August 1 than any oth\u00ader team in base\u00adball. Their 168 runs in August eas\u00adi\u00adly sur\u00adpassed their pre\u00advi\u00adous month\u00adly high of 97. They aver\u00adaged six runs per game that month, mak\u00ading them the sec\u00adond most pro\u00adduc\u00adtive team in base\u00adball in August, a posi\u00adtion they also occu\u00adpy in Sep\u00adtem\u00adber. They ranked 28th in May in that cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adry, 27th in June and 24th in July. Since August 1, they\u2019ve plat\u00aded 5.81 runs per game, com\u00adpared with the 3.54 runs they aver\u00adaged over the first four months of the sea\u00adson. That\u2019s an increase of more than two runs per game, more than enough to com\u00adpen\u00adsate for weary arms.<\/p>\n I was so focused on the decline in their pitch\u00ading that I com\u00adplete\u00adly whiffed on just how good Mets hit\u00adting had become, erro\u00adneous\u00adly dis\u00admiss\u00ading it as large\u00adly an arti\u00adfact of their per\u00adfor\u00admance against the Phillies.<\/p>\n I was wrong about Bryce Harp\u00ader.<\/strong> A bit off point, but since I\u2019m chron\u00adi\u00adcling my errors, I should note that I\u2019d writ\u00adten last spring that Harp\u00ader was very good, but not near\u00adly as good as he imag\u00adines him\u00adself to be. I\u2019d observed that in 2013 and 2014 he hadn\u2019t fin\u00adished in the top 50 in Wins Above Replace\u00adment (WAR<\/span>), a sta\u00adtis\u00adtic that attempts to cap\u00adture a play\u00ader\u2019s over\u00adall per\u00adfor\u00admance in a sin\u00adgle index. Then there was the ver\u00addict of his peers. Harper\u2019s fel\u00adlow major lea\u00adguers had vot\u00aded him the game\u2019s most over\u00adrat\u00aded play\u00ader<\/a> two years in succession.<\/p>\n That won\u2019t hap\u00adpen this year. Harp\u00ader is this season\u2019s best play\u00ader, com\u00adpil\u00ading a WAR<\/span> of 9.8<\/a> accord\u00ading to Fan\u00adGraphs No play\u00ader in either league comes close. He has a .470 on-base aver\u00adage, mean\u00ading that he reach\u00ades base near\u00adly half the time he comes to the plate and a .663 slug\u00adging per\u00adcent\u00adage, mean\u00ading that when he hits the ball, it is often for extra bases. He leads the majors in both cat\u00ade\u00adgories. He has an ungod\u00adly OPS<\/span>+ of 203<\/a>. Trans\u00adla\u00adtion: his offen\u00adsive out\u00adput is twice<\/em> that of an aver\u00adage big lea\u00adguer. For those who pre\u00adfer more tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal met\u00adrics, his .336 bat\u00adting aver\u00adage and 41 homers both lead the Nation\u00adal League.<\/p>\n Harp\u00ader has had a great 2015 and rich\u00adly deserves to be named most valu\u00adable player.<\/p>\n I was right about the Nats.<\/strong> Right about their hubris, I mean, not about win\u00adning their godaw\u00adful divi\u00adsion just by show\u00ading up. The team again proved itself \u201ca per\u00adfect fit for the nation\u2019s cap\u00adi\u00adtal, com\u00adbin\u00ading invin\u00adci\u00adble self-esteem with chron\u00adic under\u00adachieve\u00adment,\u201d as I wrote last spring. Bryce Harp\u00ader remains the face of the franchise\u2019s patho\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal lack of self-aware\u00adness. As the team crum\u00adbled against the Mets, suc\u00adcumb\u00ading to them in Wash\u00ading\u00adton three straight times to seal their doom, Harp\u00ader whined about the fans. \u201cThey left in the sev\u00adenth,\u201d he said<\/a>,<\/span> \u201cso, you know, that\u2019s pret\u00adty brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n Harp\u00ader seemed obliv\u00adi\u00adous to why the fans left: the team\u2019s \u201cpret\u00adty bru\u00adtal\u201d play. Its pitch\u00aders yield\u00aded 21 runs (19 earned) over three games, 14 of them in the sev\u00adenth inning or lat\u00ader. Its reliev\u00aders com\u00adpiled a 13.50 ERA<\/span> in the series, twice blow\u00ading leads in the sev\u00adenth inning and once in the eighth. Which is why, Bryce, the fans did\u00adn\u2019t stick around through the end of the game. They could\u00adn\u2019t bear to watch high\u00adly-tout\u00aded, lav\u00adish\u00adly com\u00adpen\u00adsat\u00aded play\u00aders who, for the fourth con\u00adsec\u00adu\u00adtive year, melt\u00aded down on their home field with\u00adout com\u00ading with\u00adin shout\u00ading dis\u00adtance of a World Series.<\/p>\n When they\u2019re not pub\u00adlicly fault\u00ading their fans, the play\u00aders are anony\u00admous\u00adly heap\u00ading blame on their man\u00adag\u00ader, Matt Williams. A num\u00adber of them spoke to a Wash\u00ading\u00adton Post reporter<\/a> as the Nats slid toward obliv\u00adion. In their telling, Williams cre\u00adat\u00aded a bad off-the-field atmos\u00adphere that was a source of the team\u2019s unrav\u00adel\u00ading. \u201cIt\u2019s a ter\u00adri\u00adble envi\u00adron\u00adment,\u201d one play\u00ader said. \u201cAnd the amaz\u00ading part is every\u00adbody feels that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Bet\u00adter to blame your leader than to take full respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty for your own fail\u00adure. Which brings us to John Boehn\u00ader, who last week lib\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded him\u00adself from a dys\u00adfunc\u00adtion\u00adal Repub\u00adli\u00adcan cau\u00adcus that includes dozens of law\u00admak\u00aders sin\u00adgle-mind\u00aded\u00adly focused on his ouster.<\/p>\n Boehn\u00ader spared them the trou\u00adble, step\u00adping aside vol\u00adun\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adly and with evi\u00addent delight. Boehner\u2019s crit\u00adics are cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00ading his depar\u00adture as though it were an achieve\u00adment. It is noth\u00ading of the sort. A par\u00adty with a 59-seat major\u00adi\u00adty in the House and con\u00adtrol of the Sen\u00adate should have accom\u00adplished some\u00adthing leg\u00adisla\u00adtive\u00adly, rein\u00ading in a lame duck Pres\u00adi\u00addent with under\u00adwa\u00adter approval rat\u00adings<\/a>. That, how\u00adev\u00ader, requires leg\u00adis\u00adla\u00adtors who know how to leg\u00adis\u00adlate or, fail\u00ading that, the humil\u00adi\u00adty and self-aware\u00adness to fol\u00adlow lead\u00aders who do.<\/p>\n But humil\u00adi\u00adty and self-aware\u00adness are no more com\u00admon in the halls of Con\u00adgress than in the Nation\u00adals\u2019 dugout. Leg\u00adisla\u00adtive acu\u00admen, mean\u00adwhile, is dis\u00addained and those who pos\u00adsess it scorned as Wash\u00ading\u00adton insid\u00aders. So the party\u2019s less\u00ader lights pre\u00advent Con\u00adgress from achiev\u00ading any\u00adthing of sub\u00adstance by defy\u00ading their lead\u00aders, then blame their lead\u00aders when noth\u00ading is achieved.<\/p>\n Last Novem\u00adber, John Boehn\u00ader led House Repub\u00adli\u00adcans to their most sub\u00adstan\u00adtial major\u00adi\u00adty in gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions. A week lat\u00ader, Matt Williams was named man\u00adag\u00ader of the year<\/a>. By this Novem\u00adber, both may well have moved on, leav\u00ading behind orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtions that include too many peo\u00adple whose self-esteem is undent\u00aded by their own incompetence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" John Boehn\u00ader shed the bur\u00adden of what had become one of Washington\u2019s most cheer\u00adless jobs last week. Next week, Matt Williams may fol\u00adlow him. Both Boehn\u00ader and the Wash\u00ading\u00adton Nation\u00adals\u2019 man\u00adag\u00ader began the year with high expec\u00adta\u00adtions. Boehn\u00ader presided over the \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading