The Washington Nationals returned to town Tuesday night after a lengthy road trip that was preceded by the traditional All Star break — a two week stretch that represented the longest break of the season between games at Nationals Park.
Was Abe Lincoln's grimace too menacing for the kiddies?
With the trade deadline looming, it’s the season for surprise moves, and some fans arrived at Nationals Park expecting to see changes by general manager Mike Rizzo before the homestand concludes; but few expected a wholesale makeover of the presidents race roster.
Yet there it was on Tuesday night. Over the All Star break, every member of the Nationals racing presidents received a facelift.
The oversized caricatures of the Rushmores that first appeared in 2006 were gone — now replaced by slightly more cartoonish, smiling figures.
Was it a rumored licensing dispute with the designer that led to the change, or did the team simply think Abe Lincoln was just too menacing for the kiddies? Both the originals and the new-look racing presidents were created by Randy Carfagno Productions in New York.
No explanation yet from the Nats.
The Nationals racing presidents as we knew them (July 2006 - July 2010)
The presidents as they appeared after a 2010 All Star break facelift
Readers – What do you think of the new “botox smile” look?
The Washington Nationals wrapped up their homestand and their annual Christmas in July event on Sunday at Nationals Park, with the U.S. Marines Corps Reserves on hand all weekend collecting toys for the Toys for Tots Foundation.
Teddy Roosevelt appeared to have a gift in store for his fans as well, bolting out of the centerfield gate for the 4th inning presidents race, and staking a huge lead while wearing a Santa hat.
But Teddy failed to deliver the gift of victory, instead stopping along the first baseline to pass out presents for fans in the stands. He never finished the race.
George Washington surprised the field by winning his third race in a row, ensuring that the fellow racing presidents Thomas Jefferson and Abe Lincoln will remain deadlocked atop the Nationals presidents race standings through the All Star break and the road trip that follows.
Presidential winning streaks have been few and far between for George Washington this season, so after winning convincingly Friday night, George got a little cocky after leading Saturday’s presidents race from wire to wire.
As he crossed the finish line, the father of our country pulled out some talcum powder and clapped it on his hands, Lebron style. That’s when Teddy Roosevelt, who finished second, brought Washington’s big head down to the ground. Literally.
Expect the racing presidents to making it interesting on Sunday for the last day of the Nationals’ Christmas in July Toy Drive. Livan Hernandez will be on the mound for a day packed full of promotions, including Scout Day, Family Fun Day, Signature Sunday, Kids Run the Bases, and free backpacks for the first 10,000 kids 12 and under.
For those crazy enough to follow these things, Thomas Jefferson’s recent surge has created an unusually tight race in the presidents race season standings as the All Star break approaches.
Deadlocked at 17 wins apiece, Abe Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson were looking to make a statement as the final series of the homestand got underway Friday at Nationals Park.
But George Washington would have none of it.
As the Nationals Park crowd watched Tom and Abe jostle for position, the father of our country high-stepped his way past them both to take his first presidents race win of the long homestand.
Teddy trailed the pack, and barring a major upset this weekend, appears to be headed for the All Star break winless for the fourth time in as many years.
Teddy Roosevelt had a choice to make Thursday night at Nationals Park.
Our 26th president took a healthy lead into the home stretch of the 4th-inning presidents race. With a 20-yard lead over Abraham Lincoln, Teddy had nothing but daylight between himself and a first-ever presidents race victory.
But the first base foul territory proved
too tempting a spot for an ambush.
With his chief rival closing in from behind, Teddy stopped, turned, and cold-cocked Abe Lincoln with a right hook that sent the Great Emancipator spinning.
It was a double-defeat for Lincoln, who got to his feet in time to watch Thomas Jefferson waltz across the finish line,
and into a tie with Abe for first place in the season standings.
Ryan Zimmerman needed little help making his case for the All-Star team on Tuesday, belting a double and two home runs, including a walk-off game-winner to lead off the 9th inning.
But in fact the best third baseman in the National League did not draw the fan votes he needed for an automatic berth, and while he was honored to be named to the “Final Vote” ballot by National League managers, he still needs fan support to be named as the final member of the roster.
So after Abraham Lincoln narrowly edged Thomas Jefferson to take Tuesday’s presidents race victory, the Nats’ racing presidents made a plea of their own, holding up signs that said “Send Zimm to Anaheim.” Even the Gecko joined in. VOTE HERE.
On a scorcher of an Independence Day afternoon, the Nationals racing presidents paid homage to the author of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
Wearing traditional period garb for the holiday, Thomas Jefferson led Sunday’s presidents race from wire to wire with a large American Flag in hand. George Washington followed with a quill pen, and Teddy Roosevelt trailed the pack carrying an oversized copy of the Declaration of Independence.
After the race, Thomas took the quill and signed the declaration as Teddy held it up for the Nationals Park crowd.
On a sunny Saturday afternoon at Nationals Park, Teddy Roosevelt took an early lead in the 4th-inning presidents race, but faded quickly as George Washington put on a burst of speed to take the lead; but George couldn’t maintain the pace, and Abraham Lincoln once again was well-positioned to finish strong and take his 16th presidents race of the 2010 season.
The day after Abe inexplicably flattened the GEICO Gecko, our 16th president was at it again, this time crossing the finish line, then grabbing the Gecko’s flag and waving it in a triumphant march up the first base line.
Thomas Jefferson took an early lead in the Nationals presidents race Friday night at Nationals Park and held onto the lead, showboating as he spun across the finish line.
But it was Abe Lincoln who stole the show, veering off course at the last minute and drawing gasps as he plowed into the sponsor. The diminutive GEICO Gecko was clearly not prepared for Abe’s open field tackle.
Perhaps Abe wasn’t able to save 15% on his car insurance.
The Nationals kicked off a ten game homestand Thursday night with a terrific outing by Livan Hernandez and a walk-off game winning RBI by Ryan Zimmerman to take the first of four from the New York Mets.
As the Nats returned to their winning ways at home, Teddy Roosevelt returned to his losing ways as well, putting up no fight whatsoever asThomas Jefferson narrowly beat our George and Abe for the presidents race victory.
For next week’s series against the Padres, the Nationals have released a 1/3-off coupon code “for Teddy’s friends”: Order at Nationals.com using Coupon Code “TEDDY” (all caps) and get half-price tickets in select seating sections for the 3-game series vs. the red hot San Diego Padres starting Tuesday at Nationals Park. The coupon is valid for online orders only, and gets you discount tickets in the outfield corners ($23), the outfield mezzanine ($20), or the upper infield gallery ($12).
With a rare late afternoon start and temperatures in the mid-90s for the final game of this week’s homestand, the last thing anybody at Nationals Park probably wanted to do was exert themselves by running a sprint around the full length of the warning track.
So when Teddy Roosevelt saw nothing but green between himself and the presidents race finish line on Wednesday, he chose the easy route, jogging straight across the outfield.
Roosevelt’s hopes for an easy victory were dashed when the speedy Abe Lincoln caught up to him anyway. That’s when Teddy simply threw in the towel — a mistake that cost him when The Great Emancipator tripped and fell, giving George the unlikely victory.
Teddy’s only consolation: He didn’t break a sweat, and had he broken the tape instead of George, he would surely have been disqualified for cheating.
Livan Hernandez and the Washington Nationals celebrated the summer solstice with a 2-1 victory Monday night at Nationals Park, and what better to welcome in the summer than that classic summer staple, the 3-legged race.
George Washington was teamed with Thomas Jefferson and Abe Lincoln was teamed with Teddy Roosevelt as the race began.
With their legs tied together, George and Tom took an early lead, but they took a 1/2-minute to reach right field.
Rather than risk violating the MLB limit for time between innings, members of the Nat Pack ran out to cut the ropes. Abe Lincoln broke free first, and bolted ahead of the pack to claim the victory.
With temparatures in the mid-90s at Nationals Park Sunday afternoon, Teddy Roosevelt, father of six, decided it would be a good opportunity to celebrate Fathers Day as so many dads do — by taking the day off.
For Sunday’s 4th-inning presidents race, George, Thomas, and Abe took to the hot and muggy outfield, but Teddy Roosevelt was in the stands on the first baseline, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sipping a cold beverage from the Beltway Bar behind section 132, while getting fanned by two members of the Nat Pack.
The scene bothered Abe Lincoln enough that he gave up his lead to
stop and mock Teddy, letting Thomas Jefferson run by him to take the victory.
After Friday night’s game in which they
raced aboard Segways, the Washington Nationals racing presidents put their new bright red running shoes to the test for real on Saturday at Nationals Park.
If anybody seemed to “benefit,” it was clearly Teddy Roosevelt, who put on a burst of speed like we’ve rarely seen from the rough rider.
Unfortunately, it was a velocity our 26th president was not accustomed to, which might explain why he tripped in the outfield, giving up his huge lead.
To Teddy’s credit, he jumped to his feet and still finished the race in 3rd place — a good sign for Teddy fans that the motivation is there. Now all he has to do is stay on his feet.
Photo by Flickr member Bill in DC
Video courtesy of YouTube member lfahome
The Washington Nationals returned to town Friday night for a short homestand of interleague play against the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals, sandwiched at either end with starts by rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg.
President Barack Obama joined the sellout crowd on Friday to see his beloved White Sox take on the Nationals new main attraction, and unlike his previous visit to Nationals Park, he stayed until the 9th inning, and got to witness his first Nationals presidents race.
Chicago White Sox mascot Southpaw has joined the team in DC for the weekend series, and surprised the crowd by emerging alone out of the gate for the beginning of the 4th-inning presidents race.
Just as the crowd was wondering where the presidents were, they emerged in centerfield aboard Segway personal transporters, with Thomas Jefferson at the front of the pack, and Teddy sadly lagging far behind.
As they passed Southpaw and approached the finish line, Jefferson appeared to lose control, and Abe Lincoln passed him to claim the victory. As he broke the tape, Illinois’ favorite son pointed up to Obama’s box along the third base line.
The racing presidents were sporting brand new red running shoes to kick off the homestand, but as it turned out, they had no need for them at all.
Teddy Roosevelt appeared to have a gift in store for his fans as well, bolting out of the centerfield gate for the 4th inning presidents race, and staking a huge lead while wearing a Santa hat.
Deadlocked at 17 wins apiece, Abe Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson were looking to make a statement as the final series of the homestand got underway Friday at Nationals Park.
But the first base foul territory proved
But in fact the best third baseman in the National League did not draw the fan votes he needed for an automatic berth, and while he was honored to be named to the “Final Vote” ballot by National League managers, he still needs fan support to be named as the final member of the roster.
On a scorcher of an Independence Day afternoon, the Nationals racing presidents paid homage to the author of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
On a sunny Saturday afternoon at Nationals Park, Teddy Roosevelt took an early lead in the 4th-inning presidents race, but faded quickly as George Washington put on a burst of speed to take the lead; but George couldn’t maintain the pace, and Abraham Lincoln once again was well-positioned to finish strong and take his 16th presidents race of the 2010 season.
With a rare late afternoon start and temperatures in the mid-90s for the final game of this week’s homestand, the last thing anybody at Nationals Park probably wanted to do was exert themselves by running a sprint around the full length of the warning track. 
George Washington was teamed with Thomas Jefferson and Abe Lincoln was teamed with Teddy Roosevelt as the race began. 
For Sunday’s 4th-inning presidents race, George, Thomas, and Abe took to the hot and muggy outfield, but Teddy Roosevelt was in the stands on the first baseline, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sipping a cold beverage from the Beltway Bar behind section 132, while getting fanned by two members of the Nat Pack. 
After Friday night’s game in which they
Chicago White Sox mascot Southpaw has joined the team in DC for the weekend series, and surprised the crowd by emerging alone out of the gate for the beginning of the 4th-inning presidents race. 
Teddy sadly lagging far behind. 
