The baseball world has been a place of a lot of U-turns lately:
If you pegged the Nationals for fewer than 40 victories in your office pool, well, you lose. Washington is on a serious roll, with eight consecutive wins. "I think that trade for Nyjer Morgan really made a difference," one National League talent evaluator said. "He has totally energized that team and cleaned up its outfield play." Since the Morgan trade, the team's offensive production has increased, Tracee Hamilton writes.
Terry Francona called a team meeting before Sunday's game, Sean McAdam writes, and talked about stuff, and still, it didn't make a difference. Johnny Damon (who was a member of the Red Sox from 2002 through 2005) slammed a game-tying home run, and two pitches later, Mark Teixeira (who could have been a member of the Red Sox lineup) essentially beat Boston. The Red Sox are in a world of hurt, Michael Silverman writes. The Red Sox need only look at the Yankees to know what is possible, writes Steve Buckley. Bob Ryan recalls when the Red Sox were beating the Rays 2-0 in the seventh inning just six days ago -- and how long ago that seems. Daniel Bardfailed in relief.
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Buster Olney
Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.
He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).
Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."
Buster Olney
