FanHouse RyanLangerhans

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

After blowing another lead in the ninth inning against the Pirates Monday, the Mets appeared to be at their breaking point when they arrived in Washington for a three-game series with the Nationals. Things were so bad manager Jerry Manuel talked about using starting pitchers Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez and John Maine in the ninth during his pre-game meeting with reporters.

Fast forward nine innings and reliever Pedro Feliciano, the savior of the moment after a pitching a perfect ninth to nail down a 4-3 win, was joking with reporters about how "scary" the save situation was for him.

Such is life in a desperate pennant race in the middle of August with three teams battling for just one spot in the postseason. "Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust," as Ray Liotta's character from the movie Blow would say.

Chances are the New York media will paint this win as a watershed moment for the Mets, a moment spurred by the motivational tactics of Manuel and a closed-door bullpen meeting led by veterans Scott Schoeneweis and Duaner Sanchez.

Like baseball? Like hunting? If you answered yes to both questions then this story is for you. The people at the Buck Commander website have just branched out from their famous Duck Commander videos ... and now they're putting together a deer hunting video. Here's the interesting part: this new video is going to contain cameos by some of your favorite major league ballplayers, as seen in a trailer which appeared on the "Duck Commander: For a Few Ducks More" DVD. From the omnipresent D.C. Sports Bog:

That DVD has a 10-minute trailer for next year's "Buck Commander," the first in what's scheduled to be a series of deer-hunting videos that will likely feature, among others, Todd Helton, David Dellucci, Chipper Jones, Mike DeJean, Brad Hawpe, Aaron Cook, (Ryan) Langerhans, (Adam) LaRoche and several more Major Leaguers. Which is noteworthy.

It is noteworthy, because while deer hunting may or may not be in the same ballpark as dog fighting, it's certainly worth the discussion. That said, there's a big difference between hunting and dog fighting which is simply this: Dog fighting is illegal. Hunting, not so much. (If Michael Vick had just stuck to hunting, maybe this wouldn't have been an issue.) And neither is horse racing, although the case has been made that horse racing is in the dog fighting category as well.

But here's a two-part question: Are you anti-hunting? If you are, and you found out that your favorite baseball player is an avid hunter, would you think less of him? Discuss.

Arm Bash: D.C. Sports Bog

Previously on The Fanhouse:
If Michael Vick's a Jerk, so are the Preakness Organizers
Michael Vick Likes to Hunt
Michael Vick Dog Fighting Now a Federal Investigation

At about this point, I would say that Ryan Langerhans has a complex. For the second time in a week, Langerhans was traded ... this time, back to the National League East with the Washington Nationals.

Outfielder Ryan Langerhans was traded Wednesday night for the second time in a week, going from the Oakland Athletics to the Washington Nationals for outfielder Chris Snelling. Langerhans, obtained Sunday from Atlanta , went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and a walk against Boston in two games for Oakland. He started both games in center field and misplayed a liner for an error that led to a run in the Red Sox 6-4 win Wednesday. He was 3-for-44 with the Braves and came to the Athletics after snapping an 0-for-29 slump on Sunday.

Wow, you have one slump, you make one error, and all of a sudden you get traded twice in a week. So much for the theory that mistakes are why they put erasers on pencils.

Good trade for the Nationals considering that with Nook Logan and Alex Escobar on the DL, the Nationals depth chart at this moment has Ryan Church as the starting center fielder ... and the starting left fielder. Ryan Church is good, but that's a lot of ground to cover.