District Daily: Nationals Park a candidate to host 2018 All-Star Game

Jul 31, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; 2014 MLB All Star Game logo on the wall behind home plate prior to the game between the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning DoD readers, start off your day with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web in today’s District Daily:

Nationals Park a candidate to host 2018 All-Star Game

(James Wagner, Washington Post)

Nationals Park remains a leading candidate to get the 2018 MLB All-Star Game but has been ruled out as a possible site for the game in 2017, according to multiple people with first-hand knowledge of the situation. Commissioner Bud Selig formally announced San Diego as the host of the 2016 game on Thursday at the owners’ meetings.

“We announced the 2016 All-Star Game and expect announcements for future all-star games in the near future,” MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said.

Washington hasn’t had a baseball all-star game since the Senators hosted the game at RFK Stadium in 1969. The Nationals haven’t hid their desire to host the game and partnered with city officials to make strong pitches to Selig, who was instrumental in bringing the sport back to Washington in 2005 and has said over the past year that Washington is a “prime” and “very viable” candidate for the Midsummer Classic. Read full article here.

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Matt Williams likes Taylor Swift’s songs and says Bryce Harper is on his way to a Hall of Fame career

(Scott Allen, Washington Post)

Nationals Manager Matt Williams, who grew up in Northern Nevada and then went south to star at UNLV, will be the guest speaker at the University of Nevada baseball team’s annual fundraiser in Reno on Friday. The Reno Gazette-Journal spoke with Williams on Tuesday and he had an interesting response when asked to name the biggest misconception about Bryce Harper.

“Bryce wants to win as badly as anybody,” said Williams, who benched Harper in April last season after he failed to run out a ground ball. “The spotlight shines a little brighter on him. That spotlight is bright on Stephen Strasburg as well. They understand it comes with the territory, it comes with the market we play in, but most of all it comes because they have tremendous talent. All of those are good things. Read full article here.