District Daily: Former Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson turned 72

Aug 28, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson looks on during the game against the Miami Marlins at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning DoD readers, start off your weekend with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web in our District Daily:

Former Washington Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson turned 72 today

(Patrick Reddington, Federal Baseball)

There hasn’t been too much news about former Washington Nationals‘ manager Davey Johnson since he was “put out to pasture,” as he phrased it, at the end of his second full season on the bench with the Nats in 2013. Johnson helped bring postseason baseball back to the nation’s capital in 2012, but after a disappointing result in his second full year in D.C., Johnson stepped aside and was replaced by Matt Williams, returning to his role as a consultant with the team for one final year.

Johnson told Washington Post writer James Wagner this past September that he watched every game, “in case they call me,” and hadn’t quite given up hope that someone would reach out with an offer to return to the bench for an 18th season as a major league skipper. So far it hasn’t happened, though there was word, as noted in the WaPost article, that there was at least one informal inquiry about his availablity. Read full article here.

More from Nationals News

Nationals, MLB shoot back at MASN over court claims

(James Wagner, Washington Post)

In their ongoing legal tussle with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network and the Baltimore Orioles, Major League Baseball and the Nationals shot back in court documents filed in New York Supreme Court this week, claiming that the television network is stalling to avoid paying the Nationals more in television rights fees. Last summer, an MLB panel ruled that MASN, which is majority-controlled by the Orioloes, owed the Nationals nearly $300 million in TV rights fees during the 2012-2016 “reset” period.

MASN’s main legal objections have been that the arbitration process was tainted because MLB had a vested interested thanks to a $25 million loan to the Nationals and because MLB, the Nationals, former commissioner Bud Selig, new Commissioner Rob Manfred and the teams on the panel — the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Rays and New York Mets — used the same legal team, Proskauer Rose, and didn’t fully disclose it. Read full article here.

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