He runs like the wind. Swings like a king. And in his off time he crushes Austrian National Team pitching.

In a game in which our 3rd Hitter in the Lineup (Lutz Rauch) had only 2 plate-appearances despite remaining in the game all… well… 5 Innings Rogearvin A. Bernadina for the Netherlands had a total of 4 plate-appearances. These 4 plate-appearances translated into 4 miraculous hits, or what I call a Cecil Cycle, for the only thing missing was a triple, and if you’ve seen Cecil Fielder you’ll know how hard it was for him to triple.

He was also able to steal second base while skillfully taking his favorite newspaper out of his back-pocket, checking out the sports page, circling his lifetime batting average, having a trainer bring a chair out to second base and chillin like a villain for a second or two, all this while I was desperately trying to get the ball out of my glove and unwinding my throw.

So how does a Cecil Cycle against Austria translate to the Big Leagues?

A stolen base turns into a caught stealing, an extra base-hit into a single, and all singles are nullified!

After Nationals Outfielder Lastings Milledge was put on the DL Bernardina was called up. He now has 5 games under his belt. He is 2 for 23 with 9 Strikeouts. It seems he’s taken a dip in the snow after the sauna because he was doing very well in the Minors. But catches like this might get him back on track. He’ll have to wait for a new opportunity though as Willie Harris was given the start last night after Bernardina started in 5 consecutive games.

Video Links:

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200807013042311

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200807023050354

Links:

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/team/player_media.jsp?player_id=465668