June 20, 2006

First In War, First In Peace… : Washington is no longer last in the American League. Not that you would notice.

Natives of Washington, D.C. may or may not be aware that the Nationals – the capital city’s baseball team, point of fact – won two out of three games in their most recent series…. and, by the way, won a huge war.

This past weekend could long be remembered as The Series that cemented the ballclub’s status as an enduring, endearing institution in a town that desperately needs a bipartisan summer solace from the unstoppable barbed rhetoric of armchair politicos. That this solace might come from the country’s National Pastime (in word, if not in deed) should make it all the more significant – even if the operation of Major League Baseball rivals that of the city in its ineptitude. But the person who should be telling this story, and selling this team, to the city was on another assignment, and the future of baseball in Washington has taken a hit as a result.

First, the war. The Baltimore/Washington region that Orioles owner Peter Angelos fought so hard to retain as his undivided domain was never his to begin with – this is Yankee territory, Mason Dixon line be damned. Even Angelos and his minions have admitted as much – a few years ago, the quantity of New York Yankees fans showing up to Camden Yards for the Bombers’ ritualistic drubbing of the home town team was so irksome that the Orioles’ front office ran a request in the local papers that Orioles season ticket holders stop giving/selling their tickets to anyone who might wear pinstriped garments or entwined letters. Sure, many of those fans were commuting from the nearby New York area, but in a region that harbors as many transients as the DC area there are more than a few resident quislings, bandwagon or not.

These same Yankees fans were out in full force for the three sold out games at RFK this weekend. And their presence was loud – even the television broadcasts picked up the pro-Yank chants that rang through the park. The Nationals were on a downslide, having just been blown out in a four game sweep at the hands of the very mediocre Colorado Rockies. It would have been quite predictable, if not understandable, to read that the Bombers’ first return to the nation’s capital since 1971 came and went with scarcely a peep from the local loyalists.

Friday, the Nationals took a 5-3 lead into the eighth inning and lost a heartbreaker when they gave up the deciding runs of a 7-5 loss in the ninth inning. Nationals fans in attendance, many expecting the worst, were heartened by their club’s ability to stay in the game.

Saturday, in a wild free-for-all, the Nats overcame a seven run deficit, battered future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera, and stomped on the winners of 26 world championships, 11-9.

On Sunday, there was highly touted rookie Ryan Zimmerman. Nobody on this club’s roster more personifies the promise of the future of this franchise. In the bottom of the ninth inning, down 2-1 with a runner on first, Zimmerman pierced the sky of the nation’s capital against the nation’s most storied sports team, launching the Nationals’ first ever walk-off home run.

This was a series of terrific baseball and palpable drama. And most importantly, in front of a reticent hometown crowd that fears their collective heart will be broken a third time by mediocrity and mismanagement, the Washington Nationals sold themselves as a legitimate entertainment venue. There is no telling how many expatriated New Yorkers and bandwagon Yankee fans had their hearts stolen by this fun upstart club. Or could have, if the local media had not abandoned them.

The media in DC, particularly the print media, has not only a responsibility to sell this team to the city, but a vested interest in it. The Nationals play 162 games every year. That’s a lot of boxscores, a lot of features, a lot more reasons to head to the newsstand or the laptop. And, despite the long absence of baseball from the city, Washington does have a regional baseball voice. His name is Tom Boswell. He is the author of several acclaimed books, including the very eloquent Why Time Begins On Opening Day. More than any other local writer, he brought the majesty and significance of Cal Ripken’s streak (however overblown) into the lunchrooms and sunrooms of readers all over the country, let alone the capital region. This important baseball voice had a critical duty this weekend.

Unfortunately, he was on assignment at the U.S. Open. Don’t get me wrong, the U.S. Open is a very big sports story across the country, and is well deserving of topnotch coverage. But the outcome of that golf tournament has no impact on the sports scene in Washington. Nowhere close to the impact the Nationals could have if the local media would treat them more like a viable major league arrow in their growing sports quiver, and less like the ugly step-child of their corrupt government.

In 1994, it was easier to find a Green Party politician in Congress than a sports bar in the DC area. Since then, the city has made great leaps and the notion of the city as a good sports town has resurged. The construction of the MCI Center brought Les Bullets and the Caps back into the District, and the neighborhood around that arena has replaced crack houses with sports bars and Starbucks. The Nationals have so much to contribute to this sports renaissance in the city. Tom Boswell should have been there this weekend to bring the excitement of this weekend's war to the masses, and send the message that the Nationals -- not the Orioles, not the Yankees, not the Phillies, not the Mets – are DC’s team, and one worth watching. And holding dear.

Tom Boswell is just one sports writer. But the Post’s decision to send him to a Winged Foot instead of RFK Stadium this weekend is emblematic of the uphill battle the Nationals face with their local media. As it is, the city’s residents can’t watch the team on television, due to MLB’s decision to let Angelos run roughshod over them in the deal to allow the team's existence. It’s high time DC kicked the Yankee fans to the curb in the way the Nationals did the Yankees this weekend. Unfortunately, thanks to lackluster efforts by the city’s media, this weekend’s on field and moral victories will slide past the attention of much of the city, filed as just another weekend series. It seems Zimmerman’s was the last home run the Nationals will enjoy for their efforts -- there are no cheers on the National Mall, for the Mighty Media has struck out. Again.

posted by BullpenPro to commentary at 12:53 PM - 0 comments