The baseball playoffs begin this week; once again the Washington Nationals are going home for the offseason and licking their wounds from finishing last in the National League East, 28 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.
As a Phillies fan, I attended the final three home games of the Nationals season. And of course I was thrilled to see my team clinch the division against the Nationals on Sept. 27. But as a fan of the game and a proud resident of Washington, D.C., I am pulling for baseball to take root here.
Is it? Can Washington be a baseball town? In the last three games at Nationals Park — a Monday to Wednesday homestand — I got a good sense of the good, the bad and the prospects for long-term success.
In the only game that counted, the Phillies pounded the Nationals 8-0. They quickly chased John Lannan, who once passed for an ace for the Nats. Then they teed off on reliever Joe Bisenius. Phillies ace Roy Halladay won his 21st game with a shutout.
More bad news: On Wednesday night the Phillies fielded their second team. No Ryan Howard or Jayson Werth, Chase Utley or Carlos Ruiz. Still, our second stringers pounded the Nats 7-1.
The middle game was an upper for the hometown fans. The nasty hordes from Philly had receded up I-95, and the locals could cheer a walk-off home run by Adam Dunn for a 2-1 victory. We were sitting behind the Nats’ dugout. A grandfather was treating his granddaughter to the game. As Dunn’s blast sailed over the left-field wall, he turned to us and smiled with the satisfaction of a guy who loves his team.
Nationals Park hosts the makings of a solid fan base. True, more than half of the 20,000 or so who showed up Monday were Phils’ fans. But the last two nights were for the committed locals. The 41,000-seat stadium looked a bit empty with about 15,000 seats occupied, but it was a spirited bunch.
The fan experience is very good. Few lines for food, easy in and out of the stadium, friendly fans, few drunks. The Lerner family, which owns the franchise, has settled its disputes with the city over rent and taxes. They liked Mayor Adrian Fenty; they need to mend fences with prospective Mayor Vince Gray.
But the worst news is that the Lerners made a bad bet on Stephen Strasburg, the phenom whose arm broke down and will require surgery. He returns, perhaps, deep into next season. The Nats’ roster is filled mostly with young, B-list players. “Not what it needs to be,” outgoing president Stan Kasten told me.
So Ted Lerner, the patriarch who attends almost every game when he’s in town, has to pony up. Keep Adam Dunn on the squad. Buy a real pitcher to anchor the rotation. Buy more hitters.
Give fans a reason to come, and they will.
Harry Jaffe’s column appears on Tuesday and Friday. He can be contacted at [email protected].
