It’s 2011, and Livan Hernandez will be the Opening Day starter for the Washington Nationals.
It’s 2005 all over again — minus the half-million fans who have disappeared since that first season in the District.
Look how far the Nationals have come in seven years.
Hernandez, a veteran hurler who was considered to be near the end of his career, was the starting pitcher when baseball returned to Washington in 2005. And now here we are in 2011, and Hernandez, a veteran hurler considered to be near the end of his career — really this time — is the Opening Day starting pitcher when baseball again attempts to return to Washington.
I recognize this is not the proper frame of mind as spring training begins for the Nationals — a time when hope springs eternal. After all, if you can’t be optimistic on Feb. 24 about the future of this team, when can you be?
The Nationals have the second coming of Walter Johnson and Mickey Mantle in camp in Viera, Fla. Granted, the future version of the Big Train — Stephen Strasburg — can’t throw much harder than you do while playing catch with your 10-year-old, as he is coming off Tommy John surgery. (If Strasburg realizes the greatness predicted for him, can’t we just rename it Stephen Strasburg surgery?) And the future Mickey Mantle — Bryce Harper — will be 90 miles from Nationals Park when the 2011 season begins, packing in the crowds at Class A Hagerstown.
But with such promising young stars, the future looks bright, right? Just like it did shortly after the Lerner family took over the franchise, and went into its first spring training in 2007.
“We are with the Yankees and the Red Sox and the Dodgers and the Braves,” general manager Jim Bowden declared before spring training began in 2007. “We are right with them right now. Our major league payroll may not be there yet, but our development and scouting is there right now. We are playing with all the big boys.
“We are rebuilding. We are doing it through development and scouting. It will take some time but stay with us and watch our good young players. Fans want to win. I get that. The way we are doing it, they are going to get to win. … They don’t want to win and say, ‘Great we won 85 games.’ They want World Series rings. They want postseason. That’s what the organizational goal is. The Lerner family and Stan Kasten are here to win.”
Kasten no longer is here. Neither is Bowden. And the Nationals are still rebuilding. And it will still take some time. And frankly, fans would have been elated to have won 85 games at any point so far in the Nationals’ time in Washington.
Oh, and Livan Hernandez is still the Opening Day starter.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
