In the 2006 motion picture “Stranger Than Fiction,” Will Ferrell’s character begins to hear someone narrating his life. He is the only one who can hear the voice, which belongs to an author writing a book in which Ferrell’s role is the main character, whose words seem to foreshadow exactly how his daily life will occur.
Shortly after 10:30 on Sunday night at Nationals Park, fans started narrating Ryan Zimmerman’s upcoming at-bat in their heads, and the premise of “Stranger Than Fiction” became reality. Zimmerman homered to left-center on a 1-0 pitch from Atlanta’s Aussie reliever Peter Moylan, leading the Nationals to a 3-2 victory over the Braves in the new stadium’s lid-lifter. To borrow a phrase from a more successful film, this is the stuff dreams are made of.
Reading or hearing nice things about Zimmerman is becoming rather standard. From the moment he was drafted in 2005 until now, his career has pretty much been a steadily rising line on a graph. A stock you’d want to own and keep, for certain. His approach, his overall demeanor, his work ethic; if he didn’t exist, you’d have to invent him. I think we’d all be shocked to find out he’d ever turned a book report in late in elementary school.
Even when the Nats renewed Zimmerman’s contract for this year — as opposed to signing him to a long-term deal to get him past his first couple of years of arbitration eligibility — he didn’t grouse about it publicly the way the Orioles’ Nick Markakis and Brewers’ Prince Fielder did when it happened to them. “It’s part of the game,” he said. “I’m not the first guy it’s happened to, and I won’t be the last.” At his current salary of $465,000, Zim’s a stone-cold steal, to say the least.
Mark Lerner, Stan Kasten and Jim Bowden didn’t arrive at their current stations by doing stupid things, and I’m quite sure this situation will be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. There’s no question about Zimmerman’s “Face-of-the-Franchise” bonafides, and really, what more could anyone want? Born in Washington, N.C., educated at the University of Virginia, he’s about as local a hero as you’d want. I’ve heard scouts call him “the 21st Century Ripken,” and who am I to disagree with that?
About 50 years ago Washington had a young third baseman that led the league in home runs, and was quickly a fan favorite. Even my sister, never a sports fan, had a picture of Harmon Killebrew on the vanity mirror in her bedroom when she was 13; she took it down when she saw him take his hat off, revealing a bald head. Zimmerman still has his hair, and a resounding flair for the dramatic. That it was he who upstaged the new ballpark on opening night in front of a national television audience shouldn’t have come as a big surprise.
Hear Phil Wood Saturdays at 10 a.m. on SportsTalk 980 AM and is a contributor to Nats Xtra on MASN. Contact him at [email protected].
