A Word on Winning

As impossible as it may sound to sports fans, but the Washington Nationals are in first place at the All-Star break. Yup. Hard to believe and yet for those of us who have followed the team since their resurrection in DC we knew that good things were stirring and it was just a matter of patience and very timely nudges to concoct the superlative formula.

I know you think I am being premature, after all the only title the team has won is entirely in the minds of their fans. Should they lose ground the records book will not reflect on the promising season only the personal wins and achievements of the boys of the Washington Summer of 2012. Yet, in my mind they are winners.

They have won my admiration, and my admiration doesn't come cheap. I am not saying the Nats come cheap either but they are a team that seems to thrive on building their roster and their character and not just purchasing it. Had they only drafted free agents to fill in the baseball cavities then I would not have gulped down the Kool Aide but I would have hung to the rear. After all I am not really a Nationals fan. Yes I admit it, I am still a Washington Senators fan. For me coming over East Capitol into the gut of DC to see the concrete fins of the old sweat box of a stadium was baseball in the nation's capital. I even insisted in taking my kids to see the Nats play at RFK before they moved into the new stadium which is a lovely addition to the DC skyline.

Yes, the 2012 Nats win there too. Standing atop the upper deck in the ball park I point out the landmarks of DC one by one as well as more familial sites like the Navy Yard were my father used to work in the early days of NOAA. The stadium is well equipped for family outings, easy to get to, and prices are reasonable. Except for the enormous preying mantis that confronted my wife, the crowd at the ballpark are friendly.

But baseball is more than ball parks and location, baseball is talent and finesse, strategy, and bravado. Watching Ryan Zimmerman during the first years he was in DC was like watching how a cell is formed around a nucleus. Zimmerman was and is the backbone...what is now referred to as a franchise player. Acquiring Strasburg and Harper and bringing up Ian Desmond and a cast of thousands for me is like enjoying a display of nuclear fission. Power up baby, the Nats are going long. Mix in some clowning and aggressive moves on the base paths and you have resurrected baseball from the depths that it stunk and have breathed life into a new type of DC sports pride.

To me the most uplifting part is not the winning, but the consummation of promise fulfilled. They said get Stephen Strasburg the "Phenom", they did and he is. They said get Harper the "Phenom" and they did and he is. They said hold Zimmerman to a pitch count and they did and Zimmerman came back in aces. That is talent but even more so, that is character.

But you know what? The fun is just getting started. I know the season is barely half over, but I am already looking forward to the wondrous evolving revolving Nationals show. If they keep going and growing I will never tire of this. It's nice to be winning too!