Tag Archives: Washington Nationals

Exiled From Natstown

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Washington Nationals Bryce Harper is the best player ever. Just ask him. (Credit: AP)

Bryce Harp­er is more than the face of the Wash­ing­ton Nation­als — he is the face of Wash­ing­ton, com­bin­ing high self-esteem with chron­ic under­achieve­ment. (Cred­it: AP)

The Wash­ing­ton Nation­als are a per­fect fit for the nation’s cap­i­tal, com­bin­ing invin­ci­ble self-esteem with chron­ic underachievement.

The Red­skins are neu­rot­ic, the Wiz­ards hun­gry, the Cap­i­tals con­vinced that cat­a­stro­phe awaits. The Nation­als fan­cy them­selves as repeat­ing cham­pi­ons, though they’ve nev­er played in a League Cham­pi­onship Series, much less a World Series.

That thor­ough­ly unjus­ti­fied air of supe­ri­or­i­ty emanates from the top, as I was again remind­ed last week­end when my wife and I were turned away from Nat­stown, the nick­name man­age­ment has giv­en its cook­ie-cut­ter ball­park.  Con­tin­ue read­ing →

Phillies Have Returned To Form … Unfortunately

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The Phillies dropped a close game yesterday in Cincinnati, an all-too-common event for a team that has lost an unprecedented 10,502 times. (Credit: CSN Bay Area)

The Phillies dropped a close game yes­ter­day in Cincin­nati, leav­ing Gen­er­al Man­ag­er Ruben Amaro at a loss for answers. (Cred­it: CSN Bay Area)

The famil­iar anguish of being a Phillies fan is back.

I felt it again this past week when I attend­ed two games between the Phillies and Nation­als in Wash­ing­ton.  Just three years ago, this ball­park tucked between the Ana­cos­tia Riv­er and the US Capi­tol was known as “Cit­i­zens Bank Park South,” as bus­es dis­gorged Philadel­phia fans by the thou­sands who had drunk their way down I‑95 to watch their beloved Phillies beat up on the hap­less Nats.  They seemed to out­num­ber the home­town faith­ful and always made their unwel­come pres­ence felt.  They were rau­cous, some­times coarse, and usu­al­ly left hap­py, if obnox­ious­ly so.

Con­tin­ue read­ing →