Washington Is Ahead of the Curve

They are baseball’s team, literally, owned by the other 29 franchises, run by an interim general manager, guided by an icon going on 70, playing in a football stadium in a region that has already seen baseball come and go twice.

And they are baseball’s team, assembled on a budget, appreciative of the fresh start, happy to have a home, and leading the well-muscled National League East 2 1/2 months into the season.

The Washington Nationals arrived in Anaheim on a 10-game winning streak and a 12-1 stretch that carried them from fourth to first, their Sunday night flight from the East Coast 45 minutes behind the Angels’. Their destiny is out there somewhere, over another hundred games, leaning on pitching and defense, wondering if the Atlanta Braves really are going to pass on this season.

A year ago the organization had won 20 games, and approached that number of home fields, with uncertainty and neglect being the alternative to contraction. On Sunday afternoon they left RFK Stadium to a standing ovation. After a win over the Seattle Mariners. In June.

The town loves them, and they love having a town.

“That was fun,� first baseman Nick Johnson said.

The roster is stocked with former Expos and new Nats, a collaboration of Omar Minaya, who jumped from the Expos to the Mets, and Jim Bowden. While you wouldn’t have known it Monday night, when the Angels put their bat barrels on every other pitch, Bowden looked at RFK, guessed pitching and defense, gathered pitching and defense, and has a first-place team as a result.

Bowden sat behind home plate with the other baseball men at Angel Stadium on Monday night. He likes to say he’s “an interim GM, staying in an interim hotel, driving an interim car.� His franchise -- baseball’s franchise -- appears to have something enduring, however; a deep-pockets owner is expected any month, a new ballpark is due in 2008, and community interest has pushed attendance to a Washington franchise record already.

The last time Washington was in first in mid-June?

“1933,� Bowden said. “The year my father was born.�

So, they carry themselves something like it, part confidence, part gee-whiz. They figured they’d be OK, though perhaps didn’t figure on the division going flat on them as well. The bullpens in Atlanta and Florida should keep everyone interested through the summer, and Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran weren’t enough to plug all the holes in New York.

“This,� Manager Frank Robinson said, “is the beginning of something real good, something that will be good for a long time, as long as we don’t get ahead of ourselves.�

Johnson, the former New York Yankee prospect, arrived hitting .335. Cast off by the Angels, Jose Guillen has 10 home runs. Robinson and the Nationals have endured injuries to second baseman Jose Vidro and pitchers Zach Day and Joey Eischen.

They are 23rd in baseball in attendance and 15th in the National League in runs scored, but fourth in earned-run average and first in one-run wins.

They have asked a lot from their pitching staff, gotten most of it, and stand with the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox as the division leaders most likely to get a double-take by the occasional fan.

It’s about ace Livan Hernandez, John Patterson, Tony Armas and, Monday night’s batting practice notwithstanding, Esteban Loaiza in the rotation, closer Chad Cordero, and workhorses Luis Ayala and Gary Majewski.

It’s about above-average defense and a little good fortune, and the ability of Bowden, Robinson and Tony Tavares to grind through vague times, none of them a sure thing after this season.

“We’re a lot further along than we thought we were going to be,� Bowden said. “A lot of good things have happened.�

The franchise, the once great Expos, had been gone too long, almost all would agree.

The stars were dealt and the farm system died and then the fans left. The baseball trundled on, only barely it seemed.

But, a few decent men and a few moments of sanity put the Expos back together, made them the Nationals, and gave them something to work for.

A division title is, perhaps, a ways off. This year could be asking for too much.

But, it’s a start. And it’s more than they had.

“At the end of the day,� Bowden said, “we all treat it like we’re going to be there for life.... In the meantime, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had in my career in baseball. These are great people, honest people. I’m just in heaven. It’s a joy.�

For a change, it’s good to be baseball’s team.

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D.C. power

Much of Washington’s success this season stems from its strong play at home. The Nationals are a league-leading 24-9, which projects to 59-22 for the season. Their home record the last 10 years as the Montreal Expos:

*--* Season Home Overall 1995 31-41 66-78 1996 50-31 88-74 1997 45-36 78-84 1998 39-42 65-97 1999 35-46 68-94 2000 37-44 67-95 2001 34-47 68-94 2002 49-32 83-79 2003* 52-29 83-79 2004* 35-45 67-95

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* The Expos played 22 home games each in 2003 and 2004 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.