A Capitol Affair

After thirty plus years of sitting in the stands cheering for someone else’s kid on the Little League team, Thomas Boswell, the quintessential American baseball writer (apologies to NMTE fave and baseball HOFer Peter Gammons) finally has a team of his own …again.

Of course, not all Washingtonians (or Post columnists for that matter) are as excited about the Nationals (nee Les Expos) upcoming season, as the illustrious Tony K. proves.

I for one am very interested to see how the Nats do in their inaugural season in D.C. Washington has the pedigree of a loyal sports town—the Wizards sell out nearly every home game and the Redskins have the highest ticket prices AND the longest waiting list for season tickets in the NFL—and it’s hard to imagine that there is much, Sammy Sosa aside, that the Orioles can do to keep their fans to the south engaged, especially since, despite a windfall of offensive talent brought in over the past two off-seasons, only a fool would predict them overtake even second place in the toughest division in baseball. Though the Nats do, as Kornheiser points out, suffer from a severe case of the Who-Dats, an influx of excited fans (20,000 season ticket subscribers to date), a new ballpark and deep-pocketed new owners could turn this moribund franchise around.

COULD being the operative word.