The Washington Nationals 1859 to Today: The Story of Baseball in the Nation’s Capital by Frederic J. Frommer |
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Editorial Reviews
From The Washington Post
Most books about a year in a life of a baseball team try to hold you in suspense as the pennant race comes down to the wire. Even if you know the outcome, a skilled writer can keep you turning the pages. Barry Svrluga's National Pastime, the story of the Washington Nationals' inaugural season, holds readers in suspense twice.
The second time comes in the second half of the book during the team's gutsy showing in the 2005 National League East pennant race. (The Nationals finished last in a tough division, but still had a respectable 81-81 mark.) But the first and more exhilarating race was the effort to get the Nationals to Washington and on the field in time for opening day, signaling the return of major league baseball to the nation's capital after the Senators moved to Texas in 1972. This is the story that you didn't read in the sports pages outside Washington or see on ESPN.
It's doubtful that many of the fans who watched Cuban-born right-hander Livan Hernandez throw out the first pitch in the Nationals' first game last year had an inkling of how close the team's season came to not happening, or at least not happening in Washington. The former Montreal Expos began their existence in Washington with literally nothing but a new name. "When a new administration takes over a team," writes Svrluga, "the game plan is relatively clear. But here, there was no infrastructure, no one with prior knowledge of how things work, of whom to call in the community. Where in the world do you start?"
Where indeed? The team, which was (and still is) owned by Major League Baseball, couldn't promise the new employees that they would have a job in six months if the team was sold. Job applicants had to be sorted through at a frenetic pace. A woman who worked for a cable TV station heard about the Nationals' job openings through a contact at a sports consulting firm; two days after her inquiry, she was offered the job of director of marketing and promotions. She took the position not knowing if she had a future with the team, but "it seemed exciting, like an adventure."
It was most certainly that. Before a single pitch was thrown in the Nationals' temporary home, RFK Stadium, the team had generated nearly as much ink as Washington's darlings, the NFL's Redskins. A few months later, Linda Cropp, chairman of the District of Columbia City Council, after enduring a maelstrom of criticism for her opposition to a new stadium paid for solely by public money, declared, "I had no idea it was going to be the level of controversy that it was. I had no idea the storm that was a-brewin'." That storm isn't over yet: Plans for the new stadium were not announced until just last month, and $535 million in revenue bonds to finance the ballpark had yet to go on sale as of this writing. Despite the off-the-field turbulence that always loomed in the background, the Nationals, led by their hard-nosed manager, Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson, took the field for 2005 and won both the respect of the league and the affection of their fans. "We are witnessing the birth of America's team," said Nationals vice president/GM Jim Bowden, midway through the 2005 season. That might have been an exaggeration, but a look at the Nats roster, featuring players from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Korea as well as the United States, suggests that "the United Nations team" might have been more accurate.
The Nationals' gritty debut season allows Svrluga to wrap up his twin story lines with as much ease as Mariano Rivera closing a game for the Yankees. But optimism for the current season should be guarded. Svrluga cautions, "Part of the process . . . for Washingtonians as they embrace baseball again was to remember that far too often, success is offset by pain." When I was a kid, we always described Washington as "first in war, first in peace, last in the American League." The Nationals began life last in the National League East, but they inspired a better book in one season than the Senators did in 71 of them.
Reviewed by Allen Barra
Copyright 2006, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.
Product Description
A riveting chronicle of the extraordinary debut year of the Washington Nationals—the team that brought America’s pastime back to the nation’s capital for the first time in over three decades…and quickly emerged as the team to watch in the 2005 season.
It all started in a freezing double-wide trailer parked outside RFK stadium—but this was no off-season tailgate. This was the official front office of Major League Baseball’s newest team. Crammed into the spartan space, Tony Tavares, the Washington Nationals’ newly appointed president, began the monumental task of fashioning a big league team that would, just six months down the road, usher baseball back to the nation’s capital.
Barry Svrluga, sports reporter for the Washington Post, has followed the saga of the Nationals from the early, intense political wrangling over bringing the team to Washington, to the defining triumphant moments -- and anguish -- of their first-ever season. A savvy observer of both Washington and Major League politicking, Svrluga covers the conflicts that undermined the existence of a D.C. team since the early 1970s (including the bitter opposition of powerbrokers inside the baseball establishment itself), and ended with the migration of the Montreal Expos to D.C.
Granted exclusive access to the players, the clubhouse, and the innermost workings of the team, Svrluga covers the surprise sensation of the 2005 season – which not only saw the Nationals gain a foothold on the Washington sports scene, but dominate the NL East through much of the season. From the outspoken legendary manager, Frank Robinson, to the inside stories of Jose Guillen, Livan Hernandez, and Brad Wilkerson, Svrluga brings the personalities of the team to life, interviews the most dedicated fans who’ve waited since the days of the Washington Senators for baseball to be restored in their city, and chronicles the team’s emotional ups and downs throughout the season.
A fresh new voice in sports writing, Svrluga combines the enthusiasm, authority, and attention to detail that guarantees this to be the definitive book of the Washington Nationals’ first season.
The nation’s capital hadn’t had a spring like this in more than a generation. In less than a week, the Nationals’ players and coaches were headed north. They didn’t know what kind of stadium awaited. They didn’t know what the reception would be. They didn’t know the town, how to get around, where to live, what to do. Most of all, though, they didn’t know who would play where, who would hit in which spot. Frank Robinson stewed over it all. He was supposed to go to Washington, bringing back the city’s first team in a generation, with this situation?
—From National Pastime
It all started in a freezing double-wide trailer parked outside RFK stadium—but this was no off-season tailgate. This was the official front office of Major League Baseball’s newest team. Crammed into the spartan space, Tony Tavares, the Washington Nationals’ newly appointed president, began the monumental task of fashioning a big league team that would, just six months down the road, usher baseball back to the nation’s capital.
Barry Svrluga, sports reporter for the Washington Post, has followed the saga of the Nationals from the early, intense political wrangling over bringing the team to Washington, to the defining triumphant moments -- and anguish -- of their first-ever season. A savvy observer of both Washington and Major League politicking, Svrluga covers the conflicts that undermined the existence of a D.C. team since the early 1970s (including the bitter opposition of powerbrokers inside the baseball establishment itself), and ended with the migration of the Montreal Expos to D.C.
Granted exclusive access to the players, the clubhouse, and the innermost workings of the team, Svrluga covers the surprise sensation of the 2005 season – which not only saw the Nationals gain a foothold on the Washington sports scene, but dominate the NL East through much of the season. From the outspoken legendary manager, Frank Robinson, to the inside stories of Jose Guillen, Livan Hernandez, and Brad Wilkerson, Svrluga brings the personalities of the team to life, interviews the most dedicated fans who’ve waited since the days of the Washington Senators for baseball to be restored in their city, and chronicles the team’s emotional ups and downs throughout the season.
A fresh new voice in sports writing, Svrluga combines the enthusiasm, authority, and attention to detail that guarantees this to be the definitive book of the Washington Nationals’ first season.
The nation’s capital hadn’t had a spring like this in more than a generation. In less than a week, the Nationals’ players and coaches were headed north. They didn’t know what kind of stadium awaited. They didn’t know what the reception would be. They didn’t know the town, how to get around, where to live, what to do. Most of all, though, they didn’t know who would play where, who would hit in which spot. Frank Robinson stewed over it all. He was supposed to go to Washington, bringing back the city’s first team in a generation, with this situation?
—From National Pastime
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