Washington's turn at the plate
Comments (4)
Friday, June 15, 2007 | 04:55 PM ET
By Henry Champ
The Washington Nationals are playing at the Rogers Centre in Toronto this weekend. If the baseball gods hadn't dealt such a miserable blow to Montreal, this would be a series between the Expos and the Blue Jays.
The Nationals are in their third year in Washington, but the first away from the stifling, rapacious grasp of Major League Baseball, which ran the club for two years until real ownership was found.
The Lords of the Realm took all the cash they could, all the talent they could sell off and left a shell of the team that once featured the likes of Pedro Martinez, Andre Dawson, Warren Cromartie, Rusty Staub and, if you go back far enough, Coco Laboy, the darling of Jarry Park (and the NL's rookie of the year in '69).
The new leadership are trying to put the building blocks in place for long-term success. High-priced talent was replaced with starry-eyed rookies. Scouting and the farm system are getting all the attention. There's a new steel and glass stadium rising in the shadow of the Capitol building. The future is bright, the present, not so much.
When the season started, experts were saying this could be the worst team ever to play in the "show." They were predicting losses greater than the hapless, 1960s-vintage Mets.
All of these predictions seemed a sure thing when four of the five starting pitchers went on the disabled list within the first two weeks of the season. At one point, the team had won just two of 20 games.
Needless to say, the crowds fell below the 20,000 mark, which had been unthinkable in the first two years in Washington, even under the dead hand of MLB.
But things have changed. The crowds are coming back.
Over-achievers
As of today, the Nationals are only eight games back of the division-leading New York Mets. Eight other big-league teams have worse records than the Nats.
Those top pitchers are still missing, but hardy re-treads, throwers like Jason Simontacchi and Mike Bacsik, have found the strike zone, rookies like Matt Chico and Levale Speigner, who never threw above A-ball level, are winning games.
Of course the architect of all of this never performed above the A-level either.
Manager Manny Acta came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic with a glove, a pair of spikes and a book titled Basic English. He painfully mastered the language but not the game he loved.
After six years in the farm teams of the Houston organization he was finished. He began coaching, getting as high as Kissimmee, Florida, in A-ball competition. He was handed some coaching jobs in the majors and for three years was the third base coach for the Expos in Montreal.
But that top job, manager, eluded him. He was turned down by Oakland, San Francisco and Texas. And even when he was given the job with Washington, it was only after other, bigger names turned down what looked like a thankless task.
Playing the kids
Manny Who? That's what the headlines said when he was hired. They don't say that anymore.
For the record, I am a Nationals season ticket holder and, like many in Washington, a big Acta booster.
At 37, Acta is the youngest manager in the majors. Clearly that helps with a young club.
Take Ryan Church, an outfielder the Nats hope is part of the franchise's future. When he loafed up the first base line on an infield single, he was replaced immediately. Most important, next day, Church told the media: Manny and I talked. He was right, won't happen again.
Another budding star, Felipe Lopez did the same thing a couple of weeks later and wound up on the pine. Same response: My fault, said Lopez.
While doing a TV story on the return of the old Expos team to Toronto, I spent some time with Acta and I can tell you he is far from a martinet.
Asked what he felt was his best achievement so far, Acta talked of Christian Guzman, an injured, unhappy shortstop who is currently hitting over .326. "The kid was hurting," Acta says simply, "we gave him some confidence."
Dimitri Young is an even bigger story. Having fought some battles with alcohol and the law, Dimitri was dropped or ignored by every team in baseball. Acta simply said, "We treat people the way they want to be treated and give them a clean slate. I forgot about what he did anywhere else and I haven't run into a nicer kid." Young is the second best hitter in the National League, batting .340.
I asked him about his quick hook. Many of us thought he was pulling pitchers too quickly, often when they were still ahead in the game.
"These are young kids," he said. "If they've pitched well, I don't want them to end the evening losing. Take them out before they lose, they feel better, something to build on."
It's early, of course. Not even halfway through the season, and a year in which the Nationals are more likely to lose more than they win.
Acta disagrees. "We've got a lot of games left. I like these guys, they're buying into the program. Things are going to get better."
And finally, for all of us Canadians who follow the game, how can you not like a guy who says about his three years with the Expos: "Montreal will always be my favourite city. I had three, great years there, the people were so nice.
"Washington, D.C., does deserve a major league team, it's the capital of the United States. But it is also very sad that Montreal doesn't have a major league team. I really love Montreal and I think everyone else that came in loved it too."
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About the Author
Henry Champ is CBC Newsworld's correspondent in Washington, D.C., delivering Canadian viewers the latest developments in the U.S. political arena. Recently, he has been a leading Canadian voice on coverage of the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq and the growing concerns over the Canada-U.S. relationship.
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Comments (4)
Derek
Montreal
The Expos (and MLB) are long dead in Montreal, and have been since 1994. These days, MLB coverage in the media comes in third after hockey and golf/tennis/F1 racing. Good riddance!
Posted June 19, 2007 05:26 PM
Geoff Paterson
Toronto
When I was barely old enough to walk, I remember my Old Man taking my Brother and I to Jarry Park. Although I don't remember many details, I certainly remember some names of that era. Steve Renko, Tim Foli, Rusty Staub ("Le Grand Orange"). In those days, we could go right down to the dugout during batting practice before the game and get autographs.
When the team moved to the Stade Olympique, the close contact was gone. However, by the late seventies and early eighties, a magic had filled the air in Montreal and Quebec. The Expos had captured the hearts and the imaginations of many young kids and older generations alike. Heroes emerged, such as Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Ellis Valentine, Warren Cromartie, and Steve Rogers. The Expos were in the pennant race consistently throughout those seasons. They came within a hair of going to the World Series in the strike-shortened 1981 season, were it not for that 9th inning Rick monday homerun.
For a young boy growing up in the Montreal area, I was really lucky to have my hometown heroes. Summers were always spent outdoors with the transistor radio, listening to Duke Snider and Dave Van Horne providing the play by play. Every kid, adult and senior living in Quebec had that special spirit in common. The love shared for their team transcended any political or cultural divisions. We cheered and suffered disappointments side by side.
What really killed the team in the end, I think, is the strike of 1994. The Expos were on their way to dominating the major leagues, and winning their first elusive World Championship. They had the most incredible team, most of which had been developed through their own farm system. We will never know what the Expos could have accomplished from there, however they had what was needed for a winning formula.
I have my memories of a glorious era, and for that I am fortunate.
Posted June 19, 2007 10:21 AM
Patrick Finnigan
I'm sorry, but I cannot get intrerested in an other team ever since the Expos left Montreal. I loved baseball. I played (recreational) when I was young with a passion for the game. I recall when the Expos started (68-69 ?) and was a true fan until they were taken away (a great conspiracy it was). I tried to adopt the Blue Jays or the Red Socks, but it is not the same. I cannot get that passionate feeling I had with the Expos, and sadly, I know I never will. Since the Expos left Canada, amateur baseball has taken a terrible hit among young kids in our area. Ball parks are turned to soccer fields and, the game left our small community as in many other. I know its dreaming in colour but, I'm certain if MLB were to give Montreal another team, and local investors with the city of Montreal were to construct a 30,000 seat stadium downtown Montreal,fans would return and show that the city (and all the east coast) are as good fan of the game as you will find anywhere. I am realist however and I know it is not about to happen. Until it does (probably not in my lifetime) I will dream of afternoon at the olympic stadium with the smell of poopcorn and hot dogs, and a Youppie with ballcleats instead of hockey skates, as I hear the umpire yelling "PLAY BALL"
Patrick Finnigan
Posted June 18, 2007 12:20 PM
wil gomez
china
i love a good ball game - i'm not sure Bonds should compete with Hank Aaron or Williams, but anything baseball beats hell outa talking about the gaza strip or kabul
Posted June 17, 2007 09:54 PM