Davey Johnson could bring much-needed excitement to D.C. sports scene

Public sentiment would have eventually turned against the Nationals, who, if in wild card contention a month from now, would have been forced to give Riggleman the extra year.

Predictably fired in 2012, Riggleman would have walked away $900,000 richer than he is today and still highly employable, because anyone who is fired from the Nationals can fairly blame the franchise’s ineptitude for their demise. (Anyone except Jim Bowden. He screwed up himself.)

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Instead, Riggleman’s pride overwhelmed him. He got in his own way, essentially morphed into the same guy who gave his short-timer manager so much grief — another hothead who doesn’t burn bridges as much as he detonates them.

Sad irony? If Riggleman had shown this penchant for going off the deep end earlier with players he deemed insubordinate — and not just pitcher Jason Marquis — he’s not merely a better story; he’s possibly a more-respected presence in the clubhouse.

On the bright side, Johnson is back in the game. And the D.C. sports scene is blessed with a big name. Let’s not sugarcoat a resume collecting dust for a while. He coached the United States and Strasburg at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. But Johnson is 68. He has not penciled in a major-league lineup card in 11 years. His crowning moment as a manager happened 25 years ago with Gooden, Strawberry, Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez, Ray Knight and the champion Mets.

Of course there is a reason they call it the grand old game. Heck, the Marlins last week gave Jack McKeon his old job back at 80. Ancient is good in baseball, artifacts better. Connie Mack managed till he was 87, six years before his death. Clubs sometimes don’t scour farm systems for new managerial talent as much as they carbon-date. Retreads, like Cracker Jack and glove oil, will always be part of the game’s fabric.

Johnson has but two knocks against him in my book. First, he was originally hired by Bowden as a special consultant in 2006. (Yes, Rizzo got his gig from Bowden here the same year, but when are the ties going to be cut and tentacles severed for good from a man who brought much more embarrassment than excellence to this franchise?) And second, he has reportedly mellowed over the years.

The latter is most worrisome. We don’t need a mellowed Davey Johnson. We need the Orioles rookie who in the 1966 World Series was the last person to get a hit off Sandy Koufax. We want the manager who confounded every owner he worked for in less than three years after the Mets, including Peter Angelos, whom he barely spoke to in Baltimore before he was gone.

We crave calamity here, Q ratings. In the absence of genuine winning in Washington and Ryan Zimmerman rightfully playing in a National League playoff game before he retires or is traded — in the eternal wait for a Wiz-Nats-’Skins rebuild and another Capitals’ postseason — characters and controversy make for genuine interest.

If Davey Johnson can bring ratings and victories, Mike Rizzo will have made the right decision. If not, someone promote Bryce Harper. Quick. His titanic swing and ’tude are our last hope.