FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Baseball just can't help itself. The sport is a ham. So the last pitch of the first game ever played between the new Nationals and the Orioles, the team that tried to prevent their existence, was fouled high in the sky directly in front of the box seat where District Mayor Anthony Williams, the person most responsible for bringing baseball back to the nation's capital, was sitting.
When the ball landed in the glove of Nats catcher Gary Bennett, just a few feet from the cheering and high-fiving mayor, Washington had come from behind twice, including a five-run, ninth-inning rally to knock out Orioles relief ace B.J. Ryan, for a 9-6 victory that was as memorable and symbolic as it was meaningless and goofy.
"That was fantastic," said the grinning Williams. "We had to make a comeback at the end, just like we did to get the team."
"We didn't just beat Baltimore, we crushed them," gloated D.C. Council member Jack Evans, who has been perhaps the District politician most critical of baseball in general and Orioles owner Peter Angelos for his dismissive treatment of Washington.
Perhaps no player on either team understood how badly many Washington area fans, even those who continue to root for Baltimore on most occasions, wanted to see the Orioles get their feathers plucked in this game. Shouldn't there be some tiny retribution, some introductory embarrassment, after all the years of frustration that the District has endured for the sake of the Orioles' vaguely defined economic interests. If so, then this game certainly served that purpose.
Nationals Manager Frank Robinson was bemused but also charmed by the enthusiasm of the politicians and, by extension, all the Washington area fans who were delighted at a first victory in what may be a long rivalry. "You have to educate the people back in Washington that they can't live and die with these exhibition games," chuckled Robinson, who left three of his starting infielders in Viera to spare them a six-hour bus ride and never used any top relievers as the Orioles scored three runs in the eighth inning to take a 5-4 lead.
"I'm happy we won. It creates a good mood on the club," Robinson said. "But it's meaningless. They take this win away from you on April 4th [Opening Day] and make you start over."
Though meaningless, the defeat -- and especially Ryan's meltdown against a lineup of subs and scrubs -- hardly delighted the Orioles, especially since the game was beamed back to the Washington area on Comcast SportsNet. Only three Orioles games will be telecast this spring. Yet this was one of them, with another Nats-O's meeting slated for March 25.
The Nationals' front office certainly thanks Angelos. Especially since Washington won a game in which the Orioles started their entire Opening Day, high-budget lineup while the Nats' lineup included a bench brigade of Jamey Carroll, Wil Cordero, Brendan Harris and Carlos Baerga. Right up until game time, some joked that they expected a call from Baltimore just before the first pitch to cancel the telecast.
Without this accidental largesse by the Orioles, all those potential Nats ticket buyers, some of them perhaps even Orioles fans, could not have seen Terrmel Sledge and Brad Wilkerson hit back-to-back home runs to put the Nats ahead 3-2 in the sixth inning. Sledge's hammer went over the 401-foot sign in center field while Wilkerson's ball carried 450 feet, far over the right field bleachers as well as a building behind it. Wilkerson, the Expos' player of the year in '04, will seldom hit a ball farther.
Of course, the Nats have no TV deal of their own because Angelos has delayed it. The Nats would love to advertise and broadcast their product on local TV so they can create a fan base. Their ticket selling, though robust, is being hampered. But Washington can't sign a deal yet, because the cagey Angelos is still arguing over how much of the TV market belongs to him.
Perhaps out of malice because D.C. finally dared to get a team, or simply to wangle the best deal for his Orioles, Angelos has filibustered all spring in marathon reparation negotiations. Before Opening Day, all this will be settled. Top officials are furious at Angelos for refusing what they consider generous, if not excessive, offers. The call-his-bluff stage is coming soon.
All of which made the Nats' televised victory even tastier. Before the game, Nationals fans carried signs that said "MLB: Don't Let Angelos Steal On Us. Nats Deserve TV Rights" and "MLB: Keep Angelos Out of the Nats Dugout."
A rivalry? The Nats play it down. "This game? Oh, please, come on. It isn't even close to that," Robinson said before the game. "Down the road, maybe so, if there's interleague play between us. Excuse me. I have to go fraternize." With the Orioles.
Nonetheless, this game stirred the juices of many, including the mayor. During batting practice, he and his wife stood behind the batting cage, getting the feel of what a 400-foot blow sounds and feels like when it happens a few feet in front of you.
"This is amazing," said the mayor, hardly a sports addict, as he began inspecting bats and asking questions.
The Orioles will say they cared little about this game. Still, they were fired up enough that Sammy Sosa, after being called out on strikes to kill a rally in the first inning, was ejected from the game in the top of the next inning while he was standing at his defensive position in far right field. "No, I've never seen anything even remotely like that," said Orioles Vice President Mike Flanagan.
Second base umpire C.B. Bucknor thought Sosa was still yelling at home plate umpire Joe West and hollered, "Knock it off." Sosa responded to Mr. Buttinsky in an appropriately colorful fashion. Bucknor punched Sammy's ticket as jaws dropped. "Like, wow," said an incredulous Sosa. "That's a heads-up for the outfielders. Look out."
And look out for the Nats and Orioles, too. With luck, for the next few decades, it'll only get better.
