Infielder Greg Thissen was the first Potomac National to emerge from the clubhouse on an unseasonably warm afternoon, sporting a crisp uniform that had arrived just in time for him to dress for Wednesday's media day at Pfitzner Stadium.
Later in the session, after most of his teammates had ducked inside or were playing catch, Iowa native Thissen lingered in the dugout and peered through sunglasses at his new surroundings, ruminating on what it means to be part of the Washington Nationals franchise, formerly the Montreal Expos.
"You're representing the organization, and it's put right there on your chest who you're representing," Thissen said, pointing to the "Nationals" on his jersey, apparently a greater source of pride for him than the Brevard County (Fla.) Manatees uniform he wore last summer.
"We're coming out and saying: This is our new organization. We're going to wear it on our chest. And we're going to play up to it."
For lack of a better term, the P-Nats -- not to be confused with the Savannah (Ga.) Sand Gnats, the affiliate that many of them played for last year -- are eager to be part of a big league organization expected to flourish at the RFK Stadium turnstiles in baseball-starved Washington instead of languish in yawning Montreal.
Potomac, which has been an affiliate for several organizations, most recently the Cincinnati Reds, opened its 140-game schedule this weekend in Salem. The P-Nats' home opener is April 18 against Lynchburg.
Even though players in high-Class A ball are three rungs from the major leagues, there is a ripple effect when interest in the parent club is so keen and a minor league affiliate, such as Potomac, plays just 30 miles away.
Left-hander Mike O'Connor, who grew up in suburban Baltimore and played college ball at George Washington University, noticed a change right away, when he took the field as a Washington Nationals prospect instead of a Montreal Expos prospect.
"It seemed like [in] spring training there were more people around," O'Connor said. "All the games were sold out. It is a bigger city, for sure, and it's more of a baseball city, I'd say, than Montreal is."
"The fact that some cities were fighting over a team shows that D.C. really wanted a team and that Major League Baseball thought it was a good fit," said third baseman Kory Casto, named the organization's ninth-best prospect by Baseball America. "With Montreal, the funds weren't there. It just wasn't a great situation for everybody."
Thissen, a former eighth-round pick, takes an even broader view of the benefits of Washington over Montreal, should he ever make it to the big leagues.
"Nation's capital. Playing America's game. In front of a lot of people. It competes with Yankee Stadium, right?" Thissen said. "They've got a cathedral there. I don't see any reason why if the Nationals put up some good years it wouldn't be the same thing. This is a historic city, just like New York."
Playing in Florida and Georgia last season as most of the P-Nats did, they were the width of the country away from the parent club in Montreal. One player said in the few days he has been in the Woodbridge area, he already has seen more TV and newspaper coverage of the Washington Nationals than he saw of the Expos all last summer in Florida.
"It always [seemed] like they're so far north that unless we see [the Expos] on TV, we don't even believe they're real," said Potomac Manager Bob Henley, a congenial Alabaman who played in the Montreal organization and is in his third year managing in its farm system.
Being so close to the big league Nationals, the Potomac players never know when Washington General Manager Jim Bowden or Director of Player Development Adam Wogan or some other club decision-maker will drop by Pfitzner to watch a game.
Never mind that Baseball America ranks Washington 26th out of 30 teams when it comes to organizational talent (one notch below the Orioles' farm system). Once the team gets an owner, there likely will be greater emphasis on developing and hanging on to prospects as opposed to trading them away. Buy me some P-Nats and crackerjacks, indeed.
Washington front office personnel "told us before we left we'd probably see them more than usual, being that close to them," Potomac left-hander David Maust said. "That means a lot for them to come out and see us play."
As a former third-string minor league catcher who worked his way into a 41-game stint in the major leagues, the pinnacle of an injury-plagued career, Henley understands the value of such exposure. But he believes his players' preparation should be the same regardless of where they're stationed or who might be in the stands that night. Same goes for the manager.
"I do my business the same way," Henley said, "no matter if the president shows up."
