Despite All the Questions, Nats Still a Delight for Young and Old

By George Solomon
Sunday, April 2, 2006

It felt more like early summer than early spring. The fans came up from Metro's Stadium-Armory station into the night and the lights from RFK Stadium gave off a glow that clearly said Season II of the Washington Nationals was about to begin. The hand-wringing that came from an offseason of D.C. Council debates on a stadium lease, popular players who have departed and an announcement on Thursday that Major League Baseball would investigate steroid use brought us to Friday night's exhibition game between the Nationals and the Orioles.

"I'm not thinking about steroids now," said Brad Buswell of Alexandria, watching Nationals ace John Patterson pitch to Baltimore's Melvin Mora. Buswell was sitting 40 rows up -- his new season ticket location -- with his wife, Trish, and 13-month-old daughter, Piper. Piper probably doesn't know it, but she went to a lot of games last year and will go to even more this year. She brought her pacifier. Her mother brought her opinions. Lots of them.

"I like Ryan Zimmerman, Brandon Watson, Nick Johnson and all our pitchers," she said. Her husband added: "You know what I like? I like the excitement you get at the ballpark."

There wasn't much promotion for this "Battle of the Beltway." But the attendance (18,442) wasn't bad, with young fans still coming into the stadium 75 minutes after the first pitch. (Were they giving away free beer, I wondered. Why do they arrive so late?) The field looked great, if the Nats didn't. (When did these guys forget how to field?)

"I love this," said Joe Landa, who brought his 8-year-old son, Jacob.

"You know," said Brenda Sabo of Ashburn, "Ryan Zimmerman is our Alexander Ovechkin. And I'll tell you something else: Frank Robinson makes these guys play hard."

No one booed reluctant left fielder Alfonso Soriano, or openly worried about the Nats' horrid fielding this spring, or cared that they lost, 9-6, to the O's, or booed Peter Angelos's guys, or asked if Barry Bonds would cooperate with George J. Mitchell's investigators. Tomorrow, they start playing for real, but Friday night was for Piper Buswell and dreams.

Local Teams on National Stage

George Mason's success in the NCAA men's basketball tournament is a testimony to what happens when you're able to keep a team together. Three seniors -- Tony Skinn, Lamar Butler and Jai Lewis -- led the Patriots into the Final Four. That was the case four years ago when Maryland, with seniors Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter and Byron Mouton, won the championship.

Butler, who played high school basketball at Oxon Hill, had looks from schools bigger than Jim Larranaga's Patriots. But he joined forces with the school that showed him the most attention.

"A lot of kids who go to public school get overlooked by the major schools," said Billy Lanier, who coached Butler at Oxon Hill. "When the kids go to the summer camps run by the shoe companies [Nike, Adidas, Reebok], some get ordained as great players. Others don't. It's political. That's what happened with Butler. He was put on the back burner by some bigger schools. He wasn't judged on talent but reputation.

"He went to George Mason with the same type of kids as him and they all got better."

Commentator John Thompson, the former Georgetown coach, said the Patriots' success might inspire some recruits to commit earlier to mid-majors such as George Mason rather than wait for bigger schools to offer them a scholarship. But Thompson does not believe the landscape of college recruiting will change. "All the big schools saw the Mason kids and said, 'We don't want 'em.' "

In general, Thompson said, George Mason's success might increase pressure on Larranaga's peers, whose bosses will take note of the Patriots and say, "If they can do it, you can do it.' "

In Boston tonight, the surprising Maryland women's team, with its 32-4 record, goes against North Carolina. It's a Final Four semifinal no one expected in Coach Brenda Frese's fourth season in College Park.

Interest in Maryland's team has built throughout the season, but still gets nowhere near the attention paid to men's basketball. Still, Frese put a team on the court that was exciting, and like the George Mason men, appreciative of whatever notice and coverage came its way.

Kristi Toliver, Shay Doron, Crystal Langhorne, Laura Harper, Marissa Coleman and Jade Perry have combined to make this the most formidable women's team in College Park in nearly two decades. "It's a special team," said Frese, who came to Maryland after one season at Minnesota and has been the target of some unfair barbs from jealous competitors. Frese's predecessor, Chris Weller, coached the team for 27 years, compiling a 499-286 record, including two NCAA Final Fours. She created a foundation for Frese to build upon -- beginning when women's coaches had offices the size of broom closets and budgets barely able to buy the broom.

Corner Kicks

· D.C. United, one of the mainstays of Major League Soccer in its 10-year history, opens its season today at RFK Stadium against the New York Red Bulls (formerly the MetroStars) with high hopes. Club President Kevin Payne, the perennial optimist, believes the team will be sold in the near future to local investors, contend for a fifth championship and in our lifetime play in a new soccer stadium in Southeast's Poplar Point. "We're young, but have the makings of a good team," he said. Of course, the feature attraction, Freddy Adu, enters his third pro season nearing his 17th birthday. "Freddy will be a contributor," Payne said. "But it's hard on him, with all the hype surrounding his turning professional" three years ago.

U.S. team coach Bruce Arena continues to caution against expecting too much from Adu, whom Arena brought into his camp this winter for a look. "Just remember his age," Arena said.

· The Wizards winning three of the first six games on their current road trip bodes well for their finishing the season on a high note. One of the keys to the recent success has been the play of center Etan Thomas, who replaced Brendan Haywood this week and played well against Golden State (four points, five rebounds) and Sacramento (12 points, eight rebounds). "I'm happy to be part of this now," Thomas said this week. "We have scorers; that's not my role."

· Dave Kindred, who back in the day used to write an excellent column for The Post, has written a wonderful book on the relationship between Muhammad Ali and the late Howard Cosell. It's called "Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship." Free Press is the publisher, at $27, and if you're not satisfied Feinstein will refund your money from the profits of his forthcoming book on George Mason titled "The Last Patriot."

Have a comment or question? Reach me attalkback@washpost.com.