These are, indeed, tough times to be a Nationals fan.
After completing a 3-7 road trip by getting shut out twice in four games and nearly no hit in Los Angeles, the Nats have the second-worst record in the National League. The team is losing games even when Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg turn in strong performances; the bullpen is in shambles, save for closer Sean Doolittle; and top hitter Anthony Rendon is still searching for his stroke after being activated from the injured list.
Even former manager Dusty Baker is weighing in, telling MLB Network radio that he still roots for the players, and sometimes wishes he still managed the team. It’s enough
to make you pine for the heady days of 2016 and 2017, when Baker was at the
helm and the Nats were well over .500 at this point of the season, on their way
to 90-plus wins and the postseason.
When your team is not playing well, it is easy to criticize the myriad things that go wrong in a given game, wish the manager would be fired, and think about blowing the whole thing up and starting over. But before you throw up your hands and write the season off as a loss, take some time to consider what’s has gotten the Nats into this mess, and what we as fans can take away as lessons.
Manager Davey Martinez promised that the team would focus in spring training on fundamentals, or the “little things” that win ballgames, and so far, the Nats have lost plenty of games because they’re not focusing on those “little things,” like running the bases properly, hustling to first on ground balls, and finding the strike zone at key points in the count. That’s a fair criticism, but it’s one that fans can learn from.
Fans posting on the D.C. Baseball Yesterday and Today Facebook page were challenged last week to find something positive in a game the Nats would lose 7-3. Sure enough, the post drew 33 comments from members of the group who could find something good in the throes of a four-game losing streak. Now it’s time to extend that challenge to other fans who are busy calling for Martinez’ job, demanding that promising rookies be benched or agitating for a fire sale to bring in some new blood.
During a long baseball season, teams have plenty of opportunities to ditch their bad habits and learn new ones. They start to focus on the fundamentals, doing the “little things” right, and soon hits turn into rallies, rallies turn into wins, and wins turn into streaks, and all of a sudden, baseball is fun again!
Even if the team isn’t winning, fans can make the game fun again by watching for, and celebrating, the little things, like Patrick Corbin’s and Scherzer’s pitching performances in the Nats’ two victories over the Dodgers, or even Strasburg’s in Sunday’s loss. Let’s be happy about Gerrardo Parra’s immediate impact on the team with his strong defense at first base, timely grand slam on Saturday night, and double to break up the no-hitter on Sunday. We can even appreciate extended at-bats by players who have looked lost at the plate.
This is not to suggest that we should all be Polyannas, cheering blindly for a losing team. The Nats do have their problems, and they may very well turn in a second straight sub-.500 season if they don’t correct those problems soon. But just as teams can slowly build winning streaks by developing winning habits, fans can start looking for positives, and soon those positives can add up as well, and the game becomes that much more enjoyable.
Above all, remember that this is a city that went more than three decades without a team after the 1971 season — and except for one season, 1969, suffered through many losing years on either end of that dark time.
Of course, we want to win division championships, postseason series and the World Series. But at the heart of it, we have to be fans of the game, fans who can appreciate whatever a team does well. We may not make it to October yet again, but by focusing on the “little things” that make baseball the best of all sports, we can make the game, and even a losing season, fun again.
