On November 4, 2008, the United States made history by voting Barack Obama, the first African American, as president of the country. Throughout his campaign, Obama insisted he was the candidate for change, a man who would rid Washington of corruption and failure the past eight years. People may analyze his first hundred days in office and debate his exit strategy in Iraq or his proposed economic stimulus package; however, there is one part of town I believe he has surely failed.

Located along the Anacostia River and just south on Capitol St. is a place where America’s Pastime goes to die, a place where the biggest joke in professional sports calls home. This place of course is Nationals Park. Its current dwellers, the Washington Nationals, have turned their luxurious $611 million stadium into a graveyard for local fans and a stomping ground for opposing teams. The 2009 Washington Nationals aren’t bad, they aren’t terrible, they are simply the worst team to ever put on a uniform (Correct spelling optional).

I know this may be a bold statement, seeing as the Major League Baseball season is merely three weeks old. But this year’s version of the Nationals makes the Detroit Lions of 2008, the Philadelphia 76ers of 1972, and the Washington Capitals of 1974 look like respectable franchises. It’s a sad day for an American sports fan, when he has to admit that Canad and the city of Montreal have a good eye for baseball talent, or in the Nats case, lack thereof. Does anyone know the French expression for ‘we told you so’? In order to thoroughly pay homage to a franchise who has shamed the game like few others, here are list of reasons (the short list) I have come up with that, in a nutshell, explain why you can blame the Washington Nationals for polluting the nation’s capital with the worst brand of baseball and community relations seen in the modern era of professional sports.

Reason 1:

On-Field Success: It’s a bad omen I guess to have former President Bush open your inaugural game with the first pitch, and since that glorious April night back in 2005, the Nationals approval rating dropped in the nation’s capital as steadily as his did. In 2005, the Nationals posted a respectable .500 record, but finished last in the division despite being 19 games over .500 half-way through the season. The 2006 year held promise with Livan Hernandez and Ramon Ortiz anchoring the pitching staff, along with Alfonso Soriano and Jose Guillen carrying the load on offense. Nonetheless, they had the lowest winning percentage of any team versus their division, and once again found themselves in the National League East basement, finishing 20 games under five hundred.

2007 got off to a great start for the team, as they lost Guillen, Soriano, and the top four starters from their 71 win team. They set a record that season. Unfortunately, it was a record they set in spring training as they invited an astonishing thirty-six pitchers to camp. They saw their first four starters in their new-look rotation go down by early May, and relied on the arms of Jason Simontacchi, Micah Bowie, and Mike Bacsik, who coming into the year had combined for less than 20 wins in their career. (Don Sutton, the Nationals color commentator, had more wins than that in one season with the Dodgers in 1976) The team finished much the way people expected, sixteen games under five hundred and 4th in the NL East.

And then came last year, as they once again serenaded the start of the season and the opening of a new ballpark with a George W. Bush first pitch, and proceeded to fall flat on their face just as he did in his final year of presidency. They finished dead last in the National League with only 59 wins, were out of contention by the beginning of May. And the biggest crowd to gather at the multi-million dollar new ballpark wasn’t there to watch a baseball game, rather to experience mass with Pope Benedict XVI.

Reason 2:

Public Relations: If you haven’t heard by now outfielder Elijah Dukes, is making big headlines. Of course, not for any on-field contribution (he’s on pace to strikeout 162 times) but for making an appearance at the Great Falls Little League get together. It turns out Dukes, who has been known for his legal problems in the past, has worked diligently to amend his public image, and chose to shake every hand of every parent and kid who attended. What a guy right. (Side note: he was paid five hundred dollars for the appearance.)

Anyways, Manny Acta, the Nats Manager, was not pleased with Dukes missing the first five minutes of pre-game stretching, so he scratched Dukes from the lineup and fined him five hundred dollars. The Nationals, who have gotten off to a 3-11 start, had an opportunity to save face by defending their player, and cite his willingness to attend an event for kids even on game day. But as bad as their on-field play has been, it’s their off-field image that needs the real makeover. The front office sided with Acta, and the Great Falls Little League felt so bad that they raised the money to cover the fine. Said one 11-year-old when hearing of the story, “We were just really horrified by that, so our first thought was we want to raise the money in the community to pay that fine. We just think it’s appalling.” How many times have you ever heard a baseball team’s actions described as appalling from a child?

The week only got worse for the Nationals and their fans. A rain delay during the club’s rare win over the Braves, caused fans to miss their train back home, because the Metro’s operating hours had concluded for the day. This usually isn’t an issue, because fans typically leave directly after the conclusion of the ballgame’s only nightly highlight: the Presidents’ Run. However, the bill per hour to keep the Metro open is miniscule for a major league franchise estimated at $27,000 dollars, but it is one the Nationals have reportedly refused to pay. Fortunately for fans (who have filled the ballpark on average this season to only 38 percent of its capacity), DC’s Deputy Mayor said the city will cover the charge if the issue arises again. Just another expense for taxpayers thanks to the good ole’ Nationals.

Reason 3:

Lack of Identity: It is hard to believe a team that finished last in the National League, could go down, but this year’s version of the Nationals appears to be defying logic. If an MLB worse 4-13 start, blowing three straight ninth inning leads, or having Odalis Perez (who owns a lifetime 4.46 ERA) refuse to join the club this spring seemed to spell bad news for the club, nothing tops last Friday night’s game against the Marlins, in which its two star players, Ryan Zimmerman and Adam “my desire for winning is” Dunn, were adorned in their home white uniforms with NATIONALS spelled without the O. It’s one thing to have no identity because you began your season with five starters with a combined era over 5.00, or because after an extra-inning loss you swap your major league bullpen with your AAA affiliate’s bullpen, but when your own seamstress has no idea who you even are, that says all you need to know about this organization and team.

The reasons are endless for why this team, in my opinion, will go down as the worst of all time. We tend to measure the best and worst of sports purely by statistics and overall standings. And while you will surely find the Nationals at the bottom of these categories come September, it is the overall disregard for their fans, their city, and the integrity of the game that makes them the odious subject of this article (Even Donald Sterling laughs when he turns on the nightly baseball highlights on ESPN). They may present themselves as one of the thirty-two franchises competing for a World Series crown this year, but let’s begin the coronation now for a title they have already won in my books this season: The Worst Franchise in Professional Sports.

Sorry Obama, but even you couldn’t change an organization that’s not worth saving.

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Dave Dulberg is, was, and always will be a die-hard Cardinals fan. He wears so much Cardinal’s paraphernalia he’s often asked if he gets paid for advertising. Dulberg is an undergraduate at the University of Southern California, and hosts the weekly National Sports Show on KSCR radio.

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