Nostalgia is a form of depression. The cliche has its roots in truth, but in this case, it’s a reminder of joy. The 2005 Washington Nationals were an exciting team that brought the national game back to the nation’s capital after an unconscionable 34 year absence. It didn’t seem real back then — when my then fiancee went to the first exhibition game in RFK Stadium or on Opening Day in Philadelphia a few days later when two friends and I went practically on a whim. When they started the season 50-31, it was so incredible that a 31-50 finish couldn’t dim the appreciation for a magical first season.
I blogged about the new Nats almost daily; something I would continue for several years. Now, it’s more sporadic. However, in celebration of a decade of D.C. baseball and that incredible 2005 season, I have been sharing those original blog posts in three places:
my twitter account:
Follow @doubleuefwhy
Washington, D.C. Baseball History Facebook page
I’ll be linking to blog posts ten years after the events described in them happened which means 10 years minus 1 day in most cases.
Since these blog posts are 10 years old, there is going to be a lot of dead links being pointed at and that cannot be helped. Also, some of the blog posts got lost through migrations over the years and have been rebuilt. The good news is these new blog posts and really, all of them, are cleaned up a little bit and tagged better.
Oh and that’s not your imagination, that’s really the voice of John Chancellor reading them back to you in your head, just like he did for Ken Burns’ Baseball.
It took several years for me to get past the “I can’t believe we finally have a team” and think of all of this as normal. I think being able to share the Nats with my oldest son helped make it seem real in some respects. I’m so glad he and his younger brother get to grow up having a baseball team just a Metro ride (or eventually a bike ride) away.
Let’s hope that 2015 is a wonderful season for the Nats. I hope you’ll join me in remembering the 2005 one that was so unexpected.