For Nationals Pitcher, It's a Brand New Day

Glimmers of hope among recurring gloom. That was the state of the Washington Nationals during their final seasons in Montreal. There were star players: Vladimir Guerrero, Orlando Cabrera, Bartolo Colon, Javier Vazquez, but they left. There were flirtations with the National League Wild Card in 2002, but those dreams died. All the team was left with was the reality of financial restrictions and the promise that Major League Baseball would try to find them a new permanent home. Glimmers of hope, then disappointment.

Until that new home was found, it seemed it was a cycle the team would repeat annually.

But all that is behind them now. This is a new year in a new city. A U.S. city filled with adoring fans. And for promising 26-year-old pitcher Zach Day and the Nationals, they hope the United States will live up to its legendary billing as a land of opportunity.

The last two years Day has seemed to mimic his team’s vacillations between success and frustration. In 2003, the 6-foot-4 right-handed sinkerballer looked to be on track for a break out season. Then a rash of injuries, culminating with a torn rotator cuff, knocked him off track. In 2004, Day faced more disappointment. Shoulder tendonitis forced him to miss two starts in July, and in August, Day broke the middle finger on his pitching hand while attempting to bunt against the Marlins. All of this misfortune culminated in a 5-10 season on the mound.

The past few years have been very tough on both the young pitcher and the team. Day is reticent to say the relocation process that had his team jetting to Puerto Rico for 20 games last season, while hovering in perpetual limbo regarding their permanent home was anything but “tough.” But how could the experience have been anything short of dreadful for a young pitcher who claims to thrive off excited crowds? In Montreal, the word “crowd” can only be used loosely.

On average, empty seats outnumbered fans four to one at Olympic Stadium, the National’s former home. Rare was the roaring throng in Montreal, where attendance topped just 748,550 for the entire season, by far the lowest total in the league. Every other team in the Majors averaged more than double Montreal’s attendance of 9,356 per game, with Tampa Bay (16,139 per game) the lone exception.

“If they talked loud enough, you could hear conversations in the other dugout,” says Washington Nationals starting pitcher Zach Day, “The problem is that there’s no one there, so it echoes for a long time.”

During the course of the team’s final season in Montreal, Olympic Stadium bore more of a resemblance to a mausoleum than a ball field. That’s why at this time last year, the mood at Spring Training was fittingly somber.

“We took it as professionally as we could,” Day says. “We weren’t given a choice in anything, so we just tried to go out and win games.” This season everything has changed. There are the new surroundings in D.C., obviously, but there is also the swarm of national media and legions of D.C.-area fans traveling down to Viera, Florida to get their first glimpse of their new team at Spring Training. Rather than watching the exodus of teammates continue as in recent off-seasons, this year the Nationals are welcoming talented new acquisitions Jose Guillen, Vinny Castilla and Cristian Guzman to camp. Back in the District, the ticket sales have skyrocketed past 1.5 million already, doubling the season total from Montreal.

“There’s a really good vibe in camp right now,” Day says. “It’s upbeat. There’s a lot more attention as far as media goes, and lots of new enthusiastic fans.”

The stage is set for a rebirth for this franchise, and once again Day figures to parallel the fortunes of his team. Depending how Spring Training shakes out, he could land as high as third in the Nationals’ rotation behind Livan Hernandez and free agent-signee Esteban Loaiza. Day should benefit from RFK’s natural grass, instead of Olympic Stadium’s Astroturf, which will help slow down ground balls. And he is finally freed of Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Puerto Rico, where his ERA ballooned to a whopping 6.52, compared to 3.65 at Olympic Stadium. Add to that a much-improved lineup that almost certainly will improve Day’s run support (an ML-worst 2.47 last year), and this could be the breakout season Day was on track for in 2003.

There have been rumblings out of camp that Day could be moved to the bullpen to help keep him healthy, but right now he’s not concerning himself with that.

“They haven’t told me too much. I just hope they give me a slot in the rotation,” Day says. “I’m just going to try to stay healthy and keep my finger out of the way while I’m bunting.”

There will certainly be bumps in the road, and there will be challenges off the field as well. Most of the Nationals players have not even been to D.C. before, let alone spent significant time there. There is the challenge of finding somewhere to live (Day and his wife Megan have looked in Alexandria and Georgetown but most of the players and their families have not even begun the search yet) and replacing restaurants like Weinstein’s with The Palm and trading the shops on St. Laurent with the designer retailers on M St. in Georgetown. The odd quirks of Montreal will be replaced by those of Washington.

“I asked the cab driver if it was $8.50 for every ride, even if it’s a block,” Zach says of his first experience in the District a month ago. “I didn’t want to be getting taken already. Down in Puerto Rico you made your own fare up and then negotiated. I wasn’t sure if that’s what it was like here.”

And perhaps even a challenge of adapting to their newfound popularity.

“The first time I was recognized in Montreal was in a hamburger joint, two years after I started playing there,” Day says. “It was pretty shocking. In general it was pretty unusual that someone would recognize you. There was no advertising, no marketing. If [fans] didn’t go to games, it was tough.”

But players who were forced to play 20 games in on a Spanish-speaking island and the rest of their home schedule in a French-speaking province shouldn’t have too much trouble adapting to the D.C. culture. Catcher Brian Schneider is already organizing an outing to watch LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Wizards. That ought to help get Day more familiar with the local sports scene.

“I can name you maybe one or two players on the Wizards, but the hockey team, forget it,” says Day, who has attended only one NBA game and one hockey game in his life, preferring to watch college football and basketball including his alma mater the University of Cincinnati. But that’s just the practical side of the relocation. On the baseball side, the business side, there is pure excitement that practically radiates from Day when he talks about the move. “I’m looking forward to the fans,” Day says. “You wouldn’t believe how much that helps us out performance-wise, just having the support behind us and getting our adrenaline going. It’s our job to get up for the game, but with only 2- or 3,000 fans there, it’s tough.”

Now, with all of the traveling to Puerto Rico done and the relocation debate behind them, Day and his teammates will finally have the opportunity they have craved — a full season with one home stadium in front of more than a million fans. And maybe this positive new environment will turn those glimmers of hope from Montreal into a successful opening season in Washington, D.C.

Mike Hume may be emailed at mhume@fcnp.com