IT WAS A GAME OF FIRSTS for the Washington Nationals. Here Washington’s Brad Wilkerson takes a cut in the first at-bat of Opening Day. Wilkerson blooped a hit into shallow right field for the club’s first hit since relocating to the District. Monday was also the Nationals’ first loss, as they fell 8-4 to the Phillies. (News-Press photo)

But not this Monday. We were way up high, there was a bone-chilling wind, what sun there was was disappearing, and the game was out of reach by the sixth inning. Usually the perfect ingredients for a smart decision to cut out early, beat the traffic, and drive the 145 miles back in time to catch all of the NCAA championship men's basketball game.

No way. I clutched my scorecard even tighter. I was determined to manufacture something of historic value out of an historic day.

Yes, there was the first ever game, the first ever at-bat, the first ever hit, the first ever base runner, the first ever put out error, the first ever error, the first ever home run and a lot more first evers of a more obscure nature.

Reporters wrote about them, announcers talked about them. But I have them written down by hand exactly as they happened in my scorecard.

It could be worth $30 or so on E-Bay in a few years. But, naturally, it won't be for sale. The plan is to take it, my ticket stub, the printed box score in the next day's paper, and some snapshots I took and put them under a frame to display in my den.

In a decade, in two decades and longer, the names that appear on that scorecard and in that box score will have a special place in Nationals and baseball history, no matter which ones went on to glory, or to oblivion even within a few weeks.

"Whatever happened to....?" will be the way countless comments begin among those who will peruse my framed scorecard and other stuff.

I have to hand it to the Philly organization. It was their opening day in only their team's second season in the brand-spanking new Citizens Bank Stadium. But they deferred to the special occasion of the Nationals first-ever game in a very generous way, allowing Del Unser, who played with the old Washington Senators in their last season in 1971, to throw out the first ball.

But also, they provided special Opening Day memorabilia that included the Washington Nationals in the logo. They gave out free rally towels that marked the date and both the teams competing. There were T-shirts with the same thing, and the latest memento fad, a beanie bear with the same information. It will be hard to cram the beanie bear into my frame, but the other stuff will have to be included.

By the way, thanks go to my friend Mike Diener, who accompanied me to the game, for the ticket.

Dear friends, I do not write this to gloat. But to those of you who've made your plans to attend the first ever Nationals home game next week, the special joy of doing all of what I have just described lies ahead of you. That game will be every bit as special as the one this Monday was.

For you creative ones, you will probably think of other ways to mark the occasion for the eons, like getting a player autograph or, best of all, snagging a foul ball.

All this rolled into one make baseball the greatest game of all, and I still can't believe we actually now have our very own team.