You may have heard: some team called the Redskins plays their season opener this weekend. It seems as though that team has some sort of local following, so attention may start to shift away from baseball in the region soon.

(Ahh, sarcasm: the sweet sustaining humor for those sick enough to still be reading – and writing – Nats posts this far into a lost year.)

It’s a shame. If things had gone slightly differently for the team this year – just slightly differently – the Nats would be right in the thick of a playoff race and have the city abuzz.

Seriously. Don’t laugh.

In baseball, the difference between contention and the cellar is much smaller than other sports. It’s not the NFL; there’s no baseball equivalent of a 2-14 team. Every team wins at least 50 games, and every team loses at least 50. It’s the middle 60 games that separate the prime rib from the hamburger. An extra win or two a month would’ve put the Nats even with San Diego, Philly, and Florida atop the wild card race. That’s 10 wins over 139 games played. A healthy John Patterson (or even Brian Lawrence) could have made a huge difference.

Had that occurred, had the Nats managed to hang on in the wide open NL Wild Card race this long, than what occurred in the last homestand at RFK would have been amazing. Instead of just an interesting distraction and a historical footnote, DC could have witnessed one of the most dramatic weeks in it’s baseball history. It’s all in the context.

Photo by Flickr user Scott Ableman