Well, it would help if they didn't hold off on ticket sales until March 8th. Didn't pretty much force anyone interested in going to opening day and gettting decent seats from having to buy multigame ticket packages and then charge an arm and a leg for pretty much all seats except the very worst.

If Omar Vizquel makes the Blue Jays roster he will be the only major leaguer who was alive the last time there was a winning team in D.C.
(Also applies to if Jamie Moyer makes the Rockies roster)

(Arthur Rhodes and Mariano Rivera were born shortly after the 1969 World Series)
(Matt Stairs and Tim Wakefield have retired)

Boswell has been around D.C. for a long time, but you don't have to look back to the days of the Senators to appreciate what could happen this year.

As an ex-pat D.C. native I think many who have followed the Nationals since 2005 will equate this season as the first which allows them to raise their heads above water and breathe, really breathe, for the first time. The inaugural 2005 season was a mirage that tricked us, the intervening years were pretty hellish in both on- and off-field comedy and tragedy ("Natinals" jerseys, fire chief prohibiting fireworks, generally crappy play, etc.) making the Nats a laughing-stock.

The optimism approaching the 2012 season seems spiced with more than just the usual Spring Training hopes. The Nats front office staff appear less likely than ever to shoot themselves in the foot, then figure out how to stick a second fork in their remaining good eye. This is a new feeling for Nats fans. It might not be justified, ultimately, but some projections have them better or much better than .500 this season. Pinch me.