Biggest losers?

Futility weighing down Nationals

June 23, 2009|Adam Kilgore, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON - The comparisons, charts, and breathless what-pace-are-they-on updates crop up with greater and greater frequency. The Washington Nationals say they pay no attention when people contrast their current season with the New York Mets of 1962, the worst team in baseball’s modern era. They may have a point: The Nationals fashioned a season-high four-game winning streak over the weekend, and a couple of similar spasms of adequacy would save them from infamy.

Even if the Nationals don’t lose more than the ’62 Mets, they still might craft a legacy for their unique pairing of ghastly baseball and darkly comedic sideshows. Plenty of teams lose bundles of games. Only the 2009 Washington Nationals saw their bombastic general manager resign during spring training, played part of one game not televised locally, and sent their franchise player on to the field wearing a uniform with the team name misspelled.

The Red Sox today begin a three-game series with the Nationals, a floundering team and franchise becoming more and more defined by its failures. Team president Stan Kasten believes the franchise is headed upward, and said last weekend the Nationals are “a lot closer than people would think if they just looked at our record so far.’’ But the losses this season have already wrought poor attendance, dismal television ratings, and reports - so far unfounded - that manager Manny Acta will be fired.

The losses have also brought those historical side-by-sides with the ’62 Mets. The Mets’ 40-120 record is likely safe. The Nationals have stabilized their implosive bullpen and their youthful starting rotation is gathering momentum. Still, the ’62 Mets were 19-48 after 67 games. The Nationals are 20-47, even after taking two of three from both the Yankees and the Blue Jays last week.

“The record is there,’’ Acta said. “That’s what we compare with. If you don’t want it to bother you, you’ve got to start winning more games. All the negativity that is surrounding us, we have brought it upon ourselves.’’

How did it come to this? Five years ago, the city celebrated when baseball returned to Washington after 33 years and promptly contended for half a season. Last season, the Nationals opened their glistening, $611 million ballpark. This spring training, Acta believed he had the best lineup in his three seasons.

That promise dissolved immediately. A scandal centered around a player’s fake identity and an alleged skimming of signing bonuses for Dominican players hovered over the team in February and eventually cost general manager Jim Bowden and his assistant Jose Rijo their jobs. The episode forced the Nationals to uproot their Dominican operations and placed a dark cloud over the season that hasn’t left.

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