Das Capitol

Here are a few notes picked up from watching the away broadcast of tonight's 11-3 Sox victory over the Nationals. Always nice to get another angle (at least when you don't have to deal with Ron *$#@ing Singleton), especially when we're talking about a city that has to get worked up for a Sox visit, since they don't get to actually vote in Congress. (You know, I love you, DC.)

---The Nats are predicting that Thursday's game will be the highest attendance ever at the park. That includes the night they unveiled the new stadium.

---The Nationals brass was 'hoping' that the fan balance would be 50-50. They were expecting it to be more like 60-40. The District is abuzz with the Boston visit. Call anyone you know in DC. Everyone's talking about it, not just New England expats.

---This was the Aflac trivia tonight, and it was pretty crazy. What two pitchers have the all-time lowest ERAs through their first 3 full seasons? Nationals broadcaster Rob Dibble and Sox reliever Takashi Saito. Okay, who, in a million years, would have guessed that?

---Another piece of trivia: the Sox 9th inning catcher, Dusty Brown, was the 1052nd pick in the 2004 draft. And the Nationals guys were pretty damn excited for him getting in there. (Brown is currently listed on ESPN as making $0 this year. That can't be right, can it? Are the Sox taking volunteers? I'm going to DC.)

---Play-by-play man Bob Carpenter and color commentator Dibble had a lengthy discussion during the Sox eighth inning rally about the main differences they've seen in the Sox and the Yankees. (Remember, the Nats just took 2 out of 3 from the Yanks before Boston arrived. Not to mention the same from Toronto.) With the bases loaded and Jason Bay at the plate, Dibble said the following: 'The Sox are situational hitters. It seems like the Yankees pop out or strike out in this position because they're going for a grand slam.' What happened? A little bingle. The consensus between the broadcast team was that the Yankees just don't seem to play like a team, whereas the Sox, in their opinion, are filled with guys who 'play the game right' and enjoy doing it together. That was all said during a Sox rally, so take it with a grain of salt, but I still enjoyed hearing it from disinterested observers.

---A lot of questions are being asked about what the Nationals need to do to fill up that park on a more consistent basis. Only the Marlins and the Pirates are averaging a smaller attendance this year, apparently. It's early still in the team's DC history, but they've got to start building some momentum. They're in a great city, but in a way they're vulnerable in the same way the Florida teams are. DC is dominated by people who grew up somewhere else. Like Miami. Like Tampa. Let's hope they avoid the south Florida phenomenon, and get something more along the lines of that Redskins pride. It's a beautiful park and a big market. They just need to put together some consistent winning. There's gonna be a lot of pressure on Strasburg and, potentially, Bryce Harper, to build this into a marquee NL franchise.