The 2005 Washington Nationals: Major League Baseball Returns to the Capital »

Here is the story of the 2005 Washington Nationals. Told from a fan's perspective, the narrative begins inside RFK on opening day, expressing the simple pleasures of baseball that 34 years couldn't erase. As the team took one series after another, baseball fans quickly forgot that many on the roster had ever played to empty seats in Montreal. Descriptive prose covers each game, from the crack of Brad Wilkerson's bat to Livan Hernandez's eight-inning outings.

Urban planner Ted Leavengood lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland. His work has appeared in Elysian Fields Quarterly.