Yes, Strasburg didn't make All-Star. But consider how far we've come.

Opening Day Nats program, at the fam's house as we beach-prepped:

Father's Day! Interleague play! White Sox! Nat losing streak! Hot day!

The Nats shipped John Lannan to AA after the game. Can't win 'em all.

Father and sons! I'm glad Rob made it down from New York for a day. Mom joined us shortly after. We all want Lannan to be himself again.

Saluting military behind the plate is becoming a great Nats' tradition. I want to point it out because we don't have many traditions. Between this, the President's Race and other stuff, we're going the right way.

Also, we couldn't stop watching Ozzie Guillen. Here, arguing a call.

For Father's Day, Teddy skipped the running and took it easy.

Question: Where's Screech's father? His mom showed up for Mother's Day, but Sunday got no appearance from any Mr. Screech Senior.

Did the Nats make up for the 11-0 Mother's Day debacle of '08? Maybe.

Sunday afternoon was a sunny but chilly time at the ballpark, with our Nats playing the Marlins. We sat in a section of the stadium new to us, the 200-level, and saw more fouls near us than we'd ever seen before. None hit my mom, so that made it a successful Mother's Day. When the swirling breeze got too frigid, we ducked into the cushy lounge. When the game held close at the end, we and everyone in the park got loud.

Livan Hernandez pitched well for us, and I was glad to capture his gut.

Two surprises. 1: Screech surprised his mother. 2: He has a mother!

She appeared to be early Screech in make-up, a wig and a dress.

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The best part of the Redskins picking up Donovan McNabb is that we rescued a happy man from an unhappy city. So, thank you, Onion. "I'd like to thank all the Eagles fans who were always there to demand the whole world from me every week, who expected me to do everything with almost nothing, and who blamed me for the team's every failure." Exactly. We may have high expectations here in Washington, but we're not angry lunatic haters. We embrace courage, effort and redemption.

But I'm not pleased these days with the Nationals. I had a chance to go this Friday and passed, still stinging from Opening Day. The team's catering to Phillies' fans was ridiculous. Not only did they dominate in the stands, but the PA had a special announcement to help them find their buses after the game. And they accounted for a good portion of the Jumbotron's welcomes. I've never been to Yankee Stadium, but I bet they don't help the Boston fans get home safely. Except maybe in the first or second inning or later if the buses are driving off a pier.

We can and should do better. Let Teddy Win makes two good points:

1) "… victory cures all ills." True. But…

2) Waits for food are now inexcusable. "You really want to cut these people some slack since it's the beginning of the season, but 2 years of experience tells us not to chalk this up to "working the bugs out." As in previous years, we saw people reach the front of the line and still have to wait 5 minutes for simple food orders while a more-than-capacity staff stood around waiting for the next guy to fill the order."

I admired the Yankees and their fans this week for their outpouring of respect for the departed-but-visiting World Series MVP Hideki Matsui, a hero. Welcoming a visiting friend is different than welcoming a visitor.

Because the Washington Nationals have to start somewhere.

(Part one is here.)

The president's entrance.

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Because the Washington Nationals have to start somewhere.

The arrival by Metro.

The walk down Half Street.

The barbershop quartet.

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The Nats' luck appears to be turning — if just on the green merch front. MLB has released its annual St. Patrick's Day line of green apparel, and the Nats get two hats. But do you know how big this is? This is huge.

Let's review.

In 2007, we got just one hat. In 2008, we got nothing. In 2009, we got nothing and were among even fewer teams to get nothing. It was your standard Nats losing streak. But now something has happened. We made a few decent signings. And we have Stephen Strasburg.

Two hats! Sure, we're not the Red Sox with 31 items, the Yankees with 30 (that hooligan hat is pretty good), the Cubs with 28, the Mets with 24, the Phillies with 20, or the Cards with 17. But the Orioles, Padres, Pirates, Rangers, Reds, Rockies, and Royals only get an item each. The Angels, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Giants, Marlins, and Rays get zilch.

As good luck goes, we're now officially middle of the pack.

For the second Nats night in a row, Teddy didn't run in the President's Race. No sign of him all night. Possibly a hammy. On the field, the Nats blew a late lead, stayed hitless until the 6th and didn't strike out any Dodger til late. Off the field, the stands heard a test of the Emergency Broadcast System, and the Kiss Cam ended in disaster when a young woman held her popcorn box between her and the young man next to her, and the box-score crowd of 18,635 saw her lips: "He's my boss."

So, when Chico Harlan wrote his lede, he didn't know the half of it.

Chances are, the Washington Nationals won't transform henceforth into a 99-loss juggernaut, finishing their season with 12 consecutive wins, avoiding the indignity of triple digits. One more loss, and they've got 100 of them. Perhaps it's inevitable. Perhaps it's been inevitable since April.

But if the Nationals somehow go crazy, not losing again until 2010, it'll be no less improbable than Wednesday night's 5-4 victory over Los Angeles — a celebration of microscopic odds, turned right.

Zimmerman hit a three-run shot to break the no-hitter and tie things. Manny in left and Kemp in center stood unsure as a long fly dropped in between them. ("Ramirez said that he was telling Kemp that Cristian Guzman, who was on first, would be tagging up but Kemp thought he was calling him off the ball," LAT reported.) We won in the bottom of the ninth after a fiery Justin Maxwell steal and an Ethier drop in right.

Last game of the year for me.

Manny.

Torre and trainer walk with an injured Orlando Husdon.

Screech celebrates the win.

Deadspin compiles a photo gallery, "The 2009 Washington Nationals: A Season Of Bigger Failure." (Gallery description: "Since Pierre L'Enfant is no longer around to accurately convey the majesty of their ineptitude, this humble blog will attempt to do it with pretty pictures.") How in the world had I missed the exploding hot dogs and terrorism allegations? But Deadspin did miss the intentional balk that ended the Acta era.

1. Nationals (Senators), red, angry giant Washington dude.

2. Nationals (Senators), red Capitol dome, navy and white.
3. Orioles, 1901 black "O" and nothing else.
4. White Sox, "Go-Go Sox" navy and white.
5. Tigers, a logo I'd completely forgotten about.
6. Pirates, striped, well-known but seemingly should be everywhere.

Not on the best list – super-offensive Braves retro logo.