Tradition and Transience

Today Washington, DC, will host an Opening Day game for the first time in over 30 years, but as Matt Swenson of The Washington Post’s Express noted in the March 23rd edition, very few people have been talking about it. Too many people are looking towards 2008 when the new stadium will be completed rather than waiting to see what the team can accomplish in its last year at RFK. But the problem is not that the District buzz is less, but rather that it will never be the same as it is in New York and Boston, as Swenson mentions, simply because Nats’ fans are different. In many ways, they are very similar to their Opening Day opponents, the underappreciated, much-mocked Florida Marlins.

The Florida Marlins have been the butt of jokes for 15 years. From the moment they took the field in bright teal hats to the year they bought their championship, from the infamous firesale that followed to their second such dumping after another ring. The Marlins may not have established themselves as a team to reckon with in spite of their victories, but they have certainly put themselves on the map as the marquis team to be talked about in ways good, bad, and embarrassing. It’s a shame, really, because the Marlins have always had a lot going for them, but they’ve never been able to develop a diehard fan base. Rings, rookies of the year, no-hitters… none of it has held the attention span of South Floridians for longer than it takes a sunburn to fade. The reason? Transience. The Marlins are the victims of a mobile society. Few people who live in South Florida hail from there originally, and if they do, they’re no more than second generation. They bring their baseball allegiances along with their Brooklyn and Boston accents. Any town with a winning team eventually catches the fever, and the Marlins have been embraced by the residents of the isthmus every once in a while, but for many people who were raised with the likes of Mantle, Williams, and Robinson, they just can’t throw out that dusty old ballcap in favor of a new teal model.

The same problem that has plagued the Marlins could end up being the Nats’ biggest crisis. Washington, DC, is a city composed of people from other places. Like Miami, the District does boast a population whose family trees mirror the evolution of a city, but they are also joined by a large number of people who move in and out of the District with each shift in government. The city was addicted to the Nationals in 2005, but it was part novelty, part opportunity… opportunity, that is, to see everyone’s favorite teams from other cities. The Marlins bring the Mets, Dodgers, and Giants to town, along with an occasional visit from the Yankees or Red Sox. The Nats do the exact same thing for Washington, and in the 15 years since the Marlins threw their first pitch, little has changed, so the hope for the District is circumspect at best.

So when the Nats and Marlins meet on Opening Day this afternoon, two strong teams will meet to carry on the tradition of baseball, with neither club owning the support they deserve. As it turns out, it’s easy for people to move from place to place, but much harder for them to disown their baseball roots.