VIERA, Fla. - Stan Kasten wore a blue Washington Nationals cap as he watched batting practice one recent morning. A hardhat might have been more fitting.
The Nationals are a construction zone and Kasten, the club president, is the project foreman. He knows the job well. In 17 years as president of the Atlanta Braves, he oversaw that team's transformation from doormat to dynasty. He is working to bring a similar result to the nation's capital.
It won't happen overnight. But it can happen.
"I think Don Sutton put it best," said Kasten, recalling a conversation with the Hall of Fame pitcher who, after years of calling Braves games, has joined the Nationals' television broadcast team. "He said, 'I've seen this movie before, and it has a happy ending.' "
The early scenes might not be pretty, though. The Nationals finished in last place in the National League East last season, going 71-91. They have lost Alfonso Soriano, who had 46 homers and 95 RBIs, and their starting pitching, the most important element of any team, is patchwork at best.
Not that this has dampened the spirits of anyone around the team.
"It's night and day," said Ryan Zimmerman, 22, the third baseman and cornerstone of the building effort.
A year ago, the Nationals were beginning their fifth season as the orphans of baseball. Major League Baseball had purchased them for $120 million before the 2002 season, when they were the Montreal Expos. Under MLB's stewardship, the franchise was run on shoestring budgets and the farm system deteriorated. Every spring, the players were told they'd soon have a new owner, but the process took much longer than expected because MLB didn't want to sell the team until a plan for a new stadium was in place.
"It got to the point where we weren't even paying attention to it anymore," Zimmerman said.
Finally, last summer, MLB sold the team for $450 million to a group headed by Ted Lerner, a longtime D.C. businessman. A $611 million stadium project is underway in the Southwest part of the city. The stadium will open next season, with a backdrop of cherry blossoms just beyond the left-field wall.
"The former management team's mission was to keep the franchise competitive and get it ready for sale," said Kasten, an investor in the club. "Our mission is to take a franchise which is now owned by a family with deep roots in D.C. and build something that has long-term success and brings pride to the community for a long time."
