I have this photo of me In a baseball jacket of the Nationals and I am posing next to two mannequins, and the meme of it might be: “Nats fans feel like dummies.”
Last Monday the team traded away its super-duper star as well as its great first baseman for a collection of lesser players. Juan Soto And Josh Bell were put in a deal to leave Nationals Park and the team and go to the San Diego Padres. I thought of another one liner: “All Padres fans out west cheer for great new players, while this padre cries tears.”

It was 2017 as I came here to Rez church during which time the Nats had great young players like Harper, Rendon, Soto, Strasburg and Turner, and some veteran stars. We won a lot of ballgames and the future was baseball bright. Then the Nats even won a World Series in 2019. Going to Nats Park to watching the team in person was great, and I even had a free parking space near the stadium in those times! But times do change.

On this past Sunday July 29 I went with a parishioner to a Nats game, which turned out to be the swan song for Soto and Bell, but it was a nice crowd last Sunday. We were wishful that our generational-talent star Soto would be kept by the team. Soto was signed up through the 2024 season end with us–we could enjoy 3 Summers of him on our side. But the rumors were all about that he was going. I thought of the Hall and Oates song hit–Say It Isn’t So! By Monday afternoon Soto was gone and traded. I supposed that the Lerner owners were too embarrassed of his turning down their lucrative offer to stay past 2024 for 440mil.  They saw him as a trading chip now. Gone.

But really now—any hope for the Nats will be off for a few years. The fans will thin out. There won’t be a buzz in the ballpark anymore for home fans. I will still go to games from time to time (premier seats and Geico garage parking suddenly available and for low prices!), but times are changed. The Nats will join the Commanders in irrevelancy in DC.

The days of big money to the best ball players is soooooooooooo out of hand. Soto turned down an offer around $440 million, so jacked up by his sports agent Scott Boras.  We also really Beforehand had lost All Stars Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and the others to money matters. Our young stars want top dollar and there’s no loyalty to team ball and home town fans. Only our Ryan Zimmerman player stuck with us all his years. God bless him. (And he still got a decent salary.)

And—get this, the Sunday readings last weekend were all about greed! How about that!
Hey–I don’t exempt the owners from my tirade–they seek to sell the team for $2 billion and cut out. Thanks a lot.

And the readings for daily mass this week are from Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. Poor Jeremiah saw the Israelites going downhill fast and he prayed to God: Will there ever be a good time again for His covenant people?” On the Wednesday reading at mass, the prophecy of Jeremiah has his answer from The Lord. “it shall all be rebuilt.”  I quipped in my homily, well–The Lord gave the faithful remnant their hope, but what for us National fans?

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