It comes as little comfort to justifiably disgruntled Red Sox fans, and perhaps only close readers of the sports pages are aware of it - and if they've been close readers for a long time, they probably don't believe it - but the Nationals clinched the first winning season by a Washington baseball team since 1969.
Or, as they say in the national capital's customary frame of reference, since Richard Nixon's first year in office.
After beating the Cubs Monday, the team's record stood at 82-52. At .612, they had the best record in baseball and a 6 1/2 game leader over the Braves in their division with 28 games left to play.
The Expos had moved from Montreal to Washington in 2005. To the joy of local headline writers, the team became the Nats. The Senators name had been steeped in tradition, mostly a losing one.
During the fall election season, politicians will unmercifully beat up on Washington; if the Nats keep going, it will be hard for the capital - many of whose citizens can't vote - to work up any interest in what the politicians are saying.
There's an old saying about Washington baseball: First in war, first in peace, least in the American League. That may have to be changed, to: First in war, first in peace, mildly competitive in the National League.
To Washingtonians, that has a certain encouraging ring to it. The rumbling you hear around New England may be the sound of Sox fans jumping on the Nats? bandwagon.
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