Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
Friday, May 5, 2006, Washington Post

What a Difference an Owner Makes

Our long Nationals nightmare is over. Finally, Major League Baseball has picked a new owner for the Washington Nationals.

A group led by billionaire Theodore M. Lerner is buying the team for $450 million.

So, what's the big deal? What difference will it make to thousands of fans, including kids, whether the Nationals have an owner -- just like every other team?

I think it will make a big difference. Think about it this way: For the last 17 months, the people who owned the Nationals have been the other 29 major league teams.

Do you think that they really wanted to make decisions that would make the Nationals better -- and therefore maybe beat their own teams? That's pretty much against human nature. But now the Nats have an owner who will hire the people, spend the money and try new ideas that might make the team a playoff contender.

What are some changes we can expect?

The Nationals should become a better team. Don't expect things to happen overnight. The team will be run by Stan Kasten, who was president of the Atlanta Braves for 17 years. Look for Kasten and the Nationals to work on developing better players. That means drafting young players, bringing them along in the minor leagues and having them be stars for the Nats for many years. That's pretty much what Kasten did for the Braves with young stars including Andruw and Chipper Jones.

More Nationals games could be on television. That's definitely something that Nats fans want. Now that the Nationals have an owner, it seems likely that the cable TV fight that has kept most of the team's games off local TV will be resolved.

Going to games should be more fun. Lerner is the businessman behind the construction of shopping malls including White Flint in Montgomery County and Tysons Corner Center in Northern Virginia. He is likely to clean up dusty old RFK stadium, make tickets easier to buy and even improve the quality of the hot dogs at the ballpark.

Lerner also was at yesterday's groundbreaking for the new Nationals stadium, which is supposed to open in time for the 2008 season. "It will take a great deal of work and effort to get done, but it's possible to get it done," the 80-year-old Lerner said.

His comments were about building the stadium, but they also are true for building up the team. The Nationals are off to a rough start this season, but at least now they have an owner who can make sure that the W on their caps stands for winner as well as Washington.