Happy Hour 02/06: The Nationals' Pastime

Fellow sports bloggers (and baseball fans, in general) might find Barry Svrluga's feature in today's Washington Post interesting. The article profiles the many blogs that have been created in devotion to the Washington Nationals - the "Natosphere," if you will - which seems especially surprising given the short history of the team in D.C.

The two blogs prominently featured in the article are Capitol Punishment (a favorite of mine) and Curly W, both of which have caught the attention of the home team.

The e-mail popped in, and Chris Needham took a minute to digest it. The sender was easily identifiable: Stan Kasten is the president of the Washington Nationals, the baseball team about which Needham comments almost daily via his blog.

Needham had just published an entry titled "StanSpeak," in which he took the liberty of "translating" Kasten's words for the club's fan base, a smart-alecky but smart look at what the man who runs the club might really be thinking.

Needham opened the e-mail cautiously. He knows about this?

Since that initial e-mail, Kasten has corresponded with Needham again. There's something of a punchline to that second conversation, however, so I won't ruin it for you.

The Nationals' blog and fansite community continues to grow impressively. "15 blogs about a two-year-old team," according to Curly W. As you might imagine, a strong sense of community has developed - something several of us Tigers bloggers have had "DIBS" on for quite a while. (And as we know, the Natosphere ain't the only sports blog community getting sit-downs with team presidents.)

The revolution continues... and it will probably be posted on a sports blog near you.