The hard-hitting Dimitri Young, the Nats' first baseman who won Comeback Player of the Year in 2006, gave me the baseball cap. It was a gate giveaway I picked up when I attended a game at National's Park. I've got to say I'm proud to wear that baseball cap everywhere I go now. It draws all sorts of unexpected reactions from folks. Mostly I get friendly comments. There are multitudes of baseball fans around us.

This year with the lowly Nats finally in first place has sparked a lot of lively talk. A neighborhood lady with a New England accent (a Red Sox fan?) told me I have a good reason to wear the cap. Last week I got my junker car inspected, and the young counter guy struck up a conversation with me. He didn't remember the Washington, D.C. baseball team leaving twice (now the Twins and Rangers).

Sometimes in the winter, I forget I'm clad in the Nats cap. A stranger seemingly out of the blue will make a baseball comment. I'm too absent-minded or distracted (maybe I'm thinking about my work-in-progress novel!) to respond. Then I realize I'm displaying the Nats cap and speak up. It helps to build a community out there, always a good thing, I believe.