Very occasionally, Washington D.C. feels like a small town. When the parents of the baseball team's star first baseman send a letter to the local paper thanking the fans for their support of their son, that qualifies as one of those occasions.
Following the premature end of Washington's season, Dave and Patty LaRoche of Fort Scott, Kansas sent the following letter to The Washington Post.
Washington Nationals' organization, you are a class act. Your dedication to our military is unlike any we ever have seen, and the effort you put toward making the playoffs memorable cannot be described.
Watching your fans behave with such dignity when the Nats' dreams of extending their season came to an end Friday night demonstrated that they, too, are among the elite of this game. There was no booing, nothing thrown on the field.
They simply stood and applauded. Some even remained afterward to thank the players as they left the parking lot. Thank you, Nationals owners, employees and fans, for a night we will never forget.
Aw, that's actually kind of sweet. Dave and Patty's son earned the fans' applause in 2012, playing in 154 regular season games and finishing with 33 home runs, 100 RBI, and an OPS of .853, his highest since 2009. The Nats have an exclusive window to negotiate with the free agent until five days after the conclusion of the World Series.