Sports Talk: Short Changed

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THE SCENE ON THE SIDEWALK outside RFK Stadium on Tuesday night was not wholly unlike a hundred others being played out around the park that night.

A young boy, maybe 10 years old, decked out in a Nationals jersey and cap pounded the mitt on his left hand and implored his father to keep up as they made their way along Oklahoma Avenue toward the gates. But the replica jersey on the boy's back was not that of Ryan Zimmerman or Nick Johnson, the team's better-known stars. It was the less popular No. 15 jersey of shortstop Cristian Guzman.

Such sights were rare in 2005 when Guzman, in his first season with the club, was more likely to be booed than cheered as his batting average lingered below .200 well into September; or in 2006, which Guzman missed entirely following shoulder surgery.

He even missed 30 games at the start of this season after injuring himself on opening day. Since then, he's had a short memory and a hot bat. Guzman will return to Minnesota tonight to take on his former team, bringing with him a .319 batting average, well above the .260 career mark he brought into this season.

Though he doesn't like to be reminded of the unpleasant beginning to his Washington tenure, Guzman isn't the type to let such bad publicity bother him.

"I don't think he pays much attention to the criticism he gets," manager Manny Acta said. "But I wanted to make sure that I kept him upbeat and positive because I've seen him before. The player that the Twins had before, that's the player that we wanted over here, and that's the player we're seeing right now."

That Guzman, who declined to be interviewed, is finally a vital member of the club is refreshing for his teammates, many of whom empathized with his plight of the last two seasons.

"He's kind of a quiet guy when a lot of people are around," Zimmerman said. "When he's around us, he's real confident. He loves to play the game. Now that he's healthy and playing 100 percent, I think we're seeing what he can do."

On Tuesday, the shortstop wasted little time rewarding that young fan in Guzman regalia. Striding to the plate Tuesday in the first inning, he promptly belted a ground-rule double over the right-center field wall. A night later, he started a ninth-inning rally with a single and scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch.

"He's healthy, and he's happy," Acta said. "He's playing terrific."

Written by Express contributor Derek Turner
Photo by Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post