The Washington Nationals are admittedly excited to move into the brand new Nationals Park on the banks of the Anacostia River, but shortstop Christian Guzman let his enthusiasm show before their season opener against Atlanta in the ballpark.
When asked by a reporter before the game about the Nationals' chances of making the play-offs this year, Guzman fervently responded, "I'm calling shotgun on first place in the NL East right now!"
"Last year, [Philadelphia shortstop] Jimmy Rollins called it for his Phillies, and look what happened," said Guzman, a lifetime .263 hitter. "The Mets almost won the division before remembering that Rollins called shotgun, and they gave them the division."
"Plus Odalis Perez is our opening day starter," added Guzman. "[New York's] Johan Santana and [Philadelphia's] Cole Hamels have nothing on my man 'O.'"
When told that in fact Mets centerfielder Carlos Beltran declared that the Mets were the team to beat in the division earlier this spring, Guzman responded, "Oh, well, I didn't hear that. I guess second place is OK, too. Technically you call shotgun for the passenger's seat, so that's like second place, anyway."
There were others on the team who were happy to move into Nationals Park. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was even excited about the upper deck seats.
"Even in the cheap seats you get great views of the Capitol Building, Washington Monument and even the National Cathedral way off in the distance. It has great views to distract fans while we get crushed by the 29 other teams in the league," Zimmerman said.
Centerfielder Lastings Milledge tried to sell the high-definition scoreboard in right field.
"You'll be able to spot the exact moment when I lose the ball in the sun and I'm forced to cover my head in self-protection," Milledge said.
In other Nationals news, Nick Johnson was named the starting first baseman over Dmitri Young. When asked why he chose Johnson, who missed all of the 2007 season with a broken leg, over Young, a two time all-star who had a career-high .320 batting average last year, manager Manny Acta responded.
"Well, he played with the Yankees, so he must be good," Acta said. "I don't think it's any coincidence that the Red Sox broke the curse of the 'Bambino' the year after Johnson left the Bronx. This [29-year-old] kid is special."
After last night's game to open Nationals Park, the Nats head on a six-game road trip to Philadelphia and St. Louis this week and face the Phillies tonight at 7:05 p.m.
