The Hockey Stop

The clouds parted and the angelic face of baseball took the mound for the first time since Stephen Strasburg underwent Tommy John surgery and rehabbed his way back to the big leagues.

It was straight out of a Hollywood movie -- The Phenom had waited over a year to pitch a Major League Baseball game again and it looked like he might have to wait another day because the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee were washing the Washington area in rain. The forecast was a 90% chance of wet weather at the 7:05 p.m. start of the ball game. A lot of the 29,092 fans who bought tickets stayed home, but maybe half that number who braved the conditions, including myself, were witness to something special as the break in the rain lasted just long enough for Strasburg to pitch five scoreless innings, strike out four batters and hurl high heat in the upper 90s.

The game didn't have the same atmosphere the packed house at Nationals Park did when Strasburg made his Major League debut by fanning fourteen Pittsburgh Pirates on a sunny summer afternoon in June of 2010. It was way more low key but it was no less dramatic.

As I walked into Nats Park there was a swarm of fans around the bullpen snapping pictures of Strasburg warming up and analyzing his every move. The real special moment of the night was of course when Stras trotted to the mound from the bullpen for the first time since tearing his ulnar collateral ligament at Citizens Bank Park against the Phillies 382 days ago. He received a standing ovation. In fact, he received a lot of standing o's -- when he took the mound, pitched his first strike, got his first strike out, got a hit because of an errant throw to first base, got all the way around the bases and scored a run.

But let's be honest, Nats fans were just happy to have Stras wearing the red curly W hat again. That his stuff was as electric as before his surgery was a bonus and a relief. His five scoreless innings were an absolute pleasure to watch from thirty rows up along the first base line. The two hits he allowed barely made it out of the infield so he easily could have had a no hitter going when he reached the maximum pitch count of around 60 after five innings of work. That the Nats lost to the Dodgers 7-3 in a meaningless mid-September game between two non-contending teams was irrelevant.

This night was about one man and that was Stephen Strasburg. There was no guarantee Strasburg would be able to come back from Tommy John surgery. There was also no guarantee he would be back to his old form when he did come back. After seeing him in person tonight, I can say that Stephen Strasburg is even better than he was a year ago. He is physically stronger and mentally more mature. It's OK to get excited again about the most electric pitcher in Major League Baseball.

Here are more photos from this special night in the Nation's Capital:

Since moving back to Washington, D.C. this summer I've noticed something different in the air. No, it's not the stifling heat and humidity creating a natural sauna every time I step outside. Nor is it the pollen making me sneeze every five minutes.

There is a breeze beginning to blow into the Nation's Capital from places as far away as San Diego, Philadelphia and Kentucky. And it is refreshing the air in this city of perpetual losing sports franchises. There is a cautious optimism in the atmosphere. Some long-suffering D.C. sports fans are whispering that there could be a whole lot of winning right around the corner.

Is this what Boston felt like just before the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Revolution began to dominate?

I can only hope this city will savor some of the success that Boston achieved seemingly all at once.

Regardless, Capitals star Alex Ovechkin suddenly has some illustrious company stealing the local and national headlines in the form of Nationals pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg, new Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb and the Wizards' No. 1 draft pick John Wall.

The last time I visited D.C. was during the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and Ovechkin was still slightly behind President Barack Obama as the biggest star in D.C.

At the time the Capitals were the only winning franchise in town and even Washingtonians who mix up ice hockey with curling could get behind Ovi and the Caps. Dan Snyder was doing everything in his power to anger as many 'Skins fans as possible; Gilbert Arenas was waiting to serve his sentence in a halfway house for gun play in the Wizards locker room after the team's beloved anti-gun owner Abe Pollin had passed away; and the Nationals were coming off two 100-loss seasons in a row.

But my how times have changed in The District. Now in addition to Ovechkin apparel there are Strasburg shirts, McNabb sweaters and Wall jerseys for sale at City Sports next to the Verizon Center in the Gallery Place-Chinatown neighborhood.

And the banners lining the VC proclaim "John Wall: Game Changer." Ovechkin had to win the Hart trophy to nab the keys to the city, but all Wall had to do was arrive in D.C. for Mayor Adrien Fenty to hand him the keys.

Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has said that when one local sports team wins it is a rising tide that lifts all boats.

The Capitals, Wizards, Redskins and Nationals all still have a lot to prove and many challenges ahead to get to that next level.

But having leaders like Ovechkin, Strasburg, McNabb and Wall creates a collective excitement that I've never seen in Washington, D.C. before.

The talent that has arrived or will soon be arriving could create a perfect storm that turns the Nation's Capital into the center of the sports universe. Time will tell if all this talent translates into winning. But either way Washington sports fans finally have a lot to cheer for a change.

Whether or not the Washington Capitals have what it takes to win the Stanley Cup this year remains to be seen (Pens and Devils in the East and 'Hawks and Sharks in the West are tough tasks to say the least).

But Cup or not, the Capitals reached a significant milestone tonight in the history of the franchise -- their 5-1 home win against the Ducks was their eighth straight, which is the team's longest winning streak in 26 years.

There is still a lot of hockey left to play this year, including the Vancouver Winter Olympics, but right now the Capitals are the best team in the NHL, or at least the best team in the Eastern Conference. Washington is tied with Chicago and positioned only two points behind San Jose for the league points lead with 76.

All streaks must come to an end at some point, but for long-suffering Washington, D.C. sports fans (think Redskins, Wizards and Nationals) this is a moment to savor.

This lonely Caps fan in the City of Angels is definitely enjoying it.