One day, one way or another, the Washington Nationals’ 2013 season was going to come to an end, and, with it, the tenure of retiring manager Davey Johnson. In my reveries, I had audaciously dared to hope that Johnson, who had piloted my hometown Mets to an improbable World Series championship in 1986, would be able to point the Nationals all the way to October glory, but as we all have known for some time, a place in post-season play was not to be. Today, the season is over for the Nats, and Davey is hanging up his cap for good.

The accepted wisdom is that the Nationals just couldn’t handle the pressure of being the putative front-runner when the season began. In fact, the pitching roster proved to be not as indomitable as predicted. Even when the rotation was firing on all cylinders, the run support was erratic. Crucial errors in the field proved costly. None of the foregoing, however, should detract from some stellar leading performances: Jordan Zimmermann’s won-loss record, Denard Span’s hitting streak, or Jayson Werth’s batting average (Yes, Virginia, Werth was worth it).

It wasn’t until the second half of the season that the Nationals began to hit their stride. I was at Nationals Park the Friday of their final home-stand, hosting the Miami Marlins. By then their chance of a wild-card berth was already so slim that it was being couched in the calculi of “magic numbers” and “mathematical elimination.”  On that evening, Zimmermann pitched a complete game, allowing only two hits and striking out nine batters. Werth (with a double) and Span (a stand-up triple) contributed to a seven-run sixth inning. Bryce Harper burned rubber on the bases (the guy has got an extra gear). The visiting Marlins looked like, well, fish out of water. The curtain call was Nationals baseball the way it should have been all season long. The fans showed gratitude.

To Davey Johnson: thanks for the many memories. To Nats fans: our day will come. (Confidential to Joe Girardi: we’ll keep the clubhouse doors open.)