Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Nationals pitcher Livan Hernandez throws against the Diamondbacks. Hernandez picked up the win on Thursday in the team's home opener.

updated 1:19 a.m. ET April 15, 2005

WASHINGTON - It didn’t take long for this troupe of ex-Expos to figure out they weren’t in Montreal anymore.

There was the sellout crowd of 45,596, jumping in place to celebrate each of the Washington Nationals’ runs in a 5-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night, making ol’ RFK Stadium sway like it hadn’t for baseball in 34 years. There were the fireworks, before and after the game, and first place in the NL East.

And then there was the visit from the Commander in Chief.

President Bush walked into the Nationals’ clubhouse before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. He shook hands with each player, and stopped at veteran reliever Joey Eischen.

“Eischen, right?” said Bush, a former owner of the Texas Rangers.

“He remembered trading me,” Eischen said, his eyes wide. “That was pretty cool. I was some Single-A punk he got rid of to get a major league pitcher. It was gratifying.”

The whole evening just got better and better for the Nationals and their new fans, decked out in a sea of red caps with the same cursive “W” the Senators wore before leaving for Texas in 1971.

“It was amazing to see. Honestly, it was more than I expected. They lived and died with every pitch,” left fielder Brad Wilkerson said. “You know it’s going to be a great place to play.”

Baseball is all about getting home, and this was an all-day celebration of a team longing for stability and a city yearning for a tenant. The District lost two teams to other cities.

Baseball fans in Washington hadn’t been able to root, root, root for the home team in more than 12,000 days. And they made up for it Thursday.

They applauded the local high school band that opened the pregame ceremony about 1½ hours before the first pitch. They applauded the high notes in the national anthem. And the flyover by military jets. And the introductions of everyone associated with the Nationals, right down to the assistant clubhouse manager.

“It’s a good sports town. Y’all’s baseball fans never left. The baseball team did,” Eischen said.

Even the visitors took note of the raucous support.

“Us, as players, we’re excited not to be playing in Montreal,” Arizona outfielder Luis Gonzalez said. “We had what — 40,000 or 50,000 people tonight? If we had been there, they’d have had 2,000.”

Indeed, the Expos averaged fewer than 9,400 fans in 2004, the last of a trying few seasons in Canada. First, the team was destined to be folded. Then, it was forced to play some “home” games in Puerto Rico. Even when Major League Baseball — which owns the franchise — decided to shift the Expos to the District, it took drawn-out negotiations with the city council to solidify the estimated $581 million deal that includes a to-be-built stadium.

“I think of everything we went through,” commissioner Bud Selig said. “The turmoil, the travail — it was all worth it.”

More news

Tony Gutierrez / AP

More heroics from Hamilton

Josh Hamilton fights off illness to hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning, lifting the Texas Rangers to an 8-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Angels win as Pujols HR streak up to 3 games

SEATTLE (AP) - Albert Pujols hit a home run in his third straight game and pinch hitter Alberto Callaspo came through with a grand slam in the sixth inning to give the Los Angeles Angels a 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.

Headlines

• Label

Saltalamacchia's walkoff HR lifts Red Sox

Red Sox's Valentine calls out Rays' coaches

Teixeira hits 2 HRs as Yankees rout A's

HBT: Santana pitches first shutout in 2 years

Harper homers as Strasburg, Nats beat Braves

Buehrle, Marlins stay hot, beat Giants

Fielder's 4-hit game lifts Tigers over Twins

Fear of losing Montero leads D-backs to big deal