The Washington Nationals may be a few games under .500, but in the 14 times I went to Nats Park this year they went 8-6.  Clearly I’m a good person to have around.

The last visit of the season was yesterday, a 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in which I saw pitcher Chien-Ming Wang get his first Major League hit.

That was a milestone I actually saw three times this year in what was an eventful and extraordinarily fun season at the ballpark.  The most incredible moment by far was rookie pitcher Tom Milone belting a 3-run homer on the very first pitch of his first Major League at-bat — the eighth pitcher to ever do that.  In case that game needed a little more drama, Nats star Ryan Zimmerman won it in the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk-off single.  A post-game concert by one of my favorite bands, Lifehouse, was icing on the cake.

Late-game heroics were a common thread all season, as we watched Zimmerman end a game last month against the hated Philadelphia Phillies with a walk-off grand slam.  Michael Morse finished off our May 27 evening at the park with a walk-off home run as well — that’s three of our 14 games ending in walk-off wins.

That doesn’t count June 14, when the Nationals trailed 6-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.  Even with three more at-bats, it seemed like the Nats had no chance.  But they responded with six runs in the inning, scoring on a wild pitch to tie the game, and getting the eventual winning run when the Cardinals pitcher hit the Nationals batter with the bases loaded.

In July, the Nats scored a winning run against the Cubs on a late suicide squeeze play, which I unfortunately missed because I had to leave the game early to make it into work.

At another of our games, an opposing player hit a home run into the left field stands.  The fan who caught it threw it back onto the field — an impressive toss that made it all the way back to the infield.  Unfortunately for him, security was not as enthused and kicked him out.

Our second-to-last game had a few quirks, going 13 innings, and featuring both two ceremonial first pitches and two between-inning races between the president mascots.  Those mascot races this year also gave me the opportunity to see Teddy Roosevelt be tackled by a monkey and a leprechaun, and for human Jayson Werth to grab a win himself.

I can definitively say it was a very unmemorable year for pitcher John Lannan.  Except for opening day, I did not remember him starting a single one of our other games.  Well, apparently there were three others.  Better luck next year, John.

Here’s to 2012.