Brian Lester, 41, of Reston, stood outside the center field entrance at Nationals Park about two hours before the first pitch Tuesday, throwing a tennis ball with one of his sons as they waited for the gates to open.
Mr. Lester had heard just hours earlier that the Nationals had announced the trade of starting second baseman Daniel Murphy, who hit .300 or better in each of his three seasons in the District.
But he didn’t know the Nationals had also dealt slugger Matt Adams — effectively giving up on making the postseason this year.