Even for the woeful Washington Nationals, some embarrassing stories have happy endings.
The misspelled "Natinals" jersey that Adam Dunn wore in a game a few weeks back was auctioned off by the team at its annual Dream Foundation Gala.
Some lucky sap ponied up $8,000 for the right to Dunn's sweat stains.
At least it went for a good cause. Proceeds go to the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation.
The organization's two centerpiece projects are a pediatric diabetes complex at Children's Hospital, and a Youth Baseball Academy in the District.
The Academy is modeled on MLB's urban youth academy in Los Angeles, which trains and develops baseball skills through camps, clinics and leagues.
The Natinals jersey made the team the butt of numerous jokes -- which the team's lousy play only exacerbated.
Both Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman wore the jerseys on April 17 when their jersey supplier sent them incorrectly sewn ones. Nobody noticed 'til the cameras caught the error halfway through the game.
Oops.
Majestic Athletic apologized for the error, but it was too little too late for the Nats -- who had already been featured and laughed at on the Today Show.
Still, in the end, the error produced a good result.
And besides, this team certainly has plenty of bigger things to be embarrassed about.
Chris Needham used to write Capitol Punishment. He doesn't have $8,000 to spend on someone else's use clothing.
