Five straight winning seasons is no small feat for Nationals

Lost amid the chaos that was last night's game, from Stephen Strasburg's injury to an 11-inning contest that didn't end until 12:41 a.m., was this little nugget: The Nationals, by virtue of their 5-4 victory over the Braves, earned their 82nd win of the year.

Yes, that clinches a winning record in 2016. And it means this franchise has now had five consecutive winning seasons.

This may not seem all that important at the moment, and it's easy to say this means nothing at all for a franchise that has yet to prove it can win anything of actual consequence come October.

But let's not totally gloss over this fact, either, because if you're able to step back and view this from 30,000 feet in the air and consider the long-term picture, it's actually quite remarkable.

The Nationals are one of only four major league clubs that will likely be able to claim they've had a winning record in each of the last five seasons. The Dodgers, at 79-60, are close to locking it up. The Cardinals and Yankees, each 73-65, have a bit more work to do but are on track.

But that's the entire list. Nationals, Dodgers, Cardinals, Yankees. Everybody else has failed to win 82 games at least once in the last five years, with the Orioles coming oh-so-close to joining the group after their 81-81 performance last season.

Which isn't to say the Nationals haven't had some disappointing seasons during this stretch. Everybody agrees the underachieving 2013 and 2015 clubs were disappointments. But for this franchise during this stretch, 86- and 83-win seasons were considered disappointments.

You're living a very comfortable life when that's the case.

Now consider how remarkable all of this is in the grander scope of baseball history as we have come to know it in our fair city. The first seven seasons of Nationals baseball were mostly a train wreck, with a couple of encouraging moments (81-81 in 2005, 80-81 in 2011) along the way but disaster (59-102 in 2008, 59-103 in 2009) far more prevalent.

And anyone who knows the history of baseball in D.C. prior to that knows success was as elusive as a greased pig running wild in the streets.

The expansion Senators (1961-71) had a winning record once, when they went 86-76 under manager Ted Williams in 1969. The original Senators (1901-60) were a powerhouse in the Walter Johnson years of the '20s and '30s but downright stunk after that.

Here's the key stat: Prior to this stretch by the Nationals, Washington baseball teams had a winning record only five times in 45 seasons, only once in the most recent 25 seasons.

They've now done it five years in a row.

Is that the ultimate goal? Should anyone be content with 82 wins? No chance. The Nationals need to accomplish far greater things for this era to be remembered as anything more than a nice little run.

But let me ask you this: If, on opening day 2012 someone asked if you'd take five consecutive winning seasons, who among you would honestly have said no thanks?