A faceless crew

When he dropped in for a bite to eat at the downtown ESPN Zone a couple of weeks ago, Esteban Loaiza wasn’t looking for any outlandishly special treatment, just the usual consideration afforded professional athletes at such places. He is, after all, a starting pitcher for the Washington Nationals and he is having a pretty good year.

“I went to talk to the manager to see if he could get me a table,” Loaiza said. “And he didn’t know who I was. I told him I was one of the players from the Nationals.”

Loaiza, who two nights later would beat Pedro Martinez and the New York Mets, said the manager responded with an “OK.” Except the way Loaiza mimicked it, it was a drawn out “Ohhhhhhhkay” that indicated a slight degree of skepticism. The restaurant is helping the fans get to know the players better by scheduling five Q&A; and autograph sessions during the season. Still, Loaiza was somewhat surprised. “I can’t believe they don’t know that many of the guys,” he said.

Neither do a lot of other people. The playoff-contending Nationals might be the talk of the town, if not all of baseball, but they remain a mostly anonymous bunch in the public eye. Some, like manager Frank Robinson and outfielder Brad Wilkerson, are frequently noticed. But overall, the fans’ lack of personal familiarity stands in contrast to the manner in which the area has embraced the club.

“I get recognized more on the road than here,” Loaiza said.

Granted, it’s still early. The Nationals just got here. Yet at least for now, considering the media and political big shots — including the president — who attend the games, this is one team whose fans are more familiar than the players.

Meanwhile, up the road at the ESPN Zone in Baltimore, “it’s completely different when the Orioles visit,” said Bonnie Downing, who oversees both sites as the regional marketing director. She said Miguel Tejada, the Orioles’ All-Star shortstop, requires a security detail when he comes in because he gets swamped by fans. Even outfielder Larry Bigbie, a part-time starter, gets attention.

“The locals recognize the local players,” Downing said.

Not here. Not yet. Closer Chad Cordero had a superb first half of the season and made the All-Star team, but when he walks around Georgetown, he might as well be another tourist. He has been recognized only a few times.

“When I go out I don’t have my hat on, so nobody knows what I look like. I have the hat pulled down so low,” said Cordero, whose flat-brimmed, low-riding hat has become a trademark.

Fans seem to know Wilkerson, who probably is the Nationals’ most exposed player. Mainly, it stems from those unrelenting bank commercials that seem to air 15 times a game. Before the season, Wilkerson did a funny bit for “This Week in Baseball,” in which he went down to the Mall wearing a vintage Senators jersey and asked people if they knew who he was. Most did not.

Since then, his visibility has increased. “I’ve noticed it a little more since the bank commercial,” he said. “A lot of fans stop and say hello and introduce themselves to me.”

Robinson not only has a Hall of Fame playing career to supplement his visibility, he gets more face time than any player because of the dugout shots on television. He said he frequently gets stopped walking down the street, at the supermarket and pumping gas, and hears nothing but compliments.

That happened when he played, but this is different.

“They’re not telling me, ‘nice going’ because I got a base hit,” he said. “They’re telling me ‘nice going’ because of what the players did on the field.”

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