"There are two distinct images I have from the 2003 World Series, the one that the Florida Marlins won against the New York Yankees.

Both involve Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez.

Both will mean something special for the Washington Nationals, who played their spring training home opener Saturday and hope to escape the NL East cellar and the 205 combined losses (worst in baseball) over the past two seasons.

Rodriguez, 38, might not be a leader on this Nationals team. He'll likely be the leader. Certainly, he'll be more than just the catcher for a young Nats' pitching staff.

And that's where those two distinct images from the 2003 World Series come in.

The first image I have occurred before Game 2, in the dank runway that led from the visiting clubhouse to the old Yankee Stadium field. As the Marlins were ready to take the field for warm-ups, rookie pitcher Dontrelle Willis was on his cell phone.

"Hey, get off the phone," Rodriguez told Willis.

Dontrelle raised a finger to the air.

"Give me a minute," he said.

Rodriguez leaned into Willis and with a measured voice not unlike a parent giving a child a final warning said, "Get off the phone -- now! We're here to work. We have a job to do."

Willis' phone snapped shut.

And that, boys and girls, is your definition of leadership.

I asked Pudge about that exchange from seven years ago when we recently chatted in the Nationals' spring training clubhouse. I didn't expect him to remember it, but he did.

"We had a job to do," he said, echoing almost the exact same words he said in 2003. "Everything has its time. That was not the time to be on the phone.""