Contrary to the appearance of his 11-year ownership of the Texas Rangers, Tom Hicks hasn’t always made wrong-headed decisions. For example, 16 months ago Hicks hired Nolan Ryan as the club president, and it’s no coincidence that the Rangers have flourished in the past two seasons and currently lead the American League West with the league’s best won-lost record.

But true to Hicks’ more prevalent record for making wrong-headed decisions, he is stepping all over his team’s refreshing success by undermining it financially and preparing to sell it.

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Washington experienced a sweep last November when the Democrats won the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The political sweep, though, only offered a glimpse of what was to come in the nation’s capital. Its baseball team has turned Washington into Sweep City.

The Nationals, who easily have the major leagues’ worst won-lost record (13-35 through Saturday), have incurred nearly half of their losses in sweeps of three and four-game series. Their own division has been particularly rough on them, accounting for all five major-league leading sweeps they have suffered: two by Florida and one each by Philadelphia (four games), Atlanta and New York.

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The judge entered the courtroom at 15 minutes after 2 o’clock in the afternoon, took her seat at the bench and told the assembled lawyers and assorted other interested parties, including those from Major League Baseball, “I know nothing about this except what the common layperson reads in The New York Times.”

Frank Coonelly, who was one of the baseball lawyers at the hearing, laughed the other day when he was asked about the judge’s comment. “I do remember that,” he said. And did he remember what he thought, if anything? “I figured we were in trouble,” he said.

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