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Nationals notebook Date published: 6/19/2007 By TODD JACOBSON BY TODD JACOBSON WASHINGTON--There were plenty of handshakes and hugs yesterday before Nationals first baseman Dmitri Young faced the team that released him late last year, but perhaps no part of his reunion was as telling as the conversation Young had with Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "The best thing that could've ever happened to him was when we released him. I told him that today," Leyland said. "He had time to get his life straightened out. He did. I said you know you're hitting now the way I thought you were gonna hit for me last year." Young has clearly come a long way since he was released by the Tigers last September. He entered yesterday's game hitting a team-high .333 with seven homers and 34 RBIs, but when Detroit released him Sept. 6, his was a long list of off-the-field transgressions that included an arrest for domestic abuse, a battle with alcohol problems and a month-long stay in an alcohol treatment facility. On the field, he struggled with injuries and hit a career-low .250 in 48 games. But as he prepared to face his former team yesterday, he downplayed the reunion, saying he had nothing to prove. "I'm past that," Young said. "My performance does the talking for that." "It's not like he's been carrying a grudge or anything or trying to unleash anything on these guys," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "As far as I'm concerned and he's concerned, it's just going to be another game today." His performance has allowed him to quickly become a leader in the Nationals' clubhouse, even if he might only remain in Washington for a few more weeks. Nationals officials made it clear when Young signed a minor league deal during spring training that he would be an asset around the trading deadline. Young's only lament? He was released by the Tigers less than a month before Detroit began its postseason run, and he wasn't able to play in the World Series, though his former teammates voted him a full share of the playoff bonus money and he received an American League Championship Series ring earlier this season.
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