Like baseball managers, baseball arbitrators are hired to be fired. Shyam Das, whom the owners fired recently, is the Walter Alston of arbitrators. He held the position of baseball’s impartial arbitrator for 13 years, much longer than any of his predecessors.

Das’s dismissal, following his decision that had a significant impact on baseball’s testing program for performance-enhancing substances, was similar to the owners’ dismissals of previous arbitrators. They followed decisions that the owners didn’t like. Does that make the owners sore losers? Absolutely. Poor sports? For sure.

Das is a highly acclaimed arbitrator, well regarded among other arbitrators and even by people on baseball’s management side. But he committed the deadly sin of ruling against Major League Baseball in a major grievance, Ryan Braun’s appeal of his 50-game suspension for a positive P.E.D. test.

Neither Michael Weiner, the head of the union, nor Rob Manfred, the clubs’ chief labor executive, would comment on the Das dismissal. But a baseball official said Das was fired because Commissioner Bud Selig felt the Braun decision publicly embarrassed him. Selig did not return a call Wednesday seeking comment.

Das also did not return a call. His secretary said he doesn’t speak to reporters, not an unusual policy for arbitrators.

A union official expressed concern that the Das dismissal would send a message to Das’s potential successors that if they were considering overturning a drug suspension they would be fired.

Were Peter Seitz and Tom Roberts alive, they could have told Das what to expect. Both were fired as the impartial arbitrator after ruling against the owners in major cases. Roberts, in fact, was fired twice.

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New York Yankees fans, if not the Yankees themselves, became instantly distraught recently when Mariano Rivera, the team’s legendary closer, suffered a season-ending knee injury. Their sickened feeling grew even more anguished a few days later when his designated replacement, David Robertson, squandered a 1-0 lead over Tampa Bay and lost the game.

Obviously in 15 years as the Yankees’ unparalleled closer, Rivera spoiled the team and its fans. He was especially revered for his post-season work, which was significantly responsible for the Yankees’ World Series triumphs.

Without him, of course, the Yankees’ chances of reaching this year’s World Series are reduced. But does all have to be lost? Rivera might be irreplaceable, but why can’t he be replaced?

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The Redskins tend to dominate Washington’s sports coverage, and early April was no exception, as the team drafted last year’s electric Heisman winner, Robert Griffin III. Next on the calendar comes the NHL playoffs, wherein the Capitals have exceeded expectations and are currently locked in a struggle with the top-seeded New York Rangers in their quest to advance to the conference finals. It is an exciting time to be a Washington sports fan.

Unlike in past years, in which the thrilling spring season gave way to months of sports irrelevance as a city, this year’s summer downtime may finally be infused with fan enthusiasm and, more importantly, victories. The Nationals, sole occupier of the summer sports scene, have not had a winning season since moving to Washington in 2005 (they finished 81-81 the first year and have had losing seasons since), with last year marking only the second non-last place finish; however, this year’s version is much improved.

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