D.C. or Hollywood?
What if I told you… a team lost the face of their franchise to a division rival?
What if I told you… that same team started 19–31?
What if I told you… they were down late in an elimination game with the best reliever in baseball on the mound, then again against the best pitcher of a generation and the best team in the National League?
What if I told you… they lost three straight games at home and were on the brink of elimination as they headed on the road, against the American League’s best?
What if I told you… that team won the World Series?
Putting it all into words makes it seem like a too-good-to-be-true fairytale story fit only for Hollywood. Well, it turns out it was a story fit for our nation’s capital as well.
The story of the 2019 Washington Nationals, for me, begins on August 12, 2018. That night, in Wrigley Field, the Nationals battled the first-place Chicago Cubs. The 2018 Nationals had been able to just barely tread water enough to keep some hope alive for a late season playoff chase, but that night, everything came crashing down. Cubs’ pinch-hitter David Bote sending a two-out walk-off grand slam over the center field wall and into the Chicago night sky, with his team down 3–0, put the nail in the coffin of the 2018 Washington Nationals.
Then came the offseason; one of the most hyped-up our game has ever seen. The Nationals had selected young phenom and generational talent Bryce Harper with the first overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft. Eight years later, Harper was set to become a free agent for the first time in his big league career. Although sizable offers were made, it seemed evident that this was the end of Bryce Harper in our nation’s capital. A long, grueling process culminated on the 28th of February when Bryce Harper signed a record (at the time) contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. The signing of left-handed starting pitcher Patrick Corbin gave some room for excitement for Nationals fans but the loss of Harper was unprecedented. The hole left by this departure could have certainly been catastrophic to the Nationals, but it wasn’t.
Fast forward to May; the Nationals found themselves at 19–31, sitting above only the lowly Miami Marlins. Rumors swirled about what was next, was this the end of Davey Martinez’s short run as Manager? How would this team begin to look towards the future, haunted by their former franchise player? Given how 2018 went, this team could very well have given in and folded under their horrid start, but they didn’t; in fact, they thrived. From that day forward, the Nationals put up the league’s second-best record throughout the remainder of the season (74–38). Climbing out of such an insurmountable hole is quite the daunting task and Washington likely would not have been able to do so without what they were able to accomplish in September, winning their final eight games and ten of their last eleven to secure a Wild Card spot.
October 1st, Nationals Park, Washington D.C.; the Nationals trail the Milwaukee Brewers 3–1 after seven innings. Brewers’ manager Craig Counsell decided this would be the time to deploy his greatest weapon; Josh Hader. Chances of survival seemed bleak for Washington, but if any team could overcome such circumstances, it was the Nationals. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for Hader, aside from one hit-by-pitch as he struck out two of the first three he faced, but then came the Nats magic. The Nationals first ever draft pick in D.C., Ryan Zimmerman sparked the rally with a bloop single into center. Follow that up with a walk by Anthony Rendon and the Nats were in business. 20 year old phenom Juan Soto then delivered with the biggest hit of his career (to this point) as he sent a liner into right-field allowing a pair of runs to score, tying the game. The ball, however, deflected off the glove of Brewers’ outfielder Trent Grisham and trickled past him, allowing yet another run, the go-ahead run to score, sending Nationals Park into pandemonium.
Fast forward another week or so and the Nationals, coming off a huge Game 4 win at home, were set to square off with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 5th and final time in the Division Series. Following a dominant performance by starter Walker Buehler, Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts turned to former multi-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw with two runners on with two out in the 7th, and just a two run lead. Kershaw, like Hader had done one week prior, struck out the first batter he faced, thus ending the inning. With Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto due up, the 8th inning seemed as if it was the Nationals best chance to strike and get back in the game; and strike they did. Rendon sent the second pitch he saw from Kershaw into the leftfield seats, sending Juan Soto to the plate as the tying run. Soto didn’t wait long either, as he crushed the first pitch he saw into right-centerfield and just like that, with back-to-back homeruns, the NLDS, tied at two games apiece, was tied at three in its decisive fifth game. Two innings later, with the bases loaded and nobody out, fourteen year veteran Howie Kendrick stepped to the plate with a chance to cement his place in Washington Nationals history. He did just that, as he sent a 97 mph fastball from Joe Kelly over the wall in dead centerfield. Reminiscent of the blast David Bote hit one year prior, essentially ending the Nationals’ 2018 season, Howie Kendrick ended the Dodgers’ season, catapulting his squad into the National League Championship Series.
After a clean sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS, the Nationals were set up with a date with the heavily-favored Houston Astros. Washington, shockingly, jumped out to a 2–0 series lead by taking the first two games at Houston’s Minute Maid Park. This, however, was followed by the Astros quickly pivoting the series by taking three of their own on the road, at Nationals Park. Headed back to Houston for Game 6, with Justin Verlander waiting, many people pronounced the Washington Nationals dead. The Nationals were able to get to Verlander just enough to set up a late-game offensive explosion against the Houston bullpen en route to a 7–2 win. Never in the history of baseball had the road team won six games in the same World Series, until now. After being a late scratch from his expected Game 5 start due to neck issues, Nationals ace and 3-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer rose from the ashes and took the ball in Game 7. In no way did Scherzer have his best stuff, but he was able to work through five productive innings and exit with his team down 2–0. Meanwhile, Astros starter Zack Greinke, who had been acquired just before the July 31st trade deadline, was dealing. Greinke had allowed just one hit through six shutout innings before surrendering a homerun (to Rendon) and a walk (to Soto) back-to-back. Astros manager AJ Hinch pulled the trigger and removed Greinke, in favor of reliever Will Harris. That’s when Howie Kendrick struck again, sending a flyball down the rightfield line and off the foul pole, giving the Nationals a 3–2 lead. The Nationals, once again down late, built a rally and pulled in front yet again. Offseason acquisition Patrick Corbin, in relief, delivered three brilliant shutout innings holding the Astros down and setting up his offense to be able to add a trio of insurance runs.
And so, the Washington Nationals won the first World Series in franchise history.
Ultimately, it was the stability of Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg in the pitching staff, the veteran presence and clutch hits provided by Ryan Zimmerman and Howie Kendrick, the big-time performances by superstars Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto and the overall tenacious, no-quit attitude throughout the roster that brought this story to light. This team could have folded after the departure of Bryce Harper or after starting 19–31. This team could have folded with their backs against the wall facing Josh Hader or Clayton Kershaw, or facing a pair of 100+ win teams. But they didn’t… they stayed in the fight and ultimately, they won the fight.
Congratulations to the Washington Nationals!
We will never forget your story and this unreal ride you took us on.
- Tyler Benenati; Sports Throne Contributor
