The Nationals Take the 2019 World Series

By MIRIAM ZUO ‘20

For the first time in franchise history, the Washington Nationals are the World Series champions. Champagne bottles filled the locker room, Nationals players paraded through the streets of Washington D.C., and baseball fans across the country celebrated this historic first– all baseball fans except, perhaps, for fans of the other team: the Houston Astros. A week after their triumphant Game 7 victory, baseball pundits still aren’t finished extolling the virtues of the Nationals roster and its management. 

Yet, the Nationals’ path to the World Series trophy was all but inevitable. The first fifty games of the reason resulted in a record of nineteen wins and thirty-one losses. The team was all but written off, and Nationals fans relentlessly criticized Dave Martinez, the team’s manager. But baseball seasons are long, and they are rich with opportunities for improvement in the rankings. By the end of the season, the Nationals had steadily climbed up to clinch a Wild Card berth against the Milwaukee Brewers. Despite initially trailing, the Nationals won that game 4-3, ensuring that they would advance to the division series. For the next week or so, the Nationals seemed unstoppable, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in four games and beating the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League pennant.

On October 22nd, the Astros and Nationals kicked off the World Series in Houston’s Minute Maid Stadium. After winning Game 1 and Game 2, the latter in a blowout 12-3 win, the Nationals were positioned favorably as they headed back to Nationals Park in D.C. There, fans packed into the stadium, tremendously excited to watch their team accomplish their postseason slogan: Finish the Fight. They were probably also eager to participate in the ‘Baby Shark’ phenomena that has recently taken over the Nationals fanbase (if you haven’t seen 50,000 people singing along to the song in various degrees of costume, I encourage you to search it up on YouTube). But then, the Astros won both games in D.C., tying up the World Series. Upon returning to Houston, the Astros won Game 5; within the span of three days, the tide had turned, and, at 3-2, the Astros were only one win away from their second World Series title in three years. 

Playing with their backs to the wall, the Nationals tied up the series with a 7-2 win in Game 6. At every stage of their season, they’ve trailed behind -- first in the beginning of the season, then in the Wild Card game, the National League Division Series, and the World Series. But time and time again, the Nationals defy the pundits and the odds. In Game 7, with the World Series trophy on the line, the Nationals were losing to the Astros for the majority of the game. But after Houston pitchers Zack Greinke and Will Harris gave up three runs in the seventh inning, the Nationals had pulled ahead once again. They held onto their tenuous lead, extending it in the eighth and ninth innings. Around midnight, they recorded the final out of the 2019 season. The Nationals had won the World Series trophy.

Image courtesy of nytimes.com