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Post by Old Badger on Oct 22, 2019 23:04:08 GMT -5
OK, I was just happy that the Nats at long last won their first NL pennant and were in the World Series. I was especially happy for Ryan Zimmerman, their first draft choice after the move to DC, who largely carried the team on his shoulders in the early years. And now they've won the first game, stealing a win in Houston over their ace, Gerrit Cole. Max Scherzer gets the win, despite a somewhat rocky start, and tomorrow the Nats send out Stephen Strasburg, who's been their hottest starter down the stretch. I was just happy enough to have the WS coming to DC, but suddenly I'm getting greedy to win the damned thing, lol!
GO NATS!
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Post by Old Badger on Oct 23, 2019 23:16:26 GMT -5
Game 2: Strasburg vs. Verlander. Couldn't ask for a better matchup on the mound. Somehow, each gave up 2 runs in the first, but then sailed through the next five innings unscathed. Who would have thought a Kurt Suzuki HR to lead off the 7th, itself hardly fatal for the Astros, would be the start of a 10-at bat inning with 6 runs scored to break the game wide open, knock Verlander out of the game, and allow Stras to take the rest of the night off? With three more in the 8th and 1 in the 9th, DC built a 10-run lead. Maldonado did give the local fans a thrill with a solo HR in the 9th, for a final of 12-3. Fox noted that 10 of 13 teams that have taken a 2-0 lead on the road in the WS have won, so by that metric the Nats have a better than 75 percent chance of winning the Series.
Amazingly, a team that started the season 19-31, and had sportswriters speculating on who would be traded away in a lost season, has now won 18 of its last 20 games (that's .900 for you math buffs), including the final 8 of the regular season and 10 of 12 in the post-season. Their only losses were to the Dodgers in games 1 and 3 of the NLCS. They're now on another 8-game winning streak. A Championship is tantalizingly close at this point. The DMV (DC, MD, VA) is abuzz.
GO NATS!
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Post by Old Badger on Oct 25, 2019 13:10:02 GMT -5
For decades people insisted DC is not a "baseball town". Actually, the problem has been that, except for the period 1912-33, during which they won three AL pennants (1924, -25, -33) and a World Series (1924), the teams put on the field were lousy. The joke about the club played off Henry Lee II's encomium about George Washington: "first is war, first in peace, and last in the American League." But since 2005, when the Expos were moved from Montreal to Washington, they've worked hard to put a winning team on the field. And now they're just two games short of winning the World Series. So, what's fan reaction been like? "As the number of curly-W caps on the Metro has steadily grown, so have the crowds at game-watching parties at D.C. bars, especially around Navy Yard and Yards Park. This is already one of the most vibrant areas in the city, with a mix of upscale restaurants, fast-casual eateries, waterfront bars, attractive outdoor parks and gleaming new condo buildings...'For home games, we’re very busy,' says Jeremy Gifford, the owner of Walters Sports Bar, located across N Street SE from the ballpark. 'For away games, we’ve been even busier.' And this weekend? 'We’re expecting to be at capacity starting at noon' on Friday, he says. 'We’ve been at capacity since Day One of the playoff run.' " link All over Metro DC it's the same story. Strangers greet each other on the street with "Go Nats!" I have been staying home, but I'll be out if we're ready for a 4th win.
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Post by Old Badger on Oct 29, 2019 22:46:35 GMT -5
What a strange Series! Six games in, six wins by the visitors. Strasburg pitched 8 1/3 strong innings, giving up 2 first-inning runs and five hits total. I was surprised he came back out to start the 9th, and surprised again when they relieved him after he got the first guy out. Hey, I don't make a living as a Major League manager, so...
This has been everything a WS should be, deserving of a seventh game. I just hope Scherzer can go and is up for it.
GO NATS!
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Post by Old Badger on Oct 31, 2019 1:55:41 GMT -5
Wow, what a finish to one of the strangest World Series I can remember. This is the first time ever that the visiting team won seven games in a Series, which is remarkable. It ended a World Series win drought that had lasted 95 years, about 34,700 days. Of course, DC had gone without a team at all for 33 seasons before the Montreal Expos, saved from contraction by a court decision keeping the Minnesota Twins franchise alive and a subsequent players' union contract, moved to Our Nation's Capital in 2005. I lived here through 21 of those team-less seasons, so really have appreciated this franchise from day one.
But the team DC inherited was one that had been left for dead by its previous owner, and then by the NL, which ran it for its final seasons in Canada, by which I mean ran it into the ground. It took the patience of the Lerner family, who own the franchise, and the hard work of President and General Manager Mike Rizzo, brought on board as Assistant GM in 2007, to build and nurture this team. At first it mostly led to frustration, winning the NL East title four times (2012, -14, -16, -17) only to fall in the Division Series each time. This year the Nats barely made it in, recovering from a 19-31 start to back in via the Wild Card game. Then the Nats faced five win-or-go-home games in the post-season and won every one of them, coming from behind each time. The whole saga is just unreal.
Two players I was particularly happy for: Ryan Zimmerman was the Nats' first draft pick in 2005, who had to serve as the Face of the Franchise in the early years when he was surrounded by some pretty bad teammates. It was terrific to see him finally get a chance to play in the WS as he nears the end of his career. And Stephen Strasburg, who was drafted in 2010 but spent much of his early career limited by arm injuries, only to become the first pitcher in the history of baseball to go 5-0 in post-season games, including that magnificent Game 6 gem that kept the Nats chances alive--and who was named the MVP of the Series. I had expected that and was pleased for him.
Today, the entire DC area is celebrating. The Caps finally won the Stanley Cup, the Mystics finally won the WNBA Championship, but in the biggest of them all, the Nats have won the World Series. I'm sure the parade date will be announced shortly, and I'll be there, with tens of thousands of others, shouting N-A-T-S NATS! NATS! NATS!
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Post by Old Badger on Nov 2, 2019 22:34:36 GMT -5
Spent a wonderful afternoon in crisp, sunny weather, standing at the intersection of Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues in downtown DC, joining the maybe 200,000 Nats fans welcoming the team and their trophy home. It was a joyful celebration, marred only slightly by five or six whack-jobs spouting pseudo-Christian hatred and carrying signs reading "Come to Jesus" and "Homos will burn in Hell" without the slightest sense of irony. I did tell the guy with the mic to "Shut the f*** up" when his amped voice was drowning out the official speeches, but eventually got far enough away to hear what was being said. It was a complete blast, even better than the parade for the Caps in 2017. Even people from the Canadian Embassy were out on the rooftop wearing Nationals red. Highlights (players in blue "Nationals" jackets, mostly; manager is smoking a cigar while lifting the trophy):
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