Man, I did not expect to have championship happiness so quickly since the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Title so do not expect this to be as long as that one.
Now I may be a Toronto Blue Jays fan first and foremost, but my second favorite team and my second favorite team has been the Washington Nationals ever since the Expos came down here to Washington DC, which area I live in. As such a team, I did not expect them to do well for a while and for a while, they didn't, but since I could watch their games thanks to hometown channels, I watched their games as much as I could when there were not other things that were happening at the same time. Like most teams that I really like (in case you may not have noticed, almost all of my favorite teams basically have no history before I followed them (the Blue Jays being the exception)), I enjoyed watching this team grow and in 2012, they won their first division. Unfortunately for years, up into this year, this team (when they made the playoffs), were always one and done.....and each one of those eliminations were EXTREMELY painful because some botch would happen that would cause this team to go home early.
And this was a year where we might have felt we were going to have a huge down year as the year before was such a sad year that our star player Bryce Harper (who became a free agent) decided to leave us for our rival Philadelphia Phillies (also hurts that I personally hate Philly sports fans) for money, although it didnt hurt like most star players leaving because we did already have a young prospect who was doing well at a younger age in Juan Soto. And we started out badly with a 19-31, when suddenly (and for reasons that will not be dissected here), we started to just do way better and that Phillies team that was doing better than us, fell down so we got in and started with a home wild card game with the Brewers.
And it almost ended up being the same old story because in that wild card game, we started off badly. But we got hot at the 8th inning and we took a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead thanks to Brewers closer Josh Haden choking (because the manager wanted to keep him in for 2 innings) and Todd Grisham (a replacement for Christian Yelich, who went out for the season late in the season), was not able to pick up the rolling ball, causing what would have been a tie game to us leading by a run. And we would win that game and in some way, win our first postseason series (although not a real series since it was one game, and everyone in DC didn't count it as our first series win).
Then we had to play the Dodgers and everyone was saying we were going to lose because the Dodgers were the top seed and they won more than 100 games this season. But we kept it close and thanks to our really good starting pitching and Mr. National himself Ryan Zimmerman (called that because he was the Nationals first ever draft pick in 2005 and he was still with this team), we headed to Game 5 in Los Angeles. And this might be a familiar story, but again, we were losing 3-1 in the eighth inning and it was at that time, the Dodgers decided to put in their top pitcher at relief in Clayton Kershaw. Now this is sort of funny since despite being one of the two aces in the Dodgers pitching staff, well......he never really had a great postseason run. So in the eighth inning, both Anthony Rendon (M-V-P!!!!) and that kid I mentioned earlier Juan Soto hit solo home runs to make it a 3-3 tie. We took the game into the 10th and the Dodgers decided to have late errors by keeping their closer John Kelly out there for two innings instead of his more than usual one. He walked Eaton, allowed Rendon to get a double (Eaton did not score off that so he was on third), and then because they did not want Soto to beat them, they intentionally walked him so Howie Kendrick (who at the time had been in a bit of a slump) would be challenged to beat them. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Howie Kendrick decided this was the right time to knock out a Grand Slam. And afterwards, it was pretty academic that the Dodgers were done and the Nationals won their first divisional series, making this year their first attempt to be one step away from winning the National League pennant.
But next, we would have to play the St. Louis Cardinals (the team that in 2012 would make our first postseason trip a heartbreaker). They had just on the same day as our Game 5 against the Dodgers, got 10 runs in the first inning against Braves and beat them in a Game 5 to advance. Thankfully, we never really had to worry about them as in the first two games, our starting pitching would have 6+ no hit innings (Anibal Sanchez with 7 2/3rds of no hit baseball and Max Scherzer with 6 innings of no hit baseball) and then in the other two games, the Cardinals never really getting hits and because of that, we were able to sweep them to get to our first World Series.
In that World Series matchup, we would have to face the 2017 World Series winners and HUGE favorites in Houston Astros, who were a huge favorite as they only got better since that 2017 season. In the first two games, shock would immediately strike Houston as our aces Strasberg and Scherzer would beat both Gerrit Cole (who had not lost since May) and Justin Verlander in Houston. But unlike the Cardinals, the Astros definitely would not be easy as in all three games in DC (Game 5 also had the fucking president, who was booed out of the building), we would average one run each game and lose in humiliating fashion to the Astros, giving them a 3-2 series lead and they would have to face Verlander again in Game 6 in Houston. It was at this point where it was pointed out that Verlander was 0-5 in 6 postseason starts, and thanks to some good hitting and Stephen Strasburg being Stephen Strasburg, we regained the lead in the 5th inning (despite a very bone headed ump call that would make it seem like the umps bet on the Astros to win the series) and never lost it again, making it Max Scherzer vs. Houston's late acquisition Zack Grienke for Game 7. Let's just say we had an usual final game performance where we started losing very early on and again, the umpires were shit and trying to help the Astros. But unlike the past times, we wouldnt have to wait until the 8th inning as we got 3 runs and the lead in the 7th. A run in the 8th and 2 in the 9th would seal a 6-2 win and the Nationals would win the World Series in their first try, with Strasburg getting the World Series MVP
There are a lot of people to thank, like manager Davey Martinez (who would win the World Series in the same franchise he played since he was a former Expo and who despite having heart issues, was fiery to umps when we needed him the most), Stephen Strasburg (who now has opted out and is a much desired pitching free agent), Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez (two former Detroit Tiger teammates who saw World Series failure there and now have a World Series win with the Nationals), Juan Soto (who made many here in DC say "Bryce Who?"), Anthony Rendon (the MVP of the team through the season and is also now a much sought after free agent), Adam Eaton (who was instrumental when you needed him most), Patrick Corbin (who was this season's big signing and while he was on and off at times, gave us crucial relief efforts when we needed it), Trea Turner (another youngster who was always a damn threat), Ryan Zimmerman (a man who was drafted here and while many people left to try and win other places, showed his true loyalty here in DC by staying for 14 years), Daniel Hudson (a former Blue Jay who was a late season acquisition for the Nationals and who when he said he would miss Game 1 of the NLCS because he wanted to be with his wife when she gave birth, we said "Your kid being born is more important than a baseball game". He rewarded us by becoming a great closer for them), Sean Doolittle (who was a great relief pitcher and unlike some closers in the past, was willing to give up his closer position for the betterment of the team), Mike Rizzo (who believed in this team so much that never wavered despite times the fans wanted him fired), Gerardo Parra (who during the season gave us crucial pitch hits and gave the team their theme in the annoying earworm of a song called "Baby Shark"), Brian Dozier and Matt Adams (other offseason acquisitions who were good pinch hits), and so many others.
As far as sports go, this year has been a really good year.
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