What was harder to see was that things would inevitably change. At 19-31, it was obvious that things had to change: bullpen ERA north of 7, no run support, blah, blah, blah. The Viejos helped manager Davey Martinez persuade the young guys to see the vision through. A shaky bullpen rounds out the comparison that took Rizzo ten years to build, and they trusted that a few relievers (Doolittle and Hudson) would get hot down the stretch. Look up and down the lineups and you’ll see both teams littered with Viejos. It starts with the rotation: Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg are today’s analogs to Randy Johnson and that other guy. He always talked about how he wanted to mold this team in the image of the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, and the comparisons are striking. Rizzo stayed the course and trusted his guys to get the job done, and he had that faith because he’s seen it before. With all that talent, GM Mike Rizzo knew that eventually the winning would happen. The pitching staff was among the league’s best: Max Scherzer snarled and grunted his way to yet another Cy Young-worthy season, Stephen Strasburg stood tall all year and overwhelmed hitters with his off-speed stuff, and Patrick Corbin wiped out hitters who knew his slider was coming and couldn’t lay off. Looking up and down this lineup, the Nationals were teeming with stars: Trea Turner and Adam Eaton set the table at the top of the order, Anthony Rendon turned in an MVP performance offensively and defensively, Juan Soto was the best under-21 hitter since Ted Williams, Howie Kendrick had the finest season of his career, Victor Robles was the top defender in center field despite what the Gold Glove voters say, and Kurt Suzuki came up clutch time and time again. Of course, it wasn’t just the veteran guys who brought joy to the team and performed at a high level. Also, I’ve been listening to Cabrera’s walk-up song on repeat since Game 7, and it’s straight fire. They may not be household names, but they have much to do with these Nationals believing that they’re among the league’s best when they get healthy. Gerardo Parra, An í bal S á nchez, Asdr ú bal Cabrera, and Fernando Rodney are the leaders of the clubhouse that stand out the most. More than anyone else, these are the guys that preached manager Davey Martinez’s message to go 1-0 every day. They have brought an infectious joy that’s allowed the team to be loose throughout the year, even early in the season when they couldn’t save a ball game if their lives depended on it. For me, the difference boils down to the veteran Latino players on the team. In past years, the Nationals were not exactly known for team chemistry in the dugout. Not only have they picked him up on the field, they’ve picked him up in the locker room as well. Injuries have taken their toll on the Z-Man in the last several seasons, and yet the team picked him up during these frustrating times. O Captain, My Captain! Washington’s Nationals finally returned the favor to the man who picked up the team during their darkest days. The bridge from that team to today’s squad is of course, Ryan Zimmerman. Those first 11 names were some of the most outstanding characters on the original Nationals of 2005: the beloved, bizarre team who couldn’t lose in June and couldn’t win after the All-Star Break. These are the players who crawled so today’s Nationals could fly. May we neve forget their names.īrian Schneider. These Nationals did it not only for the fans, but for the players that came before them. Booing the grade-A A-hole who, among other offenses, brought Lindsey Graham to a ballgame instead of his children is what makes this fanbase so wonderful. Remembering old backup catchers like José Lobatón is what makes this fanbase wonderful. It’s the little things like staying in the same seats that make this fanbase so wonderful. It wasn’t even a question where they would spend the rest of the game: they watched from the top steps of our section. As they were in line, the Nationals scored three runs in the seventh before they got back to our seats. I bring them up because the turning point in the game was when Joe and Nico left our seats to get food. I went with five other friends: my three roommates, Joe, and Nico. But I wanted to highlight the wonderful fans that braved the constant, annoying rain to watch Game 7 at Nationals Park. I mostly wrote that first bit just to talk about José Lobatón. I’m not even kidding when I say that there are exactly three people who caused the Nationals to win the World Series: Joe Paquette, Nico Bocock, and the girl wearing a José Lobatón jersey at Wednesday night’s watch party.
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