In the interregnum between Washington Nationals winning the pennant and the start of the World Series on Tuesday, the stories have been piling up. Lots of good stuff here — my 5 year old enjoyed me reading some of these to him.
Boswell sets the scene
The Post: The World Series is back in D.C. after 86 years. Enjoy the ride, because anything can happen.
Tom Boswell has waited his whole career to write this column. It’s a good first pitch.
The beginning
CityPaper: Getting to First Base – How the deal to bring baseball to D.C. nearly fell apart
Tom Sherwood recaps the tumultuous several months after Bud Selig said “Baseball is back in Washington, D.C.“
Of course, I was providing contemporary coverage as well, in this blog’s early days.
Oh and who should throw out the first pitch for Game 3? Mayor Anthony Williams
Nonagenarians are excited
The Post: We all know Ted Lerner has been waiting a long time – he was born during the 1925 World Series and the Nats clinched the pennant on his birthday. It’s all family affair to him.
Charlie Brotman‘s a legend for a lot of reasons. He’s a great guy who has always been kind to me, including a 2005 profile.
NBC Washington: 98-year old Lorenzo Crowe, former Negro League shortstop, attends most Nats game among other area teams.
Speaking of the Negro Leagues
WTOP: Column: In celebrating the Nationals’ World Series, remember the Grays
The Homestead Grays made Griffith Stadium their second home in the 1940s, playing in several Negro League World Series and winning the final edition in 1948.
Mr. Walkoff has seen some things
Wall Street Journal: If It’s Happened to the Nationals, Ryan Zimmerman Has Lived It
5,164 days (that’s 14 years 1 month 21 days) and
1,689 regular season and 28 postseason games, #11 is arriving at his first World Series. He’s Mr. Walkoff you know?
This is Howie do it
The Post: How Howie Kendrick went from undersized and unrecruited to the Nationals’ NLCS MVP
Kendrick’s time in D.C. has had some swings and since Game 5 of the NLDS, it’s been an upswing. New to me — he introduces himself as Howard.
Former Nats across generations are happy
The Post: Fourteen years after baseball’s return to D.C., the original Nats love what they’re seeing
Svrluga shares with us that 2005 players are excited (just don’t look at their twitter feeds).
Tampa Bay Times: Before Nats reached Series, Senators reached new depths
I would not have guessed a Florida paper for some old Washington Senators recollections, but sure enough Frank Howard and Dick Bosman spoke with columnist Martin Fennelly. It’s quite good.
By the way, speaking of Frank Howard, that photo is from a bottle signing at a DC liquor store in 2007. My bottle was opened when my Penn State Nittany Lions beat Howard’s Ohio State buckeyes in 2008 for the BigTen title. However, former Nats blogger R. Scott Rogers waited longer:
The credit goes to the man(ager) in the arena
The Wash. Times: Martinez’s message, style have not changed since day he took Nationals job
Davey Martinez would not have been my guess for the skipper that won the first modern pennant, nor my first choice, but he got it done.
As I said in my Flags Fly Forever post, I credit Martinez for letting the team find its own culture instead of trying to impose it on them ? ? .
Media recollections
The Post: For the 33 years before the Nats’ arrival, D.C. didn’t have a team, much less a winner
George Solomon was sports editor during the no-baseball editor. As @ericfingerhut noted, Solomon was fairy quiet on his collaboration on treating Baltimore as the home team.
The Post: Do you want to get Barry Svrluga and Adam Kilgore’s take on all of this? I bet you do! Chelsea Janes and Chico Harlan? Maybe, probably oh no, don’t even…something, something failing up.
Oh and that hobbit’s decided he’s a Nats fan now?! Dude, we know where you’re from.
Wags? Wags?
Washingtonian: Maury Povich, Who Was a Senators Bat Boy in the ’40s, on What the Nats Win Means to Him
Prior to whatever it is that he does now, Shirley Povich’s son was a bat boy and DC sportscaster. He’s very happy.
Planet Houston
The Houston Astros defeated the Yankees on Jose Altuve bottom of the 9th walk-off home run off of Aroldis Chapman.
Up until 2013, Houston was in the National League and it’s still weird thinking of them in the American League. It’s worked out for them though they removed that gimmicky left field when then switched. That nonsense belonged in the AL.
The Astros came a long way in a short period of time. This happened against the Nats in 2012:
Two years ago, they won their first World Series.
I also remember a 2005 bloodbath in the hottest baseball game I think I ever attended at RFK Stadium. I think that’s the game that had me realize the Nats weren’t going to win the division.
In 2009, there was Cinco de Furlough, a day game that went ham in the sixth inning before a storm forced the ending to be played months later in Houston and won by a pitcher that had been traded to Pittsburgh.
The Post: A Closer look at the Nationals and Astros’ star-studded lineups
The Astros are scary – Gerit Cole, Justin Verlander and Zach Greinke as starters match up very well with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin. Plus Altuve and not the worst bullpen in the postseason. I’m very on-board with the Nats beating Greinke though (Federal Baseball).
The Post: Astros could force the Nationals to ditch their navy blue uniforms in World Series
The Nats are 8-0 this postseason in blue. The Astros went 7-1 in blue in the regular season, but have stuck with traditional white and gray at home and away, respectively.
Cheer up, New Yorkers…
…you’ve been spared all those tired columns from expatriate Washingtonians talking about how you cannot get a good half-smoke or mambo sauce in Manhattan.
Finally
The Post: How ‘Baby Shark’ became the anthem of the Nationals’ 2019 season and World Series run
Gerardo Parra, the hero we needed.
P.S. I’ll credit whoever improved the World Series logo by making it the outline of the District