Washington Nationals championship should give hope to many
The significance of the Washington Nationals World Series victory is enormous and should provide a lot of teams with hope to do the same.
The Washington Nationals clinched their first championship after defeating the Houston Astros 6-2 in Minute Maid Park. It was the first title for the franchise since the former Expos left Montreal in 1969 and moved to the nation’s capital in 2005. MLB awarded the World Series MVP to Nationals ace, Stephen Strasburg.
Battle of the Pitchers
The Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer suffered back and neck spasms. BBC reported that his pain was so bad that he needed the assistance of his wife to get dressed.
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With game seven of the world series on the line, the 35-year-old starter on the mound and threw five innings before being relieved. Zack Greinke‘s momentum was short-lived as he silenced the Nationals for six innings until he gave up the Rendon home run in the top of the seventh inning.
Unfortunately for the Astros, Greinke’s relief let him down when Kendrick hit a two-run Home run with Juan Soto and Adam Eaton subsequently driving in runs to give some comfort. Ultimately, this series came down to just sheer execution of pitching. Whoever made the fewest mistakes came away with the trophy.
Historical Significance
According to the New York Times, 670 World Series games have been played in the 116-year history of best of seven formats. None of those games featured zero wins from the home team. An honest fan can attest that home-field advantage did not exist. For the first time in World Series
History, all seven games consisted of the visiting team being the victor. This championship game will go down in baseball history as a unique experience for traveling fans as well as a spectator of the sport. Baseball is a weird sport and after seeing a full 7 game series played with no home wins just adds to the lore.
Hey, It Could Be Your Team
As of October 31st, 2019, The Nationals winning their first and so far only one title means that 6 teams lack the commissioner’s trophy. The San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays and the Colorado Rockies all have fanbases holding onto hope that this time next year will see a parade route in their city.
What does this mean?
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To be honest, no one thought the Washington Nationals would be here right now with a world series victory, probably not even some in the Nationals fanbase. However, after starting out 19-31 they roared back in the NL East to get a wild card spot and see what happened. The lesson of this story? Never lose hope, fans.